HealthDay (2/28, Preidt) reported, “Half the teens seen” at the Hasbro Children’s Hospital emergency department in Providence, RI, “reported being victims of violence or cyberbullying, and a quarter reported symptoms akin to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” the findings of a 350-patient study published online Dec. 18 in the journal General Hospital Psychiatry suggest. The study revealed a “strong” association “between PTSD symptoms and being subjected to cyberbullying or violence, exposure to community violence, and” substance use.

Related Links:

— “Cyberbullying, Violence Linked to PTSD in Teens,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 26, 2016.

In continuing coverage, the New York Times (2/25, Rabin) “Well” blog reports that a study published online Feb. 18 in the American Journal of Public Health suggests that the rate of overdose deaths from benzodiazepines quadrupled between 1996 and 2013, while the number of benzodiazepines prescribed in the US tripled over that time period.

Related Links:

— “More Overdose Deaths from Anxiety Drugs,” Roni Caryn Rabin, New York Times, February 25, 2016.

HealthDay (2/25, Preidt) reports, “The many behavioral problems experienced by children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders require early attention,” a review published online Feb. 23 in Pediatrics suggests. After “analyzing published studies,” researchers “identified three main types of behavioral problems among” such children, including “‘internalizing’ behaviors such as anxiety, withdrawal and depression; ‘externalizing’ behaviors such as aggression and delinquency; and other issues such as problems with social skills, attention and thought processing.” Because such behaviors “impair social interactions, academic performance and mental health,” researchers called for “strategies for early intervention.”

Related Links:

— “Study Details Dire Consequences of Fetal Alcohol Disorders,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 25, 2016.

The Washington Post (2/25, Hicks, Wiggins) reports that on Thursday, hundreds of people advocating “for mental health and substance abuse treatment rallied in Annapolis…for something Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) is pushing to tame: automatic spending increases.” The advocates “gathered outside the State House to support legislation that would tie the state’s behavioral-health funding to the rate of inflation for medical costs.” The bill would mandate that spending “be increased by nearly $17 million during the first year of implementation, with additional hikes during subsequent years.”

Related Links:

— “Hundreds attend Md. rally for mental-health, drug-treatment funding,” Josh Hicks and Ovetta Wiggins, Washington Post, February 25, 2016.

STAT (2/25, Samuel) reports that often individuals “choose, deliberately or unconsciously, romantic partners similar to themselves.” Now, according to the findings of a study published online Feb. 24 in JAMA Psychiatry, “that extends to people with mental disorders, including schizophrenia and autism.”

Researchers arrived at this conclusion after analyzing “the records of 700,000 individuals who had been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, agoraphobia, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anorexia, or substance abuse,” then assessing “how often these diagnoses correlated with that person’s spouse or partner having either the same psychiatric condition or a different psychiatric condition.”

Related Links:

— “In marriage, those with mental disorders seek out similar partners,” Leah Samuel, STAT, February 25, 2016.

In an op-ed in the Washington Post (2/24, Lane), opinion writer Charles Lane writes, “According to an analysis” of euthanasia cases “from 2011 to 2014” published Feb. 10 in JAMA Psychiatry by psychiatrist Scott Kim, MD, PhD, of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues, psychiatric patients in the Netherlands “were often euthanized despite disagreement among consulting physicians as to whether they met legal criteria” for euthanasia under that country’s laws.

What’s more, “in 37 cases, patients refused possibly beneficial treatment, and” physicians went ahead anyway, while “in seven cases, doctors did not seek an independent psychiatric evaluation, contrary to recommendations by the Dutch Psychiatric Association.”

According to Lane, these findings undermine “the very notion of a ‘voluntary and well-considered’ request for death from a patient who is, by definition, cognitively and/or emotionally troubled.”

Related Links:

— “Where the prescription for autism can be death,” Charles Lane, Washington Post, February 24, 2016.

HealthDay (2/24) reports that “exercising the mind and body may delay the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease…but in most people it does not slow underlying brain changes linked to the disease,” the findings of a 400-participant study published online Feb. 24 in Neurology suggest. In the study, participants “underwent brain scans to check for signs of Alzheimer’s disease and were also asked about their mental and physical activity levels.”

Researchers did find, however, that in the subset of participants who have the APOE4 gene, “people who had high education levels and who had continued to learn throughout their lives had less amyloid plaque, compared to those with high education levels who did not continue to challenge their mind.”

Related Links:

— “Active Mind, Body May Only Do So Much Against Alzheimer’s,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 24, 2016.

According to the New York Daily News (2/23, Cutler), a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that “cigarette smoking is at an all-time low” as “only 15.3% of American adults now light up – down from 16.8% in 2014 and 24.7% in 1997.” According to experts, “Americans are butting out because of the high cost of cigarettes and thanks to fewer legal places to smoke.”

Related Links:

— “Cigarette smoking at an all-time low among American adults ,” Jacqueline Cutler, New York Daily News, February 23, 2016.

HealthDay (2/23, Norton) reports, “Rates of” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) “have risen globally, and adults’ unreasonable expectations of young children could be one reason why,” a research letter published online Feb. 22 in JAMA Pediatrics suggests. The study authors “point to evidence that the rise in” AD/HD “diagnoses coincided with ever-growing demands on young children’s attention and focus.”

Related Links:

— “Could Adults’ Expectations Drive Up ADHD Diagnoses in Kids?,” Amy Norton, HealthDay, February 23, 2016.

Reuters (2/22, Seaman) reports that parental anxiety while expecting or during the earliest parts of children’s lives may be associated with fussy eating in preschoolers. The findings of the large study were published Feb. 22 in Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Related Links:

— “Parents’ anxiety, depression may lead to kids being fussy eaters,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, February 22, 2016.