In an analysis piece, the Washington Post (8/10, Strauss) reports that “people who feel bad about feeling bad – that is, people who get sad about their own negativities and judge themselves harshly for having them – wind up with even more mental stress than people who learn to accept their emotions and thoughts,” according to a 1,300-adult study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging.

Related Links:

— “Feeling bad about feeling bad can make you feel really, really bad. New research really says this.,” Valerie Strauss, Washington Post, August 10, 2017.

Healio (8/10, Oldt) reports, “More than one-third of the US adult population misused prescription” medications “at least once in the past year,” researchers from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found after analyzing “data from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.”

Related Links:

— “One-third of US adults misused prescription drugs in 2015,” Rachel N. Lipari, PhD, Healio, August 10, 2017.

The Washington Times (8/9, Kelly) reports, “Americans, especially women and minorities, are drinking more alcohol amid a public health crisis that is being overshadowed by the opioid epidemic and the debate over legalizing marijuana,” researchers concluded. The study, which was conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), revealed “increased alcohol use, abuse and disorders in all US demographic groups, with higher instances among women, older adults, minorities and those with low levels of education and income.” The findings were published online Aug. 9 in JAMA Psychiatry.

According to Bloomberg News (8/9, Tozzi), “the number of adults who binge drink at least once a week could be as high as 30 million, greater than the population of every state save California,” the study revealed. The overall rise in alcohol consumption “is ‘startling,’ said” study lead author Bridget F. Grant, PhD, “a researcher at” the NIAAA. Grant added, “We haven’t seen these increases for three or four decades.”

MedPage Today (8/9, Boyles) reports that in arriving at the study’s conclusions, “Grant and colleagues compared data from two editions of the National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions – one covering 2001-2002 and the other 2012-2013 – which track alcohol consumption patterns to identify changes in 12-month alcohol use, 12-month high-risk drinking, and 12-month alcohol use disorder.” After examining the findings, Grant “noted that alcohol dependence is still widely stigmatized and undertreated in the United States, far more than other mental health disorders.”

Meanwhile, the author of an accompanying editorial observed that “proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health budget would be ‘potentially disastrous for future efforts to decrease alcohol problems.’” Funding for the study was provided by the NIAAA and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Also covering the story are Reuters (8/9, Seaman), TIME (8/9, Sifferlin), HealthDay (8/9, Preidt), and Healio (8/9, Miller).

Related Links:

— “Alcohol abuse in U.S. increasing as researchers warn of ‘public health crisis’,” Laura Kelly, Washington Times, August 9, 2017.

Reuters (8/8, Crist) reports, “About 61 percent of firearm owners in the US have received formal training in handling their guns, but only one in seven say it included prevention of suicide,” which is the primary cause of deaths from guns, researchers found after analyzing nearly 4,000 responses from a “web-based survey that included questions about firearm ownership, storage, training and use.” The findings were published online July 11 in the journal Injury Prevention.

Related Links:

— “Few U.S. gun owners get training that includes suicide prevention,” Carolyn Crist, Reuters, August 8, 2017.

The Los Angeles Times (8/7, Holland) reports in a piece focused on alleviating homelessness in greater Los Angeles that approximately “half of homeless people with severe mental illness also have problems with alcohol or drugs,” homelessness researcher Dennis Culhane, PhD, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has found. Substance use “does not cause severe mental illness,” however. Instead, “homeless people with untreated mental illness” use substances to medicate themselves to alleviate symptoms.

Related Links:

— “Q&A Mental illness and homelessness are connected. But not how you might think,” Gale Holland, Los Angeles Times, August 7, 2017.

Reuters (8/7, Rapaport) reports, “Middle-aged people with risk factors for heart attacks and stroke may be more likely to develop dementia in old age than people with healthy cardiovascular systems,” researchers concluded. The study revealed that smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and prehypertension were associated with “higher odds of dementia.”

HealthDay (8/7, Thompson) reports that “investigators tracked nearly 15,800 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study,” which is “a US National Institutes of Health-funded project designed to track the effect of hardened arteries on people’s long-term health.” All participants were followed for about 25 years. The findings were published online Aug. 7 in JAMA Neurology. Healio (8/7, Miller) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Heart disease risk in middle age tied to dementia later,” Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, August 7, 2017.

Healio (8/4) reported, “Clozapine use in treatment-resistant schizophrenia was associated with lower all-cause mortality and self-harm rates,” researchers found after evaluating “a population-based cohort of 2,370 individuals with treatment-resistant schizophrenia from January 1996 until death, first episode of self-harm, emigration, or June 2013.” The findings were published online July 28 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Mortality, self-harm lower with clozapine use in schizophrenia,” Wimberley T, et al., Healio, August 4, 2017.

The Washington Post (8/4, Chandler) reported, “At least one in seven women experience anxiety or depression during pregnancy or in the first year after birth,” figures indicate. Still, “maternal depression remains vastly underdiagnosed and undertreated, with just 15 percent of women affected seeking professional help.” In 2015, “the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommended…that women be screened at least once for depression during pregnancy and again in the postnatal period.” In 2010, the American Academy of Pediatrics “recommended that pediatricians screen mothers for postpartum depression at well-baby visits during the first six months.”

Related Links:

— “Maternal depression is getting more attention — but still not enough,” Michael Alison Chandler, Washington Post, August 4, 2017.

The New York Times (8/4, Span, Subscription Publication) reported on the social isolation that often results when caregivers focus their energies on caring for individuals with dementia. The article said the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Family Support Program at New York University, which offers counseling and support groups, “has been adopted throughout New York and in several other states” with success. Moreover, according to the article, “other initiatives, like Savvy Caregiver and REACH, have demonstrated similar effectiveness,” and some “program developers are also testing online versions.”

Related Links:

— “Caregiving Is Hard Enough. Isolation Can Make It Unbearable.,” Paula Span, New York Times, August 4, 2017.

USA Today (8/7, Vanden Brook) reports a study by the RAND Corp. and commissioned by the Pentagon found, “Just 30% of troops with depression and 54% with PTSD received appropriate care after they were deemed at risk of harming themselves.” The report, titled “Quality of Care for PTSD and Depression in the Military Health System,” also determined “that one third of troops with PTSD were prescribed a medication harmful to their condition.”

Related Links:

— “Troops at risk for suicide not getting needed care, report finds,” Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today, August 7, 2017.