CBS News (9/28, Maddox) reports, “Data released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on September 9 showed that 45% more people contacted the new national suicide lifeline in August 2022 than in the same month” in 2021. Yet, even “though the new lifeline number has led to an increased call volume, concerns about the lifeline have circulated on social media,” with some people “even discouraging people from calling, citing concerns about the possibility of police involvement or forced hospitalization in the most critical of situations.” For their part, “many advocates and mental health experts have said that instead of law enforcement, mobile crisis teams should be sent in emergency situations” to “deescalate crises and connect people with crisis stabilization programs and other longer-term resources.”

Related Links:

— “New 988 Lifeline is seeing a major uptick in calls — but concerns remain about police intervention, advocates say “Sarah Maddox, CBS News, September 28, 2022

The Washington Post (9/27, Gibson) reports research indicates that “children who were exposed to Sandy, a superstorm, while in utero had substantially increased risks for depression, anxiety and attention-deficit and disruptive behavior disorders,” symptoms of which “presented when the children were preschool-age.” The study revealed that “girls who were exposed to Sandy in utero experienced a 20-fold increase of generalized anxiety disorder and a 30-fold increase of depressive disorder, compared with girls who were not exposed to the storm,” while boys exposed to Sandy in utero were found to be “at an over 60-fold increased risk to develop” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), “a 20-fold increased risk to develop conduct disorder and a 15-fold increased risk to develop oppositional defiant disorder.” The findings of the 163-child and 151-parent study were published online Sept. 21 in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (9/27) reports, “Black children brought to an emergency department [ED] for behavioral issues appear less likely to report suicidal thoughts than children of other races,” researchers concluded after analyzing “electronic medical record data from 504 patients aged 8 to 12 years visiting a pediatric” ED “with a psychiatric issue in 2019.” The study also revealed that “Black children were more likely to be brought to the emergency department by police and to be discharged rather than hospitalized for psychiatric care.” The findings were published online Sept. 27 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Black Children Less Likely to Report Suicidal Thoughts in Emergency Room, Study Suggests, Psychiatric News, September 27, 2022

Healio (9/26, Downey) reports, “Multimorbidity was associated with a 63% increased risk for incident dementia, with the greatest risk linked to hypertension and diabetes,” investigators concluded findingspublished online in JAMA Network Open. The study also revealed that “the global prevalence of dementia is projected to increase from 57 million to 153 million individuals by 2050 – a threefold increase.” Data from the UK Biobank cohort was used in this study.

Related Links:

— “Multimorbidity associated with increased risk for dementia “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, September 26, 2022

Healio (9/23, Rhoades) reported, “Physicians suffering from burnout were twice as likely to be involved in patient safety incidents and four times more likely to see a decrease in job satisfaction, a new study [PDF] published in The BMJ found.” The researchers “reviewed 170 organizational studies comprised of 239,246 physicians, who are ‘twice as likely to experience burnout than any other worker, including other health care professionals,’ they wrote.”

Related Links:

— “Physicians experiencing burnout twice as likely to be involved in patient safety incidents “Andrew Rhoades, Healio, September 23, 2022