MedPage Today (12/14, DePeau-Wilson) reports, “Annual overdose deaths among Black women increased by 393% from 2015 to 2021 – from 1,725 to 5,060 deaths,” investigators concluded in findings published online Dec. 14 in a research letter in JAMA Psychiatry. The study revealed that “the number of years of life lost jumped from 58,170 to 178,822, a 407% increase,” and “on average, an overdose death resulted in 34.8 years of life lost.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

CNN (12/14, McPhillips) reports, “Drug overdose deaths in the United States have slowed in recent months after reaching record levels earlier this year,” according to data from the CDC showing “that 107,735 people died of a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending in July.” That is nearly “2,500 fewer deaths than the record high that was reached in March, marking a 2% drop over four months.” But despite this “improvement, annual drug overdose deaths in July were still 25% higher than they were two years earlier and more than 50% higher than they were five years earlier.”

The AP (12/14, Mattise, Stobbe) also reports.

Related Links:

— “Drug overdose deaths slowing in the US after reaching record levels during the Covid-19 pandemic “Deidre McPhillips, CNN, December 14, 2022

Healio (12/13, Downey) reports, “A higher locus of control at work and home was associated with reduced psychosocial stress and lower odds of acute stroke, researchers reported” in a study that also explored “factors that may modify the association of stress and risk for stroke.” The researchers wrote, “This association is consistent for ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke types.” The study findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Higher locus of control linked to lower risk for stroke “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, December 13, 2022

The New York Times (12/13, Richtel, Trofort) reports, “The shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists is most acute in low-income communities of color, according to a study published in” November in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. This “lack of specialized and long-term care has contributed to poor teens of color being underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed.” For these teens, “such a misdiagnosis can be a fork in the road, leading to the wrong care, improper medication, school detention or misperception by a justice system that is inclined to view adolescents labeled hostile as inherently threatening.” The article focuses on Sarah Vinson, MD, Interim Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, who, three years ago, “assumed leadership of a weekly clinic that provides psychiatric care for teenagers of color.”

Related Links:

— “‘Disruptive,’ or Depressed? Psychiatrists Reach Out to Teens of Color “Matt Richtel, The New York Times, December 13, 2022

CNN (12/12, Holcombe) reports a new study has shown “soothing with digital devices may lead to more problems with emotional reactivity down the road” with small children. Researchers “looked at 422 parent and caregiver responses to assess how likely they were to utilize devices for distraction and how dysregulated their 3- to 5-year-old child’s behavior was over a six-month period, according to the study published Monday in the JAMA Pediatrics.” The act of frequently “using digital devices to distract from unpleasant and disruptive behavior like tantrums was associated with more emotional dysregulation in kids – particularly boys and children who were already struggling with emotional regulation, according to the study.”

Related Links:

— “Giving your child a screen may hinder emotional regulation, study says. Here’s what to do instead “Madeline Holcombe, CNN, December 12, 2022