The AP (5/7, Stobbe) reports that a research letter published May 7 in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that bisexual and gay children “are more likely to be bullied as they’re growing up – even at an early age.” Researchers found that “many of the nearly 4,300 students surveyed said they were bullied, especially at younger ages,” but 13 percent of the 630 bisexual and gay youngsters reported being bullied “on a weekly basis,” compared to just eight percent of the other children.

Related Links:

— “Study: Gay, Bisexual Kids Bullied More, Even at Early Age,”Mike Stobbe, AP, May 6, 2015.

BBC News (5/7, Bloch) reports on the stress experienced by pilots in the wake of the Germanwings crash, featuring a 36-year veteran pilot named John who said he “just found it impossible to go to work. I felt very close to tears, as I had done on various occasions at the end of shifts, without really understanding what was happening.” John describes the difficult days that involve early mornings, long days, and often multiple flights each day. However, Andrew Vincent, the director of Nova Vida Recovery in Portugal, said pilots are often unwilling to divulge their experiences with “depression or stress” because “of the fear of losing the job.”

Related Links:

— “Airline pilots ‘buckling under unacceptable pressures’,”Sarah Bloch, BBC News, May 7, 2015.

Reuters (5/5, Doyle) reports that the majority of concussions suffered by high school and college football student-athletes occur during football practices, not at the games themselves, according to a study published online in JAMA Pediatrics.

HealthDay (5/5, Reinberg) reports that after studying “data on more than 20,000 young football players across the” US, researchers found that “more than 57 percent of concussed high school and college players were injured at practice, not games.” The NPR (5/5, Shute) “Shots” blog also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Most football concussions happen at practice,” Kathryn Doyle, Reuters, May 4, 2015.

The Wall Street Journal (5/5, Murphy, Subscription Publication) reports that playing two sports that use different skills is both physically and mentally beneficial, according to Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician at the New York-based Hospital for Special Surgery. By doing so, Metzl says that athletes become more well-rounded physically, while also staying engaged and interested.

Related Links:

— “Playing Two Different Sports Does a Mind and Body Good,” Jen Murphy, Wall Street Journal, May 4, 2015.

The Kaiser Health News (5/2, Gillespie) reported that the “American Psychiatric Association is releasing a first-of-its-kind book to decode in plain English the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – a guide for mental health” professionals “that is also used to determine insurance coverage.”

The APA’s new “resource, Understanding Mental Disorders: Your Guide To DSM-5, includes in-depth explanations of risk factors, symptoms and symptom management, treatment options and success stories.” Psychiatrist and APA spokesman Jeff Bornstein, MD, “said empowering patients with a better understanding of what they are facing will enable them to better advocate for themselves.”

US News & World Report (5/2, Leonard) reported that APA’s new patient resource has garnered “endorsements from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health America.”

Related Links:

— “Decoding Your Diagnosis: Psychiatrists Unveil Plain-English Guide For Patients,” Lisa Gillespie, Kaiser Health News, May 1, 2015.