The Wall Street Journal (4/26, A6, Kesling, Levitz, Subscription Publication) reports on how first responders to the Boston Marathon Bombing are receiving mental-health therapy in order to ward off psychological inflections, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis has notably called for large-scale counseling efforts. He said, “We are extremely concerned” about the well-being of the first responders, adding he would also see a therapist.

Boston Bombing Victims Begin Long, Painful Recovery. In a front-page story, The New York Times (4/26, A1, Goodnough, Bidgood, Subscription Publication) reports in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, many of the survivors have suffered “complex wounds that are causing intense pain and that will require several more operations.” Some will require surgery “to repair bones, veins and nerves,” while more will need physical therapy. Besides the physical ailments, many victims are experiencing “phantom pain” of lost limbs and post-traumatic stress disorder “that may continue indefinitely.” At Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, “a team of doctors, nurses, psychologists and physical therapists will focus exclusively on the bombing victims, many of whom will be fitted with prosthetic legs while they are there. Inpatient rehabilitation usually lasts a few weeks, said Dr. Ross Zafonte, Spaulding’s chief medical officer, although some of these patients will be there longer.”

Related Links:

— “First Responders Seek Out Counseling as Attitudes Shift, “Ben Kesling, The Wall Street Journal, April 25, 2013.

Medwire (4/26, McDermid) reports, “The longer patients with first-episode psychosis go untreated, the less likely they are to achieve remission within a year of starting treatment,” according to a study published April 30 in the journal Psychiatry Research. The 153-patient study revealed that “the average duration of untreated psychosis was 8.8 months in patients who achieved remission versus 15.6 months in those who did not.” The investigators found that “just three factors predicted remission: longer duration of untreated psychosis; worse negative symptoms (higher Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms [SANS] scores); and having completed only primary education.”

Related Links:

— “Delayed psychosis treatment harms chance of success, “Eleanor McDermid, Medwire News, April 26, 2013.

In continuing coverage, the Connecticut Mirror (4/25, Merritt) reports, “Anthem Health Plans has agreed to reprocess 28,000 claims amounting to $400,000 in additional payments to mental health providers following an investigation by the [Connecticut] Department of Insurance, the department announced Wednesday.” Nevertheless, “it is unlikely that the agreement will prompt physicians’ groups to withdraw a discrimination lawsuit against Anthem on the same issue any time soon.” The piece explains, “Anthem had adjusted its billing codes and fees as of Jan. 1 when a new set of codes established by the American Medical Association took effect.”

Hartford Business (4/25) reports, “Anthem will begin notifying affected providers May 1 and will also explain the change in the billing code reimbursement procedure to its members.” Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas “Leonardi said that Anthem has cooperated fully with the department throughout the oversight process, which began in early March after the department received a formal complaint from” clinicians.

Related Links:

— “Anthem agrees to reprocess 28,000 claims to mental health providers, “Grace Merritt, The Connecticut Mirror, April 24, 2013.

Medscape (4/25, Lowry) reports, “Results from the first phase of the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study (NAPLS) showed that preschoolers who underwent a stressful home event had a 30% increased risk of developing psychosis.” What’s more, “the type of stressful events that predicted psychosis in preschool-aged children were those that concerned the home or family, independent of other types of stressors.” The research, which “was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health,” was presented at the 14th International Congress on Schizophrenia Research.

Medwire (4/24) reports that according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry, “young adolescents who have been bullied have an increased risk for developing a psychiatric disorder as young adults, with the worst effects seen for individuals who are both victims and bullies.” After following “420 young adolescents who had been bullied, were bullies only, or were both bullies and victims (bullies/victims) annually between the ages of 9 and 16 years” and then adjusting for confounding factors, researchers found that “victims of bullying in childhood had a 4.3-, 3.1-, and 4.6-fold increased risk for developing anxiety disorders, panic disorders, or agoraphobia, respectively.”

Related Links:

— “Psychiatric disorders in young adulthood linked to bullying in childhood, “Ingrid Grasmo, Medwire News, April 23, 2013.