The Denver Post (12/23, O’Connor) reported that a report published last February in the journal Emergency Physicians Monthly found a 60% decrease in the number of psychiatric beds available for inpatients in the US between the years 1970 and 2002. Bed counts at hospitals run by counties and states plummeted by 90%, the article said. A 2008 study [pdf] conducted by the American College of Emergency Physicians revealed that Colorado has only 11.8 inpatient psychiatric beds per 100,000 persons, which appears to be one of the worst rates in the US.

Related Links:

— “Parents’ burden: Lack of resources adds to challenges of caring for the mentally ill, “Colleen O’Connor, The Denver Post, December 23, 2012.

In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal (12/26, A11, Subscription Publication), Peter M. Marzuk, MD, of the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, asserts that while the vast majority of people with mental illnesses are not violent and do not commit suicide or murder, nearly all people who do commit murder-suicides have underlying serious mental illness. He calls for systematic studies of the brains of those who perpetrate murder-suicides in order to better understand any underlying neurobiology that could be targeted for specific medicines or therapies. He would also like to see a US-wide registry of information on murder-suicides.

Related Links:

— “Unlocking the Mystery of Murder-Suicide, “Peter M. Marzuk, The Wall Street Journal, December 25, 2012.

The Hill (12/21, Viebeck) “Healthwatch” blog reported, “The governing body of the US Catholic Church is calling for lawmakers to tighten gun regulations and improve access to mental healthcare in the wake of” the “mass shooting in Newtown, Conn.” On Friday, “the US Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement” that also “called for greater sensitivity toward people with mental illnesses and their families.”

Related Links:

— “Catholic bishops call for gun control, mental health reforms, “Elise Viebeck, The Hill, December 21, 2012.

The Time (12/26, Rochman) “Healthland” blog reports, “Nearly half of kids with food allergies say they’ve been bullied, and a third report that the bullying was food-related.” Lead author Dr. Eyal Shemesh, associate professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical Center, and colleagues “looked at 251 children ages 8 to 17 who came to Mount Sinai’s allergy clinic with a parent. Both children and parents answered detailed questions about bullying.”

The Huffington Post (12/24, Pearson) reports, “Overall, 45 percent of the children and teens – who were between the ages of 8 and 17 – said they’d been bullied, and 31.5 percent said it was because of their food allergy.” The researchers found that “the bullying was most likely to happen while they were in school and included others teasing them, waving food in their face, throwing food at them, or forcing them to touch the food that triggers their allergies.”

Related Links:

— “Bullying over Food Allergies,”Bonnie Rochman, TIME, December 25, 2012.

The Time (12/20, Szalavitz) “Healthland” blog points out, “While it’s not clear whether mental illness — alone or in combination with a developmental disorder — played any role in the devastating tragedy in Newtown, CT, the shootings have triggered a much-needed discussion about how we care for psychiatric patients. The debate has thrown a harsh light on the piecemeal nature of America’s mental health system, which is leaving too many children and young adults…without the resources they need.”

APA’s Jeste Sends Letter To Congressional Leaders On Issues Raised By Connecticut Tragedy. Psychiatric News (12/20) reported that on Dec. 20, “APA President Dilip Jeste, MD, sent a letter…on behalf of the Association to leaders of both the Senate and House of Representatives responding to the massacre in Newtown, Conn., and emphasizing that psychiatrists ‘stand ready to do whatever we can to help alleviate the suffering caused by the tragedy and to help the survivors cope with life after a trauma of this unimaginable magnitude.'” In addition, Dr. Jeste “expressed APA’s concern about proposals that have been voiced that target the mentally ill and media accounts that inaccurately portray people with mental illness.” Finally, Dr. Jeste “called on Congress to address the abundance and easy availability of guns, saying that APA believes that ‘any discussion on fostering a robust mental health delivery system must not be isolated from discussions of strategies to reduce gun violence.'”

Related Links:

— “America’s Failing Mental Health System: Families Struggle to Find Quality Care, “Maia Szalavitz, , December 20, 2012.