Psychiatric News (12/1) reported “alcohol intoxication is associated with an increased risk of suicide death by firearms compared with other methods, especially among males and among young and middle-aged females, a study” suggests. The study found “young and middle-aged females who were intoxicated at the time of death had a 31% and 34% greater risk of using a firearm compared with their non-intoxicated peers, respectively.”

Meanwhile, “young, middle-aged, and older intoxicated males had a 28%, 17%, and 4% increased risk of using a firearm compared with their non-intoxicated peers, respectively.” The findings were published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Study Highlights Relationship Between Alcohol, Suicide, and Firearms,” APA Psychiatric News Alert, December 1, 2023

The New York Times (11/30, Barry) reports that a group of researchers at Yale University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai “conducted brain scans of 28 people with PTSD” in an attempt to find empirical evidence that “traumatic memories function differently from other memories.”

The scans “found clear differences, the researchers reported,” demonstrating that people listening to sad memories “showed consistently high engagement of the hippocampus.” However, when “the same people listened to their traumatic memories … the hippocampus was not involved.” The findings were published in Nature.

Related Links:

— “Brain Study Suggests Traumatic Memories Are Processed as Present Experience,” Ellen Barry, New York Times, November 30, 2023

Psychiatric News (11/30) reports, “Callers posing as mothers of adolescents with trauma symptoms who tried scheduling outpatient appointments at safety-net mental health centers were successful during only 17% of calls,” according to a study. Additionally, researchers also “identified a bias against non-White callers.” The findings were published in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Moms Encounter Barriers, Discrimination to Accessing MH Care for Traumatized Youth,” APA Psychiatric News Alert, November 30, 2023

The New York Times (11/30, Baumgaertner) says that according to a new CDC report, “the rate of suicides involving guns in the United States has reached the highest level since officials began tracking it more than 50 years ago.” Notably, “about 27,000 of 50,000 suicides were carried out by gun in 2022,” with the rise “significantly steeper” in some racial and ethnic groups. CDC researchers “suggested that the coronavirus pandemic might have exacerbated many of the known risk factors for suicide generally, which include social isolation, strained relationships, and drug and alcohol disorders.”

Related Links:

— U.S. Rate of Suicide by Firearm Reaches Record Level,” Emily Baumgaertner, New York Times, November 30, 2023

MedPage Today (11/29, Firth) reports, “Antipsychotic medication-related deaths were rare among children, but young adults on higher doses had a significantly increased risk of death, according to a U.S. national retrospective cohort study of Medicaid patients.” In the study, “those ages 18 to 24 had increased risk of death with current use of second-generation antipsychotic agents in daily doses of greater than 100-mg chlorpromazine equivalents compared with control medications including antidepressants and mood stabilizers, reported” researchers in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (11/29) says, “The prevalence of U.S. veterans diagnosed with cannabis use disorder more than doubled between 2005 and 2019, with the greatest increases reported among those with bipolar disorder and psychotic spectrum disorders, according to a report published…in The American Journal of Psychiatry,” a publication of the American Psychiatric Association. In the study, “researchers analyzed electronic health records from the Veterans Health Administration collected from 2005 to 2014 and 2016 to 2019.”

Related Links:

— “Cannabis Use Disorder Rising Among Veterans, Study Finds,” APA Psychiatric News Alert, November 29, 2023

CNN (11/29, McPhillips) reports, “More people died from suicide in the United States last year than any other year on record, dating to at least 1941, according to provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” More than “49,449 lives were lost due to intentional self-harm in 2022 – more than 14 deaths for every 100,000 people.”

However, “provisional data from 2022 shows signs of improvement in rates among children and teens. The suicide rate for children ages 10 to 14 dropped 18% in 2022, to about 2 deaths for every 100,000 children, and the rate among those ages 15 to 24 fell 9% to about 14 deaths for every 100,000 people.”

Related Links:

— “Suicide deaths reached a record high in the US in 2022, despite hopeful decreases among children and young adults,” Deidre McPhillips, CNN, November 29, 2023

Healio (11/28, Rhoades) reports, “Food insecurity was linked to an increased risk for dementia and faster memory decline among older adults, according to a study.” The data also indicated that “those with food insecurity were typically younger and had lower educational attainment than those with food security.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Food insecurity associated with dementia risk,” Andrew Rhoades, Healio, November 28, 2023

HealthPayerIntelligence (11/28, Bailey) reports, “Medicare beneficiaries newly enrolled in accountable care organizations (ACOs) did not see any improvements in their depression and anxiety symptoms, suggesting Medicare ACOs may need better incentives to improve mental healthcare, a studypublished in Health Affairs found.”

The study found “new ACO enrollment in the following year was associated with a 12.2 percentage point lower likelihood (24.4 percent) of having an evaluation and management (E/M) visit with any clinician for depression or anxiety and a 9.8 percentage point lower likelihood (22.7 percent) of having an E/M visit for depression anxiety with a primary care clinician.

Additionally, there were no significant differences in changes in depression and anxiety symptoms by ACO enrollment status.”

Related Links:

— “Medicare ACO Enrollment Did Not Improve Mental Healthcare Outcomes,” Victoria Bailey, Health Payer Intelligence, November 28, 2023

Psychiatric News (11/28) reports that APA’s latest Healthy Minds Poll found that “nearly one-third of U.S. adults anticipate that this holiday season will be more stressful than last year, with costs associated with holiday gifts and meals possibly contributing to this stress.” Researchers found “of the holiday stressors respondents were asked to assess, 51% expressed at least some worry about their ability to afford holiday gifts, and 23% reported being very worried about affording gifts.”

Meanwhile, “40% reported worry about finding and securing gifts, and 39% expressed worry about affording holiday meals.” In a news release, APA President Petros Levounis, M.D., M.A., said, “Economic burdens have run high in our polling for the past few years as a source of concern, and that makes sense given the challenges we’ve all shared.”

Dr. Levounis added, “Connecting with supportive family and friends is more meaningful to our mental health than the commercial aspects of the season. The kindness with which you treat yourself and those you love during the holiday season is the very best gift you can give.”

Related Links:

— “APA Poll Finds U.S. Adults Worried About Costs Associated With Holidays,” American Psychiatric Association Psychiatric News Alert, November 28, 2023