In an essay in the New York Times (10/23, Subscription Publication), author Joshua Kendall writes that the reasoning behind Vice President Biden’s decision not to run for president is “no surprise,” particularly since Biden’s son Beau died this past spring of brain cancer. Biden, who had to deal with grief, “lost valuable time to mount a candidacy.” Mental healthcare professionals are in agreement that “few life events are more devastating than the death of a child.” American Psychiatric Association president Renee Binder, MD, said, “It’s every parent’s worst nightmare.” Dr. Binder added, “Parents are supposed to die first. It’s a violation of the natural order.”

Related Links:

— “Parental Grief Has Often Been a Factor in Presidential Politics,” Joshua Kendall, New York Times, October 22, 2015.

The Wall Street Journal (10/23, A3, Campo-Flores, Subscription Publication) reports on the increasing number of US communities that are attempting to make quality of life better for people with dementia. In such communities, people who staff businesses and public establishments receive special training to become more aware of the needs of people with dementia and their caregivers.

Related Links:

— “More Cities Aim to Be ‘Dementia-Friendly’,” Arian Campo-Flores, Wall Street Journal, October 22, 2015.

The Boston Globe (10/19, Thielking) reports Boston is one of the many cities that is using dementia training programs “in an aggressive effort to create dozens of ‘dementia-friendly’ communities across the state.” The program gives participants an idea of what it feels like to be elderly and suffer from dementia, since 5.3 million American now have Alzheimer’s and “16 million are expected to have the disease by 2050.”

Related Links:

— “Efforts spread to aid dementia sufferers,” Megan Thielking, Boston Globe, October 18, 2015.

The Washington Post (10/17, Hicks, Craighill) reported a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll has found that “nearly 3 in 10 Marylanders say they have a close friend or family member who was or is addicted to opioids such as heroin and prescription pain pills.” The study highlights “the effect of a surge in opioid use that Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has described as a crisis and vowed to address.”

Related Links:

— “In Maryland, 3 in 10 people have known someone addicted to opioids,” Josh Hicks and Peyton M. Craighill, Washington Post, October 17, 2015.

The Hill (10/17, Sullivan) reported that 22 senators signed a letter calling on the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor to take “immediate and overdue action to implement and enforce” the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which “prevents health insurers from limiting mental health coverage more than they limit physical health coverage.”

Related Links:

— “Senators urge enforcement to protect mental health coverage,” Peter Sullivan, The Hill, October 16, 2015.

HealthDay (10/15, Dotinga) reports, “Wide-ranging suicide prevention funding appears to have successfully prevented suicide attempts among young people in certain areas of the” US, according to a study published online Oct. 14 in JAMA Psychiatry. After comparing “466 counties” that started using funding from the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Suicide Prevention Program “between 2006 and 2009 to more than 1,100 counties – similar overall – that didn’t receive funding,” researchers found that “the suicide prevention funding may have averted as many as 79,000 suicide attempts between 2008 and 2011.”

Medical Daily (10/15, Cara) points out, however, that funding from the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Suicide Prevention Program “didn’t appear to have any influence on the suicide attempt rates of people older than 23; nor was there a sustained longer-term difference in attempt rates.”

Related Links:

— “Youth Suicide Prevention Program Shows Promise,” Randy Dotinga, HealthDay, October 14, 2015.

In an opinion piece for USA Today (10/13), former American Psychiatric Association president Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, chair of psychiatry at Columbia University and New York Presbyterian Hospital, writes, “In the course of my career, I have seen many young patients whose education and lives were derailed by the onset of mental illness that was not adequately managed while in college.” Dr. Lieberman urges students and parents to “acknowledge the possibility that mental health care might be needed in the course [of] their college education, and make learning about it a priority.”

Related Links:

— “Reading, writing and mental health care: Column,” Jeffrey Lieberman, USA Today, October 12, 2015.

The CBS News (10/13, Marcus) website reports that “a significant percentage” of children “with mental health conditions,” such as anxiety or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) “are treated only by pediatricians,” according to a study published online Oct. 12 in the journal Pediatrics. After analyzing data “from about 43,000 children ages two to 21 who had been seen for mental health issues in outpatient settings between 2008 and 2011,” researchers found that nearly “35 percent of children who go for mental health care in an outpatient setting are treated by a primary care physician only, while 26 percent saw a psychiatrist, and 15 percent saw a psychologist or social worker.”

Related Links:

— “1 in 3 children with mental health needs only see a pediatrician,” Mary Brophy Marcus, CBS News, October 12, 2015.

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.