The AP (12/20, Alonso-Zaldivar) reports, “People in crisis and those trying to help them will have a new phone number – 988 – to reach the national suicide prevention network starting in July,” now that “federal health officials” from the Department of Health and Human Services on Dec. 20 “announced more than $280 million to smooth the transition from the current 10-digit number to three digits.” In addition to voice calls, the 988 number will “handle text and chat.” People using 988 “will be able to reach trained counselors who belong to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network.”

The Hill (12/20, Coleman) reports, “Before July, Americans needing help should call the current National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK.”

Related Links:

— “988 suicide phone hotline getting $282M to ease July launch “Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, AP, December 20, 2021

Healio (12/17, DeFino) reported, “Sleep disturbance in psychiatrically vulnerable youth may be linked to negative emotional responses to social media,” researchers concluded in a study that “assessed 243 adolescents aged 11 to 18 years who were admitted to an adolescent psychiatric inpatient unit between February 2020 and January 2021 and examined their relationships with social media, clinical outcomes and sleep disturbances.” The findings were published in the December issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Related Links:

— “Social media linked to sleep disturbance in psychiatrically vulnerable youth “Anthony DeFino, Healio, December 17, 2021

Psychiatric News (12/17) reported, “A history of childhood trauma, including abuse and neglect, is common among patients who experience first-episode psychosis [FEP],” investigators concluded after examining “data from 100 hospitalized patients with first-episode psychosis and 94 volunteers with no history of first-episode psychosis in the PROFEP study.” The study revealed that approximately “61% of patients with first-episode psychosis reported having experienced childhood trauma compared with roughly 17% of people who did not have first-episode psychosis,” with “the most frequent childhood trauma” being “emotional abuse.” The findings were published Dec. 15 online ahead of print in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Related Links:

— “Childhood Trauma Linked to First-Episode Psychosis, Psychiatric News, December 17, 2021

Healio (12/17, Salvaryn) reported, “Psychotherapy may work better than medication in reducing the level of long-term depressive symptoms,” investigators concluded “in a follow-up of three randomized controlled trials” of 298 “patients treated for major depression,” looking “at outcomes at five years to determine whether the patient’s original treatment influenced the course of illness and whether baseline features or clinical characteristics influenced long-term outcomes of the depression.” The findings were published online ahead of print in the January issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Related Links:

— “Psychotherapy may be superior to medication when treating long-term depression “Georgia I Salvaryn, Healio, December 17, 2021

HealthDay (12/16) reports that “increased physical activity, including a low amount of light-intensity physical activity (LPA), is associated with a reduced risk for dementia among older adults, according to” researchers who carried out a “retrospective cohort study involving 62,286 participants aged 65 years or older without preexisting dementia” and “found that 3,757 participants (6.0 percent) developed dementia during a median follow-up of 42 months, for an overall incidence of 21.6 per 1,000 person-years.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Physical Activity Linked to Reduced Dementia Risk in Seniors, HealthDay, December 16, 2021