Reuters (9/27, Rapaport) reports that giving stimulants to children with AD/HD “may not help them complete homework or get better grades,” according to a small study published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Researchers randomly assigned 75 children “to receive either behavioral treatment that included daily report cards for kids and coaching parents to help with homework or a long-acting stimulant.”

Children “were around 8 years old on average, but ranged from 5 to 12” and all had a diagnosis of AD/HD. The results suggest that medication “had no significant effects on homework completion or accuracy, compared with a placebo,” whereas children receiving behavioral treatment “got 10 percent to 13 percent more homework problems finished and completed 8 percent more problems accurately than they did without the treatment.”

Related Links:

— “ADHD drugs no help with homework,” Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, September 27, 2016.

HealthDay (9/27, Preidt) reports that research suggests high utility bills may “cause anxiety and depression in low-income families.” Researchers studied “72 families in the Boston area with annual incomes of $32,000 or less.” The investigators found that “the inability to pay utility bills caused mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.” The findings were published online in Social Science and Medicine.

Related Links:

— “High Utility Bills Strain More Than the Budget,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 27, 2016.

USA Today (9/26, Nelson) reports on the opioid epidemic citing a report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that found 2.1 million people abused prescription opioids in 2012. Tom Hill, a senior adviser on addiction and recovery at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Substance Abuse Treatment Center, has “said that addiction affects everyone.”

Related Links:

— “The opioid addict next door: Drug abuse where you least expect it,” Samantha Nelson, USA Today, September 27, 2016.

The AP (9/26, Daly) reports the House is expected to vote on a bill that would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to “ensure that all telephone calls, text messages and other communications received by the crisis line are answered in a timely manner by an appropriately qualified person.” The article reports that according to a former director of a suicide hotline for veterans, more than one-third of the calls received “are not being answered by front-line staffers because of poor work habits and other problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

The New York Times (9/24, SR5, Velasquez-Manoff, Subscription Publication) reported that “when taken during pregnancy, acetaminophen may increase the risk that children will develop asthma or” even attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). For example, research recently published “in the International Journal of Epidemiology found that prenatal acetaminophen use increased seven-year-olds’ risk of asthma by 13 percent.” Moreover, a JAMA Pediatrics study “noted that a mother’s use of the pain reliever in midpregnancy increased seven-year-olds’ risk of hyperactivity by 31 percent.”

Related Links:

— “The Trouble With Tylenol and Pregnancy,” MOISES VELASQUEZ-MANOFF, New York Times, September 24, 2016.

Healthcare IT News (9/23, Monegain) reported the Department of Health and Human Services unveiled the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training program, which will award $44.5 million in grants for training programs across the US with the aim of “increasing the number of mental health” professionals “and substance abuse counselors.” The grants will be awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Related Links:

— “HHS aims to grow behavioral health workforce with $44.5 million investment,” Bernie Monegain, Healthcare IT News, September 23, 2016.

U.S. News & World Report (9/22, Schroeder) reports that due to a psychiatrist shortage and increased insurance coverage under the ACA, “increasingly many psychiatrists aren’t taking new patients because they’re at capacity.”

Figures released by the American Medical Association reveal “the number of adult and child psychiatrists increased by just 12 percent from 1995 to 2013, from 43,640 to 49,079, lagging far behind the 45 percent increase in total physician numbers and population growth in the US.”

The article advises patients who need to see a psychiatrist to speak first with their primary care physician, obtain a list of covered psychiatrists from their health insurer, check with academic medical centers, and if in the middle of a mental health crisis, head for the emergency department.

Renée Binder, MD, immediate past president of the American Psychiatric Association, explained, “All emergency rooms have access to psychiatric care,” which includes “a mental health team that’s on call and supervised by a psychiatrist.”

Related Links:

— “What to Do If You’re Having Trouble Getting in to See a Psychiatrist,” Michael O. Schroeder, , September 22, 2016.

Healio (9/22, Oldt) reports, “Receiving care from an integrated behavioral health home improved outcomes among individuals with serious mental illness,” researchers found after conducting “a randomized trial among 447 individuals with serious mental illness and at least one cardiometabolic risk factor.” The findings were published online Sept. 15 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Integrated behavioral health home improves mental health, cardiometabolic outcomes,” Amanda Oldt, Healio, September 22, 2016.

Healio (9/22, Oldt) reports, “Individuals with depression who were in higher occupational levels had poorer treatment response and higher rates of treatment-resistant depression,” researchers found after evaluating “a large multinational sample of working individuals with depression who received at least one adequate treatment trial.” The findings of the 654-patient study were presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress.

Related Links:

— “High status job may hinder depression treatment response,” Amanda Oldt, Healio, September 22, 2016.

In a 4,400-word article, The Atlantic (9/20, Opar) reports that many parents of children with autism are resorting to alternative treatments, such as consultations with psychics, “vitamin supplements, topical ointments, restrictive diets, chelation, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, brain scans, a so-called detoxification system, and stem-cell therapy.”

In fact, “up to 88 percent of boys and girls with autism in the United States receive some alternative treatment,” studies have found. But, “few of these therapies have been adequately tested for safety or efficacy, many come with a hefty price tag, and some are downright dangerous.”

Related Links:

— “The Dangers of Snake-Oil Treatments for Autism,” ALISA OPAR, The Atlantic, September 22, 2016.