HealthDay (2/28, Preidt) reported, “Half the teens seen” at the Hasbro Children’s Hospital emergency department in Providence, RI, “reported being victims of violence or cyberbullying, and a quarter reported symptoms akin to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” the findings of a 350-patient study published online Dec. 18 in the journal General Hospital Psychiatry suggest. The study revealed a “strong” association “between PTSD symptoms and being subjected to cyberbullying or violence, exposure to community violence, and” substance use.

Related Links:

— “Cyberbullying, Violence Linked to PTSD in Teens,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 26, 2016.

In continuing coverage, the New York Times (2/25, Rabin) “Well” blog reports that a study published online Feb. 18 in the American Journal of Public Health suggests that the rate of overdose deaths from benzodiazepines quadrupled between 1996 and 2013, while the number of benzodiazepines prescribed in the US tripled over that time period.

Related Links:

— “More Overdose Deaths from Anxiety Drugs,” Roni Caryn Rabin, New York Times, February 25, 2016.

HealthDay (2/25, Preidt) reports, “The many behavioral problems experienced by children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders require early attention,” a review published online Feb. 23 in Pediatrics suggests. After “analyzing published studies,” researchers “identified three main types of behavioral problems among” such children, including “‘internalizing’ behaviors such as anxiety, withdrawal and depression; ‘externalizing’ behaviors such as aggression and delinquency; and other issues such as problems with social skills, attention and thought processing.” Because such behaviors “impair social interactions, academic performance and mental health,” researchers called for “strategies for early intervention.”

Related Links:

— “Study Details Dire Consequences of Fetal Alcohol Disorders,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 25, 2016.

The Washington Post (2/25, Hicks, Wiggins) reports that on Thursday, hundreds of people advocating “for mental health and substance abuse treatment rallied in Annapolis…for something Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) is pushing to tame: automatic spending increases.” The advocates “gathered outside the State House to support legislation that would tie the state’s behavioral-health funding to the rate of inflation for medical costs.” The bill would mandate that spending “be increased by nearly $17 million during the first year of implementation, with additional hikes during subsequent years.”

Related Links:

— “Hundreds attend Md. rally for mental-health, drug-treatment funding,” Josh Hicks and Ovetta Wiggins, Washington Post, February 25, 2016.

STAT (2/25, Samuel) reports that often individuals “choose, deliberately or unconsciously, romantic partners similar to themselves.” Now, according to the findings of a study published online Feb. 24 in JAMA Psychiatry, “that extends to people with mental disorders, including schizophrenia and autism.”

Researchers arrived at this conclusion after analyzing “the records of 700,000 individuals who had been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, agoraphobia, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anorexia, or substance abuse,” then assessing “how often these diagnoses correlated with that person’s spouse or partner having either the same psychiatric condition or a different psychiatric condition.”

Related Links:

— “In marriage, those with mental disorders seek out similar partners,” Leah Samuel, STAT, February 25, 2016.