Medscape (8/13, Brauser) reports that the “Behavioral Health Kiosk is the United States’ first mental health screen of its kind,” allowing “members of the public to use a mounted tablet to access information about mental health in general and help determine whether they may have symptoms of a mental health disorder that warrants referral to a clinician.” The do-it-yourself screening is available in a retail setting. Philip R. Muskin, MD, chair of the 2014 and 2015 Scientific Program Committee for the American Psychiatric Association, believes there are benefits and drawbacks to this approach.

Dr. Muskin said that while “anything that destigmatizes mental disorders is good,” he is still worried that “there has not yet been any research about the program or anything piloted to determine possible benefits and problems. ‘And that always concerns me because we don’t know if it’ll have the desired effect,’” he added.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Major television network newscasts, newspapers, and Internet media sources continue coverage of the suicide of comedian and actor Robin Williams, nearly all mentioning the fact that Williams suffered from severe depression. All three television networks led their nightly newscasts with the story. Some sources point out that older white men who are depressed are in a group at a higher risk for suicide, while others note that despite heightened awareness, stigma remains surrounding depression and its treatment, which may make some people reluctant to reach out for help.

In its lead story, ABC World News (8/12, lead story, 3:55, Muir) reported that Williams appeared to have committed suicide by hanging. Marin County, California Assistant Deputy Chief Coroner Keith Boyd Keith Boyd was shown saying that Williams “had been seeking treatment for depression,” while in its lead story, NBC Nightly News (8/12, lead story, 2:55, Williams) pointed out that toxicology testing is now underway to determine what, if any, “chemical substances were in Mr. Williams’ system at the time of his death.” The CBS Evening News (8/12, lead story, 2:35, Pelley) led its newscast with similar coverage.

In a different segment, NBC Nightly News (8/12, story 6, 2:45, Williams) quoted American Psychiatric Association president Paul Summergrad, MD, who addressed the stigma of mental illnesses, including depression, saying, “It’s very important that we stop seeing these illnesses as faults and blames, and see them as what they are, medical conditions, genetic conditions, brain disorders which require appropriate diagnosis, treatment, care and support.” Medical editor Nancy Snyderman, MD, reached out to people who need help, saying, “If you have concerns about suicide, call this national number, 1-800-273-TALK.”

In another segment, the CBS Evening News (8/12, story 2, 2:40, Pelley) reported that according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are “more than 39,000 suicides each year. That’s an average of 108 each day.” Correspondent Jim Axelrod mentioned that US suicide prevention hotlines experienced a big increase in the number of calls following the announcement of Williams’ suicide.

USA Today (8/11, Weintraub, Kelly, Today) reports that “suicide claims more than 38,000 American lives each year – more than the number killed by car accidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – and the rate hasn’t budged in decades, says Jeffrey Lieberman, professor and chairman of psychiatry at New York’s Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. “ The death of comedian and actor Robin “Williams could put a human face on a problem that often gets little attention, Lieberman says,” adding that Williams “was such a charismatic and beloved figure, that if his death can galvanize our society to act instead of just grieve, it will be a fitting memorial to him.” Dr. Lieberman is a former president of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Suicide a risk even for beloved characters like Williams,” Karen Weintraub and Dennis Kelly, USA Today, August 12, 2014.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune (8/10, Olson) reports on University of Minnesota public-health professor Ezra Golberstein’s research showing that the public response to the FDA’s 2004 “black-box warning” about antidepressants and suicide risk among teenagers may have “gone too far, leaving depressed teens with less treatment.” In the three years following the FDA warning, antidepressant use in adolescents declined by as much as 30%, but there was no commensurate increase in other forms of therapy such as counseling, however, and Golberstein also found that during that time the average grade of depressed teen girls dropped from a B to a B-. “Depressed adolescents also became more likely to abuse illicit and prescription drugs, and to fight and steal,” the Star Tribune reports in citing research that was based on over 100,000 responses to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2001 through 2007.

Related Links:

— “Warning about antidepressants, suicide risk leads to unintended consequences,” Jeremy Olsonhealth, Minneapolis Star Tribune, August 10, 2014.

TIME (8/9, Berenson) reported that according to a study published in PLoS One, weight loss may affect mental health, sometimes resulting in a depressed mood in people who lose weight. The study of “1,979 overweight or obese individuals in the UK” revealed that “participants were 52% more likely to report a depressed mood than those who stayed within 5% of their original weight.”

Related Links:

— “Losing Weight Could Make You Depressed, Study Says,” Tessa Berenson, Time, August 8, 2014.

The Los Angeles Times (8/9, Zarembo) “Nation Now” blog reported that according to research presented last week at a psychology conference, “11% of Vietnam veterans continue to suffer from” post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Researchers arrived at that conclusion after tracking down and interviewing some 1,450 veterans of the Vietnam conflict. The study received its funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Related Links:

— “PTSD continues to afflict Vietnam veterans 40 years after the war,” Alan Zerembo, Los Angeles Times, August 8, 2014.

Reuters (8/8, Doyle) reports normal stresses such as marriage issues for National Guard members returning home from deployment could cause them to abuse alcohol, citing a study unveiled in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. For the study, researchers recruited more than 1,000 Ohio Army National Guard soldiers who have faced deployments at least once by 2009.

Related Links:

— “Stress on the civilian front tied to alcohol abuse in returning soldiers,” Kathryn Doyle, Reuters, August 7, 2014.

The Dallas Morning News (8/7, Barker) “Health Blog” reported that according to research released Aug. 7 at a psychological conference, “physically fit sixth graders – especially girls – are less likely to report feeling depressed when they reach seventh grade.” The 437-student study revealed that “sixth-grade girls who performed better on a cardio-respiratory fitness test – a kind of shuttle run – were less likely to feel depressed when surveyed again in seventh grade.”

Related Links:

— “UNT study shows — surprise! — physically fit 6th graders = less depressed 7th graders,” Leslie Barker, Dallas Morning News, August 7, 2014.

The New York Times (8/8, A14, Carey, Subscription Publication) reports that a new study presented at “a series of talks at the American Psychological Association in Washington” finds that “most veterans who had persistent post-traumatic stress a decade or more after serving in the Vietnam War have shown surprisingly little improvement since then, and a large percentage have died.” The data also showed that “an estimated 13 percent of current active-duty soldiers and 10 percent of Marines have post-traumatic stress disorder.”

The VA funded research is “part of the first effort to track a large, nationally representative sample of service members through their adult lives,” with the “first installment…published in 1992.”

Related Links:

— “Combat Stress Among Veterans Is Found to Persist Since Vietnam,” Benedict Carey, New York Times, August 7, 2014.

The CBS News (8/7, Blaszczak-Boxe) website reported that according to two reports released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “there has been a significant rise in drug-related suicide attempts in the past few years, with the most alarming increase among middle-aged people.” The reports found that “hospital emergency department visits involving drug-related suicide attempts in people ages 45 to 64 doubled between 2005 and 2011 – rising from 28,802 cases in 2005 to 58,775 in 2011.” In fact, there was an overall “51 percent increase in suicide-related visits to emergency departments among people age 12 and older – from 151,477 visits in 2005 to 228,277 visits in 2011,” the reports found.

Related Links:

— “Drug-related suicide attempts rise sharply,” Agata Blasczak-Boxe, CBS News, August 7, 2014.