TIME (2/7, Worland) reported that that while “the reasons for the high suicide rates” among veterans “are not entirely clear…researchers say that military life exposes soldiers to a series of risk factors that place them at a heightened suicide risk, even though someone in the military is usually healthier physically than someone in the general population.” Among other things, “combat exposes soldiers to traumatic life and death situations, and depression and PTSD may result.” Some soldiers suffer brain injuries. According to Time, “All of these ailments have been linked to increased risk of suicide.”

Related Links:

— “This Bill Could Help Veterans With Mental Health,” Justin Worland, Time, February 6, 2015.

The Dallas (TX) Morning News (2/9, Aguilera) reports that approximately “59 percent of chaplains in the VA system and 79 percent in the active-duty military said they perceive that veterans and service members commonly seek help from clergy instead of a mental” healthcare professional, “according to a 2013 report published by the VA and the Pentagon.” Meanwhile, “over 80 percent of chaplains working in the VA system or in the active-duty military said it’s not uncommon to meet a veteran or service member who is suicidal, according to the survey.”

Related Links:

— “Dallas VA conference discusses clergy’s role in suicide prevention,” Jasmine Aguilera, Dallas Morning News, February 8, 2015.

The Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette (2/9, Smydo) reports, “The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health will participate in a study that could hasten the day when a patient’s genetic profile, not trial and error, helps a doctor determine which medications to prescribe.” Included in the “28-month, $350,000 study” will be “about 400 volunteers with mental-health disorders who are clients of NHS Human Services in Allegheny, Beaver, Dauphin and Lehigh counties.” Investigators “will analyze genetic material from about half of the volunteers and use those insights to make medication adjustments aimed at optimizing drug performance and decreasing side effects and adverse drug interactions,” while the other participants, who will serve as the control group, will get “usual care.”

Related Links:

— “Pitt study seeks to refine prescribing through genetics,” Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 9, 2015.

The Huffington Post (2/5, Holmes) reports that although “the economy may be improving…finances are still a stressful burden on Americans – especially among young adults and parents, according to the American Psychological Association’s new Stress in America survey.”

Related Links:

— “Americans Are More Stressed About Money Than Anything Else — And It’s Taking A Toll On Their Health,” Lindsay Holmes, Huffington Post, February 4, 2015.

TIME (2/5, Stout) reports that a “survey conducted in 34” European and North American countries found that “socioeconomic differences across multiple areas of adolescent mental and physical health increased between 2002 and 2010.” The findings were published Feb. 3 in The Lancet.

HealthDay (2/5, Preidt) reports that “the analysis showed that poorer kids living in countries with greater income inequality were more likely to be in worse health, get less exercise, have more body fat, have lower life satisfaction, and report more physical and mental health symptoms, such as irritability and headache.” An accompanying commentary observed, “To improve health and reduce health disparities across the lifespan, a focus should be on social factors that affect the health and well-being of young people.”

Related Links:

— “There’s a Growing Health Gap Between Rich and Poor Teens,” David Stout, Time, February 4, 2015.

In an opinion piece in USA Today (2/5), former US Surgeon General David Satcher, MD, PhD, director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine, and former US Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI), founder of the Kennedy Forum, announce “a partnership between the Kennedy Forum and Morehouse School of Medicine that will fulfill President Kennedy’s vision of ensuring the best possible mental well-being for every American.” First, Satcher and Kennedy call for complete implementation of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. Second, they call for increased “focus on greater innovation to expand research and further our knowledge of the brain.” Third, they seek improved access to “high quality” mental healthcare not only by increasing the number of mental healthcare professionals, but also by asking primary care physicians to “make mental health part of their charge.” Fourth, Kennedy and Satcher call for “better integration to bring mental health into the mainstream” of US medicine.

Related Links:

— “Satcher-Kennedy: How to fix mental health system,” David Satcher and Patrick J. Kennedy, USA Today, February 4, 2015.

The New York Times (2/5, A17, Schwarz, Subscription Publication) reports that a “survey of more than 150,000” US college students, called “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2014” and conducted by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program at the University of California-Los Angeles Higher Education Research Institute, reveals that “9.5 percent of respondents had frequently ‘felt depressed’ during the past year, a significant rise over the 6.1 percent reported five years ago.” During that same time, “those who ‘felt overwhelmed’ by schoolwork and other commitments rose to 34.6 percent from 27.1 percent.”

Related Links:

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The Wall Street Journal (2/2, Ward, Subscription Publication) reports that a study published in the Journal of Economic Psychology suggests that making a charitable donation may result in an improvement in the emotional and physical well-being of the donor. The study was conducted by Baris K. Yörük, an associate professor of economics at the University at Albany-SUNY, and colleagues.

Related Links:

— “Does Charitable Giving Lead to Better Health?,” Lisa Ward, Wall Street Journal, February 1, 2015.

In continuing coverage, Modern Healthcare (1/31, Johnson, Subscription Publication) reported that “behavioral health stakeholders are…uniting behind a bill first introduced in 2013 by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), a psychologist who spent more than a year holding hearings on mental illness after the Sandy Hook shootings.” But, even though “many professional and patient-advocacy groups back the measure, others fear the proposal will shift the focus away from relying on community-based mental healthcare” professionals “and undermine the years put into deinstitutionalizing” Americans with mental illnesses. HR 3717 would also “earmark $40 million for the National Institutes of Health’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies initiative, which seeks to identify the molecular pathways of mental illness and dementia.”

Related Links:

— “Mental healthcare legislation gives boost to inpatient care,” Steven Ross Johnson, Modern Healthcare, January 31, 2015.