The New York Times (11/24, Barry) reports a study found that “dialing down the use of social media for a week reduced symptoms of anxiety, depression and insomnia in young adults.” The participants were “instructed to stay off social media as much as possible,” and “on average reduced it to a half-hour per day from just under two hours. Before and after, the participants answered surveys measuring depression, anxiety, insomnia, loneliness and a number of problematic social media behaviors.” Researchers observed positive changes among the cohort. On average, “symptoms of anxiety dropped by 16.1 percent; symptoms of depression by 24.8 percent; and symptoms of insomnia by 14.5 percent. The improvement was most pronounced in subjects with more severe depression. At the same time, there was no change in reported loneliness – perhaps, the authors wrote, because the platforms play a constructive social role.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

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— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (11/21, Gotkine) reported, “Mindfulness-based interventions may reduce burnout among nurses and midwives and among a mixture of health care professionals (HCPs), but professional coaching appears to be most effective for reducing burnout among physicians, according to a review.” Investigators came to this conclusion after examining “the effectiveness of all interventions to mitigate burnout among HCPs in a review of 93 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and six cluster RCTs evaluating individual-level interventions (9,330 participants).” The findings were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

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— “Review Compares Interventions for Burnout in Health Care Professionals,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay, November 21, 2025

Psychiatric News (11/21) reported a study suggests that “for every 22 soldiers who receive an intervention designed to modify their attention bias prior to deployment, one case of postcombat PTSD could be prevented.” For the study, “501 male combat-bound Israeli soldiers received one of the three interventions during their basic training.” Researchers observed that “one year after study participants were exposed to combat, fewer than 1% of those who received response-time-based attention bias training self-reported PTSD symptoms significant enough to be considered probable PTSD. By comparison, 2.7% of soldiers who received an eye-tracking-based attention intervention and 5.3 % who received a sham intervention reported probable PTSD.” Researchers noted that “the difference between the response-time intervention and sham was statistically significant, with a number-needed-to-treat estimate of 22.” The study was published in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

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— “Could Cognitive Training Before Deployment Prevent PTSD in Soldiers?, Psychiatric News, November 21, 2025

HealthDay (11/20, Thompson) reports a study found that “the opioid addiction medication buprenorphine can dramatically lower risk of overdose among teenagers and young adults – but only if taken long-term.” According to researchers, “those who kept taking buprenorphine as prescribed for at least a year were much less likely to suffer an overdose or require hospitalization due to opioid use.” Study results showed that young people 13 to 26 “who quit buprenorphine within 3 to 9 months had an 82% higher risk of overdose compared to those who stayed on the med for a year. Likewise, those who stopped in less than 3 months had a 76% higher risk of overdose.” Researchers also found that it “mattered if patients took their buprenorphine as directed. Those who stayed on buprenorphine for a year but had spotty adherence had a 46% higher risk of OD, compared to those who stuck to their prescribed regular dose.” The study was published in Pediatrics.

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— “Buprenorphine Lowers Opioid OD Risk, But Only If Taken As Directed Long-Term,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, November 20, 2025

HealthDay (11/20, Solomon) reports a study published in the Journal of Periodontology links antidepressant use “to a lower prevalence of periodontitis.” Investigators “found that the overall prevalence of periodontitis was 35.3 percent for moderate and 11.1 percent for severe cases, with antidepressant use associated with reduced odds of developing periodontitis across most definitions.” The identified “association was particularly strong for severe cases.”

Related Links:

— “Antidepressant Use Tied to Lower Prevalence of Periodontitis,”Lori Solomon, HealthDay, November 20, 2025