Medscape (10/8, Cassels) reports that, according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in conjunction with the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly “a quarter of American adults experienced at least one mental health disorder in the past year.”

The report found that “22.5% of American adults (51.2 million people) had at least one mental disorder in the past year.” Some 17 million Americans “(7.4% of the adult population) suffered mood disorders, including major depression and bipolar disorders.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

In “The Appraisal,” the New York Times (10/7, A27, Chaban, Subscription Publication) reports that the Greenburger Center for Social and Criminal Justice seeks “to cut the United States incarceration rate of 2.3 million in half over the next decade.”

While this will involve “advocacy campaigns and lobbying, including for sentencing reforms and the decriminalization of drugs,” it will focus primarily on “the establishment of better mental health treatment for inmates in the United States,” starting with a 25-bed center to help people with convictions who also have mental illnesses.

Founder Francis J. Greenburger, a New York developer, has a son with mental illness who is now serving a five-year prison sentence for arson.

Related Links:

— “From a Father’s Anguish Comes a Plan to Help Mentally Ill Inmates,” Matt A. V. Chaban, New York Times, October 6, 2014.

HealthDay (10/7, Preidt) reports that, according to a study published online in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, when it comes to treating a substance abuser suffering from a severe mental disorder, “treating substance abuse at the outset is more likely to reduce violent acts.” Researchers arrived at this conclusion after following “nearly 300 patients for six months after their enrollment in an outpatient treatment program for both substance abuse and mental illness.”

The study’s lead author wrote, “Our findings suggest that treatment attendance is very important for these individuals and treatment programs should include interventions that are likely to decrease substance abuse, as this may provide the additional benefit of reducing the risk of later aggression among dual-diagnosis patients.”

Related Links:

— “Addiction Treatment Key to Curbing Violence in Mentally Ill: Study,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, October 6, 2014.

HealthDay (10/7, Thompson) reports on a new study that finds mental health problems in one-third of German cancer patients. The study, published yesterday in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, notes 32% of cancer patients’ responses to researchers were consistent with “a full-blown psychological disorder.”

Investigators from the University of Leipzig interviewed 2,100 patients aged 18-75 and compared their responses to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). Mental illness rates varied based on cancer type, ranging from a low of 20% for patients with pancreatic, prostate, stomach, or esophageal cancers and a high of 40% for patients with breast or head and neck cancer or melanoma.

Related Links:

— “Cancer Diagnosis Can Take Toll on Mental Health, Study Finds,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, October 6, 2014.

HealthDay (10/6, Preidt) reports a study published in the journal Translational Behavioral Medicine suggests that overweight and obese people are the frequent target of cyberbullying and negative messages on social media. Reviewing more than 1.3 million messages with keywords relating to obesity, researchers found a “large number of negative stereotypes, ‘fat’ jokes, self-deprecating humor and alienation of overweight and obese people.”

Related Links:

— “The Obese Are Frequent Targets for Cyberbullies,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, October 3, 2014.