HealthDay (6/8, Preidt) reports, “Teens with major depression who receive and respond to treatment are less likely to abuse drugs in the following years,” according to a study published in the April-May issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. “The study included 192 participants, aged 12 to 18, at 11 sites across the United States who were treated for major depression and then followed for five years.” Researchers found that “during the follow-up, 10 percent of [teens] whose depression receded after 12 weeks of treatment later abused drugs, compared with 25 percent of those who did not respond to depression treatment.”

Teens With Mental Health Disorders More Likely To Become Addicted To Opioid Painkillers. MedWire (6/8, Mahendra) reports, “Adolescents with mental health disorders are significantly more likely to become addicted to prescription opioid pain relievers than those without mental disorders,” according to a study published in the June issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. “A longitudinal analysis of 59,077 adolescents and young adults aged 13-24 years” also “showed that those with mental health disorders were significantly more likely to be prescribed opioids for chronic back pain, neck pain, headache, or arthritis/joint pain than those without mental health disorders.”

Related Links:

— “Depressed Teens Who Respond to Treatment Less Likely to Abuse Drugs,”Robert Preidt , HealthDay, June 7, 2012.

The CBS Evening News (6/7, lead story, 2:20, Pelley) led off its Thursday broadcast by reporting that the “war in Iraq is over, and the war in Afghanistan is winding down, but the pace of military suicides is actually increasing to a record level. Pentagon figures show that as of this past Monday, 154 service members had taken their lives so far in 2012, an average of more than one a day, and much higher than the 138 killed so far this year in Afghanistan.” Pentagon “officials say one possible reason for this unexpected spike in suicides is the poor economy, which has also caused an increase in civilian suicides.”

The AP (6/8, Burns) reports, “Suicides are surging among America’s troops, averaging nearly one a day this year — the fastest pace in the nation’s decade of war.” The “numbers are rising among the 1.4 million active-duty military personnel despite years of effort to encourage troops to seek help with mental health problems.” The “renewed surge in suicides has caught the attention of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta,” who in an internal memo sent last month to the “Pentagon’s top civilian and military leaders” said, “We must continue to fight to eliminate the stigma from those with post-traumatic stress and other mental health issues.”

Related Links:

— “AP IMPACT: Suicides are surging among US troops,”Robert Burns, Associated Press, June 8, 2012.

The Wall Street Journal (6/7, A25, Subscription Publication) reports on the Jed Foundation founded by the parents of Jed Satow who committed suicide in 1998 while a sophomore at the University of Arizona. The foundation offers programs to help colleges and universities improve their counseling services.

Related Links:

— “Campus Suicide Prevention,The Wall Street Journal, June 06, 2012.

Medscape (6/7, Brauser) reports, “Patients with psychosis, dementia, or substance misuse may be at an increased mortality risk during hot weather,” according to a 22,562-patientstudy published in the June issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry. The study “of adult patients in England showed that for those with severe mental illness, the risk for death increased by almost 5% per 1° C increase in temperature above 18° C.” Notably, “the greatest mortality risk found in this study was for those who were younger than 65 years, those specifically diagnosed with drug or alcohol misuse, and those taking antipsychotics.”

The Grand Forks (ND) Herald /Forum Communications (6/4, Frank) reported, “One in four adults, or almost 60 million Americans, experiences a mental health disorder in a given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.” In addition, “one in 17 Americans lives with a serious mental illness, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).” The piece added, “Diagnosis is based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association.”

Related Links:

— “Many struggle to claim lives in face of depression, anxiety,”Tracy Frank , Grand Forks Herald, June 04, 2012.