The Wall Street Journal (12/2, Terlep, Subscription Publication) reports that in the aftermath of last week’s apparent suicide of Ohio State University football player Kosta Karageorge, neurologist Brian Hainline, MD, chief medical officer for the NCAA, will soon be making recommendations that collegiate athletic directors have players screened for mental health disorders and take a greater role in helping the athletes manage any medications they must take. Dr. Hainline will also make recommendations on how university counseling centers can properly treat athletes.

Related Links:

— “The Mental Health of the College Athlete,” Sharon Terlep, Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2014.

In continuing coverage, the New York Times (12/2, Bakalar) “Well” blog reports that according to a study published online Nov. 24 in The Lancet Psychiatry, “short-term psychotherapy may be an effective way to prevent repeated suicide attempts.” Researchers arrived at this conclusion after studying “5,678 people who had attempted suicide and then received a program of short-term psychotherapy based on needs, including crisis intervention, cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy, and psychodynamic and psychoanalytic treatment,” then comparing “them with 17,034 people who had attempted suicide but received standard care, including admission to a hospital, referral for treatment or discharge with no referral.”

Related Links:

— “Therapy Prevents Repeat Suicide Attempts,” Nicholas Bakalar, New York Times, December 1, 2014.

The Huffington Post (11/20, Kingkade) reports that the Higher Education Mental Health Alliance this week issued “a first-of-its-kind ‘Postvention Guide’ to help colleges respond to suicides on campus.” The guide, which is “available for free online…includes information for counselors, deans, faculty and reporters.” Among the professional groups that worked to help develop this guide is the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Mental Health Group Releases Guide For Colleges Dealing With Suicides,” Tyler Kingkade, Huffington Post, November 19, 2014.

See the guide here: Postvention: A Guide for Response to Suicide on College Campuses

HealthDay (11/26, Preidt) reports that according to a study published online in the journal Development and Psychopathology, children “who enter puberty early are at increased risk for depression.” The four-year, 160-participant study tied early puberty to “a number of factors associated with depression, such as poor self-image and high anxiety levels.” In addition, early puberty was associated with “social problems, such as conflict with family and peers, and having friends who were prone to getting into trouble.”

Related Links:

— “Early Puberty Linked to Increased Risk of Depression in Teens,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, November 24, 2014.

The Fox News (11/25) website reports that according to a study by University of Michigan School of Nursing and published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, adolescents “prescribed sleep and anti-anxiety [medications] may be up to 12 times more likely to abuse them compared to teens who have never received these prescriptions.” Investigators arrived at that conclusion after surveying “more than 2,700 middle and high school students online from the Detroit area twice annually from 2009 to 2012.” The study authors suggested that “substance abuse assessments, in addition to strict limitations on prescription refills, may help reduce the number of teens that abuse prescription” medicines. The piece also points out that a 2011 survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that three percent of US teens abuse sleep and anti-anxiety medicines.

Related Links:

— “Abuse of sleep, anti-anxiety drugs a growing issue among teenagers, study shows,” Fox News, November 24, 2014.