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.”

Related Links:

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

The San Diego Union-Tribune (1/9, Steele) reports, “Nationally,” Veterans Affairs is “embracing alternative therapies,” including meditation and yoga, “to help veterans deal with combat stress and…physical pain.” However, a “May VA research conference concluded that evidence of the benefit of these therapies on post-traumatic stress disorder — possibly the signature wound of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars — is still thin. Now VA researchers in San Diego, which has the largest population of post-9/11 military veterans in the nation, have received funding to conduct additional studies.”

Related Links:

— “PTSD? Try meditation and yoga,” Jeanette Steele, San Diego Union-Tribune, January 8, 2012.

The AP (1/4, Johnson) reports, “Patients not taking medicine as prescribed cost the US healthcare system roughly $290 billion a year in extra treatment and related costs, research shows. One study estimated those patients pay about $2,000 a year in extra out-of-pocket medical costs.” Notably, “nearly three in four Americans don’t take their prescription medicine as directed. Even among those with serious chronic health conditions such as diabetes, about one in three don’t.”

Unfortunately, “for patients with chronic health conditions — nearly half the US population — not taking medications as prescribed can bring serious consequences,” even premature death.

Related Links:

— “Following the doctor’s orders on your medicine can save you thousands, prevent hospital stays,” Linda A. Johnson, Chicago Tribune, January 3, 2011.

HealthDay (1/3, Thompson) reports that “a growing body of research that has found that ‘positive activity interventions’ — like helping someone with groceries, writing a thank you note or even counting your blessings — can serve as an effective, low-cost treatment for depression.” Michelle Riba, MD, former president of the American Psychiatric Association, “agreed that positivity can have a dramatic effect on people’s psychological well-being.” She stated, “In general, people who help others stop focusing on their own pains and problems and worries and feel good about themselves.”

Related Links:

— “With Depression, Helping Others May in Turn Help You,” Denise Thompson, HealthDay, January 2, 201.

HealthDay (12/31, Mozes) reported, “Drug users who inject themselves with methamphetamine are 80 percent more likely to attempt suicide than those abusing other drugs,” according to a study published in the December issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Researchers arrived at this conclusion after examining “material from interviews involving nearly 1,900 men and women that were conducted in the Vancouver area over seven years, from 2001 to 2008.”

HealthDay also pointed out that the study was partly funded by the US National Institutes of Health.

Related Links:

— “Meth Users Much More Likely to Try Suicide,” Alan Mozes, HealthDay, December 30, 2011.