Medscape (3/21, Davenport) reports, “Psychiatry is facing an ongoing crisis because pharmaceutical companies are not investing in” research into new psychiatric medications, “warned an investigator who has turned to nonpsychiatric” medicines “in a bid to find optimally effective treatments for his patients with mental illness.” At the European Psychiatric Association’s 24th Congress, Dominik Wincewicz, MD, of Poland’s Medical University of Bialystok suggested that “researchers…look beyond psychiatry into other specialties, such as cardiology, where already approved drugs have shown benefits in managing stress and cognitive impairment.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The AP (3/22, Finley) reports that some veterans are “increasingly using cannabis” to manage their post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) “even though it remains illegal in most states and is unapproved by the Department of Veterans Affairs because major studies have yet to show it is effective against PTSD.” Even though studies have “been contradictory and limited, some former members of the military say pot helps them manage their anxiety, insomnia and nightmares.”

Related Links:

— “VETERANS ARE USING POT TO EASE PTSD, DESPITE SCANT RESEARCH,” Ben Finlay, Associated Press, March 22, 2016.

Reuters (3/21, Seaman) reports that young transgender women appear to have an increased likelihood of mental health issues, including addiction or depression, the findings of a 300-patient study published online March 21 in JAMA Pediatrics suggest.

HealthDay (3/21, Mozes) points out that “mental health and substance abuse issues are roughly two to four times greater among these transgender women than among the US population at large,” the study found.

According to MedPage Today (3/21, Walker), an accompanying editorial observed, “Timely and appropriate care for transgender adolescents and young adults is imperative to help them achieve health and wellness.” The study received financial support from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “Depression, addiction common among young transgender women,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, March 21, 2016.

The Huffington Post (3/18, Holmes) reported that investigators “from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed answers from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children’s Health and found that one in seven children experiences a psychological disorder.” The study data, “based on more than 35,000 children ages two to eight,” examined “parents’ responses about their child’s language problems, learning disabilities, reported” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, “anxiety, depression and more.”

Related Links:

— “An Astonishing Number Of Kids Have Psychological Disorders,” Lindsay Holmes, Huffington Post, March 18, 2016.

MedPage Today (3/17, Jackson) reports, “Older adults who are severely depressed and getting worse over time may be at higher risk of developing dementia,” the findings of a 2,488-participant study published online March 16 in JAMA Psychiatry suggest. The study, which received support from the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute for Nursing Research, and the National Institute of Mental Health, among others, revealed that “a high and increasing depressive symptom trajectory was associated with significantly increased risk of dementia.” While “moderate and increasing symptom trajectory was not associated with increased risk of dementia,” it “may be related to underlying neurodegenerative disease, researchers reported.”

Related Links:

— “Worsening Depression Tied to Dementia Risk,” Kay Jackson, MedPage Today, March 17, 2016.

The New York Times (3/16, Reynolds) “Well” blog reports, “Meditating before running could change the brain in ways that are more beneficial for mental health than practicing either of those activities alone,” a small study published online Feb. 2 in Translational Psychiatry suggests. After recruiting “52 men and women, 22 of whom had been given diagnoses of depression,” and having them complete meditation “sessions twice a week for eight weeks,” researchers found that the “22 volunteers with depression now had a 40 percent reduction in” depressive symptoms.

Related Links:

— “Meditation Plus Running as a Treatment for Depression,” Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times, March 16, 2016.

According to the NBC News (3/16, Fox) website, a study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and published online Feb. 10 in the Journal of Community Psychology reveals that “people living in Baltimore’s low-income neighborhoods who see rats as a big problem are significantly more likely to have depressive symptoms such as sadness and anxiety.”

The Baltimore Sun (3/16, Cohn) reports that after surveying 448 low-income Baltimore residents, “researchers found that those who considered the rats a big problem were 72 percent more likely to experience depressive symptoms than those who lived in similar neighborhoods where rats weren’t a big problem.” The study’s lead author “said the findings could change the way public health and other officials frame the conversation about rats, usually considered a nuisance and a vector for disease more than a depressive force.”

Related Links:

— “Rats Depress People More Than Crime Does, Study Finds,” Maggie Fox, NBC News, March 16, 2016.

MedPage Today (3/14, Walker) reports that research suggests children “with emotionally healthy childhoods had a lower risk of coronary artery calcification as adults.” Investigators found that “childhood psychosocial factors, such as self-regulatory behavior, positive health behaviors among parents, and socioeconomic status, had an inverse relationship with any coronary artery calcification (CAC) in adulthood.” For each “favorable 1-SD change in the childhood social factors score, the probability of coronary artery calcification in adulthood dropped 15%.”

Related Links:

— “Happier Kids Less Likely to Have CAC as Adults,” Molly walker, MedPage Today, March 14, 2016.

The Washington Post (3/14, Bieler) reports that yesterday, a top NFL official “made a stunning admission Monday, agreeing with a neuropathologist before a Congressional panel that a link exists between football-related brain injuries and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).”

The Los Angeles Times (3/14, Farmer, Fenno) reports that yesterday while appearing at a roundtable discussion of concussions before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, NFL senior vice president for health and safety Jeff Miller “acknowledged…for the first time that there is a connection between football-related brain trauma and” CTE, “a degenerative disease that can be diagnosed only after death.”

Related Links:

— “In stunning admission, NFL official affirms link between football and CTE,” Des Bieler, Washington Post, March 14, 2016.

On its website, CBS News (3/14, Welch) reports in “Science Now” that a study found quitting “cold turkey” is the most effective way to stop smoking. The findings of the 697-participant study were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The Los Angeles Times (3/14, Healy) describes the methodology of the study in which one group of smokers was instructed to quit immediately, or “cold turkey,” and the other group was instructed to gradually reduce how much they smoked over a period of two weeks. The study found that after six months, 22% of the group that was instructed to quit immediately had stopped smoking, but only 15.5% of the group that was instructed to slowly reduce their smoking had stopped smoking.

Related Links:

— “Trying to quit smoking? Here’s the most effective strategy,” Ashley Welch, CBS News, March 14, 2016.