The New York Magazine (2/23, Carpenter) reports on the growing number of apps designed to help people with mental health disorders. For individuals “dealing with mental-health issues involving addiction or abuse or self-harm,” however, “an app can’t make up for in-person check-ins.” Still, such apps may help provide access to some form of mental health treatment. Currently, “more than half” of US counties “are entirely without mental-health professionals, according to the director of the National Institute of Mental Health.”

Related Links:

— “Uber, But for the Mirror Stage: How Mental-Health Apps Are Changing Therapy,” Julia Carpenter, New York Magazine, February 22, 2016.

HealthDay (2/19, Preidt) reported, “Children with autism and other development disorders are more likely than other youngsters to wander and put themselves in potential danger,” a study published in PLoS One suggests. After having “analyzed data from a 2011 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of parents and guardians of more than 4,000 children with special needs who were between the ages of six and 17,” investigators found that “more than 26 percent of the children had wandered away from a safe environment within the previous 12 months.”

Related Links:

— “Kids With Autism More Likely to Wander, Less Likely to Recognize Danger,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 19, 2016.

Medical Daily (2/20, Castillo) reported that a study published online Feb. 10 in the journal Appetite “suggests habitual chocolate consumption is positively associated with cognitive performance”.

Related Links:

— “Health Benefits Of Chocolate: Habitual Consumption ‘Positively Associated’ With Brain Function,” Stephanie Castillo, Medical Daily, February 20, 2016.

The NPR (2/20, Silberner) “Goats and Soda” blog reported that psychologist and psychiatrist Daniel Vigo, MD, of Harvard University, “along with Rifat Atun, also of Harvard, and Graham Thornicroft of King’s College in London, co-authored an eye-opening analysis published this month in the journal Lancet Psychiatry.”

After reinterpreting “data about illnesses and deaths collected over the last two decades as part of… the Global Burden of Disease Study,” the team has “concluded that the number of people affected by mental illness is greater than has been thought.”

Related Links:

— “A Man On A Mission: Give A True Count Of The Toll Of Mental Illness,” Joanne Silberner, National Public Radio, February 20, 2016.

In a 1,200-word article, the New York Times (2/22, A9, Philipps, Subscription Publication) reports that over the past 15 years, “more than 300,000 people, about 13 percent of all troops,” many with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), “have been forced out of the military with less-than-honorable discharges.”

Congress has since implemented changes, including a requirement for “mental health professionals to review all discharges,” and these days, soldiers “with PTSD are more likely to be medically discharged with benefits.” Such measures have not remedied the situation for veterans “discharged before the changes,” however.

Some veterans are now “pushing for a bill in Congress that would overhaul the system by mandating that the military give veterans the benefit of the doubt, requiring the boards to decide cases starting from the presumption that PTSD materially contributed to the discharges.”

Related Links:

— “Veterans Want Past Discharges to Recognize Post-Traumatic Stress,” Dave Philipps, New York Times, February 19, 2016.

HealthDay (2/18, Preidt) reports that patients with schizophrenia may be “at significantly increased risk of attempting suicide,” according to a study published online in Schizophrenia Research and Treatment. After analyzing data on “more than 21,700 Canadians,” researchers found that patients “with schizophrenia had six times the odds of having attempted suicide in comparison to those without schizophrenia.”

Related Links:

— “Schizophrenia Tied to Much Higher Risk of Suicide Attempts,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 18, 2016.

Medical Daily (2/18, Baulkman) reports that a large study published Thursday in the scientific journal Addiction found “cigarette smokers with depressive symptoms, such as feelings of guilt and helplessness, had a higher motivation to quit smoking, but were more likely to relapse within the first month.” The Daily says this creates a “catch-22,” as quitting smoking creates risks of depression. The CDC is cited indicating tobacco smoking is “the leading preventable cause of death” in the US.

Related Links:

— “Smokers With Depression Have A Higher Motivation To Quit, But More Likely To Relapse,” Jaleesa Baulkman, Medical Daily, February 18, 2016.

The NBC News (2/18, Fox) website reports that “more Americans than ever are overdosing on anxiety” medications. Researchers found that while the amount of filled prescriptions for anxiety medications has tripled from 1996 to 2013, the number of overdoses quadrupled over the same time period.

Related Links:

— “Anxiety Drug Overdoses Have Quadrupled Over Last Two Decades, Study Finds,” Maggie Fox, NBC News, February 18, 2016.

The Huffington Post (2/18, Pearson) reports that antenatal depression “affects roughly 15 to 25 percent of expectant mothers,” and is not given as much attention as postpartum depression. Meanwhile, “the DSM-5, the American Psychiatric Association’s official manual of mental disorders, does not recognize antenatal and postpartum depression as separate things, instead including them both under the umbrella of ‘major depression’ with a specifier of ‘peripartum onset.’”

Both conditions “can be closely intertwined,” however. “Women who are depressed or anxious during pregnancy are 50 percent more likely than the general population to struggle postpartum,” said clinical social worker Kate Kripke, founder of the Postpartum Wellness Center of Boulder.

Related Links:

— “We Need To Talk More About Depression During Pregnancy,” Catherine Pearson, Huffington Post, February 17, 2016.

Medscape (2/17, Brooks) reports that “a sense of meaning in life may be a critical factor in curbing suicidal thoughts in older adults.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)