MedPage Today (7/17, Walsh) reports, “Adolescent girls with a variety of eating disorders — even conditions less severe than anorexia or bulimia — are at risk for obesity and alcohol and drug use,” according to a study published online July 16 in the journal Pediatrics and sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. “Among those who reported binge eating but not purging, the risk for becoming overweight or obese was doubled (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.04 to 3.48) compared with healthy peers,” the study of 8,594 young girls found. “Similarly, teenage girls who purged more than once each week even without binge eating were at risk for starting to use drugs (OR 1.72, 95% CI 0.97 to 3.06) or to overuse alcohol frequently (OR 1.84, 95% CI 1.28 to 2.65),” researchers reported.

Related Links:

— “Eating Disorders Tied to Drug Use, Drinking, “Nancy Walsh, MedPage Today, July 16, 2012.

CQ (7/17, Norman, Subscription Publication) reports, “People with serious mental illnesses have a lifespan of 53 years on average, often dying early from suicide and injury — but also frequently from chronic medical conditions, according to a briefing Monday by the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.” Because of this, “advocates for people with mental illnesses say that makes it imperative that the nation better bring together behavioral and primary healthcare in the same place.” The piece adds, “While since 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services has had a grant program that unites community mental health clinics with primary care sites and independent initiatives around the country, advocates say much more work is needed to improve health outcomes for people with mental illnesses whose physical problems often go untreated.”

The Boston Globe (7/16, A1, Wen) reports in a front-page story on “a program called Strategic Sharing, which helps young people who have struggled with mental health issues talk about their past in selective ways.” Those involved “want to lead efforts to curb long-held prejudices against people with mental illness, but must carefully consider what they say publicly to protect their image as they enter the adult world.” The “program, created by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, counsels young people with mental illness how to promote awareness of psychiatric issues but not share too much that might hurt them on the job or in new relationships.”

Related Links:

— “Youths cautiously sharing mental health histories
, “Patricia Wen, The Boston Globe, July 16, 2012.

According to an AP (7/14) story carried by at least 547 media sources, an Institute of Medicine (IOM) report released on Friday recommended that “soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan be screened for post-traumatic stress disorder at least once a year and that Federal agencies conduct more research to determine how well the various treatments for PTSD are working.”

The New York Times (7/14, Dao) “At War” blog noted that the “first comprehensive review of the government’s programs” for treating PTSD recommended that the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs “expand access to services, particularly for people in rural areas, in the National Guard or Reserves, or in combat zones.” The nearly 400-page report also urged the two departments to “improve their assessment of how well their many treatment programs work, as well as find better ways of coordinating care that can begin overseas and then continue on bases or in small towns across the country.” Friday’s report “represents the first half of a multiyear review of the broad range” of PTSD assessment and services provided by the two departments; and the “14 panel members will assess emerging treatments” for a second report, which is slated to be released in 2014.

Related Links:

— “Study Calls for Better Assessment of Government P.T.S.D. Programs, “James Dao, The New York Times, July 13, 2012.

According to a Time (7/23, Gibbs, Thompson) cover story, no “program, outreach or initiative has worked against” a “surge in Army suicides, and no one knows why nothing works.” Time does point out, however, that there is a national shortage of mental-health “personnel, which means the Army is competing” with Veterans Affairs “and other services — not to mention the civilian world — to hire the people it needs.” Time also points out that VA “and all the services have launched resiliency-training programs and emergency hotlines.”

Related Links:

— “The War On Suicide?, “Nancy Gibbs, Time Magazibe, July 23, 2012.

MedPage Today (7/13) reports that a study supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health found that “chronic panic, phobia, and similar anxiety disorders may contribute to premature aging by shortening telomeres.” Olivia Okereke, MD, MS, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said, “The magnitude of this difference was comparable to that for women 6 years apart in age.” She added that telomeres shortening, a gradual process of loss of the repetitive DNA sequences capping off chromosomes that occurs when cells divide, “isn’t reversible.”

The Daily Mail (UK) (7/13, Bates) reports, “Researchers found that a common form of the stress, known as phobic anxiety, could trigger cellular damage leading to premature ageing.” Dr. Okereke says, “This study is notable for showing a connection between a common form of psychological stress – phobic anxiety – and a plausible mechanism for premature aging,” but it cannot “prove cause and effect” of which came first.

Reuters (7/13, Begley) reports that the rate of anxiety disorder diagnoses has grown drastically over the past 30 years. Many doctors say that advances in medicine, screen procedures, and proper training have led to the rise in the number of people being diagnosed with some forms of mental disorders. However, this also means that more people are being treated and helped by medical professionals.

Related Links:

— “Chronic Anxiety Speeds Aging, ” Crystal Phend, Medpage Today, July 12, 2012.

The Military Times (7/12, Kime) reports, “Diagnoses for mental disorders among active-duty troops have risen 65 percent in the past 12 years, with adjustment disorders the most common condition, according to a new Defense Department report.” Authors of the report “noted that the increase in mental health diagnoses in the military coincides with a similar rise in the general population. Researchers said it also might reflect a growing willingness in the military to seek treatment for emotional or behavioral problems.”

Related Links:

— “Mental disorders among troops up 65% since 2000, “Patricia Kime, Military Times, July 11, 2012.

The AP (7/11, Neergaard) reports, “A new report finds as many as one in five American seniors has a mental health or substance abuse problem.” What’s more, “as the population rapidly ages over the next two decades, millions of baby boomers may have a hard time finding care and services for mental health problems such as depression — because the nation is woefully lacking in doctors, nurses and other health workers trained for their special needs, the Institute of Medicine said Tuesday.” Rather, the US “is focused mostly on preparing for the physical health needs of what has been called the silver tsunami.”

According to the CNN (7/11, Young) “The Chart” blog, “‘The Mental Health and Substance Use Workforce for Older Americans: In Whose Hands?’ report concludes that Medicare and Medicaid payment codes must be revised to ensure counseling care and other critical services are covered so that doctors are willing to treat patients with these conditions.” The piece quotes one of the report’s authors, Dan G. Blazer, MD, PhD, of the Duke University Medical Center, as saying, “There is a conspicuous lack of national attention to ensuring that there is a large enough health care work force trained to care for older adults with mental health and substance use conditions.” Blazer added, “This report is a wake-up call that we need to prepare now or our older population and their extended families will suffer the consequences.”

The report concludes that “a continued lack of specialists and other trained [clinicians] including primary care physicians and nurses will likely make it difficult for aging patients to receive treatment for depression, dementia and other conditions,”

Related Links:

— “Report: Too little mental health care for seniors, “Lauran Neergaard, USA Today, July 11, 2012.

In the “Mind” column in the New York Times (7/10, D6, Subscription Publication), Richard A. Friedman, MD, a professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, writes, “Now comes the Affordable Care Act combining parity with the individual mandate for health insurance. As Dr. Dilip V. Jeste, president of the American Psychiatric Association, told me, ‘This law has the potential to change the course of life for psychiatric patients for the better, and in that sense it is both humane and right.'” While the law is not perfect, Dr. Friedman asserts that “on the whole, the Affordable Care Act is reason to cheer. Americans with mental illness finally have the prize that has eluded patients and clinicians for decades: the recognition that psychiatric illness should be on a par with all other medical disorders, and the near-universal mandate to make that happen.”

Related Links:

— “Good News for Mental Illness in Health Law, “Richard Friedman, The New York Times, July 9, 2012.

MedPage Today (7/10, Fiore) reports, “Patients who have a major physical health event may be more likely to seek mental health services,” according to a 6,017-patient study published online June 28 in the journal Health Services Research. “In a series of models, patients who had such an event were about three times more likely to seek mental healthcare during clinician visits and be prescribed drugs for their condition,” researchers reported. The study authors theorized that “the finding is probably due to worsening of mental health, rather than the identification of untreated severe psychiatric symptoms.”

Related Links:

— “Health Scare May Send People for Psych Help, “Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today, July 9, 2012.