Medwire (2/19, Davenport) reports, “Men with first-episode psychosis [FEP] have more severe symptoms than women and are less likely to achieve recovery,” according to a 578-patient study published online Feb. 8 in the journal European Psychiatry. Even though “women were significantly more likely to attempt suicide during follow up, men were significantly more likely to die, at 14% versus 1%, and more likely to commit suicide, at 2.0% versus 0.4%,” the study revealed. “Conversely, women were more likely than men to meet the researchers’ criteria for recovery, with the difference being significant at two and five years of follow-up.”

Related Links:

— “First-episode psychosis hits men hard, “Liam Davenport, Medwire News, February 19, 2013.

MedPage Today (2/18, Walsh) reported, “Whether soldiers in combat develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) depends on their perception and attention to threat, the intensity of combat they are exposed to, and genetic susceptibility,” according to a study published online Feb. 13 in JAMA Psychiatry. The study, which included 1,085 Israeli soldiers followed for two years, revealed “a significant interaction…between attention to threat and degree of combat exposure (β = −0.73, 95% CI −0.45 to −0.08, P<0.004)." In addition, "a three-way interaction was observed between pre-deployment threat bias, combat exposure, and a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene (β = 0.62, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.19, P<0.01)," the study found. The study was partially supported by the National Institute of Mental Health. Related Links:

— “Combat PTSD Tied to Intensity of Fight, “Nancy Walsh, Medpage Today, February 17, 2013.

HealthDay (2/19, Dotinga) reports, “A protective effect in females may help explain one of the biggest mysteries of autism: Why boys are five times more likely to develop the developmental brain disorder than girls.” The study of “more than 3,800 pairs of non-identical twins from Great Britain and more than 6,000 pairs of non-identical twins from Sweden” indicated that “developing females are much better able than males to fight off genetic pressure to develop symptoms of autism.” The research was published online Feb. 18 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Related Links:

— “Researchers Detect an Anti-Autism Advantage in Females,” Randy Dotinga, HealthDay, February 18, 2013.

Medwire (2/1) says Valeria Mondelli at King’s College London led a study, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, that found schizophrenia patients “commonly have a poor diet,” which “may partly account for the increased incidence of metabolic abnormalities in these patients. The poor diet was mainly characterized by a high intake of saturated fat and calories and a low consumption of fiber and fruit.” The researchers wrote, “We can only suggest that a poor diet represents one of the factors involved in the development of metabolic abnormalities.”

Related Links:

— “Poor diet provides clue to metabolic abnormalities in schizophrenia, “Lucy Piper, Medwire News, February 1, 2013.

The New York Times (2/1, Goode, Healy, Subscription Publication, 1.68M) says some mental health experts have scrutinized many state proposals to bolster mental health services in response to the Newtown school shooting – proposals they deem hastily executed, “politically expedient,” and “unlikely to repair a broken mental health system.” Some mental health and legal experts “say that politicians’ efforts might be better spent making the process of involuntary psychiatric commitment – and the criteria for restricting firearms access once someone has been forcibly committed – consistent from state to state. And some proposals have caused concern, raising questions about doctor-patient confidentiality, the rights of people with psychiatric disabilities and the integrity of clinical judgment.”

McClatchy (2/1, Pugh) says healthcare advocates lobbying in the nation’s statehouses “hope growing tax revenues and renewed outrage over gun violence will lead lawmakers to boost funding” for mental health services, even though the states cut a collective $4.4 billion from their mental health budgets from 2009 to 2012, according to the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. In South Carolina, “where the state mental health budget has shrunk by $74 million since 2009, Republican Gov. Nikki Haley is calling for an $11 million increase for the state’s beleaguered mental health agency.” Meanwhile, in Idaho, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter “is backing plans to have the Department of Correction build a $70 million hospital to house nearly 600 mentally ill prisoners, along with non-offenders who’ve been involuntarily committed by the courts.”

Stigma of mental illness an obstacle to diagnosis, treatment. CBS Evening News (1/31, story 7, 4:00, Pelley, 5.58M)says Connecticut lawmakers, in a recent hearing on gun violence, listened to testimony from Sandy Hook library clerk Marianne Jacobs, who called for better mental health services for children. “We don’t know what drove the gunman in Newtown to kill, and the fact is that 95% of violent acts are committed by people with no serious mental illness. Even so, the shooting has put a spotlight on the treatment for the mentally ill.” The report profiles Zac Pogliano, who heard voices for a year until he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He delayed the diagnosis fearing the stigma associated with mental illness, but pharmaceutical and outpatient treatment have put him on a better path. His story “is a reminder that the stigma attached to mental illness makes people ashamed to admit their symptoms. Until that stigma is erased there will continue to be a delay in the proper diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disease.”

Survey: Majority back gun control, more mental healthcare. The Los Angeles Times (1/31, Healy, 692K) says the New England Journal of Medicine published a survey, conducted between January 2-14, that found “a majority of Americans – gun owners and non-owners alike – support stricter measures to keep handguns from people under 21 and to block ownership of any guns for 10 years by those who have perpetrated domestic violence, brandished a weapon in a threatening manner, or committed two or more drug- or alcohol-related crimes. … Almost 70% of respondents supported greater government spending and insurance coverage for mental healthcare as a means of averting gun violence.” Between 75% and 85% of respondents said that states, healthcare providers, and the military “should be required to notify a central background-check registry when a person has been declared mentally incompetent or committed to psychiatric care involuntarily, has threatened to harm himself or others, or has been rejected from service due to mental illness or drug- or alcohol-abuse.”

Related Links:

— “Focus on Mental Health Laws to Curb Violence Is Unfair, Some Say, “Erica Goode, The New York Times, February 1, 2013.