Some Preschoolers Who Are Picky Eaters May Have Underlying Mental Health Disorders.
The New York Times (8/3, Peachman) “Motherlode” blog reports that a study published in Pediatrics suggests that “moderate selective eating (a.k.a. picky eating) is associated with symptoms of psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” in preschoolers. Youngsters “with severe selective eating…were seven times more likely to have social anxiety and twice as likely to have a diagnosis of depression compared to children without selective eating habits,” the study found.

The AP (8/3, Tanner) reports that just “three percent of young children studied were that picky.” Researchers looked at some 900 youngsters ranging in age from two to five before arriving at the study’s conclusions.

Related Links:

— “Picky Eating in Children Linked to Anxiety, Depression and A.D.H.D.,” Rachel Rabkin Peachman, New York Times, Augsut 3, 2015.

The Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger (7/30, O’Brien) reports that research suggests that “more than a quarter of the people whose homes were damaged” during Superstorm Sandy “were plunged into some form of mental health distress that persisted two and a half years after the event.” Additionally, “14 percent reported experiencing the signs and symptoms of PTSD.”

The Asbury Park (NJ) Press (7/30) points out that “the Sandy Child and Family Health Study…is the result of face-to-face interviews with 1,000 individuals in the nine most affected counties in New Jersey, a swath that includes Monmouth and Ocean counties.”

Related Links:

— “Study reveals the hidden toll on Superstorm Sandy victims,” Kathleen O’Brien, Newark Star-Ledger, July 29, 2015.

HealthDay (7/30, Norton) reports that a study published in the July issue of the journal Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology found that “adverse reactions to St. John’s wort,” which is “a popular herbal therapy for depression,” appear to be “similar to those reported for the antidepressant fluoxetine,” commonly known as Prozac.

After examining physicians’ “reports to Australia’s national agency” on medication safety, researchers found that side effects included “anxiety, panic attacks, dizziness, nausea and spikes in blood pressure.” In addition, St. John’s wort can react with antidepressants and can “dampen the effectiveness” of oral contraceptives, anticoagulants, “and heart disease drugs, along with some HIV and cancer drugs, according to the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.”

Related Links:

— “Taking St. John’s Wort for Depression Carries Risks: Study,” Amy Norton, HealthDay, July 29, 2015.

Reuters (7/30, Seaman) reports that women in their middle years who are the most connected socially with family, friends, and social groups may have a lower likelihood of suicide, according to a study published online July 29 in JAMA Psychiatry.

HealthDay (7/30, Mozes) reports that the study of “nearly 73,000 female nurses aged 46 to 71” who were tracked “between 1992 and 2010” also revealed that “friendships and outside activities were found to offer protection against suicide even for women who struggled with mental health issues, such as depression.”

Medscape (7/30, Anderson) reports that an accompanying editorial observed that the study’s results “invite further research to explore whether factors or behaviors that reflect longstanding measures of individual social integration predict a person’s mindset when he or she is suicidal.”

Related Links:

— “Suicide risk tied to women’s social connectedness,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, July 29, 2015.

On its front page, the New York Times (7/31, A1, Risen, Subscription Publication) reports that the American Psychological Association’s board “plans to recommend tough ethics rules that would prohibit psychologists from involvement in all national security interrogations.” The board is expected to “recommend” that the association’s members approve the change at next week’s annual meeting. Association officials “said they believed the proposed ban would be so strict that any psychologist involved” in the interrogations “could be subject to an ethics complaint.”

Related Links:

— “U.S. Psychologists Urged to Curb Questioning Terror Suspects,” James Risen, New York Times, July 30, 2015.

Medscape (7/31, Lowes) reports that physician recruiting firm Merritt Hawkins’ “latest report on recruiting trends shows a weak pulse for one specialty: psychiatry.” Medscape adds, “The number of searches for psychiatrists from April 2014 through March 2015 hit an all-time high in the company’s 27-year history.” Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, a past president of the American Psychiatric Association, “attributes the crisis to systemic problems in healthcare that hit his profession especially hard,” including low reimbursement rates, not enough psychiatry residency slots, and less than full implementation and enforcement of mental health parity rules. APA president Renee Binder, MD, said, “There are no instant fixes to meeting the demand for psychiatrists.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (7/31) reports, “High levels of job stress may increase the risk of sick leave due to mental health disorders,” according to research published in the August issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. After analyzing “data from nearly 12,000 workers in Sweden” over the course of five years, researchers found that “workers with demanding jobs, high job strain and little social support at work were at greater risk for mental health sick leave, as were those with unhealthy lifestyles,” such as people who smoke.

Related Links:

— “Job Stress Might Make You Sick, Study Says,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, July 31, 2015.

The Baltimore Sun (7/29, Cohn) reports that Maryland health officials are seeking a waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to “use federal dollars to pay for Medicaid patients to get substance-abuse and mental-health treatment outside the state’s general hospitals.” Lifting the ban on such spending “would expand the options for people seeking care, allowing them to use community treatment facilities that specialize in those services and tend to be less costly than hospitals, said officials from the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.”

Related Links:

— “Maryland seeks to expand access to drug, mental health treatment in the community,” Meredith Cohn, Baltimore Sun, July 28, 2015.

The AP (7/28, Crary) reports that mental illness is often “cited as a possible factor in…high-profile mass” killings. But, Renee Binder, MD, president of the American Psychiatric Association, explained, “Most people who suffer from mental illness are not violent, and most violent acts are committed by people who are not mentally ill.” According to 2102 estimates from the NIMH, “there were an estimated 9.6 million adults in the U.S. – 4.1 percent of the total adult population – experiencing serious mental illness over the previous year.” Dr. Binder pointed out, “If you look at that large pool of people, only a tiny proportion of them will eventually commit violence.” She added, “How are you going to identify them? It’s like a needle in a haystack.”

Related Links:

— “MENTAL HEALTH EXPERTS RESPOND CAREFULLY TO MASS KILLINGS,” David Crary, Associated Press, July 27, 2015.

The Washington Post (7/28, Berger) reports that although “a purified version of ecstasy, or MDMA, Molly is commonly thought to be a safe drug,” the version “sold on the street often is laced with other substances — such as acetaminophen, amphetamines and ketamine, a compound used in anesthesia — that can be deadly in large enough doses.”

Related Links:

— “Molly, a form of MDMA or ecstasy, can cause fatal reactions,” Susan Berger, Washington Post, July 27, 2015.