NPR (11/11, Aubrey) reports on a review study published in JAMA Internal Medicine that examined the efficacy of “mind-body interventions” on chronic pain. The researchers reviewed “60 studies that included about 6,400 participants” that “evaluated a range of strategies, including meditation, guided imagery, hypnosis and cognitive behavioral therapy.” Eric Garland, a professor at the University of Utah and one of the study’s authors, said, “Mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy and clinical hypnosis appear to be the most useful for reducing pain.”

Related Links:

— “Meditation Reduced The Opioid Dose She Needs To Ease Chronic Pain By 75%, “Allison Aubrey, NPR, November 11, 2019

The Wall Street Journal (11/11, Petersen, Subscription Publication) reports that study abroad programs are emerging as one of the most difficult areas for universities to manage, as more students struggle with mental health issues. To address the issue, schools are working with host families to identify problems and helping set up accommodations that students are accustomed to so they can adjust to new environments more easily.

Related Links:

— “Junior Year Abroad, With Help From Your Therapist, “Andrea Petersen, The Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2019

The Washington Post (11/8, Wan) reports, “Leading medical authorities argue the United States could reduce” its “skyrocketing” suicide “rates with a relatively simple solution by screening for suicide in health clinics and” emergency departments (EDs). According to the Post, “Universal screening entails asking everyone visiting a primary care clinic or” ED “whether they are having suicidal thoughts, and if so, following up with brief interventions such as telephone counseling and referrals for additional treatment.”

Related Links:

— “A few simple questions could help doctors stem the suicide epidemic, “William Wan, The Washington Post, November 8, 2019

In a greater than 1,700-word piece, the New York Times (11/11, Carey) reports on the increasing rates of “cutting and other forms of self-injury…among adolescents.” Currently, “there are very few dedicated research centers for self-harm, and even fewer clinics specializing in treatment,” and “because self-injury is considered a ‘symptom,’ and not a stand-alone diagnosis like depression, the testing of treatments has been haphazard and therapists have little evidence to draw on.” Some experts posit that “people who become dependent on self-harm often come to treasure it as their one reliable comfort.” Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) appears to be “the one treatment that appears to be most effective for breaking the habit of self-harm,” according to an 800-participant study published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Getting a Handle on Self-Harm, “Benedict Carey, The New York Times, November 11, 2019

According to experts, a “culture shift toward openness, from the C-suite on down,” is the most effective employee assistance program, Reuters (11/8, Pinsker) reported. “That translates to peer counseling, colleagues sharing their experiences and open dialogue.” Reuters added that “many companies also turn to web-based mindfulness apps,” which “are helpful to those without access to in-person counseling.”

Related Links:

— “Culture change is the cutting edge of mental health benefits at work, “Beth Pinsker, Reuters , November 8, 2019

HealthDay (11/10, Preidt) reports the results of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s September poll indicate that almost 90% of adults in the US “lose sleep to binge watch TV.” The same poll found that adults ranked sleep as their top priority below family, but in addition to binge-watching TV, adults also reported losing sleep to play video games, read, and watch sports.

Related Links:

— “TV Binges, Video Games, Books and Sports Taking Toll on Sleep, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, November 10, 2019

Healio (11/9, Buzby) reported, “Patients aged 50 years or older with depression were found to have a significantly greater risk for abdominal aortic aneurysm than those without depression,” researchers concluded. The study abstract disclosed that data on 59,136 people were included in the study. The findingswere published online Oct. 23 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Related Links:

— “Clinical depression confers elevated risk for abdominal aortic aneurysm, “Scott Buzby, Healio, November 9, 2019

Reuters (11/8, Carroll) reported, “Many insured Americans go out of network for mental health services…despite the higher costs to them and despite a federal law mandating that policies’ mental health coverage be at least as good as their physical health coverage,” research indicated. After “focusing on data from 2012-2017” and identifying “3.2 million adults with mental health conditions, 294,550 with alcohol use disorders, 321,535 with drug use disorders, 178,701 with heart failure and nearly 1.4 million with diabetes with coverage under employer-sponsored insurance plans,” investigators found that “Americans with health insurance were spending more out of pocket on mental health services, such as treatment for substance abuse, than on conditions like diabetes and heart failure,” mostly because “many were getting mental health care out of network.” The findings were published online Nov. 6 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Americans spending more out-of-pocket on mental health than physical health, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, November 8, 2019

On its website, CNN (11/7, LaMotte) reports on a study published in the Journal of Family Psychology that found “people who feel they aren’t supported by their extended family are more likely to suffer chronic illness than those who aren’t happy with their spouse or partner.” The researchers followed around 3,000 people from 1995 to 2014 and asked them three times “to rate the quality of their family and partner interactions, which was then compared to their total number of chronic conditions, ranging from stroke to headaches.” The researchers “found strained extended family relations to be highly associated with a greater number of chronic conditions and poor health.”

HealthDay (11/7, Gordon) reports the researchers say they were surprised that relationships with other family members appear to have a bigger impact on health than relationships with spouses. The study’s lead author, Sarah Woods at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said, “That doesn’t mean intimate partnerships don’t matter. Our hypothesis is that relationships with family members are longer than relationships with intimate partners. You come from that family of origin, and you can’t divorce your parents or siblings.”

Related Links:

— “Having a poor relationship with your family could make you sick, “Sandee LaMotte , CNN, November 7, 2019

Healio (11/7, Welsh) reports, “Transgender individuals who receive gender-affirming surgeries are less likely to require mental health treatment,” researchers concluded in “the first total population study of transgender individuals with a gender incongruence diagnosis.” The findings were published online Oct. 4 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Gender-affirming surgeries reduce mental health treatment in transgender population, “Erin T. Welsh, Healio, November 7, 2019