CNN (9/26, Christensen ) reports, “People in the United States who identify as transgender or nonbinary make up only a tiny fraction of the population, but they’ve been the targets of an outsized share of negative attention from lawmakers, a new study says – and those laws can have potentially deadly consequences.” The study “found that when anti-trans legislation becomes state law, suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary young people rise, with increases of up to 72% among teens who live in states where those bills become law.” The findings were published in Nature Human Behavior.

Related Links:

— “Suicide attempts increased among transgender teens when states passed anti-trans laws, study says,”Jen Christensen, CNN, September 26, 2024

Psychiatric News (9/26) reports, “Psychotherapy can be effective at reducing suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in at-risk individuals – even if the psychotherapy does not directly focus on suicidality, according to a meta-analysis.” Researchers found that “both direct and indirect psychotherapy were associated with comparable, modest reductions in the severity of suicidal ideation.” Study results indicate that “direct and indirect psychotherapy were also associated with a 28% and a 32% reduced risk of suicide attempt, respectively.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Psychotherapies That Address Suicidality Directly or Indirectly Are Comparably Effective, Psychiatric News , September 26, 2024

The AP (9/26, Stobbe ) reports, “U.S. suicides last year remained at about the highest level in the nation’s history, preliminary data suggests.” A little more than “49,300 suicide deaths were reported in 2023, according to provisional data from the” CDC. Meanwhile, “just under 49,500 were reported in 2022, according to final data released” by the CDC on Thursday. The figures “are close enough that the suicide rate for the two years are the same, CDC officials said.”

The New York Times (9/26, Caron ) reports “women are increasingly using guns to die by suicide in the United States, challenging long-held assumptions that they will usually resort to less lethal means, according to” the CDC data. The findings “showed that in 2022, 20 out of every million women used a gun to die by suicide, up from 14 women in 2002,” marking a 43% increase. The data also show “that suicide rates have risen among women over the past two decades.”

USA Today (9/26, Cuevas ) reports the data show “firearms were used in more than half the country’s record 49,500 suicide deaths in 2022.”

Related Links:

— “US suicides held steady in 2023 — at a very high level, “Mike Stobbe , AP , September 26, 2024

HealthDay (9/25, Foster ) reports, “In a move that could mean more Americans in crisis get help and get it quickly, federal officials announced Tuesday that major cellphone carriers now have the technology to direct 988 callers to local mental health services based on their location instead of their area code.” Verizon and T-Mobile began “rolling out the ‘georouting’ technology last week, CNN reported.” Once the change is fully implemented, it “will cover about half of all wireless calls to the 988 lifeline.” AT&T “plans to begin the process within the next couple months.” In October, “the Federal Communications Commission will vote on a rule that would require all wireless carriers to use georouting for 988 calls.”

Related Links:

— “988 Mental Health Crisis Calls Now Link to Caller Location, Not Area Code,”Robin Foster, HealthDay , September 25, 2024

HealthDay (9/25, Mundell ) reports, “Only 1 in every 4 U.S. adults struggling with schizophrenia receive ‘minimally adequate treatment,’ new data shows.” Furthermore, many of these patients “struggle with other mental health issues, such as substance abuse or depression, and they are further challenged by social and economic hardship, according to the new report.” Natalie Bareis, an assistant professor of clinical behavioral medicine at Columbia University, said in an APA news release that “persistent high rates of poverty, unemployment and poor functioning suggest that existing treatment and social welfare approaches are not meeting the needs of many people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.” The findings were published in Psychiatric Services.

Psychiatric News (9/25) says the research found that “71% of individuals with lifetime schizophrenia spectrum disorders reported some mental health treatment in the past year – 56% had at least one outpatient visit, 9% had an inpatient or residential stay, and 58% were currently taking a psychotropic medication.”

Related Links:

— “Most People With Schizophrenia Aren’t Getting Treated,”Ernie Mundell, HealthDay , September 25, 2024