MedPage Today (2/24, Hlavinka) reports that research indicated “spending 25 minutes a day with a video game-like intervention improved symptoms among adolescents with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD).” Researchers found that “among 348 adolescents, those assigned to the intervention – which involved a gaming therapy designed to improve attention and multitasking – had small but significant improvements in Test of Variables of Attention-Attention Performance Index (TOVA-API) scores at 4 weeks compared with a control group that played a similar game targeting other, non-AD/HD-related cognitive domains.” But, “patients in the intervention arm did not show significantly improved scores on parent and clinician ratings of AD/HD symptoms and functional impairment versus the control group.” The findings were published in the Lancet Digital Health.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (2/24) reports, “Less than half of individuals who were seen in an emergency department (ED) in Ontario for a mental health–related issue had a follow-up visit with a physician within two weeks after discharge,” research indicated. What’s more, people “who had a substance use disorder were even less likely to have a follow-up visit with a physician during this period compared with those who did not have a substance use disorder, the study found.” Of the 143,662 adults included in the study, just “40.2% had a follow-up mental health visit within 14 days of ED discharge.” The findings were published online Feb. 24 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Most Emergency Department Patients With Mental Health Problems Don’t Receive Timely Follow-up Care, Psychiatric News , February 24, 2020

CNN (2/23, Holcombe) reports, “For decades, nearly every state has required law students to answer questions about their mental health treatment as part of the requirements before they can practice law,” and consequently, “according to one study, 45% of law students said they would be discouraged from seeking mental health treatment for fear that it would negatively affect bar admission.” Currently, New York, along with “38 other states,” has “questions regarding mental health on their character and fitness evaluations, according to the latest data from the American Bar Association Commission on Disability Rights.” Now, however, “a New York court is weighing whether to drop the question from the state’s bar application after a working group within the New York State Bar Association issued a report (PDF) in August calling for the removal of any questions about ‘mental history, diagnoses, or treatment.’” That report deemed “such questions…’unnecessary and ineffective in identifying applicants who are unfit and are likely to deter individuals from seeking mental health counseling and treatment.’”

Related Links:

— “Law students say they don’t get mental health treatment for fear it will keep them from becoming lawyers. Some states are trying to change that, ” Madeline Holcombe, CNN, February 23, 2020

The San Francisco Chronicle (2/21, Egelko) reported “the Trump administration dropped its appeal of” US District Judge John Kronstadt’s “order Friday and agreed to provide mental health care to thousands of immigrant parents and children who were separated at the Mexican border by the administration’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy.” Kronstadt “of Los Angeles issued the injunction in November requiring the government to promptly provide mental health screenings for the parents and their families, and treatment for those who needed it,” and “said there was evidence that the family separations caused ‘severe mental trauma to parents and their children’ and that administration officials had been ‘deliberately indifferent to the mental health risks’ of their policy.”

Related Links:

— “Trump lawyers drop appeal — separated immigrant families to get mental health care, “Bob Egelko, The San Francisco Chronicle, February 21, 2020

Reuters (2/21, Emery) reported, “Alcohol-related deaths in the United States rose sharply from roughly 2012 through 2016, with the biggest increases among white and Latino women, according to a new study by researchers who called the trend ‘an urgent public health crisis.’” The findings were published on Friday in JAMA Network Open.

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— “Study shows sharp increases in U.S. alcohol deaths, especially among women, “Gene Emery, Reuters , February 21, 2020

MD Magazine (2/21, Rosenfeld) reported, “Varenicline, an effective medication for smoking cessation, was not associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular or neuropsychiatric hospitalizations compared with nicotine replacement therapy,” research indicated. In comparison, “bupropion, a smoking cessation aid and antidepressant, was linked with lower risks of cardiovascular hospitalizations and higher risks of neuropsychiatric hospitalizations compared with nicotine replacement therapy.” Included in the 618,500-patient study were 454,698 who “used varenicline,” 131,562 who “used bupropion, and 32,237” who “used nicotine replacement therapy.” The findings were published online Feb. 19 in the journal Addiction.

Related Links:

— “Varenicline Safe for Smoking Cessation, Reduces Hospitalization Risk, “Samara Rosenfeld, MD Magazine, February 21, 2020

Politico (2/20, Ehley) reports, “The Trump administration’s war on addiction has left behind an oft forgotten piece of the problem: alcoholism and the lifelong damage it can do to children.” The Administration “has boosted treatment, research and prevention, including directing millions to help babies exposed to narcotics in the womb.” But, there has “been no similar help or attention from Washington to pregnant women who abuse alcohol, or to the children impacted by fetal alcohol syndrome.”

Related Links:

— “Harmed before birth, America’s ‘lost children’ overshadowed by opioid crisis, “Brianna Ehley, Politico, February 20, 2020

Psychiatric News (2/20) reports research indicates that patients with schizophrenia “who participate in a 12-week aerobic exercise program may continue to experience cognitive benefits months after the program ends.” For the study, investigators randomized 40 “participants with schizophrenia and other schizoaffective disorders aged 20 to 65” to “treatment as usual, which consisted of meetings with a psychiatrist, medication, case management, and rehabilitation programs over a 12-week period” or to “a 12-week aerobic exercise program in addition to receiving treatment as usual.” A year after the study ended, researchers found that “compared with the group that received treatment as usual only, those who also participated in aerobic exercise classes ‘showed significant, sustained improvements in several cognitive domains [including working memory, verbal fluency, attention, and executive function].’” The findings were published online ahead of print in the April issue of Psychiatric Research.

Related Links:

— “Cognitive Benefits of Exercise in Patients With Schizophrenia Sustained Over One Year, Study Shows, Psychiatric News, February 20, 2020

Psychiatric News (2/19) reports, “Two-thirds of children and adolescents who had to stay in an emergency department (ED) for at least 24 hours with a mental health complaint had suicidal thoughts or behaviors, yet many did not receive a formal psychiatric evaluation by a psychiatrist with treatment recommendations,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data on 573 children and adolescents (average age of 14) who stayed at least 24 hours with a mental health complaint at one urban pediatric ED.” The findings were published online Feb. 17 in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Youth Who Stay in ED Overnight for Mental Health Problems Often Discharged Without Psychiatric Evaluation, Psychiatric News, February 19, 2020

Healio (2/19, Michael) reports, “Women with anxiety, depression and trauma were more likely to use cannabis during pregnancy,” researchers concluded after comparing “demographic and mental health characteristics in women with and without cannabis use during pregnancy who gave birth at centers in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California system between 2012 and 2017.” To do so, the investigative team used electronic health records. The study revealed that of six percent “of 196,022 pregnancies evaluated in the study…screened positive for prenatal cannabis.” Investigators then “determined that the odds of cannabis use during pregnancy were greater among women with anxiety disorders…depressive disorders” or both when “compared with women without those disorders.” The findings were published online Feb. 19 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Depression, anxiety, trauma linked to cannabis use in pregnancy, “Erin Michael, Healio, February 19, 2020