HealthDay (1/13, Preidt) reports, “Blogging appears to help teens deal with social problems,” according to a study published online Jan. 4 in the journal Psychological Services. Among “161 Israeli high school students, 124 girls and 37 boys, average age 15, who had some level of social anxiety or distress,” teens who blogged “showed significant improvements in self-esteem, social anxiety, emotional distress and the number of positive social behaviors, compared to the teens who wrote in a private diary or did nothing. The greatest improvements were seen in teens who were told to write about their social problems and whose blogs were open to comments,” the study found.

HealthDay (1/13, Mozes) reports that a new study presented at a British psychology meeting “finds an association between the increasingly popular use of Web-enabled cellphones and a rise in stress levels. The reason: a relentless need to immediately review and respond to each and every incoming message, alert or bing.”

Interestingly, “investigators did not link stress to the professional use of smartphones for work purposes. Rather, it’s the personal use of such devices, to keep tabs on friendships and social networking ‘news,’ that is the culprit.” Researchers arrived at these conclusions after surveying some 100 people about their smartphone use.

The Baltimore Sun (1/13, Cohn) reports, “A pair of expert consultants and leading officials from Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center told a state legislative panel Thursday what steps they think are necessary to make the facility safe after three patients were killed in 14 months and three other patients were charged in their deaths.”

The experts’ “recommendations for improving safety at the state’s maximum security psychiatric facility included hiring 28 more workers, improving communications among labor and management, and increasing training and security-related technology.”

In a press release (1/12, pdf), the American Psychiatric Association wrote, “On Wednesday, January 10th American Psychiatric Association President Dr. John Oldham, MD participated in a meeting led by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House to reaffirm the APA’s pledge of active participation in the Joining Forces Campaign to support returning veterans and their families.

Dr. Oldham joined leaders of several national healthcare organizations along with the Department of Defense and Veterans Administration in declaring their commitment to the First Lady’s cause.”

The press release also pointed out, “The APA, which has been involved with the program for over a year, has played an important role in easing the transition for service members returning from combat, and for their families readjusting to having them home.”

The Asbury Park (NJ) Press (1/12, Ash) reports that in New Jersey, “As the ranks of psychiatrists dwindle, hospitals statewide are turning to telepsychiatry to screen emergency room patients during off-hours — weekday nights and weekends. Not because they want to, they say, but because it is the only way to get the job done.”

Currently, “of the 21 state-designated mental health screening centers in New Jersey — one in each county — 10 use telepsych services now, according to the state Department of Human Services.” Telepsychiatry is used in emergency departments to perform psychiatric evaluations of patients who may need to be hospitalized involuntarily, the article explains.

ABC World News (1/11, story 8, 2:25, Sawyer) broadcast, “First Lady Michelle Obama,” “says she still plans to stay on her mission and push for those causes she cares most about,” including “working with wounded Iraq and Afghanistan war vets. And today, she was in Richmond, Virginia, to unveil a new program that trains doctors and medical students to better treat and diagnosis those veterans.”

The AP (1/12) notes that on Wednesday, Mrs. Obama “told an audience at Virginia Commonwealth University that 105 US medical schools and 25 schools of osteopathic medicine are bolstering their efforts to train students in treating brain injuries,” post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), “and other mental-health issues affecting service members.”

According to the AP, the “initiative is part of the Joining Forces campaign, an effort” by the First Lady “and Vice President Joe Biden’s wife, Jill, to focus on issues that affect veterans and their families.” Also reporting this story are Bloomberg News (1/12, Brower), CNN (1/12), and CQ (1/12, Subscription Publication).

The Chicago Tribune /Premium Health News Service (1/11) discussed compulsive hoarding, a condition in which people acquire and accumulate “objects of dubious value (to others) in such large and disorderly quantities that their living space is filled and normal use of the home becomes dangerous or impossible.”

Now, “mental health professionals are…taking a fresh look at the problem and have proposed making ‘hoarding disorder’ a distinct category in the diagnostic manual used by psychiatrists,” the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association. “Until now, hoarding has been classified psychiatrically as a symptom affecting up to 20 percent of people who have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).”

However, “more than 80 percent of hoarders lack the compulsions and repetitive behaviors that characterize OCD, and sometimes hoarding becomes a problem for a person with no psychiatric illness (as currently defined) or psychiatric history.”

The Hill (1/10, Pecquet) “Healthwatch” blog reported, “‘The shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) one year ago in Tucson,” Arizona, “sparked a ‘hue and cry about mental health,’ but little progress on the issue’ has been made,” said Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA), co-chairwoman of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus, in an interview with The Hill.

Napolitano “in particular said she regrets that her legislation to fund mental health services in public schools went nowhere. The Mental Health in Schools Act would have authorized $200 million in competitive grants to provide mental health professionals in 200 or so public schools, but never got a committee hearing.”

The blog entry points out, however, that the congresswoman “led a letter (pdf) to House leaders that helped pare down cuts to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in the omnibus spending bill from $212 million to just $33 million, preventing $179 million in cuts.”

USA Today (1/11, Lloyd) reports that a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report has found that “one in six adults in the USA is a binge drinker, consuming an average of eight drinks per occasion and doing so about four times a month.” The report’s author, CDC alcohol program lead Robert Brewer, remarked, “What is different with this study is we studied the frequency and the intensity, and the number of episodes by different groups. The frequency is very high and the amount consumed was also very high.”

Bloomberg News (1/11, Lopatto) reports, “Wisconsin had both the highest percentage of binge drinkers, with 25.6 percent of the population reporting they engaged, and the most-intense sessions, with an average of nine drinks,” while “the nation’s capital reported 21.9 percent of its population was binge-drinkers, tying it with North Dakota for third highest in a survey covering the District of Columbia and 48 of the 50 states.” Brewer commented, “We’re talking about a risk behavior that’s quite widespread in the population. And where people have the impression it’s not such a bad thing to do.”

The AP (1/11) quotes Brewer, who said, “I know this sounds astounding, but I think the numbers we’re reporting are really an underestimate.” The piece notes that while “binge drinking may be considered socially acceptable,” it “accounts for more than 40,000 deaths each year,” and “contributes to problems like violence and drunk-driving accidents and longer-term issues like cancer, heart disease and liver failure.”

HealthDay (1/10, Goodwin) reports that according to a review published in the February issue of the journal Pediatrics, “omega-3 fatty acids may” benefit children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), “while fatty ‘Western-style’ diets do these children no favors.” Researchers arrived at this conclusion after reviewing “previous studies on diets and supplements that have been tried in children with AD/HD. Among the diets tested: restricting sugar, which some parents believe worsens hyperactivity; avoiding food containing additives and preservatives, known as the ‘Feingold diet’; an ‘elimination diet’ that avoids foods most often implicated in food allergies; and supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish oil capsules.”

WebMD (1/10, Mann) quotes psychiatrist Marshall Teitelbaum, MD, who was not involved in the study. Dr. Teitelbaum said, “What makes the most sense is to look at a child’s diet and see what changes may be healthy in general and may also help improve AD/HD symptoms.” He advised parents of children with AD/HD that they “cut back on soda, junk food, hot dogs, and processed foods” in their youngsters’ diets. However, psychiatrist Stephen Grcevich, MD, “says medication and behavioral changes should always come first, especially for children with issues in addition to AD/HD, such as anxiety or depression.”

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— “Diet Might Have Some Effect on ADHD,” Jennifer Goodwin, HealthDay, January 9, 2011.