The New York Times (8/2, Graham) reported that a study presented to the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry found “older adults contemplating suicide do not cite depression as the primary reason.” Rather, more often reasons for suicidal ideation included “struggles with illness, disability, financial concerns, family difficulties and bereavement.” The conclusions suggest “treatment of depression alone may not be sufficient to reduce suicide rates among the elderly.”

Related Links:

— “Many Problems Lead to Thoughts of Suicide, Study Finds,” Judith Graham, New York Times, August 1, 2014.

The AP (8/4, Rubinkam) reports on “the hazards mental health professionals face on the job.” Mental health professionals “are at far greater risk of assault than workers as a whole, an occupational hazard at the best of times and one that’s been made worse by a persistent lack of funding for mental health services, the loss of thousands of inpatient psychiatric beds and the increasing use of hospitals to temporarily house criminals with mental illness.”

Safety guidelines published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for healthcare workers, including mental health professionals, recommend “metal detectors, enclosed nurses’ stations, multiple exits, furniture bolted to the floor in crisis treatment rooms, curved mirrors at hallway intersections and a variety of other steps.”

Related Links:

— “Hospital Killing Shows Safety Gap in Mental Health,” Michael Rubinkam, Associated Press, August 3, 2014.

The Hill (8/1, Cox) “Floor Action” blog reports that last night, the Senate approved HR 4631, the Autism CARES Act, a measure reauthorizing “federal support for autism programs.” The bill “requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to designate an official to oversee national autism spectrum disorder…research.” In addition, it “extends autism education programs through 2019.” The bill now goes to President Obama for his signature.

Related Links:

— “Senate passes autism bill,” Ramsey Cox, The Hill, July 31, 2014.

In a 7,300-word piece to appear this weekend, the New York Times (8/3, MM20, Padawer, Subscription Publication) Sunday Magazine features the stories of three children diagnosed with autism who appear to have overcome the condition. Recently, two studies were released that provide “the best evidence yet that…a small but reliable subset of children really do overcome autism.”

The first study confirmed that 34 people with documented diagnoses of autism “now no longer met autism’s criteria, a trajectory…called ‘optimal outcome.’” Several months ago, another “study that tracked 85 children from their autism diagnosis (at age two) for nearly two decades…found that about nine percent of them no longer met the criteria for the disorder.”

Related Links:

— “The Kids Who Beat Autism,” Ruth Padawer, New York Times, July 31, 2014.

BBC News (7/31) reports that the George Washington Bridge, which spans the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York, “will be getting a safety fence designed to prevent suicides, after an increase in deaths this year.” The new fence, which is estimated to cost up to $47 million, will be nine feet tall and will be put up on both sides of the bridge. The project is expected to be completed in 2022. The move to install a fence to prevent suicides “comes a month after officials at the Golden Gate Bridge in California voted to install suicide-prevention nets along the bridge.”

Related Links:

— “George Washington Bridge to get suicide prevention fence,” BBC News, July 30, 2014.