NPR (8/21, Westervelt) reports on the mental health aftermath of the fires on Maui. Clinicians there “describe these early days of disaster mental health treatment as a kind of triage, psychological first aid for anguish that runs the spectrum of symptoms from deep sadness and sleeplessness to exhaustion, even breakdowns,” as people deal with the loss of family members, friends, pets, homes, and jobs, and others wait anxiously to learn more about those who are still missing. A period of “initial shock is now giving way to wrenching anxiety, nightmares, anxiety, depression and sometimes anger, as the depth of the trauma settles in.” Currently, “state and federal officials are trying to mobilize a fresh influx of mental health clinicians to help the some 65 clinicians already on the ground,” and “Hawaii’s governor issued an emergency order temporarily waiving the state-licensing requirement for counseling.”

Related Links:

— “Massive mental health toll in Maui wildfires: ‘They’ve lost everything’,”Eric Westervelt, Jonaki Mehta, NPR , August 21, 2023

Healio (8/21, Weldon) reports, “Device overuse and screen time topped a poll of parental concerns about children’s health, followed by concerns about internet safety and mental health, according to results released” Aug. 21 in the “annual University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.” The pool, which “received 2,099 responses…from parents with at least one child,” rated parents’ top “five concerns” to be “overuse of devices or screen time (67%), social media (66%), internet safety (62%) depression and suicide (57%) and bullying (53%).”

Related Links:

— “Poll: Screen time tops parents’ concerns about children’s health,”Rose Weldon, Healio , August 21, 2023

Psychiatric News (8/18) reported, “Most adolescents who vape have tried to quit at least once,” according to the findings of an 185-adolescent survey study published online ahead of print in the December issue of the journal Addictive Behaviors. That study also found “which vaping cessation methods that adolescents are interested in trying.” Additionally, “greater perceived harm of vaping was significantly associated with motivation to quit vaping, while greater perceived risk of addiction and higher socioeconomic status were significantly associated with ever use of nicotine replacement to quit vaping,” the study revealed.

Related Links:

— “More Than Three-Fourths of Adolescents Who Vape Have Tried to Quit,Psychiatric News, August 18, 2023

KFF Health News (8/20, Waldman) reports, “While it was once unheard-of to mention suicide as a cause of death in news obituaries and paid death notices, that has been changing, especially in the past 10 years, said Dan Reidenberg…managing director of the National Council for Suicide Prevention.” And “while there’s no right or wrong way to write death announcements, mental health and grief experts said the reluctance to acknowledge suicide has implications beyond the confines of a public notice,” as “the stigma attached to the word affects everything from how people grieve to how people help prevent others from ending their own lives.” Meanwhile, “research shows that talking about suicide can help reduce suicidal thoughts,” although “studies have also found that spikes in suicide rates can follow news reports about someone dying that way — a phenomenon known as ‘suicide contagion.’”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (8/17, Collins) reports, “Vaping CBD (cannabidiol) is on the rise among middle and high school students, according to a national U.S. survey, and health experts warn there can be serious risks involved.” Results from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that “more than 1 in 5 students who use electronic cigarettes said they had vaped CBD,” while “more than 6% didn’t know whether or not they had vaped CBD.” And “while the authors of the study say CBD is the most popularized non-psychoactive component of cannabis, they add that its use raises several safety concerns, including potential harm to the liver and lungs and possible damage to the male reproductive system.” The findingswere published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “CBD Vapes Rising in Popularity Among Teens,”Sarah D. Collins, HealthDay, August 17, 2023

NBC News (8/16, Edwards) reports, “Three influential groups of pediatricians and emergency medicine” clinicians “are pleading for more support and resources as the number of children and teenagers with mental health concerns overwhelm emergency departments” (EDs) across the country. A joint policy statement was issued Aug. 16 and published online in the journal Pediatrics by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Emergency Nurses Association in which the “groups are calling for local communities to increase access to mental health services before emergency care is needed.”

HealthDay (8/16, Thompson) says, “Every year, about half a million children with mental and behavioral health problems are evaluated in” EDs, “the joint report says,” and ED “visits spurred by mental health problems increased by 120% at children’s hospitals between 2007 and 2016.” During that same time frame, “the rate among general hospitals rose by 55%.” Because ED “teams are designed to work at a fever pitch, moving from case to case as quickly as possible,” children who are in psychiatric crisis who “need follow-up care…are less likely to get that follow-up if they go to an” ED.

Related Links:

— “Emergency room doctors beg for help treating children with mental health illnesses,”Erika Edwards, NBC News , August 16, 2023

Psych News Alert (8/17) reports, “Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) who exhibit suicidal behavior have 2.6 times the risk of dying from any cause compared with people with MDD who do not, according to a study.” Psych News Alert adds, “The study sample included 145,577 people who experienced a total of 158,169 MDD episodes, 1.4% of which included records of suicidal behavior; the average time from MDD diagnosis to the first record of suicidal behavior was less than six months.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Suicidal Behavior in Patients With MDD Associated With Death of Any Cause, Psych News Alert, August 17, 2023

CNN (8/17, Viswanathan) reports, “Last year, more middle-aged adults were binge drinking, using marijuana or consuming hallucinogens than ever before, according to a new report.” In addition, “cannabis use surged among young adults under 30, alongside historic rates of vaping.” This “new data comes from the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future panel study,” which is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The Hill (8/17, Fortinsky) reports that the survey has been “conducted annually since 1975. Data for this most recent 2022 survey was collected via online and paper surveys from April 2022 to October 2022, according to the report.”

Related Links:

— “Marijuana and hallucinogen use, binge drinking reached record highs in middle-aged adults, survey finds,”Giri Viswanathan, CNN, August 17, 2023

NBC News (8/16, Lovelace) reports that new research indicates Eisai’s Leqembi (lecanemab) and Biogen’s Aduhelm (aducanumab), the first drugs meant to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, “may only be available to a tiny fraction of patients.” The drugs “are approved for older adults with mild cognitive impairment or early-stage Alzheimer’s disease but, according to the study, less than 1 in 10 patients at this point in the disease may be prescribed them.” The findings were published in the journal Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Few patients may qualify to get new Alzheimer’s drugs, study suggests,” Berkeley Lovelace Jr., NBC News, August 16, 2023

MedPage Today (8/16, Firth) reports, “Children exposed to physical assault were at higher risk of a mental illness diagnosis over subsequent years, with the greatest risk seen in the year after the assault,” investigators concluded in a study that “included 5,487 children ages 0 to 13 years who from 2006 to 2014 presented to an emergency department…or were hospitalized for an acute physical assault in Ontario,” Canada. The study revealed that youngsters “seen for physical assault in an acute care setting were nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness over a median follow-up of nearly seven years when compared with children who were not assaulted.” The findings were published online Aug. 16 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)