Medscape (10/12, Harrison) reports, “A novel way of delivering healthcare services to” people with severe mental illness “may prevent the predictable downward spiral to homelessness, provided patients have a home where these services can be delivered and a family member who can provide psychosocial support,” researchers found. At the Institute of Psychiatric Services (IPS): The Mental Health Services 2016 Conference, investigators described the success of the Parachute NYC program, which is a “community-based mental health initiative that deploys mobile teams to treat” people with serious mental illnesses “in their homes.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

HCP Live (10/12, Lutz) reports that “less than one-third of adults with depression receive treatment,” researchers found after analyzing “treatment data for approximately 46,000 adults between 2012 and 2013 to characterize the treatment of adult depression.” The findings were published in the October issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Few Adults with Depression Receive Treatment,” Rachel Lutz, HCP Live, October 12, 2016.

CNN (10/12, Scutti) reports that when selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are taken during pregnancy, the medications may be “associated with a higher risk of language disorders, including dyslexia, in offspring.” Included in the study were “15,596 mothers who purchased SSRIs once or more before or during pregnancy,” another “9,537 mothers who had been diagnosed with depression or another psychiatric disorder but did not purchase antidepressants during pregnancy,” and “31,207 mothers who had never been diagnosed with depression and never purchased antidepressants.” The findings were published online Oct. 12 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Study links antidepressants in pregnancy with language disorders,” Susan Scutti, CNN, October 12, 2016.

The AP (10/11) reports the US Supreme Court will not “hear a dispute between West Virginia health officials and a patient advocacy group over access to medical records.” On Oct. 11, “the justices…let stand a state court ruling that said federal laws protecting health record privacy don’t prevent Legal Aid of West Virginia from reviewing patient files at the state’s two psychiatric hospitals.”

Related Links:

— “JUSTICES WON’T HEAR DISPUTE OVER ACCESS TO HEALTH RECORDS,” Associated Press, October 11, 2016.

Reuters (10/11, Rapaport) reports that research suggests “insomnia patients who focus on behavioral changes may be less stressed and more functional during the day than counterparts relying on medication.” Investigators “offered 160 adults with chronic insomnia six weeks of treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT); half of them were also randomly selected to take medication in addition to counseling.”

Investigators found, “at the end of this experiment, patients in both groups slept better, but only the people who received therapy alone reported significant reductions in how much sleep impacted their daytime functioning and things like memory, concentration and quality of life as well as declines in anxiety, depression and fatigue.” The findings were published online in Behavior Research Therapy.

Related Links:

— “Behavior therapy linked to less stress from insomnia,” Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, October 11, 2016.

In a special piece for the Washington Post (10/9) “Health & Science” blog, Nathaniel Morris, MD, a resident physician in psychiatry at the Stanford University of Medicine, who has personally struggled with depression, wrote that “suicide is a major issue for medical schools.” Surveys have found that approximately “10 percent of medical students have reported having thoughts of killing themselves within the past year.”

What’s more, instead of “receiving support in these situations, these students often suffer humiliation from senior clinicians.” The “stigma of mental illness” has been “especially hard to overcome” in the medical school setting, Dr. Morris asserted.

Related Links:

— “Medical school can be brutal, and it’s making many of us suicidal,” Nathaniel Morris, Washington Post, October 9, 2016.

In a more than 5,700-word front-page analysis, the New York Times (10/9, A1, Apuzzo, Fink, Risen, Subscription Publication) discussed the long term psychological harm that “extraordinary interrogation” methods have caused for terrorism suspects at CIA and military prisons around the world, including Guantánamo Bay.

According to the Times, in the post-9/11 period, Americans debated whether some of these interrogation techniques amounted to torture, but that in this debate the “human toll has gone largely uncalculated.” The article pointed out that dozens of detainees have reported “persistent mental health problems” resulting from “enduring agonizing treatment.”

Related Links:

— “How U.S. Torture Left a Legacy of Damaged Minds,” MATT APUZZO, SHERI FINK and JAMES RISEN, New York Times, October 9, 2016.

Modern Healthcare (10/8, Meyer, Subscription Publication) reported Congressional “lawmakers are poised to pass a sweeping package of mental healthcare reforms during the lame-duck session next month, following enactment in July of legislation to address the epidemic of opioid addiction.” But, “the big question” remains “whether Congress will have enough time during the 20 days of the lame-duck session following the November election to pass the legislation.” Depending on November’s election results, bipartisan rancor may also get in the way of passage.

Related Links:

— “The next big reform challenge is mental health, And the lame-duck Congress just might take it on,” Harris Meyer, Modern Healthcare, October 8, 2016.

The AP (10/6, Elias, Thompson) reports that police officers “specially trained” to help defuse situations involving “people in the throws of mental illness” are often “in short supply” and “unavailable in a crisis.” In two recent incidents in El Cajon and Sacramento, CA, people undergoing mental health crises were shot to death by police. In both cases, the cities “would like to add additional resources but neither has the money.

Related Links:

— “OFFICERS TRAINED TO DEAL WITH MENTAL ILLNESS IN SHORT SUPPLY,” PAUL ELIAS AND DON THOMPSON, Associated Press, October 6, 2016.

HealthDay (10/6, Salamon) reports, “Women in midlife with a history of depression appear at markedly greater risk of suffering from heart disease,” investigators found. After tracking some “1,100 women over 10 years, researchers found that depression was the only significant risk factor for coronary artery disease in women younger than 65 who had no history of heart ailments at the beginning of the study.” The findings were scheduled for presentation at the North American Menopause Society’s annual meeting.

Related Links:

— “Depression Can Fuel Heart Disease in Midlife Women: Study,” Maureen Salamon, HealthDay, October 6, 2016.