The AP (8/24, Lavoie) reports “a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week became the first federal appellate court in the country to find that” gender dysphoria is covered by the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. This “ruling could become a powerful tool to challenge legislation restricting access to medical care and other accommodations for transgender people, including employment and government benefits, advocates said.” The appellate court “cited advances in medical understanding that led the American Psychiatric Association to remove gender identity disorder from the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and to add gender dysphoria, defined in the manual as the ‘clinically significant distress’ felt by some transgender people.”

Related Links:

— “Gender dysphoria covered by disability law, court rules” Denise Lavoie, AP, August 24, 2022

Healio (8/24) reports, “A majority of adults in the United States agreed on the importance of schools playing a key role in advocating for mental health,” researchers concluded after examining the “results of a recent survey from the American Psychiatric Association.” In fact, “among the 2,210 adults who participated in the APA’s Healthy Minds Monthly Poll from July 21 to July 22, 86% of respondents stated schools can accomplish this goal through educating students, 87% said staff training was crucial for success, and 84% believed in connecting students to mental health support.” In an Aug. 11 news release, APA President Rebecca Brendel, MD, JD, said, “The overwhelming support for mental health programming in schools is so important for our next generation, as we face an unprecedented mental health crisis for adolescents and youth.” Dr. Brendel added, “We must continue to support evidence-based practices that help children when they need it.

Related Links:

— “APA: U.S. adults support mental health initiatives in schools, gun violence a top concern “Shenaz Bagha, Healio, August 24, 2022

HealthDay (8/23, Norton) reports investigators have discovered that “among older British adults, those who spent a lot of time watching TV were more likely to be diagnosed with dementia in coming years, yet the opposite pattern was seen with computer use.” The study team arrived at these conclusions after focusing “on over 146,000 participants aged 60 and older who were dementia-free at the outset and reported on various lifestyle habits – including how much of their daily leisure time they devoted to TV or computers,” then following them for 12 years. The findings were published online Aug. 22 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Psychiatric News (8/23) reports the study found that “adults who spent four hours a day or more watching TV had about 20% greater risk of developing dementia than those who spent less than two hours a day watching TV,” whereas “adults who spent one hour or more on a computer daily had a 24% reduced risk of dementia compared with those who spent less than 30 minutes on a computer.”

Related Links:

— “Too Much TV Time May Really Harm Your Brain “Amy Norton, HealthDay, August 23, 2022

The New York Times (8/23, Jacobs) reports, “Marijuana and hallucinogen use among young adults reached an all-time record last year after having leveled off during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, according to” data derived from “part of the government’s annual survey of drug use among young Americans.” The data also revealed that “nicotine vaping and excessive alcohol consumption continued to climb in 2021 after a brief pause.” Finally, the data reveal “another worrying trend among young people, ages 19 to 30: mounting consumption of alcoholic beverages suffused with THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.” The findings were disclosed in an Aug. 22 news release from the National Institutes of Health.

Related Links:

— “Use of Marijuana and Psychedelics Is Soaring Among Young Adults, Study Finds ” Andrew Jacobs, The New York Times, August 23, 2022

In its “Ask Well” column, the New York Times (8/23, Blum) discusses how to differentiate burnout from depression, conditions that have some overlapping symptoms. One “key differentiator is that burnout gets better when you step away from work, said…Rebecca Brendel,” MD, JD, President of the American Psychiatric Association. When people with burnout “take vacation time, or a mental health day, you feel at least slightly recharged.” Depression, on the other hand, “doesn’t go away if you change your circumstances.” Dr. Brendel stated, “There’s not that bounce-back effect,” adding, “It takes more than that.”

Related Links:

— “How Can I Tell if I’m Depressed or Burned Out? “Dani Blum, The New York Times, August 23, 2022