The New York Times (10/5, Caron), in light of numerous and often inaccurate TikTok videos and social media posts defining dissociative disorders, differentiates between dissociative identity disorder (DID), depersonalization/derealization disorder, and dissociative amnesia. In spite of “the inclusion of D.I.D. in the D.S.M.-5., the American Psychiatric Association’s official manual of mental disorders, some psychiatrists and psychologists think that patients with symptoms of D.I.D. actually have borderline personality disorder.” According to the APA, people “who experience depersonalization can feel at times as though they are detached from their mind or body…like they are watching events happen to them,” while “derealization…refers to feeling detached from the environment as though the people and things in the world are not real, in some cases appearing like cardboard cutouts.” Dissociative amnesia “occurs in response to a variety of different types of trauma, and involves having blocks of time where you lose your identity and are not able to recall important information about your life.”

Related Links:

— “What Does It Really Mean to Dissociate?,”Christina Caron , The New York Times, October 5, 2023

The New York Times (10/5, Rabin) reports, “The rate of firearm fatalities among children under 18 increased by 87 percent from 2011 through 2021 in the” US, while “the death rate attributable to car accidents fell by almost half, leaving firearm injuries the top cause of accidental death in children,” according to findingsreleased Oct. 5 in a research brief in the journal Pediatrics. The study revealed that “some 2,590 children and teenagers under the age of 18 died of firearm injuries in 2021, up from 1,311 in 2011.”

ABC News (10/5, Martin, Huang) reports, “Researchers looked at data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s injury reporting system,” then “analyzed injuries leading to death from 2011-2021 and nonfatal injuries from 2011-2020.” Overall, the study team “found that fatal injury rates increased from about 14 deaths per 100,000 children in 2011 to over 17 deaths per 100,000 children in 2021,” with “firearm injuries” making “up the biggest portion of those fatal injuries.” HealthDay (10/5, Gotkine) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Gun Deaths Rising Sharply Among Children, Study Finds,”Roni Rabin, The New York Times, October 5, 2023

NBC News (10/4, Bellamy) reports that researchers have found that “experiencing discrimination may change how the brain and the gut communicate with each other.” This “disruption, the researchers say, could promote behaviors that increase people’s risk of obesity.” The study, which used brain scans, found that “in individuals who reported experiencing high levels of discrimination…photos of unhealthy, high-calorie foods triggered a larger response in the reward processing region of the brain, called the frontal-striatal region.” The findingswere published in Nature Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “Discrimination may disrupt how the brain and the gut talk to each other, raising risk of obesity, study finds,”Claretta Bellamy , NBC News, October 4, 2023

HCPlive (10/3, Derman) reports, “Antipsychotic dose reduction or discontinuation increases the risk of severe relapse in people with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders,” investigators concluded in the findings of a 253-patient study published online Sept. 28 ahead of print in The Lancet Psychiatry. The study found that “gradually reducing antipsychotic dosage increases the risk of relapse for people with psychotic disorders and does not improve social functioning.”

Related Links:

— “Antipsychotic Dose Reduction or Discontinuation Can Lead to Severe Relapse,”Chelsie Derman, HCPlive, October 3, 2023

According to HealthDay (10/3, Murez), “spending on mental health services for U.S. children and adolescents has risen sharply since 2020,” climbing “26% for youths aged 19 and younger between March 2020 and August 2022,” RAND researchers concluded. After examining “claims from health benefit manager Castlight Health” that “involved 1.9 million children and teens with commercial insurance from January 2019 through August 2022,” investigators also found that “use of mental health services increased by 22%” along “a large group whose families had employer-provided insurance.” The findings were published online Oct. 3 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Spending on Kids’ Mental Health Keeps Rising,”Cara Murez, HealthDay, October 3, 2023

HCPlive (10/2, Derman) reports, “A child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at 12-26 months of age may not meet the diagnostic criteria for autism years later,” investigators concluded in the findings of a 213-child “cohort study” published online in JAMA Pediatrics. The study suggested that “children with higher baseline adaptative functioning scores, as well as girls, were more likely to have nonpersistent autism spectrum disorder in later years.”

Related Links:

— “Autism Diagnosis at Toddler Age May Not Persist to Elementary School Years,”Chelsie Derman, HCPlive, October 2, 2023

CNN (10/2, Ronald) reports that research has found that “parents, teachers, coaches and other adults shouting at, denigrating or verbally threatening children can be as damaging to their development as sexual or physical abuse.” The research, “which studied the impact of shouting by adults such as parents, teachers and coaches, cited several papers that suggested the lasting effects of childhood verbal abuse can manifest as mental distress, such as depression and anger; externalizing symptoms, such as committing crimes, substance use or perpetrating abuse; and physical health outcomes, such as developing obesity or lung disease.” The findings were published in Child Abuse & Neglect.

Related Links:

— “Adults shouting at children can be as harmful to a child’s development as sexual or physical abuse, study finds,”Issy Ronald, CNN, October 2, 2023

CNN (10/2, Choi) reports, “Children and teens in the US are dying of gun-related homicides and suicides in record numbers, according to the most recent data from the” CDC. In 2021, “there were 2,279 firearm homicides in children and teens (ages one to 18),” which is “double the number of deaths recorded a decade prior, according to the CDC’s WONDER database.” Additionally, “suicides by gun were…up 11% from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.”

Related Links:

— “Gun homicides and suicides in US children and teens are at a record high,”Annette Choi, CNN, October 2, 2023

Healio (9/29, Bascom) reported, “Increased intake of ultraprocessed foods, especially artificially sweetened beverages and artificial sweeteners, was linked to a high risk for depression,” researchers concluded in “a prospective cohort study of 31,712 women aged 42 to 62 years who were enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II between 2003 and 2017.” The study also revealed that “reducing consumption of ultraprocessed foods by at least three servings daily lowered that risk.” The findings were published online Sept. 20 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “High intake of artificially sweetened drinks associated with higher depression risk,”Emma Bascom, Healio, September 29, 2023

Psychiatric News (9/29) reported, “Emergency department” (ED) “visits for substance use may be associated with an increased risk of developing a schizophrenia spectrum disorder,” researchers concluded in a study revealed that “people who were seen in the emergency department for cannabis-induced psychosis had the highest risk of transitioning to a schizophrenia spectrum disorder within three years.” The study, which “examined data from more than 9.8 million Ontario residents aged 14 to 65 years between January 2008 and March 2022,” was published online Sept. 27 in a brief report in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Emergency Department Visits for Substance Use Linked to Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, Psychiatric News, September 29, 2023