HealthDay (6/20, Solomon) reported a study found that “there are substantial racial and ethnic differences in U.S. adolescents’ use of mental health services.” The researchers analyzed “data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2022 to 2023) to estimate racial and ethnic differences in mental health service.” They found that “the percentage of adolescents receiving any mental health visit was 31.7 percent among non-Hispanic White adolescents but was significantly lower among participants of racial and ethnic minority groups, ranging from 21.9 percent for non-Hispanic Black adolescents to 25.6 percent for Hispanic adolescents. There were also significant differences seen in prescription medication use and receipt of care in outpatient, school, and telemental health settings.” Furthermore, researchers noted “few to no racial or ethnic differences for receipt of mental health services from support groups, peer support specialists or recovery coaches, inpatient or residential settings, or emergency departments.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Racial, Ethnic Differences Seen in Teens’ Use of Mental Health Services,” Lori Solomon, HealthDay, June 20, 2025

The AP (6/18, Shastri ) reports the 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will no longer provide “tailored support options to LGBTQ+ youth and young adults on July 17, according to a statement on a federal agency’s website.” The action “preempts the Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposal to cut funding for 988’s LGBTQ+ youth and young adult services, and is raising alarm bells among LGBTQ+ advocates.” SAMHSA said in a Tuesday statement on its website that the decision was made to “no longer silo” the services and “to focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously served through the Press 3 option.” Federal data indicate “the LGBTQ+ youth program has served nearly 1.3 million callers since it started in September 2022.”

Reuters (6/18) adds that the Trevor Project, “a non-profit that provides free, specialized support to LGBT youth, said on Wednesday that its hotline would soon close as a result of the funding not being renewed.” A spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget “said funding would continue for 988 Lifeline, a wider suicide prevention hotline.”

Related Links:

— “Trump administration removing 988 hotline service tailored to LGBTQ+ youth in July,” Devi Shastri, Associated Press, June 18, 2025

The New York Times (6/18, Barry ) reports that a study published in JAMA found that “longer screen time at age 10 was not associated with higher rates of suicidal behavior four years later.” Instead, researchers observed that “children at higher risk for suicidal behaviors were those who told researchers their use of technology had become ‘addictive’ – that they had trouble putting it down, or felt the need to use it more and more.” They found that “by age 14, children with high or increasing addictive behavior were two to three times as likely as other children to have thoughts of suicide or to harm themselves.” It also “found higher levels of addictive use of social media, video games and mobile phones among Black and Hispanic adolescents,” and that “for nearly half of the children in the study, addictive phone use was consistently high from age 11; another 25 percent began with low addictive use, which increased steeply.”

Psychiatric News (6/18) reports the researchers used “data from 4,285 youth enrolled in the longitudinal Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study.” They found that “nearly half of the participants had high addictive use scores for mobile phones throughout the follow-up, and more than 40% had a high addictive use trajectory for video games. Only 10% of participants had a high addictive use trajectory for social media, but another 31% had addictive use scores that increased over time; 25% of participants also reported an increasing addictive use trajectory for mobile phones.”

Related Links:

— “Screentime Addictive Behaviors in Children Common, Tied to Later Suicidality,” Psychiatric News, June 18, 2025

HCPlive (6/17, Brooks ) reports a study found that among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA), “depression and anxiety had reduced odds of achieving remission, although anxiety lost significance in adjusted analyses.” The study highlights “the negative impact of depressive symptoms during the first 2 years after disease diagnosis.” Researchers noted that “remission was less frequently achieved after 1 and 2 years of follow-up in both RA and PsA patients with depression or anxiety at baseline. Further analysis revealed depression and anxiety were associated with reduced odds of achieving remission in both RA and PsA. Of note, after adjustment for depression in the analyses of anxiety and vice versa, only depression remained associated with a lower likelihood of achieving remission.” The study was published in Rheumatology

Related Links:

— “Depression Reduces Remission Likelihood in Rheumatoid, Psoriatic Arthritis,” Abigail Brooks, MA, HCPLive, June 17, 2025

HealthDay (6/17, Thompson ) reports a systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 previous studies suggests that “electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) lowered the risk of death by suicide 34% among patients with severe depression.” They noted that “depression patients receiving ECT also had a 30% lower risk of death from any cause,” and these “benefits might be even greater than reflected, given that ECT has improved as a psychiatric treatment.” With that said, “because the studies were observational and not clinical trials, they cannot draw a direct cause-and-effect link between ECT and lowered suicide risk.” The study was published in the journal Neuroscience Applied.

Related Links:

— “Electroshock Therapy Appears To Reduce Suicide Risk Among People With Depression,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, June 17, 2025