Stateline (10/2, Henderson) reports an analysis of federal death statistics shows that for Gen Z adults, “suicide is taking more lives than 10 years ago when millennials were the same age,” and the “bulk of the increase, 85%, is among Black and Hispanic men, many in Southern and Midwestern states.” The latest CDC data show “Gen Z suicides have continued at a fast pace this year, with 1,148 in January and February.” Meanwhile, “suicide became the second-highest cause of death for young Hispanics, surpassing homicide, and became the No. 1 cause of death for young Asians, surpassing accidents. Men have the highest rates, especially Black and Hispanic men, who together account for 85% of the total increase in suicide, 822 of 965.” Theories behind the uptick “range from bullying on social media, since Gen Z was the first generation to grow up with the internet, to economic despair, to cultural resistance to seeking help for depression.”

Related Links:

— “Suicide claims more Gen Z lives than previous generation,”Tim Henderson, Stateline, October 2, 2025

CNN (10/1, Rogers) says the 2025 State of Mental Health in America report released Wednesday “sizes up how all 50 states and Washington, DC, fared on 17 measures of mental health in 2022 and 2023.” The report from the nonprofit Mental Health America gave Nevada “the worst rating, followed by Arizona and Alabama – marking the second time Nevada and Arizona have ranked the lowest.” Two reasons for Nevada’s last-place ranking “were the highest rates of youth depression and youth who didn’t receive preventive care in the past year.” In contrast, New York, Hawaii, and New Jersey had the highest overall state mental health rankings, respectively. APA CEO and Medical Director Marketa M. Wills, MD, MBA, FAPA, who was not involved in the report, said, “It’s unacceptable that access to mental health care is still a problem, more than 15 years after the passage of the (Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act).” Dr. Wills added, “We call upon policymakers at the state and federal levels to use the solutions that we know work, like telehealth and integrated care, to expand access and connect more people who need it with lifesaving treatments.”

Related Links:

— “Nevada, Arizona and Alabama rank lowest in nation for mental health. Where your state lands,”Kristen Rogers, CNN, October 1, 2025

NBC News (10/1, Szabo) reports a genetic analysis found “that people with autism spectrum disorder diagnosed in late childhood or adolescence actually have ‘a different form of autism,’ not a less severe one.” Senior author Dr. Varun Warrier, an autism researcher at the University of Cambridge, explained that “the ‘genetic profile’ of people with late-diagnosis autism actually looks more like depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder than early childhood autism.” The study suggests that some children with autism “develop differently and may not receive a diagnosis earlier on because their features may not yet have clearly emerged,” Warrier said. Overall, experts believe the study “illustrates that autism is not a single condition with one root cause, but rather an umbrella term for a cluster of conditions with similar – although not identical – features.” The study was published in Nature.

Related Links:

— “Autism isn’t one disorder, a genetic analysis shows,”Liz Szabo, NBC News, October , 2025

Healio (9/30, Gawel) reports a study found that “cannabis amplifies the effects of childhood trauma as a key driver of paranoia, indicating opportunities for trauma-informed clinical approaches and cannabis harm reduction strategies.” The study cohort “included 2,482 individuals (52%) who reported some form of trauma, including abuse (24.6%), neglect (19.1%), household discord (30.3%) and bullying (20.6%), based on a modified version of the Childhood Trauma Screen questionnaire adapted for this study. Results from the Green Paranoid Thoughts Scale yielded mean scores of 54.96 for those exposed to trauma and 43.67 for those with no exposure.” Researchers observed “associations between heightened paranoia symptoms and physical and emotional abuse strong, adding that physical and emotional abuse were the strongest predictors of paranoia.” In addition, the researchers “said participants exposed to sexual abuse had the highest weekly standard THC unit consumption.” They noted that “positive associations between weekly standard THC unit exposure also included emotional and physical abuse.” The study was published in Psychological Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Cannabis use exacerbates impact of childhood trauma on paranoia risk,”Richard Gawel, Healio, September 30, 2025

HealthDay (9/30, Neff) reports a study “suggests that older adults, particularly Generation X women, have high rates of addiction to ultra-processed foods, such as fast food, sugary drinks and packaged snacks.” The study “found that 21% of women and 10% of men in Gen X and the last wave of Baby Boomers met the criteria for ultra-processed food addiction.” Researchers observed that “men who reported fair or poor mental health were four times more likely to meet the criteria for ultra-processed food addiction, while women were nearly three times as likely. Men and women who said they sometimes or often felt isolated were more than three times as likely to show signs of addiction.” One possible reason why ultra-processed food addiction is more common in older women, according to researchers, “is the aggressive marketing of ‘diet’ ultra-processed foods to women in the 1980s. These low-fat or low-calorie products were formulated with addictive nutrient profiles.” The study was published in Addiction.

Related Links:

— “Gen X Older Adults Show High Rates of Ultra-Processed Food Addiction,”Deanna Neff, HealthDay, September 30, 2025

The Washington Post (9/30, Weber, Thadani) reports that millions of American seniors “could lose access to telehealth appointments with their doctors if Congress fails to fund them amid a looming government shutdown, while thousands more who have been receiving high-level, acute care at home face being sent back to the hospital or discharged.” Most Medicare reimbursements to physicians and hospitals will continue in the event of a government shutdown, but “payments for video health care visits – which gained in popularity during the pandemic and must be separately authorized for an extension by Congress – face elimination.” Without payment or guarantee that “they would be compensated retroactively, doctors and hospitals say they will be unable to provide services. Particularly for elderly people with limited mobility or transportation hurdles, telehealth has become a vital service improving their access to care, advocates say.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Reuters (9/29, Choudhury, Sunny) reports the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) announced Monday it would launch a new website, to be called AmericasMedicines.com, “to help patients buy prescription drugs directly from manufacturers, bypassing pharmacy benefit managers and other middlemen.” The website, set to be launched in January, “will allow drugmakers to list medicines available for direct purchase and connect patients with programs that offer lower prices and fewer barriers to access.”

Related Links:

— “US lobby group PhRMA plans website to boost access to cheaper drugs, Reuters, September 29, 2025

Modern Healthcare (9/26, Tepper, Subscription Publication) reported, “Medicare Advantage enrollment could slip next year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Friday.” Health insurers “project Medicare Advantage membership will fall from 34.9 million this year to 34 million in 2026, CMS said in a news release.” Additionally, “insurers…predict that Medicare Advantage will lose ground to fee-for-service Medicare next year.” Modern Healthcare adds, “The privatized program surpassed traditional Medicare in 2023 but will cover 48% of beneficiaries in 2026, down from 50% this year, according to industry estimates reported to CMS.”

Related Links:

— “Medicare Advantage enrollment may shrink in 2026, CMS says,”Nona Tepper, Modern Healthcare, September 26, 2025

Psychiatric News (9/26) reported a study found that “older adults who took medications to treat hypertension had slower cognitive decline compared with their peers who did not take such medications.” The researchers “combined data from three studies that included 3,361 participants who were taking antihypertensives at baseline and 586 participants who never took these medications.” They observed that “participants using antihypertensives had higher levels of global cognition at baseline and a slower rate of cognitive decline over follow-up compared with non-users – especially in the domains of episodic and semantic memory.” Meanwhile, brain autopsy results “showed that taking antihypertensives was associated with a lower tau tangle density (a marker of Alzheimer’s disease) but not with other neurodegenerative or cerebrovascular pathologies.” The study was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

Related Links:

— “Antihypertensive Drugs Associated With Slower Cognitive Decline, Psychiatric News , September 26, 2025

HealthDay (9/25, Thompson) reports a study found that “a growing number of Americans appear to be losing their brain power, particularly younger adults.” Researchers analyzed CDC survey data collected annually between 2013 and 2023 and observed that the U.S. “experienced a sharp increase in adults experiencing serious problems with memory, concentration and decision-making.” Overall, “the rate of people reporting thinking problems increased from 5.3% in 2013 to 7.4% in 2023, the survey found. For adults under 40, the rate rose sharply from 5.1% to 9.7%, nearly doubling, researchers said. On the other hand, rates among seniors 70 and older declined slightly, from 7.3% to 6.6%.” According to the study, “the biggest increases were found among people who had less education and earned lower wages.” The study was published in Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Lights Are Dimming For America’s Brain Power, Study Says,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, September 25, 2025