The AP (3/4, Perrone) reports that on March 4, the FDA “banned electrical shock devices used to discourage aggressive, self-harming behavior in patients with mental disabilities.” The agency’s announcement “follows years of pressure from patient groups and mental health experts who have called the treatment outdated, ineffective and unethical.”

Reuters (3/4, Joseph) reports that in its “final decision,” the FDA cited “substantial risks of illness or injury to patients.” The FDA’s “decision comes after the devices were found to cause tissue damage and worsen underlying symptoms, leading to depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.”

According to MedPage Today (3/4, Gever), just one clinic in the US “is believed to use this form of ‘aversive therapy,’ the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC) in Canton, Massachusetts, where the FDA said it believes some 45 to 50 people ‘are currently being exposed’ to the treatment.” The FDA’s ban, however, “does not apply to electrical stimulation devices used for other ‘aversive’ therapies, such as those approved for smoking cessation,” nor are “non-aversive electrical stimulators, such as for cranial electrotherapy,” affected by the ban.

Related Links:

— “FDA bans shock device used on mentally disabled patients, “Matthew Perrone, AP, March 4, 2020

Healio (3/4, Gramigna) reports, “Suicide risk is higher at night than any other time of day,” investigators concluded in a study that “found no significant variation in this risk by method, month or demographic characteristics.” For the study, the study team “collected time, date, method and demographic information for 35,338 suicides included in the National Violent Death Reporting System between 2003 and 2010,” then “compared the estimated hourly proportion of the population awake from the American Time Use Survey for 2003 to 2010 with the time of fatal injury, which was grouped into one-hour bins.” The study revealed that “across all months and methods, risk for suicide was higher at night.” The findings were published online Feb. 25 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Suicide risk significantly elevated at night, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, March 4, 2020

Psychiatric News (3/4) reports, “The risk of suicide among physicians who are women appears to be higher than women in the general population,” investigators concluded. Investigators “found that women physicians were 46% more likely than women in the general population to die by suicide.” In contrast, “men physicians were 33% less likely than men in the general population to die by suicide.” The findings of the nine-study meta-analysis and systematic review were published online March 4 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Meta-Analysis Spotlights Challenge of Physician Suicide, Psychiatric News, March 4, 2020

Health Exec (2/28, Baxter) reported on the fifth annual healthcare industry survey from InCrowd, in which “physicians cited affordability and access to healthcare as the top concerns for the industry.” In addition, “they’re more concerned about these issues in 2020 compared to 2019.” InCrowd “polled 200 generalists and specialists between Dec. 30, 2019 and Jan. 2, 2020.”

Related Links:

— “Affordability, access are top healthcare concerns for physicians, “Amy Baxter, Health Exec, February 28, 2020

HealthDay (3/3, Preidt) reports, “Teens who are bullied about their weight are at increased risk for alcohol or marijuana use – and this is especially true for girls,” researchers concluded after surveying “more than 1,300 students at five public middle schools in Connecticut.” The findings were published online Feb. 10 in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

Related Links:

— “Being Bullied About Weight May Raise Risk of Drug Use, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 3, 2020

Healio (3/3, Gramigna) reports, “A telephonic work-focused counseling program added to integrated care improved veterans’ psychiatric and occupational outcomes, which reduced obstacles in civilian life,” researchers concluded after testing “whether integrated telephonic work-focused counseling, known as Be Well at Work…combined with the VHA integrated care program is superior to integrated care alone for improving depression and occupational functioning.” Included in the randomized study were 253 veterans. The findings were published online Feb. 28 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Telemedicine intervention plus integrated care improves outcomes of veterans with depression, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, March 3, 2020

Psychiatric News (3/2) reports, “Fear, stigma, depression, anxiety, and post traumatic stress disorder followed major infectious disease outbreaks earlier in this century,” and psychiatrists should now “be prepared for similar reactions as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak expands.” Research focusing on “survivors of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Asia and Canada in 2003 indicated high rates of psychiatric disorders both during the acute phase of the pandemic and up to four years later.” In an email, Joshua Morganstein, MD, chair of APA’s Committee on the Psychiatric Dimensions of Disasters, stated, “It is essential to understand how any given patient will most effectively receive information and tailor communication and interventions using a patient-centered approach.” Click here to “see the APA blog post ‘Coronavirus and Mental Health: Taking Care of Ourselves During Infectious Disease Outbreaks’” that Dr. Morganstein has written.

Related Links:

— “How Psychiatrists Can Help Patients During Coronavirus Outbreak, Psychiatric News, March 2, 2020

Medscape (3/2, Lowry, Subscription Publication) reports, “A significant proportion of patients who suffer from chronic pain also have features of borderline personality disorder (BPD),” research indicated. After analyzing “data from 11 studies published between 1994 and 2019,” investigators found that “23% of patients with chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) had some features of BPD, including difficulty maintaining relationships as well as affect and mood instability.” The findings of the “systematic literature review” were presented at the American Academy of Pain Medicine’s annual meeting.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

In the New York Times (3/2) “The Checkup,” Perri Klass, MD, writes that “a prospective study published in the March issue of the journal The Lancet Psychiatry found that even light activity – and a corresponding decrease in the amount of time that kids spent being sedentary – was linked to better mental health as they” grew older. For the study, investigators “looked at the activity of adolescents at the ages of 12, 14 and 16, who were then assessed for depression at around 18.” The study revealed that “activity levels when kids were younger were linked to their mental health later on; the depression scores at 18 were lower for every additional 60 minutes per day of light activity at 12, 14 and 16, and higher for every additional sedentary hour.”

Related Links:

— “The Benefits of Exercise for Children’s Mental Health, “Perri Klass, The New York Times, March 2, 2020

HealthDay (3/2, Reinberg) reports fewer US teens are beginning drug and alcohol use “before their 16th birthday, a new study finds.” After examining data from the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health for 2004 to 2017, investigators “found that between 2004 and 2017, the age at which teens started drinking alcohol and smoking rose from 16 to 17 years.” At the same time, “the age for trying heroin went from 17 to 18, and for cocaine it increased from 18 to 19 years.” The findings were published online in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “U.S. Kids Waiting a Little Longer to Try Alcohol, Drugs, “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, March 2, 2020