Reuters (1/20, Lehman) reported that a study suggests that infertile women “who are depressed are less likely to proceed with fertility treatments.” Researchers found that of the 416 women studied, “41 percent screened positive for depression.” The study’s lead author told Reuters Health in an email, “Our study revealed that women who have a screening test correlating with depression were less likely to proceed with infertility treatments, likely making it harder to achieve the ultimate goal of pregnancy.” The findings were published online Jan. 9 in the journal Human Reproduction.

Related Links:

— “Depression may prevent infertile women from seeking treatment,”Shereen Lehman, Reuters, January 20, 2017.

HealthDay (1/20, Preidt) reported, “More Americans with mental illness and substance abuse disorders got health insurance after the Affordable Care Act was introduced,” researchers found after reviewing “data from nearly 30,000 adults, aged 18 to 64, with mental illness and more than 19,000 with substance use disorders.” Investigators focused on “two time periods: 2011 to 2013, and in 2014.” The findings were published online Jan. 17 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association. Healio(1/20, Oldt) also covered the study.

Related Links:

— “Obamacare Covered More People With Mental Illness, Addictions,”Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 20, 2017.

In an opinion piece for The Hill (1/19), psychiatrist Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, the founding president of the Child Mind Institute, writes in wake of the Fort Lauderdale, FL airport shootings by a National Guard veteran that “the mental health burden placed on our veterans is immense, and that the system is not up to the task.” He asserts, “Stigma and lack of access to care for mental health disorders are serious public health issues for all Americans; this problem is compounded for young veterans.” Dr. Koplewicz concludes, “If we are serious about keeping the public safe, we need to be equally serious about the public health crisis of mental health care in our military and our country at large.”

Related Links:

— “Airport shooter shows need for better VA mental health care,”Harold S. Koplewicz, The Hill , January 19, 2017.

Medscape (1/19, Ault) reports, “Millions of Americans gained health insurance coverage for mental illness and substance use disorders under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but this did not translate into an increase in treatment,” researchers found after analyzing “cross-sectional data on 70,000 individuals aged 18 to 64 years who were participants in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.” Specifically, the study revealed “only very minimal increases in treatment of mental health disorders and no increase in treatment of substance use disorders after the ACA was passed.” The findings were published online Jan. 17 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (1/18, Preidt) reports, “Hospitalization-related delirium may speed mental decline in patients with dementia,” researchers concluded after examining medical records and “brain samples from nearly 1,000 people” who “were 65 and older when they died.” The findings were published online Jan. 18 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Hospital-Related Delirium May Help Worsen Dementia,”Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 18, 2017.

Healio (1/17, Oldt) reports that “eating disorders were common among women in mid-life and risk factors differed among eating disorder subtypes,” researchers found after examining data from “1,524 women from the U.K. Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.” The findings were published online Jan. 17 in BMC Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Eating disorders common among women in mid-life, Healio, January 17, 2017.

Healio (1/17, Oldt) reports, “Using mental health services in adolescence significantly decreases risk for depression in late adolescence,” researchers found after conducting “a longitudinal cohort study among 1,238 individuals aged 14 years and their primary caregivers,” then reassessing everyone “at months 18 and 36.” The findings were published online Jan. 10 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Using mental health care lower risk for teen depression,Healio, January 17, 2017.

Healio (1/16) reports that recently, the American Psychiatric Association “issued a letter to Congress to ensure continued access to care for individuals with mental health and substance use disorders.” In the letter, APA President Maria A. Oquendo, MD, PhD, and APA CEO and medical director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, wrote, “On behalf of the APA, the national medical specialty association representing over 36,500 psychiatric physicians nationwide, we urge you to support continued and expanded access to quality evidence-based mental health care services.” The letter added, “As Congress considers significant reforms to health insurance coverage this year, it is critical that any such reforms do not undo the gains which have been made over the past several years for individuals with mental illness, and that any such reforms only further enhance coverage and access to lifesaving evidence-based care.”

Related Links:

— “APA urges Congress to protect access to mental health care,Healio, January 16, 2017.

DOT Med News (1/16, Dworetzky) reports research suggests that “even moderate traumatic brain injury [TBI] may cause brain atrophy and cognitive decline in those with a genetic pre-disposition for” Alzheimer’s. Researchers arrived at that conclusion after using magnetic resonance “brain imaging to examine 160 veterans, some of whom had histories of single or multiple concussions.” The findings were published online Jan. 11 in the journal Brain.

Related Links:

— “Single concussion could boost Alzheimer’s risk: study,”Thomas Dworetzky, DOT Med News, January 16, 2017.

In continuing coverage of fallout from the Fort Lauderdale, FL airport shootings, the New York Times (1/14, A9, Johnson, Subscription Publication) reported that in Alaska, where shooter Esteban Santiago lived, mental healthcare professionals “and legal experts said the distinctive demographic, geographic and cultural stamp of the state also colors the often nuanced judgments that doctors, law enforcement officers and judges must make in deciding whether to hold a disturbed person against his or her will.” The state, “they said, is ingrained with a deep tradition of tolerance – fueled by libertarian instincts holding that people should be able to believe what they want, however eccentric or irrational.” Even in circumstances in which “people are involuntarily committed for treatment, the median length of stay, at only five days, is shorter than in almost any other state.”

The AP (1/14, Kennedy) reported that Florida airport shooter Esteban Santiago’s visit to an FBI office in Alaska, where he told “agents the government was controlling his mind and that he was having terroristic thoughts,” highlights what authorities say is “the difficulty is in assessing whether people are reporting a credible threat, or whether they need medical help.” Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association executive director and former Secret Service supervisor and Pat O’Carroll said, “A lot of resources, time and effort are all put into dealing with mentally challenged people and trying to sort through that type of information to find out what’s valid.” This also poses a challenge for authorities who “don’t have the expertise to make that determination and don’t want to stigmatize people.”

Related Links:

— “A Rampage in Florida Shines a Light on Alaska,”Kirk Johnson, The New York Times, January 13, 2017.