mHealth Intelligence (12/26, Vaidya) reports, “Psychiatrists were the top users of telehealth in 2022, with 83 percent saying they had conducted a video visit the week prior in an American Medical Association survey.” Notably, “54.1 percent of psychiatrists conducted more than 20 percent of their visits through videoconferencing, and 27.2 percent conducted more than 60 percent of their visits through this method in 2022.”

Related Links:

— “Psychiatrists’ Telehealth Use ‘Well Above’ Other Specialists,” Anuja Vaidya, mHealth Intelligence, December 26, 2023

HealthDay (12/26, Mundell) reports, “Even after they’ve experienced episodes of psychosis, many young people who use marijuana are unsure they want to quit the drug, new research shows.” The findings were published in Early Intervention in Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Many Young People at Risk for Psychosis Are Torn About Using Marijuana,” Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, December 26, 2023

HCPlive (12/22, Derman) reported, “Parents with psychiatric disorders have a higher likelihood of passing down psychiatric disorders to their children, according to a new study.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Parents Pass Down Psychiatric Conditions Due to a General Psychopathology Factor,” Chelsie Derman, HCPLive, December 22, 2023

HealthDay (12/26, Thompson) reports, “Three-quarters of Americans plan to start the New Year with a resolution to be more healthy, including 28% who want to focus on improving their mental health, a new survey has found.” According to results of the American Psychiatric Association’s Healthy Minds monthly poll, “these folks plan to exercise more (67%), meditate (49%), keep a diary (26%), or see a therapist (35%) or psychiatrist (21%).”

APA President Dr. Petros Levounis stressed the importance of mental health maintenance. “Preserve your healthy routines, maintain your relationships with loved ones and take good care of yourself, as well as the people around you,” he said in a news release. APA CEO and Medical Director Dr. Saul Levin added, “Taking care of your mental health doesn’t need to be tied to a holiday – any of us can take any of these steps any time.”

Related Links:

— “Many Americans Are Resolving to Boost Their Mental Health in 2024,” Dennis Thompson, HeathDay, December 26, 2023

HealthDay (12/21, Thompson) reports, “Head injuries related to football might be tied to markers of dementia like brain shrinkage and decreased blood flow to the brain, a…study of former pro and college players” found. Investigators “compared brain scans of 120 former pro football players and 60 former college players against 60 men who never played football and had no history of concussion.”

The researchers “found that the relationship between white matter hyperintensities and stroke risk was more than 11 times stronger in former football players than in those who never played.” The investigators also “found that these signs of brain damage were 2.5 times more strongly related to elevated p-tau proteins in football players than in non-players.” The findings were published in Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Former Pro Football Players Show Troubling Brain Changes,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, December 21, 2023

USA Today (12/21, Garzella) reports, “Amid a nationwide ADHD drug shortage, patients are paying significantly more for medication to help them direct their focus at school, work and home.” This “shortage has placed financial pressure on families, forcing them to search for alternatives,” which are often “expensive brand-name drugs.”

This “upward trend can” also “be seen in the prices retail community pharmacies pay for several popular ADHD drugs, which a USA TODAY analysis found have outpaced inflation – and in some cases doubled or tripled in price – since Adderall fell into short supply starting in October 2022.”

Related Links:

— “ADHD drug prices rise as Adderall shortage leaves patients scrimping to fill prescriptions,” Cecila Garzella, USA Today, December 21, 2023

RheumatologyAdvisor (12/20, Khaja) reports, “Depression may impact psoriatic arthritis (PsA) treatment response and lead to higher rates of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD) discontinuation, which may affect disease management and progression, according to study results published in Clinical Rheumatology.” In the study, “patients diagnosed with depression exhibited a notably elevated rate of treatment transitions attributed to lack of drug efficacy during the initial 12-month period.

Related Links:

— “Depression May Impact bDMARD Treatment Response and Discontinuation in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis,” Hibah Khaja, Rheumatology Advisor , December 20, 2023

HealthDay (12/20, Thompson) reports, “Anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress are common among people caring for the victim of a recent stroke, a new study has found.” Almost “30% of caregivers of severe stroke patients experience stress and emotional problems during the first year after the patient leaves the hospital, according to a report in the journal Neurology.”

Related Links:

— “Depression, Anxiety Common in Caregivers of Stroke Survivors,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, December 20, 2023

Healio (12/19, Southall) reports, “First-generation medical students reported experiencing increased adversity with inadequate institutional support during undergraduate medical training, according to study results published in JAMA Network Open.” Specifically, the “results showed four common themes experienced by first-generation students, including: isolation and exclusion associated with being new to the field of medicine; difficulty with access to basic resources, such as food, rent and transportation; an overall lack of faculty or institutional support to address these challenges; and an overall sense of needing to rely on grit and resilience to survive.”

Related Links:

— “Structural change needed to retain next generation of diverse, first-generation physicians,” Jennifer R. Southall, Healio, December 19, 2023

HealthDay (12/19, Thompson) reports, “Flipping through Instagram or TikTok might seem like a good way to relax during a work break, but social media actually could be making you less happy on the job. Workers who cut down on their social media use 30 minutes a day on the job had better mental health, job satisfaction and commitment to their occupation, a new study reports.”

The results were published in the journal Behavior and Information Technology.

Related Links:

— “Bummed Out at Work? Cutting Down on Social Media May Help,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, December 19, 2023