The AP (10/20, Baldor) reports, “Suicides across the active duty U.S. military decreased over the past 18 months, driven by sharp drops in the Air Force and Marine Corps last year and a similar decline among Army soldiers during the first six months of this year,” showing “a dramatic reversal of what has been a fairly steady increase in recent years.” The “new Pentagon report and preliminary data for 2022” issued Oct. 20 reveals that “the number of suicides in the Air Force and Marine Corp dropped by more than 30% in 2021 compared with 2020, and the Navy saw a 10% decline.” For its part, “the Army saw a similar 30% decrease during the first six months of this year, compared with the same time period last year.”

Related Links:

— “Military suicides drop as leaders push new programs “Lolita C. Baldor, AP, October 20, 2022

Healio (10/20, Downey) reports, “Electroconvulsive therapy [ECT] appeared to be superior to ketamine for improving depression severity in the acute phase,” investigators concluded in a six-study, 340-patient systematic review and meta-analysis, the findings of which were published online Oct. 19 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Psychiatric News (10/20) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Electroconvulsive therapy superior to ketamine for treatment of depression “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, October 20, 2022

According to the Wall Street Journal (10/20, Ellis, Subscription Publication), on Oct. 20, the Surgeon General’s office issued new guidance outlining how long hours, limited autonomy, and low wages can affect employees’ health and performance.

STAT (10/20, Cooney) says the report’s findings also highlight “how the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed fractures in working Americans’ mental health and well-being,” citing “workplace trends like quiet quitting and the Great Resignation as signals of the damage done to Americans by problems like endless hours, unpaid leave, and chronic stress.” To remedy these issues, employers will need “to change the way they operate.”

Healio (10/20, Downey), reports the “framework document is a guide to call attention to a public health issue, developed to help the American public better understand and address factors that affect mental health, the HHS” announced in a press release.

Related Links:

— “U.S. surgeon general says workplaces are taking a toll on Americans’ mental and physical health ” Elizabeth Cooney, STAT, October 20, 2022

MedPage Today (10/19, DePeau-Wilson) reports, “Longer work hours were associated with progressively higher increases in depression scores for first-year residents, according to” an analysis of “data from 2009 to 2020” encompassing some “17,000 first-year residents.” Investigators found that “residents’ baseline depression scores – using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item version (PHQ-9) – went up as working hours increased, indicating a dose-response relationship.” Of these “residents who worked more than 90 hours a week, 33.4% met the criteria for depression,” the study revealed. The findings were published online Oct. 19 in a research letter in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (10/18) reports, “A history of trauma in pregnant women can negatively impact the experience of pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting,” but “psychiatrists caring for women in the perinatal period are in an ideal position to screen for trauma and work with obstetrical (OB) clinical care teams to respond to the trauma-related challenges that can arise during obstetric care,” the authors of a review article conclude in findings published in the September-October issue of the Journal of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Psychiatrists Caring For Women In Perinatal Period Are In Ideal Position To Screen For Trauma, Review Article Says, Psychiatric News, October 18, 2022