According to the Washington Post (6/6, Villegas), in the days since the school shootings in Uvalde, TX, “therapists have flooded the town, offering counseling to grief-stricken residents.” In the next few weeks or months, however, “most of those support organizations will leave,” and even though “several public and private practices in the town offer behavioral and mental health services, experts say Uvalde lacks inpatient treatment options, and enough psychiatrists specializing in children and adolescents.” Despite Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R-TX) promises to increase the region’s mental health resources, “a recent report by the nonprofit Mental Health America ranked the Lone Star State 51st in the nation on access to mental health care – a ranking that weighs access to insurance and treatment, quality and cost of insurance, access to special education, and mental health workforce availability.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (6/5, A1, Barry) reports, “School-based services, which studies suggest can significantly decrease suicidal behavior and substance abuse, have emerged as a first-line policy response” to address the mental health crisis among US children and adolescents. Over the past 12 months, “legislators in more than 30 states have considered an expansion of school-based services, according to Inseparable, a mental health policy group, and eight states, including Connecticut, have passed legislation to do so.” Nevertheless, “before the services reach students, though, they must be embraced by American communities.” The Times detailed the “fierce opposition” expanded school mental health services faced in Killingly, CT.

Related Links:

— “A Mental Health Clinic in School? No, Thanks, Says the School Board “Ellen Barry, The New York Times, June 5, 2022

Psychiatric News (6/3) reported, “Patients between 75 and 80 years old who take opioids have an increased risk of dementia,” researchers concluded after examining “data from 91,307 older people in an Israeli HMO.” The findings were published online May 31 ahead of print in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

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— “Opioids Linked to Increased Dementia Risk in Patients Older Than 75, Psychiatric News , June 3, 2022

According to the AP (6/4), Cailin Bracken, who decided to leave the Vanderbilt University lacrosse team in order to deal with mental health struggles, has written “an open letter to college sports, calling on coaches and administrators to become more cognizant of the challenges athletes face in navigating not only their competitive side, but also their social and academic responsibilities.” Bracken wrote the letter in response to multiple suicides involving student-athletes. Even though it remains unclear “whether U.S. college athletes are taking their lives at a higher rate than others in their age range,” colleges and “universities are starting to pay closer attention to the mental health of their athletes – in varying degrees – and it’s partly because athletes are advocating for themselves and their teammates.”

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— “College athletes push mental health to the forefront “Hank Kurz Jr. and Erica Hunzinger, AP, June 4, 2022

The Hill (6/1, Choi) reports U.S. “consumers are overpaying billions for generic drugs due to the cost being driven up by” pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), according to a reportby the University of Southern California. The report said, “Commercial tactics such as spread pricing, copay clawbacks and formularies that advantage branded drugs over less expensive generics have funneled the savings from low-cost generics into intermediaries’ pockets, rather than the pockets of patients.”

Related Links:

— “Industry middlemen driving up prices of generic drug prescriptions as much as 20 percent: research “Joseph Choi, The Hill, June 1, 2022