HealthDay (3/8, Preidt) reports that “abuse of AD/HD stimulant drugs…is on the rise, and” research published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence “finds that most teens who abuse the drugs get them from someone else.” About 11,000 US children and teens were surveyed. Approximately “7 percent of the participants said they had used a prescription stimulant drug in the past 30 days, and more than half said their use was non-medical.” The researchers found that nearly “90 percent of the kids who were abusing an AD/HD” medication “said they had used someone else’s medication.”

Related Links:

— “Most Teens Who Abuse ADHD Meds Get Them From Others,” Robert Preidt, Healthy, March 8, 2016.

MedPage Today (3/3) reports, “Staying engaged in activities like reading, crafting, and socializing may stave off the development of mild cognitive impairment (MCI),” research suggests. “In an analysis of data from the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging” to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in April, “five ‘mentally stimulating’ activities – playing games, reading magazines, doing crafts, using the computer, and social activities – were each associated with a reduced risk of MCI in patients 70 and up.”

Related Links:

— “Engaged Brain Tied to Lower Cognitive Risk,” Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today, March 3, 2016.

HealthDay (3/3, Thompson) reports, “People diagnosed with psychosis will probably have a longer, harder struggle to maintain their mental health if they’re regular marijuana users,” the findings of a study published online March 3 in the journal BMJ Open suggest. After reviewing “the electronic health records of slightly more than 2,000 people treated for a first episode of psychosis between 2006 and 2013,” researchers also found that patients “who just experienced their first episode of psychotic illness are 50 percent more likely to need subsequent hospitalization for their condition if they use marijuana.”

Related Links:

— “Psychosis Plus Pot a Bad Mix: Study,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, March 3, 2016.

In a 3,100-word piece, USA Today (3/3, Szabo) reports that the “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, forbids” healthcare professionals “from disclosing a patient’s medical information without consent.” Because many practitioners “don’t understand what HIPAA actually allows them to say,” they “often shut families out, even in circumstances in which they’re legally allowed to share information, says Ron Manderscheid, executive director of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors.” Former child psychologist Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) “wants to change the law itself, creating a special exception to the privacy rule in cases in which the health of people with serious mental illness would suffer if their families aren’t involved in their care.” The American Psychiatric Association has endorsed Murphy’s bill, HR 2646.

Related Links:

— “Mental illness: Families cut out of care,” Liz Szabo, USA Today, February 26, 2016.

In the US News & World Report (3/1) “Policy Dose” blog, psychiatrist Lloyd Sederer, MD, chief medical officer of the New York State Office of Mental Health, writes, “An estimated 8.4 million people in the US care for a loved one with a mental illness.” The National Alliance for Caregiving just issued a report called “On Pins and Needles: Caregivers of Adults With Mental Illness.” Although “the report did not monetize the value of these caregivers’ service, even a low estimate, say $20,000 per year, multiplies to $168 billion annually in caregiver service value, not including financial support and the incalculable other resources and benefits provided (like a place to live and food to eat).” Put another way, “not only are these caregivers at the heart of our service system for people with chronic mental disorders, they may be its greatest source of financial subsidy.”

Related Links:

— “Take Care of Caregivers,” Lloyd Sederer, US News & World Report, March 1, 2016.