HealthDay (10/8) reports that the majority “of the suicide attempts occurred in the second and third year after the surgery, the findings showed.” However, “about 93 percent of those suicide attempts occurred in patients diagnosed with a mental health disorder prior to surgery, the researchers reported.” The study authors theorized that “changes in alcohol metabolism after surgery; a substitution of substance misuse for food; increased stress; and changes in the levels of hormones that might affect the likelihood of depression and suicidal behaviors” may explain the findings.

Related Links:

— “Suicide Risk May Rise for Some After Weight-Loss Surgery,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, October 7, 2015.

In an editorial, the Baltimore Sun (10/7) reports that in wake of “last week’s shooting at Umpqua Community College that left 10 dead, there has been a steady drumbeat of calls for better care” for people who suffer from mental illnesses. The Sun points out that even though “improving access to mental health services” would likely not “prevent the next mass shooting or even significantly reduce violence on the streets,” it would certainly “greatly improve the quality of life for the estimated 5.6 million Americans with a mental illness.”

Related Links:

— “Mental health prescription?,” Baltimore Sun, October 6, 2015.

In an op-ed for USA Today (10/7), former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, the author of a new book on mental illness and addiction, urges every presidential candidate to include a “detailed and realistic platform for how he or she would dramatically improve diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental illness and addiction.”

Kennedy argues that because of discrimination, mental disorders are often kept secret, which is “a huge part of the reason our country does not have a consistent policy on their care.” He says that “experts agree” that “perhaps the greatest opportunity to save lives and health care dollars” would come from approaching mental illnesses proactively, integrating care, and no longer “pretending these aren’t chronic illnesses.”

Related Links:

— “Patrick Kennedy: After Roseburg, face up to mental illness, addiction,” Patrick J. Kennedy, USA Today, October 7, 2015.

The CBS News (10/7, Marcus) website reports that expectant fathers “may feel stressed, worn down, and anxious about the ins and outs of pregnancy and new parenthood,” according to research published online Sept. 18 in the American Journal of Men’s Health. The 622-participant study revealed that “more than 13 percent of first-time expectant fathers reported elevated symptoms of depression during their partners’ pregnancies.”

But, Philip Muskin, MD, “a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and chief of service of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, said it’s important to clarify that the researchers looked at depressive symptoms, which are not the same as depression.” Dr. Muskin, “who is also a member of the scientific program committee at the American Psychiatric Association…was not involved in the study.”

Related Links:

— “Dads-to-be may be at risk for “baby blues”,” Mary Trophy Marcus, CBS News, October 6, 2015.

Medscape (10/6, Davenport) reports, “Young people at risk for depression are less likely to develop the disorder after a cognitive-behavioral prevention (CBP) program, the benefits of which persist for more than six years,” according to the findings of a 316-patient study published online Sept. 30 in JAMA Psychiatry. A grant from the National Institute of Mental Health helped support the study. Reuters (10/6, Doyle) also reports.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

USA Today (10/3, Szabo) reported that “23 mental health groups,” including the American Psychiatric Association, “are calling on Congress to pass legislation aimed at repairing the USA’s broken mental health system.” Last Thursday, “the groups delivered a letter” to leaders of the House of Representatives “hours before the attack at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore. left 10 people dead.” In the letter, which the APA helped co-author, APA president Renée Binder, MD, asked, “How many more reminders do we need that mental health has to be a high priority?” Dr. Binder added, “This is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. This is an American issue.”

Related Links:

— “Groups call on Congress to reform mental health system,” Liz Szabo, USA Today, October 2, 2015.

The Washington Post (10/3, Dennis) “To Your Health” blog wrote that some academics now contend that gun violence should be considered “a public health crisis.” For example, “US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has referred to the problem as a health epidemic.” Last Thursday, following the mass shootings at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, OR, President Obama “lamented ‘a Congress that explicitly blocks us from even collecting data on how we could potentially reduce gun deaths.’”

Related Links:

— “Why we should think of gun violence as a disease, and study it accordingly,” Brady Dennis, Washington Post, October 2, 2015.

HealthDay (10/2, Preidt) reports a new study indicates “early exposure to secondhand smoke may lead to behavioral problems in children.” The study by the French Institute of Health and Medical Research in Paris “analyzed data from more than 5,200 primary school students in France and found that those exposed to secondhand smoke while in the womb and/or at a young age were at higher risk for behavioral problems, particularly emotional and conduct disorders.” The study was published online in PLoS One.

Related Links:

— “Secondhand Smoke Linked to Behavior Issues in Kids,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, October 1, 2015.

On the CBS Evening News (10/1, story 6, 1:15, Pelley) in response to yesterday’s shootings at Umpqua College in Roseburg, OR, CBS News chief medical correspondent Jonathan LaPook, MD was shown saying that “when it comes to mental illness, early intervention works.” However, “the big problem in the US and elsewhere is access to care.” A new pilot program started this past May at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC is “training the pediatricians” and “schools to evaluate” troubled “kids via tele-medicine.” As it happens, “only 10 percent of the time do those kids then need to be seen face to face by the psychiatrist.” To date, “there are a total of 17 such programs in the” US, all of which operate under the premise that “early intervention, increased access to care, and maybe treating [kids] earlier will make a big difference.”

Related Links:

— “Mass shootings and the mental health connection,” Jonathan Lapook, CBS News, October 1, 2015.

The New York Times (10/1, A23, Carey, Subscription Publication) reports, “Medical literature has overstated the benefits of talk therapy for depression, in part because studies with poor results have rarely made it into journals,” according to a review published Sept. 30 in PLOS One. For the study, researchers “tracked down all the grants funded by the National Institutes of Health to test talk therapy for depression from 1972 to 2008.”

On its “All Things Considered” program and in its “Shots” blog, NPR (10/1, Hamilton) reports that “results from nearly a quarter of” 55 “trials were never published.” When the review’s authors included those results, they “found that the apparent effectiveness was inflated by publication bias.” That bias “may have led psychiatrists and psychologists to be too optimistic about both talk therapy and drug treatment…says” one of the study’s authors.

Related Links:

— “Effectiveness of Talk Therapy Is Overstated, a Study Says,” Benedict Carey, New York Times, September 30, 2015.