According to US News & World Report (7/20, Leonard), “researchers who have studied the psychological effects of terrorism say that while atrocities can influence the way people think and make decisions and can damage their mental health, in most cases these effects tend not to linger.” Approximately “30 percent of people who survive disasters develop post-traumatic stress disorder within a month, according to the American Psychiatric Association.” But, even though “victims are unlikely to forget what happened, half will recover within three months.”

Related Links:

— “What Does Terrorism Do to the Mind?,” Kimberly Leonard, US News & World Report, July 20, 2016.

HealthDay (7/20, Dallas) reports that research indicates “sleep disorders are six times more likely among American military veterans than in the general population.” Investigators found that “veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) seem to have the highest rates.” Researchers came to this conclusion after studying “more than 9.7 million veterans treated by the Veterans Health Administration system between 2000 and 2010.” The findings were published in Sleep.

Related Links:

— “Sleep Disorders 6 Times Higher Among Veterans,” Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, July 20, 2016.

Reuters (7/20, Rapaport) reports, “When babies are extremely premature, parents are about 10 times more likely to become depressed than mothers and fathers of full-term, healthy infants,” research suggests. Included in the study were “113 mothers and 101 fathers of preemies, as well as 117 mothers and 151 fathers of healthy, full-term infants.” The findings were published online July 18 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Parents of preemies often depressed after birth,” Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, July 20, 2016.

Fox News (7/19, Carstensen) reports that “a new randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial suggests” hormone “therapy does not impact mental skills like verbal memory…regardless of when an individual begins taking estradiol after menopause.”

Related Links:

— “Hormone therapy has no effect on verbal memory after menopause, study suggests,” Melinda Carstensen, Fox News, July 19, 2016.

HealthDay (7/18, Dotinga) reports researchers found that certain types of hits to high school football players’ heads are especially damaging to players, according to a new study published in Pediatrics. The researchers reviewed data collected from devices inside football helmets and found that hits to the head that were preceded by running a long distance as well as hits caused by other players were especially damaging, according to University of Georgia assistant professor Julianne Schmidt, the study’s author.

Related Links:

— “Concussion Study Shows Player-to-Player Hits Most Damaging,” Randy Dotinga, HealthDay, July 18, 2016.

The Washington Post (7/18, Hurley) reports that the Food and Drug Administration has concluded “that for carefully selected patients with profound depression, the benefits of electroconvulsive therapy…outweigh the risks of possible memory loss caused by its use.”

The FDA “is proposing to downgrade” ECT from Class III to Class II “for those whose depression has not responded to other treatments or is so severe that they need the kind of rapid response that only ECT can provide.”

However, the FDA “said that too few randomized trials have been published to justify a Class II designation” for other medical conditions like catatonia.

Related Links:

— “FDA: Electroshock has risks but is useful to combat severe depression,” Dan Hurley, Washington Post, July 19, 2016.

In a patient advice column in US News & World Report (7/15), psychiatrist and American Psychiatric Association (APA) past president Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, wrote that over the past five decades, “progress in science and technology…has dramatically changed the scientific basis and therapeutic capability of psychiatry.”

These days, “the greatest hindrance to effective care is not a gap in medical knowledge or a shortcoming in effective treatments, but the enduring social stigma of mental illness and the understandable – but no longer warranted – lack of confidence in the competence of psychiatrists.” Patients needing a referral to a psychiatrist should start with their own primary care physician, but district branches of the APA can also help patients “find a well-trained a competent psychiatrist.”

Related Links:

— “When Should You See a Shrink?,” Jeffrey Lieberman, US News & World Report, July 15, 2016.

The New York Times (7/16, Subscription Publication) editorializes that the suicide rate for American veterans constitutes a “national emergency,” citing the 7,403 veteran suicides in 2014 alone, and says the VA’s safety net – its Veterans Crisis Line – is “badly frayed.” The Times argues that the only real solution is to give the VA a serious overhaul aimed at providing greater access to mental health resources and a “well-run crisis center,” but the paper is not optimistic, saying numerous reform plans have been put forth in the past but “every year brings new failures.”

Related Links:

— “For Suicidal Veterans, a Frayed Lifeline,” THE EDITORIAL BOARD, New York Times, July 16, 2016.

The NBC News (7/17, Merod) website reported that last week, by a vote of 422-2, the House of Representatives passed HR 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, considered to be “one of the most significant bills targeting mental health reform since 1963.” Even though “Congress just began its seven-week recess Thursday, advocates say they’re optimistic a similar bill could pass in the Senate by the end of the year.”

The Hill (7/17, Sullivan) reported, however, that “hopes are dimming for passage of a mental health bill in the Senate this year.” Proposed “legislation offered by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) may have to wait until 2017.” This is because “a tougher battle has emerged in the Senate over the politics of guns.” Should the mental health measure become embroiled in “a fight over the divisive issue of gun control, many fear the legislation would be sunk.” Even if guns do not become an issue, should mental health legislation not pass the Senate before the election in November, “there would be little time to get it through this Congress.”

Related Links:

— “House Passes Most Significant Mental Health Reform Bill in Decades,” ANNA MEROD, NBC News, July 17, 2016.

US News & World Report (7/14, Schroeder) reports, “Obesity is associated with higher rates of certain mental disorders, like depression, and experts say those can hamstring the most adamant efforts to” lose weight and keep it from coming back. Even “though still only a minority of people who are obese suffer from psychological issues like depression,” Philip R. Muskin, MD, “chair of the Scientific Program Committee of the American Psychiatric Association, agrees that checking for mental conditions makes sense.” Dr. Muskin said, “When you’re depressed it may be very difficult to make healthy choices,” including diet and exercise. But “he thinks this could be accomplished, to start, through screening in a primary care setting.”

Related Links:

— “Should You Undergo a Mental Health Evaluation for Obesity?,” Michael O. Schroeder, US News & World Report, July 14, 2016.