MedPage Today (6/19, Freeman) reported that despite the provisions of the Affordable Care Act resulting in “much more insurance coverage than in the past, patients with behavioral health needs are not getting the treatment they need,” research suggests. Researchers arrived at that conclusion after analyzing “National Survey on Drug Use and Health data from 2005 to 2014 to estimate how many people were likely to face ‘serious psychological distress,’” then measuring “how many people actually received mental healthcare.” The study was published in the June issue of Health Affairs.

Related Links:

— “Access to Mental Health Services Still Lags,” Gregory A. Freeman, MedPage Today, June 19, 2016.

Medical Daily (6/19, Baulkman) reported that a RAND Corporation study published online June 14 in Addiction associates “marijuana use to lower academic functioning, less preparedness for school, poorer mental health, and more delinquent behavior.” Researchers arrived at that conclusion after following some “6,500 adolescents over a seven-year period, between 2008 and 2015.”

Related Links:

— “Teen Marijuana And Alcohol Use May Hurt School Performance, Mental Health,” Jaleesa Baulkman, Medical Daily, June 19, 2016.

On its website, NBC News (6/18, Brown, Zhang, Schuppe) reported on the “dearth” of psychiatrists who can treat children. The lack of child psychiatrists in the US, already noted in an HHS report (pdf) issued 17 years ago, “is arguably getting worse,” as the country “grapples with an increase in depression and suicides among young people.” A sizeable number of child psychiatrists are now “approaching retirement,” and because “not enough medical students want to enter the field,” there is no one to replace them. Some states are offering medical student loan forgiveness to attract child psychiatrists, while other states “are encouraging the use of ‘telepsychiatry’ – visits by video conference – and by adopting ‘collaborative care’ programs that connect psychiatrists with primary care physicians.”

Related Links:

— “Decades Into Crisis, Kids Still Suffer From Shortage of Psychiatrists,” LIZ BROWN, SALLY ZHANG and JON SCHUPPE, NBC News, June 18, 2016.

According to HealthDay (6/16, Mundell), on June 16, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued a report finding that approximately “one in 13 young adults in the United States had serious thoughts of suicide in 2013-2014,” a “rate of 7.4 percent” that “translates into 2.6 million Americans between the ages of 18 and 25, researchers said.” In an agency news release, Kana Enomoto, SAMHSA principal deputy administrator, said, “We need to reach out to young people with the message that help is at hand, and promote effective programs for saving lives by treating people at risk whenever and wherever they need it.”

Related Links:

— “1 in 13 Young Adults in U.S. Considered Suicide in Past Year,” E.J. Mundell, HealthDay, June 16, 2016.

On the front of its Business Day section, the New York Times (6/15, B1, Isaac, Subscription Publication) reports that on June 14, “in the biggest step by a major technology company to incorporate suicide prevention tools into its platform,” Facebook “introduced mechanisms and processes to make it easier for people to help friends who post messages about suicide or self-harm.” The “new features” will allow people to “flag friends’ posts that they deem suicidal; the posts will be reviewed by a team at the social network that will then provide language to communicate with the person who is at risk, as well as information on” how to prevent suicide.

Related Links:

— “Facebook Offers Tools for Those Who Fear a Friend May Be Suicidal,” Mike Isaac, New York Times, June 15, 2016.

USA Today (6/13, Zoroya) reports that behavioral health experts warn that “a second wave of suffering can flow from” violent events like the Orlando shooting, “as survivors and first responders — such as the police officers who fought their way into the Pulse early Sunday — struggle with what they’ve witnessed.” Behavioral health experts “say it is common for people to have intense memories of traumatic events. But when those memories become intrusive and involuntary, the result can be PTSD.”

Psychiatric News (6/13) reports APA President Maria A. Oquendo, MD said in a statement, “We are deeply saddened by the senseless violence in Orlando this weekend.” She added, “The notion that the potential motive for targeting the patrons of this nightclub was because of their sexual orientation is disturbing. … We offer our deepest sympathy and condolences to the victims and their families.

APA is a healing organization and our members will be there to help the community of Orlando heal.” Meanwhile, Robert Ursano, MD, chair of APA’s Committee on Psychiatric Dimensions of Disaster, said, “Mass shootings are a far-too-common form of terrorism in our nation. …Terrorists attack the fault lines in our society, at the boundaries of sexual preference or race or ethnicity, so it’s important for our nation and our communities to stand together.”

Related Links:

— “After the shooting stops, another fear sets in: PTSD,” Gregg Zoroya, USA Today, June 13, 2016.

HealthDay (6/13, Preidt) reports that research indicates “adults who witnessed parental domestic violence in childhood are at increased risk for suicide attempts.” Investigators looked at data on approximately 22,500 adults. The researchers found that approximately “17 percent of those exposed to chronic parental domestic violence (more than 10 times before age 16) had attempted suicide, compared with roughly 2 percent of those not exposed to parental domestic violence.” The findings were published online in Child: Care, Health and Development.

Related Links:

— “The Childhood Incidents That Increase Later Suicide Risk,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, June 13, 2016.

HealthDay (6/10, Thompson) reported that the findings of a 44-family study indicated that “preschoolers now often spend hours each day watching TV or playing video games – with little or no oversight or interaction from a parent.” The study, presented at a psychological association meeting, revealed that just “a handful of kids aged three to five years old received active engagement from their moms as they sat glued to the ‘electronic babysitter.

Related Links:

— “Parents Often Using TVs, Tablets as ‘Electronic Babysitters’,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, June 10, 2016.

HealthDay (6/10, Dotinga) reported, “Some workaholics may be prone to mental health disorders, compared to folks with greater work-life balance,” the findings of a 16,500-adult study suggest. Such “disorders may include anxiety,” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), “obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and depression,” researchers found.

Related Links:

— “Are ‘Workaholics’ Prone to OCD, Anxiety?,” Randy Dotinga, HealthDay, June 10, 2016.

USA Today (6/9, Painter) reports trying e-cigarettes may be a new rite of passage for teens, according to a recent survey conducted by the CDC. Data show nearly 50 percent of the 15,000 high school students in the survey had tried vaping, but just one-third had smoked a tobacco cigarette. On a positive note, the percentage of those who said they had taken “even one puff of a tobacco cigarette dropped from 70% in the early 1990s to 41% in 2013 and 32% in 2015.”

The AP (6/9, Stobbe) reports the survey also revealed that sexual activity among teens decreased. Data show “41 percent of high school kids said they had ever had sex, down from around 47 percent over much of the last decade.” In addition, the survey “found marked declines last year in the proportion of students who said had sex recently, had sex before they were 13, and had four or more partners.”

Related Links:

— “More teens now try vaping than smoking,” Kim Painter, , June 9, 2016.