HealthDay (12/18, Thompson) reports a study found that a single half-hour course could help young adults “feel less anxious and depressed, by helping them increase their tolerance of uncertainty.” According to researchers, “young adults who took the course titled ‘Uncertainty-Mindset Training’ continued to feel better a month after taking it.” Even though the course “lasted less than a half-hour,” participants, up to a month later, still “showed substantial improvement in their ability to tolerate uncertainty, as well as decreases in anxiety and depression.” Researchers noted that “three months later, these participants’ tolerance of uncertainty was still much improved, but the reductions in depression and anxiety had started to wane.” The study was published in Psychological Medicine.

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— “Anxious, Depressed About An Uncertain World? Training Can Help You Cope, Study Says,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay , December 18, 2025

The Washington Post (12/16, Ovalle) reports some policy and health experts say the President’s recent declaration “that illicit fentanyl is a weapon of mass destruction” is “a stretch,” adding that “the move may have little practical impact on curbing drug supply, addiction and overdose deaths.” The Administration “has cited the deadly drug crisis in enacting tariffs on China and Mexico, labeling criminal groups terrorist organizations and launching military strikes on suspected smuggling drug boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.” Experts in national security and transnational crime “say such heavy handed measures could harm global alliances needed to combat traffickers.” Public health experts “say the designation may also exaggerate fears about fentanyl.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Medical Economics (12/16, Payerchin) reports “a national study found” that women physicians “and early-career physicians face higher social isolation, correlating with increased burnout and suicidal ideation.” Investigators found that “specialties like pathology, emergency medicine, and settings like veterans’ hospitals report the highest isolation levels.” The researchers said, “Physicians have the same innate need for connection as all other human beings. … Efforts by both organizations and physicians to prioritize and nurture personal and professional relationships and social connections may enhance well-being and physicians’ ability to care for others.” The findings were published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Related Links:

— “Social isolation contributes to physician feelings of burnout, workplace satisfaction, suicidal ideation,”Richard Payerchin, Medical Economics, December 16, 2025

HealthDay (12/17, Gotkine) reports a study found that “body dissatisfaction may causally increase eating disorder and depressive symptoms.” The investigators utilized “data from the Twins Early Development Study to examine the longitudinal associations between body dissatisfaction at age 16 years and later eating disorder and depressive symptoms, as well as body mass index (BMI), in young adulthood.” The researchers “observed an association for a 1-point increase in body dissatisfaction with a 1.99-point higher eating disorder symptom score, a 0.59-point higher depressive symptom score, and a 0.27 kg/m2 higher BMI, on average. Higher body dissatisfaction was also associated with more severe eating disorder and depressive symptoms in monozygotic and dizygotic twin difference analyses.” They noted that “the association was smaller for BMI and was less precisely estimated in monozygotic twins.” The study was published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Body Dissatisfaction Linked to Eating Disorder, Depressive Symptoms,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay , December 17, 2025

The AP (12/17, Stobbe) reports “teen use of alcohol, nicotine and marijuana remains at record lows, according to” the results (PDF) of the Monitoring the Future survey that were released Wednesday. Teenagers “consume a lot of energy drinks, though. And there are slight, but concerning, increases in heroin and cocaine use.” However, “the findings indicate teens are drinking, smoking and using substances at much lower rates than in the past.” About “two-thirds of 12th graders this year said they hadn’t used alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes or electronic cigarettes in the previous 30 days.” Thirty years ago, “the figure was closer to about one-third.” The new “findings also seem to echo other surveys that show continued declines in teen sexual activity, which experts say is at least partly due to teens connecting through smartphones and social media instead of in person.”

Related Links:

— “Teen drug use remains low, but survey finds small rise in heroin and cocaine use,”Mike Stobbe , AP, December 17, 2025