According to Healio (11/22, Hemphill), in a Nov. 21 news release, “the American Psychiatric Association said it ‘stands in solidarity’ with the LGBTQ community in the aftermath of the shooting at Club Q Nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and amidst ongoing discrimination.” The release stated, “Bias toward LGBTQI people, whatever form it takes, hurts mental health.” In addition, the release said, “We stand opposed to laws and rhetoric that discriminate against [the LGBTQ] community, whether it is promoting dangerous conversion therapy or restricting provision of health care services to trans or gender-diverse individuals.”

Psychiatric News (11/22) reports, “As APA has responded to past acts of mass gun violence, the organization asserted that gun violence is a public health crisis.” The association stated, “APA has worked over the past years, often in concert with other physician and mental health organizations…to promote legislation that strengthens background checks, research, and other methods to control access to firearms.” In addition, “APA strongly opposes rhetoric that would link violent acts of hate and mass shootings to mental illness.”

Related Links:

— “APA supports LGBTQ community in wake of nightclub shooting “Nancy Hemphill, Healio, November 22, 2022

MedPage Today (11/22, Monaco) reports, “Using benzodiazepines for sleep disorders was tied to a higher risk for overdose in the six months after starting treatment versus other treatments for commonly used treatments, researchers” concluded. The “cohort study of over 23,000 young adults (mean age 23)” revealed that “those who newly initiated benzodiazepine treatment had a 44% higher risk of drug overdose at six months versus other treatments in an as-treated adjusted analysis.” The findings were published online Nov. 22 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (11/21, Firth) reports, “Workforce shortages among mental health professionals in the U.S. were linked to increased rates of youth suicide at the county level,” researchers concluded in a study that “used data from all U.S. counties and all youth suicides (ages five to 19) from January 2015 through December 2016 obtained from death certificates through the CDC’s Compressed Mortality File, for which 2016 was the most recently released dataset.” The study “also used publicly available health professional shortage area data from the Health Resources and Services Administration.” The findings were published online Nov. 21 in JAMA Pediatrics.

HealthDay (11/21, Gotkine) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (11/21, Bascom) reports, “One-third of public health workers” (PHWs) “have faced some sort of workplace violence that has affected their mental health,” investigators concluded in a survey study that examined responses from 26,174 PHWs. The study revealed that “26%…experienced stigma due to their public health work, 24%…were bullied or harassed and 12%…received job-related threats.” The findings were published online Nov. 13 ahead of print in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Public health workers face workplace violence that is ‘detrimental’ to mental health “Emma Bascom , Healio, November 21, 2022

mHealth Intelligence (11/18, Melchionna) reported a study “found that despite an overall decline in visit rates throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, high telehealth availability led to better care engagement among Medicaid beneficiaries with mental health conditions treated within federally qualified health centers (FQHCs).” These “results were similar after reviewing data from patients with various diagnoses.” Theresults were published in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Telehealth Availability at FQHCs Linked to Engagement in Mental Healthcare ” Mark Melchionna, mHealth Intelligence, November 18, 2022