The New York Times (3/9) “Well” blog reports that a new study, published in JAMA, suggests using benzodiazepine drugs “to relieve anxiety before surgery” have “little beneficial effect and may even delay recovery.” The researchers observed 1,062 “patients admitted to French hospitals for surgery requiring general anesthesia.” One-third “took 2.5 milligrams of lorazepam (Ativan), a third received a placebo, and a third were given no premedication.” They found lorazepam “was associated with more postsurgery amnesia” as well as a delay in recovery of cognitive abilities. Additionally, “quality of sleep was impaired in the lorazepam group, but not in the others” and “ventilation tubes were kept in significantly longer in the lorazepam group.”

Related Links:

— “A Time to Avoid Anxiety Drugs,” Nicholas Bakalar, New York Times, March 9, 2015.

The Washington Times (3/10, Klimas) reports that according to Defense Department data released Monday, suicides “for the first three quarters of 2014 are down among members of the National Guard and reserves.” According to the data, “suicides among National Guardsmen decreased 30 percent compared to 2013.” Between January and September 2014, 68 National Guardsmen committed suicide, “down from 97 over that same time period the previous year.” Similarly, reservists saw “about a 12 percent decrease.” In the first three quarters of 2014, 58 reservists committed suicide, “down from 66 over the same time period in 2013.”

Related Links:

— “Suicide down among reservists, National Guardsmen: report,” Jacqueline Klimas, Washington Times, March 9, 2015.

TIME (3/10, Worland) reports that research published in JAMA Pediatrics indicates that “young people who live in rural areas kill themselves at twice the rate as youth who live in cities.” While “there aren’t clear-cut explanations for suicide…geographical differences seem to play a role, the researchers found.” Those residing “in rural areas have less access to mental health services, more stigma surrounding help-seeking and freer access to guns than their urban counterparts.”

In the Washington Post (3/9, Bernstein) “To Your Health” blog, Lenny Bernstein writes that the investigators “examined 66,595 suicides by people ages 10 to 24 between 1996 and 2010.” The researchers “found suicide rates of 19.93 per 100,000 for males and 4.4 per 100,00 for females in rural areas, compared to 10.31 per 100,000 for males and 2.39 per 100,000 for females in urban areas.”

Related Links:

— “This Is Where Young People Are More Likely to Commit Suicide,” Justin Worland, Time, March 9, 2015.

USA Today (3/10, Ungar, O’Donnell) reports that health insurance coverage for mental and physical illness remains unequal “despite promises that Obamacare would help level the playing field, mental health advocates and researchers say.” A new study published online in Psychiatric Services found that consumer information on a quarter of ACA plans examined by researchers appeared to violate a Federal “parity” law designed to stop discrimination in coverage for people with mental health or addiction problems. The study, which examined plans in two state-run exchanges, “found two big problems: financial disparities such as different co-pays or deductibles for mental and physical health services; and more stringent requirements for ‘prior authorizations’ from insurers before patients can get mental health services.”

Related Links:

— “Mental health coverage unequal in many Obamacare plans,” Laura Ungar and Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today, March 9, 2015.

Medscape (3/7, Bender) reported that a study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry suggests that “older patients are among those most likely to achieve rapid remission of depressive symptoms with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).” The 120-patient “study, which examined demographic and clinical features of patients with different treatment response to ECT, revealed few differences between groups other than a statistically significantly higher mean age in those achieving rapid remission (65.3 years) than in the group with improved symptoms without remission (57.6 years) or in those without improvement (51.5 years).”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)