HealthDay (10/10, Dallas) reported, “Birth weight and growth during childhood could affect hearing, vision, thinking and memory later in life,” a study recently published in PLOS One suggests. After examining “data from more than 430,000 adults, aged 40 to 69, in the” UK, investigators “concluded that children who were too small or too large at birth had worse hearing, vision, and thinking and memory skills by the time they reached middle-age.”

Related Links:

— “Weight, Growth Early in Life May Affect Adult Brain,” Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, October 9, 2015.

The Toledo (OH) Blade (10/12) reports on a US-wide shortage of psychiatrists at a time of increasing “public awareness of mental illness.” Recently, the American Medical Association conducted a survey that “found that 59 percent of psychiatrists are 55 or older…signaling that many may soon be retiring or reducing their workload,” further exacerbating the shortage. What’s more, there are not enough medical school graduates to replace them. American Psychiatric Association president Renee Binder, MD, “says the perception of inadequate pay is a factor in discouraging some medical students from choosing psychiatry as a specialty.” In Texas, where the shortage of psychiatrists is particularly acute, “lawmakers recently voted to pay the student loans of psychiatrists willing to work in underserved areas.”

Related Links:

— “Shrinking profession: Serious shortage of psychiatrists facing much of U.S.,” Toledo Blade, October 12, 2015.

In a 2,400-word story on its front page, the New York Times (10/12, A1, Carey, Subscription Publication) reports that in certain parts of West Africa, “where psychiatry is virtually unknown,” people with severe mental illnesses end up “shackled” in “prayer camps,” living in appalling conditions, with “no treatment other than prayer.” In a separate 2,400-word article, the New York Times (10/12, Carey, Subscription Publication) reports on efforts underway to change such practices. A “growing number” of groups have begun providing mental healthcare in Africa and Asia without using clinics or physicians, instead relying on “mobile nurses, cheap generic drugs and community support systems.”

Related Links:

— “The Chains of Mental Illness in West Africa,” Benedict Carey, New York Times, October 11, 2015.

In a Wall Street Journal (10/9, A13, Subscription Publication) op-ed, Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), who serves as a psychologist in the Navy Reserve Medical Service Corps, argues for reform of the nation’s mental health system, making a case for his Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. In the editorial, Rep. Murphy also mentions a statistic from the National Institute of Mental Health that people who are being treated for a mental illness have about 15 times less the likelihood of engaging in acts of violence than people whose mental illnesses go untreated.

Related Links:

— “Mass Shootings and a Mental-Health Disgrace,” Tim Murphy, Wall Street Journal, October 8, 2015.

National Journal (10/9, Mimms, Owens, Subscription Publication) reports on stalled efforts to pass mental health reform legislation in Congress. According to National Journal, “while Democrats are taking an all-or-nothing approach to the legislation they’d like to see passed, Republicans who actually get to decide what legislation will see the light of day seem to have higher-ranking items on their” current list of priorities.

Related Links:

— “Partisan Standoff Stalls Both Gun and Mental-Health Bills,” Sarah Mimms and Caitlin Owens, National Journal, October 8, 2015.

The Washington Post (10/8, Wax-Thibodeaux) “Federal Eye” blog reported that “female veterans die by suicide at nearly six times the rate as those with no service record,” because they use guns. Suicides among female veterans have reached “such an alarming number that mental health experts at the Department of Veterans Affairs say the agency is reaching out to former servicewomen to talk about gun safety.” Currently, “VA hospitals and clinics are offering free gun locks and education at every VA to ensure firearm safety…said” Caitlin Thompson, the VA’s deputy director for suicide prevention.

Related Links:

— “VA addresses suicide by gun problem among female veterans,” Emily Wax-Thibodeaux, Washington Post, October 8, 2015.

The New York Times (10/9, Sanger-Katz, Subscription Publication) reports in “The Upshot” that “more than 60 percent of people” in the US “who die from guns die by suicide.” Experts in public health “cite two reasons” why “guns are particularly dangerous.” First, firearms “are more lethal than most other methods people try,” and second, “suicide attempts often occur shortly after people decide to kill themselves, so people with deadly means at hand when the impulse strikes are more likely to use them than those who have to wait or plan.” Having a gun in the home “can make self-harm both easy and deadly.”

Related Links:

— “Gun Deaths Are Mostly Suicides,” Margot Sanger-Katz, New York Times, October 8, 2015.

Reuters (10/7, Seaman) reports that the prevalence of PTSD is far higher than originally thought in women veterans who served during the era of the Vietnam war, according to a study published online Oct. 7 in JAMA Psychiatry. Researchers arrived at that conclusion after examining data on 4,219 female service members who served in Vietnam, near Vietnam, and in the US from 1965 to 1973. Also covering the story are HealthDay (10/8, Dallas) and Medscape (10/8, Harrison).

Related Links:

— “PTSD common among female Vietnam-era veterans,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, October 7, 2015.

Medscape (10/8, Harrison) reports that 78 percent of US adults “support mandated mental health coverage in health plans,” according to the results of “a cross-sectional national poll” published in the October issue of the journal Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association. The poll, to which 2,124 people responded, also found that “support is stronger when substance abuse treatment is not explicitly included in that coverage.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The Washington Post (10/8, Ross) “The Fix” blog reports that the ACA “has boosted the number of Americans with health insurance coverage but has not resolved the disparate way in which many insurers treat the costs of mental and physical health care, according to an April report (PDF) released by the National Alliance on Mental Illness.” The report found that Federal changes mandating parity between mental and physical healthcare benefits “do not, in practice, exist for the vast majority of Americans who are insured.” As the country struggles with a heroin crisis, researchers found that people “are struggling to find therapists and psychiatrists who participate in their health insurance plans. They also face more frequent coverage and treatment denials from their health insurance companies for mental health care than for other services and must clear multiple hurdles to maintain a steady supply of mental health care medication.”

Related Links:

— “Obamacare mandated better mental health-care coverage. It hasn’t happened.,” Janell Ross, Washington Post, October 7, 2015.