On the front of its Science Times section, the New York Times (11/3, D1, Beil, Subscription Publication) reports that “rural adolescents commit suicide at roughly twice the rate of their urban peers, according to a study published in the May issue of the journal JAMA Pediatrics.” Unfortunately, not only young people are experiencing an increase in suicide rates. In fact, “rates over all rose 7 percent in metropolitan counties from 2004 to 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” but “in rural counties, the increase was 20 percent.” Isolation and exposure to firearms factor into the increased rates, as does an acute shortage of mental healthcare professionals, including psychiatrists, in rural areas.

Related Links:

— “Small Towns Face Rising Suicide Rates,” New York Times, November 3, 2015.

In a nearly 1,300-word article, the NPR (11/1) “Shots” blog and “Weekend Edition” program examined the experience of postpartum depression from the perspective of Paige and Bjorn Bellenbaum. The definition of postpartum depression is “broad,” but, according to the CDC, between eight and 19 percent of women experience postpartum depression. In recent years, awareness has increased as more public figures have come forth with their experiences.

Related Links:

— “Know The Signs: For Some, Post-Pregnancy Is Anything But Magical,” NPR, November 1, 2015.

MedPage Today (10/31, Bender) reported that a research letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that “increasing numbers of people with opioid dependence use both prescription opiates and heroin concurrently, and shift between them depending on availability.” Investigators found, “in a study of more than 15,000 individuals diagnosed with opioid dependence, the percentage using prescription opioids and heroin together peaked at nearly 42%” last year, “up from 24% in 2008.”

Related Links:

— “Heroin, Prescription Opioids Interchangeable for Abusers,” Eve Bender, MedPage Today, October 30, 2015.

In a 2,500-word article on its front page, the New York Times (10/31, A1, Seelye, Subscription Publication) discussed how the usage of heroin “has skyrocketed among whites” and prompted a “growing army of families of those lost to heroin” to unite “their influence, anger and grief to cushion the country’s approach to drugs, from altering the language around addiction to prodding government to treat it not as a crime, but as a disease.”

Related Links:

— “In Heroin Crisis, White Families Seek Gentler War on Drugs,” Katherine Q. Seeleye, New York Times, October 30, 2015.

The Los Angeles Times (10/30, Kaplan) reports in “Science Now” that a new study published Thursday in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery suggests that “a face-lift may make you look younger, but it won’t necessarily improve your self-esteem.”

The Huffington Post (10/30, Adams) reports that Dr. Andrew Jacono, a New York City-based plastic surgeon, “partnered with Ryan P. Chastant, MD, and Greg Dibelius, MD, to perform” the study. They had “50 patients between the ages of 37 and 73 (48 of whom were women) fill out the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, a questionnaire social scientists use to measure self-esteem, just before they had the procedure done and again six months after the procedure.” HealthDay (10/30, Alan) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “A face-lift won’t help with your sagging self-esteem, study says,” Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times, October 29, 2015.