The New York Times (10/21, Shakin) reports, “A new large-scale analysis found that the short-term cardiovascular and metabolic side effects of antidepressants vary widely by” medication. However, “the ones most commonly prescribed in the United States are linked to relatively mild issues.” Investigators came to this conclusion after analyzing “data from more than 58,000 participants across 151 studies and 17 Food and Drug Administration reports.” The findings were published in The Lancet.

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— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

KFF Health News (10/20, Leys) reports, “Companies running private Medicare and Medicaid insurance plans inaccurately list many mental health professionals as being available to treat the plans’ members, a new federal watchdog report says.” Investigators with the HHS’ Office of Inspector General “allege that some insurers effectively set up ‘ghost networks’ of psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals who purportedly have agreed to treat patients covered by the publicly financed Medicare and Medicaid plans.” The report “found that 55% of mental health professionals listed as in-network by Medicare Advantage plans were not providing such care to any of the plans’ members. The figure was 28% for Medicaid managed care plans.” The report “recommends government administrators make more use of medical billing data to confirm whether health professionals listed as in-network are providing care to patients covered by private Medicare and Medicaid insurance plans.”

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— “Private Medicare, Medicaid Plans Exaggerate In-Network Mental Health Options, Watchdogs Say,”Tony Leys, KFF Health News , October 20, 2025

Psychiatric Times (10/19, J. Bender) reports a study found that the “first antipsychotic that is selected for a patient could influence the weight gained in subsequent years.” Researchers observed “that patients receiving either aripiprazole, quetiapine, olanzapine, or risperidone in the first year of treatment are most likely to have experienced weight gain in 5 years from a normal body mass index (BMI) at baseline. No significant weight gain from the normal baseline was found in that period after initial prescriptions of perphenazine, fluphenazine, or amisulpride.” The investigators also “concluded that, in addition to differences between agents in relation to the weight gain measured at 5 years, the interaction between drugs and disposition to weight gain is complex.” The study was published in Neurology and Therapy.

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— “Can the Initial Antipsychotic Influence Years of Weight Gain?,”Kenneth J. Bender, Psychiatric Times , October 19, 2025

HealthDay (10/16, Solomon) reports a study presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress found that “women with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) face delayed diagnosis and worse outcomes than men.” The researchers “analyzed differences in ADHD severity, its comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders, and its impact on psychosocial functioning by sex.” They found that “the combined ADHD subtype was the most common, affecting 48.2 percent of participants. Age of symptom onset was similar for men and women, although women were diagnosed significantly later (28.96 versus 24.13 years). Men more frequently had legal problems than women (18.1 versus 6.6 percent). Women with ADHD had worse outcomes, including higher symptom severity, worse psychosocial functioning, and greater disability, as well as higher rates of depression and anxiety.” The study was also published in European Psychiatry.

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— “Women With ADHD Face Later Diagnosis, Worse Outcomes Than Men,”Lori Solomon, HealthDay, October 16, 2025

USA Today (10/16, Alltucker) reports a new survey of LGBTQ+ teens and young adults issued by the Trevor Project found that “68% had anxiety and 54% had symptoms of depression. Those were both increases over 57% who reported anxiety and 48% who had depression when the survey launched in September 2023.” The survey, comprising nearly 1,700 youths between the ages of 13 to 24 and “focused on suicide prevention, also found suicide ideation grew from 41% to 47% over the one-year period while suicide attempts decreased from 11% to 7%.” The results also indicated that “suicide attempts were higher than estimates for cisgender heterosexual peers. Transgender, nonbinary, and gender-questioning youth and survey participants aged 13 to 17 had the poorest mental health and highest risk for suicide, the survey said.”

Psychiatric News (10/16) also provides coverage.

Related Links:

— “Mental health worsens over one year for LGBTQ+ youth, survey finds,”Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY, October 16, 2025