USA Today (7/16, Ramirez) reports, “Black suicide rates, among the nation’s lowest prior to 2000, have steadily climbed in the last two decades – and young Black people are most at risk: According to” data (PDF) from CDC, “rates among those aged 10 to 24 rose 36.6% from 2018 to 2021, the largest percentage jump among any demographic.” What’s more, “the problem is particularly acute among girls: In 2020, suicide was the leading cause of death for Black girls aged 12 to 14.”

Related Links:

— “Black suicide rates, once among the nation’s lowest, have risen dramatically among youths,”Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY, July 16, 2023

The Washington Post (7/13, Zakharenko, Gilbert, Ovalle) reports that recently released federal data show “U.S. consumption of alcohol, which had already been increasing for years, accelerated during the pandemic as Americans grappled with stress and isolation.” Meanwhile, “the number of deaths caused by alcohol skyrocketed nationwide, rising more than 45 percent.” According to CDC data, “in 2021, alcohol was the primary cause of death for more than 54,000 Americans, causing nearly 17,000 more deaths than just a few years before.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

CNN (7/13, Viswanathan) reports, “Over the past few years, marijuana use has been landing more young people in the hospital, according to a new study, by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Released “on Thursday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the report analyzed nearly 540,000 cases nationwide where people under 25 years old wound up in a hospital due to complications from cannabis use.” Between 2019 and 2022, “researchers found that cannabis-related emergency department [ED] visits increased overall among kids, teens, and young adults.” Over the course of “the study period, the researchers also noted large increases in cannabis-related ED visits among kids less than ten years old.”

ABC News (7/13, Kekatos) reports, “Researchers found the largest increases in visits were among children aged 10 and younger as well as adolescents between ages 11 and 14.”

The Hill (7/13, Choi) also reports.

Related Links:

— “Cannabis use landing more young people in emergency departments, study finds,”Giri Viswanathan, CNN, July 13, 2023

MedPage Today (7/13, DePeau-Wilson) reports, “When added to stable selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) treatment, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) was not superior to sham stimulation for major depressive disorder (MDD),” investigators concluded in a 150-patient study that randomized 77 patients “to the active tDCS group and 73 to sham stimulation.” The findings were published online July 3 in The Lancet.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

HCPlive (7/12, Grossi) reports, “Sleep disturbances have a significant impact on individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” investigators concluded in the findings of a 16-study systematic review published online July 1 in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Additionally, “despite the association with higher overall PTSD severity, the effectiveness of trauma-focused psychotherapy was not inhibited when treating sleep disorder symptoms, with the exception of sleep-disordered breathing,” the review concluded.

Related Links:

— “Trauma-Focused Psychotherapy Effective in Adults with PTSD Despite Sleep Disturbances,”Giuliana Grossi, HCPlive, July 12, 2023