Medscape (4/21, Ault) reports the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has issued a new report concluding that the US “needs a federally led, far-reaching strategy to reduce the continuing stigma associated with mental health disorders and substance use disorders.” The report, called “Ending Discrimination Against People With Mental and Substance Use Disorders: The Evidence for Stigma Change,” was “requested by the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

In “Health & Science,” the Washington Post (4/22, Keating, Bernstein) reports research (pdf) released Friday by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics found the suicide rate in the US rose 24 percent between 1999 and 2014 to 13 per 100,000 people, led by an even greater rise among middle-aged white people, particularly women. The overall rise in part can be attributed to substance addiction, “gray divorce,” and the rise of the Internet and social media. In addition, economic distress in wake of the recent recession appears to underpin some of the increase for middle-aged Caucasians.

Disturbingly, the suicide rate among young girls is also increasing, the Los Angeles Times (4/21, Healy) reports in “Science Now.” For example, “among girls five to 15 years old – a segment of the population among whom suicide was a rare phenomenon in 1999, rates of suicide tripled between 1999 and 2014, with one suicide yearly for every 6,660 such girls.”

USA Today (4/22, Asrar) reports that CDC behavioral scientist Kristin Holland, PhD, MPH, “believes there are multiple factors contributing towards the increase in suicide rate, and mental health is only one of them.” She stated, “Many people view suicide as a mental health problem, but many people who die of suicide do not have a mental health problem. It’s a public health problem.” Holland added, “We do not have enough resources directed at suicide prevention, especially compared to funding behind other leading causes of death.”

Related Links:

— “U.S. suicide rate has risen sharply in the 21st century,” Dan Keating and Lenny Bernstein, Washington Post, April 22, 2016.

Reuters (4/20, Seaman) reports that US veterans who suffered sexual trauma during military service may have an increased risk of homelessness, the findings of a 601,892-veteran study published online in JAMA Psychiatry suggest.

According to HealthDay (4/20, Preidt), the study “also found that among veterans with military sexual trauma, men were at greater risk for homelessness than women.” An accompanying editorial called for “a change of culture within the military.”

Related Links:

— “Military sexual trauma tied to increased risk of homelessness,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, April 20, 2016.

MedPage Today (4/19, Susman) reports, “A high percentage of former National Football League players show evidence of having experienced traumatic brain injury [TBI], most likely from concussions and near-concussions suffered in playing the violent sport,” the findings of a 40-patient study presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting suggest. Of those former players “who underwent diffusion tensor MRI scans, 17 (43%) were diagnosed with” TBI, the study found.

Related Links:

— “Nearly Half of Former NFL Players Show Signs of Brain Injury,” Ed Susman, MedPage Today, April 19, 2016.

The New York Times (4/20, A11, Tavernise, Subscription Publication) reports, “Life expectancy declined slightly for white Americans in 2014, according to new… data” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. The data, which were “drawn from all deaths recorded in the country in 2014, showed that life expectancy for whites dropped to 78.8 years in 2014 from 78.9 in 2013.”

NCHS statistician Elizabeth Arias, who analyzed the data, “said drug overdoses, liver disease and suicide were the main drivers of the gloomy trends among whites in recent years, a pattern also found by other researchers,” and particularly among middle-aged white women.

In “To Your Health,” the Washington Post (4/20, Achenbach) reports that “Hispanic life expectancy rose from 81.6 to 81.8 years between 2013 and 2014; gains were seen for both males and females.” Meanwhile, “life expectancy for blacks rose from 75.1 to 75.2 years, driven by a particularly large jump among black males, from 71.8 to 72.2 years.”

Related Links:

— “White Americans Are Dying Younger as Drug and Alcohol Abuse Rises,” Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times, April 20, 2016.