The Washington Post (11/21, Holley, Larimer) “Post Nation” blog reported that in wake of Thursday morning’s shooting at the Florida State University library, experts are once again debating the fairness of the connection between gun violence and serious mental illness. Earlier this year, in a piece run by Psychiatric News, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, Thomas Insel, MD, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, discussed that very issue in a keynote address at a workshop on mental health and violence conducted by the Institute of Medicine, putting the issue in perspective and reiterating that the vast majority of people with mental illnesses are not violent, nor are most violent acts perpetrated by people with mental illnesses.

Related Links:

— “In wake of Florida State shooting, spotlight returns to mental health issues and violence,” Peter Holley and Sarah Larimer, Washington Post, November 21, 2014.

Pew Charitable Trusts (11/19) reports on a new Federal rule that “will require states to ensure that long-term care alternatives to nursing homes work with residents and their families to develop individual care plans specifying the services and setting each resident wants,” with the goal of creating a “home-like atmosphere” within assisted living facilities. However, “the rule could make it difficult for [physicians] to fulfill increasing demand for long-term care outside of nursing homes,” and “could limit the availability of services for elders,” while bringing unintended consequences, according to Pew. For example, patients with dementia who are not likely to wander off should not face constraints such as locked doors under the new rule, but this guideline becomes complicated when multiple dementia patients share living space and some are at risk for wandering and some are not.

Related Links:

— “New Medicaid Rule Could Challenge State Shift Away From Nursing Homes,” Christine Vestal, Pew Charitable Trusts, November 19, 2014.

HealthDay (11/21, Preidt) reports that according to a report issued by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and based on the agency’s annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health, “nearly one in five American adults – 43.8 million people – had a diagnosable mental illness in 2013.” In addition, the report revealed “10 million adults had a serious mental illness, 15.7 million had major depressive episodes, 9.3 million had serious thoughts of suicide, 2.7 million made suicide plans and 1.3 million attempted suicide.” In a news release, SAMHSA Administrator Pamela Hyde said, “It is a serious issue that millions of Americans are needlessly affected by mental illness when they can get effective treatment to restore their well-being.” Hyde emphasized the importance of seeking help.

Related Links:

— “1 in 5 U.S. Adults Dealt With a Mental Illness in 2013,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, November 20, 2014.

The New York Times (11/21, Parker-Pope) “Well” blog reports that according to a report released Nov. 20 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in the CDC’s Preventing Chronic Disease journal, the majority of “people who drink to get drunk are not alcoholics.” The conclusions of “a government survey of 138,100 adults counters the conventional wisdom that every ‘falling-down drunk’” has an addiction to alcohol. Rather, “the results from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health show that nine out of 10 people who drink too much are not addicts, and can change their behavior with a little – or perhaps a lot of – prompting.”

Related Links:

— “Most Heavy Drinkers Are Not Alcoholics,” Tara Parker-Pope, New York Times, November 20, 2014.

Medscape (11/20, Cassels) reports that according to a study published online Nov. 19 in JAMA Psychiatry, “collaborative care delivered via telemedicine may offer a viable and effective way of treating veterans with severe posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who live in rural and remote areas.” The “results of a multisite, randomized effectiveness trial” including 265 veterans with PTSD “showed that Telemedicine Outreach for PTSD (TOP), an off-site intervention in which a multidisciplinary PTSD care team uses telemedicine tools, such as telephone calls, interactive videos, and shared electronic medical records, to support on-site [healthcare professionals] significantly improved clinical outcomes in veterans compared with usual care.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)