Psychiatric News (11/18) reports in light of a CDC report indicating that “drug overdoses killed more than 100,000 people in the United States during the one-year period ending in April 2021,” the American Psychiatric Association has “renewed its call” for “improved access to mental health and substance use services through early identification,” as well as “effective substance use disorder treatment for all patients, through the development of science-based policies that are based on a thorough review and discussion with Congress, federal policymakers, and experts in the field of addiction treatment,” and “policies and programs to support accredited medical schools and residency programs to provide training for the treatment of individuals with substance use disorders.”

Related Links:

— “Drug Overdose Deaths Reach Record High During Pandemic, Psychiatric News, November 18, 2021

HealthDay (11/17, Mozes) reports, “American teens are increasingly turning to the social media giant Instagram to share graphic images of their own attempts to harm themselves, a new study reveals.” Investigators “who tracked Instagram throughout 2018 found that teen postings focused on self-harm – such as cutting or burning oneself – rose significantly over the course of the year.” The findings were published in the International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling.

Related Links:

— “Teen Social Media Posts About Cutting, Other Self-Harm Are Soaring ” Alan Mozes, HealthDay, November 17, 2021

Healio (11/17, Holden) reports, “Using a cirrhosis-centric model” involving 304 patients with cirrhosis, “researchers found a high prevalence for anxiety in patients with cirrhosis,” diagnosing “17.1% with anxiety and 8.2% with undiagnosed comorbid depression.” The findings were presented at The Liver Meeting Digital Experience.

Related Links:

— “Undiagnosed anxiety present in 17% of patients with cirrhosis “Lisa Holden, Healio, November 17, 2021

The New York Times (11/17, Rabin) reports, “Americans died of drug overdoses in record numbers as the pandemic spread across the country, federal researchers” with the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics “reported on Wednesday.” During the 12-month period ending in April, provisional figures indicate that “more than 100,000 Americans died of overdoses, up almost 30 percent from the 78,000 deaths in the prior year.”

The Washington Post (11/17, A1, Keating, Bernstein) reports that this “is the first time that drug-related deaths have reached six figures in any 12-month period” in US history. Furthermore, “[the] new data shows there are now more overdose deaths from the illegal synthetic opioid fentanyl than there were overdose deaths from all drugs in 2016.”

Reuters (11/17) reports the figure “marks a 28.5% jump from the previous year, with deaths from opioids such as fentanyl, which can be 100 times more potent than morphine, and psychostimulants such as methamphetamine helping drive the increase, provisional data from the health agency showed.”

Also reporting on the data are USA Today (11/17, Alltucker), the Wall Street Journal (11/17, A1, Kamp, Wernau, Subscription Publication), the AP (11/17, Stobbe), and CNN (11/17, McPhillips).

Related Links:

— “Overdose Deaths Reached Record High as the Pandemic Spread “Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times, November 17, 2021

Healio (11/16, Gramigna) reports, “Healthcare workers with prior work experience during the 2003 SARS outbreak did not have worse mental health outcomes during COVID-19 compared with those without this experience,” investigators concluded after examining “mental health outcomes of 3,852 participants who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic and the SARS outbreak via the Impact of Events Scale-Revised,” the “generalized anxiety disorder …questionnaire and patient health questionnaire.” The findings were published online Nov. 10 in PLOS One.

Related Links:

— “Health care workers from 2003 SARS outbreak more resilient during COVID-19 “Joe Gramigna, Healio, November 16, 2021