The Washington Post (6/11, Beard) reports, “A growing body of evidence suggests the effects of mental health has a disproportionate impact on women’s bodies.” Data recently “presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in April indicate that depression and anxiety accelerate the development of new cardiovascular disease risk factors, particularly among young and middle-aged women.” Trial participants “with a history of anxiety or depression before the study were about 55 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes compared to those without.” These results were “most pronounced among women with anxiety or depression who were under 50, who were nearly twice as likely to develop cardiovascular risk factors compared with any other group.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (6/10, Corkery , Irvine) reports on efforts by Montana resident Ali Mullen to reduce firearm suicide rates in the state, where over the last three years the “suicide rate was the highest in the nation, according to an analysis of federal mortality data by The New York Times.” Ms. Mullen lost her husband in January 2021 to suicide by firearm, and now distributes gun locks to help other families avoid dealing with a similar situation.

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— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News [mailview.bulletinhealthcare.com] (6/7) reported, “Skills-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy and emotion-focused psychotherapy were equally effective at preventing relapse in patients with bipolar disorder when added to standard treatment, reports a study [mailview.bulletinhealthcare.com] in JAMA Psychiatry.” In the study, “what affected the relapse rate more than the therapy delivered was whether the patients attended all their psychotherapy sessions and whether they had bipolar I versus bipolar II disorder.”

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— “Emotion-Focused Therapy Comparable to CBT at Preventing Relapse Among Bipolar Patients, Psychiatric News, June 7, 2024

HealthDay [mailview.bulletinhealthcare.com] (6/7, Mundell ) reported, “If your child is among the youngest in their school grade, it’s more likely they’ll be mistakenly identified by teachers as having ADHD or autism, a new study confirms.” Researchers “found that ‘children who are younger relative to their peers within the same school year are 38% more likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis and 28% more likely to be prescribed ADHD medications,’ compared to older kids in the same class.” The results [mailview.bulletinhealthcare.com] were published in European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

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— “Younger Kids in Class Might Be Misdiagnosed With ADHD, Autism,”Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, June 7, 2024

mHealth Intelligence (6/6, Vaidya) reports, “New data reveals that in 2021, 43.2 percent of psychiatrist visits occurred via telehealth versus 4.5 percent of visits to other physicians, highlighting telemental healthcare’s enduring popularity after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The results were published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

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— “43% of mental health visits occurred via telehealth in 2021,”Anuja Vaidya, mHealth Intelligence , June 6, 2024