HealthDay (11/7, Preidt) reports, “As stigmas surrounding mental health issues have eased, more U.S. college students are seeking help for emotional problems,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data from the Healthy Minds Study, an annual online survey involving more than 150,000 students from 196 campuses.” The study revealed that “the percentage of students seeking mental health treatment rose from 19 percent to 34 percent, straining college health services” across the US. The findings were published online Nov. 5 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Psychiatric News (11/7) quotes the study authors, who wrote, “The trends revealed in this study have strained counseling centers across the country, given that many are underresourced and operate at full capacity with waitlists for much of the year.” But, “there are a multitude of approaches to consider for alleviating this strain, including universal prevention programs and rapid referral to community treatment,” the study authors added.

Related Links:

— “Colleges Strain to Keep Up With Students’ Mental Health Concerns, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, November 07, 2018.

MedPage Today (11/5, Walsh) reports, “Lupus psychosis is a rare, potentially devastating, but treatable manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that is associated with certain patient characteristics,” research indicated. The 1,826-patient study revealed that “factors that were positively associated with lupus psychosis on a multivariate analysis included African ancestry (HR 4.59, 95% CI 1.79-11.76), previous SLE neuropsychiatric events (HR 3.59, 95% CI 1.16-11.14), male sex (HR 3, 95% CI 1.20-7.50), and younger age at the time of SLE diagnosis (per 10 years, HR 1.45, 95% CI 1.01-2.07).” The findings were published online in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Related Links:

— “MedPage Today (requires login and subscription), November 05, 2018.

TIME (11/5, Ducharme) reports, “Fewer women are smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol during pregnancy, but more are using marijuana,” researchers concluded after examining “responses to the National Survey of Drug Use and Health.” Included in that survey were some “12,000 pregnant women ages 18 to 44.”

HealthDay (11/5, Mundell) reports, “Between 2002 and 2016, the percentage of pregnant women ages 18 to 44 who said they used pot rose from 2.85 percent to nearly five percent,” the study found. But, the survey also revealed that “many fewer were smoking cigarettes in 2016 (10.3 percent) than in 2002 (17.5 percent).” In addition, there was “a slight decline in the percentage of women who drank alcohol during a pregnancy – about 8.4 percent in 2016, down from 9.6 percent in 2002, the researchers said.” The findings were published online in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “More Women Are Using Marijuana During Pregnancy, Report Says, “Jamie Ducharme, TIME , November 05, 2018.

Healio (11/5, Demko) reported, “Treatment-resistant depression was associated with greater health care resource use and cost among veterans than those with non–treatment-resistant depression,” researchers concluded after examining “data from inpatient and outpatient health claims from the U.S. Veterans Health Administration Medical SAS Datasets from April 2014 to March 31, 2018.” The findings were presented at the Psych Congress.

Related Links:

— “Economic burden high among veterans with treatment-resistant depression, “Savannah Demko, , November 05, 2018.

USA Today (11/2, Jansen) reported that according to an analysis conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, prescription drugs such as “opioids were responsible for the most overdose deaths of any illicit drugs since 2001.” Data also show “heroin-related deaths nearly doubled from 2013 to 2016, a trend exacerbated by the mixing of heroin with fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.” The article said that according to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, although the 164-page DEA analysis “covered statistics mostly through 2016, preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that overdose deaths began to decline last year, with opioid prescriptions falling significantly.”

The AP (11/2, Balsamo) reported that the analysis revealed drug overdose deaths reached “the highest level ever recorded in the United States last year, with an estimated 200 people dying per day.” Overall, some “72,000 people died in 2017 from drug overdoses across the country,” according to preliminary data. Recently, HHS Secretary Alex Azar “said overdose deaths, while still slowly rising, were beginning to level off, citing figures from late last year and early this year.”

Related Links:

— “Opioid crisis: DEA data show spike in deaths led by prescription drugs, heroin and synthetics such as fentanyl, “Bart Jansen, USA Today, November 02, 2018.

HealthDay (11/2, Preidt) reported, “Coming out to their families could reduce LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people’s stress levels,” research indicated. Included in the study were “58 LGBT adults, aged 18 to 35, who were asked about their depression and anxiety levels, how much support they felt, and if they had come out to family, friends, coworkers and others.” The study revealed that “the more open participants were about their sexuality to their family, the lower their cortisol levels.” HealthDay noted that higher levels of cortisol “can damage health.” The findings were published in the October issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

Related Links:

— “‘Coming Out’ May Protect Your Health, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, November 02, 2018.

The NBC News (11/2, Fox) website reported, “An increasing number of children are showing up in U.S. emergency” departments “in the throes of a mental health crisis, researchers reported Friday.”

HealthDay (11/2, Mozes) reported that the increase appears to be “most dramatic among minorities,” research indicated. In the time frame “between 2012 and 2016, overall admissions shot up 50 percent in the” US, the study found. In fact, “more than 293,000 children – who were an average age of just over 13 – had been diagnosed for some type of mental illness in a pediatric emergency” department setting, the study revealed. The findings were slated for presentation at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference.

Related Links:

— “More kids are showing up in ERs with mental health crises, “Maggie Fox, NBC News, November 02, 2018.

HealthDay (11/1, Salamon) reports, “Social stigma may play a large role in the depression, anxiety and other mental health woes experienced by many people with autism,” research indicated. In “111 adults with autism,” investigators found that “72 percent of the psychological distress reported…was linked to social stigma, including discrimination and rejection.” The findings were published online Oct. 12 in the journal Society and Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “Stigma of Autism Can Take Toll on Psyche, “Maureen Salamon, HealthDay,November 01, 2018.

Healio (10/31, Miller) reports, “Adolescents with more frequent back pain were also more likely to report anxiety and depression, and more likely to smoke and drink alcohol,” research indicated. The findings of the 6,388-teen study were published online Sept. 10 in the Journal of Public Health.

Related Links:

— “Researchers Examine Association Between Back Pain, Mental Health, And Substance Use In Adolescents, “Janel Miller, Healio, October 31, 2018.

HealthDay (10/31, Preidt) reports, “Many pregnant women may wonder if antidepressants – or other drugs acting on the brain’s neurotransmitters – might raise their” infants’ “odds of developing autism.” A new study “suggests that’s not the case.” However, “a mother’s health before and during pregnancy may play a role in autism spectrum disorders,” researchers concluded after evaluating “the risks associated with 180 medications that target neurotransmitters, including antidepressants and antipsychotics,” using “data from nearly 100,000 children born in Israel between 1997 and 2007.” The findings were published online Oct. 31 in JAMA Psychiatry.

According to MedPage Today (10/31, George), the authors of an accompanying editorial wrote, “It would be hasty to conclude that specific drug classes have no associations with autism because there may be other mechanisms at play.” The editorialists added, “Further, it is important to recognize that a full profile of the pharmacological properties of many of the drugs examined in this study is still unknown.” Healio (10/31, Demko) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Autism Risk: Mom’s Health May Matter More Than Meds, ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, October 31, 2018.