According to Healio (9/22, Miller), deaths from overdose in the US “that involved psychostimulants other than cocaine – mostly methamphetamine – rose 180% in the last five full years before the COVID-19 pandemic,” researchers concluded after reviewing “data on methamphetamine use, methamphetamine use disorder…injection and frequency of use from 195,711 individuals aged 18 to 64 years…who participated in the 2015 to 2019 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health.” The findings of the cross-sectional analysis were published online Sept. 22 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Overdose deaths involving methamphetamine nearly tripled prior to COVID-19 pandemic “Janel Miller, Healio, September 22, 2021

Healio (9/22, Gramigna) reports research indicates that “antipsychotic treatment did not increase risk for mortality among adults with serious mental illness diagnosed with COVID-19 infection.”

Psychiatric News (9/22) reports that included in the analysis were 464 adult patients “who were diagnosed with COVID-19 infection between March 3, 2020, and February 17, 2021, and who had a preexisting diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder.” Of this group, 196 were “treated with antipsychotic medication.” The findings were published online Sept. 22 in a research letter in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Antipsychotics do not increase COVID-19 mortality risk “Joe Gramigna, Healio, September 22, 2021

The Hill (9/21, Coleman) reports, “Physicians have prescribed 44 percent” fewer “opioids over the past decade, yet fatal and non-fatal drug overdoses have continued to climb, according to a new report [PDF] from the American Medical Association (AMA)” that “documented a 44.4 percent decrease in opioid prescriptions between 2011 and 2020, with a 6.9 percent reduction between 2019 and last year, with more” physicians “using prescription drug monitoring programs.” Nevertheless, CDC data revealed that “more than 93,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2020, including about 69,000 from opioid overdoses,” representing “a record high and an almost 30 percent increase in overall fatal overdoses from the prior year.”

Related Links:

— “Opioid prescriptions fell over past decade while drug overdose deaths climbed: AMA report “Justine Coleman, The Hill, September 21, 2021

Psychiatric News (9/21) reports, “The types of online content that youth explore and the messages they share with others may help identify those most likely to be at high risk of a suicide attempt or self-harm,” researchers concluded in a study that “analyzed data drawn from more than 2,600 U.S. schools participating in online safety monitoring using a program called Bark” that “monitors and sends alerts to school administrators and parents about content ‘threatening to the health and well-being of students, such as messages about self-harm, suicidal ideation, online predators, bullying, or threats of violence.’” The findings of the 227-youth study were published online Sept. 20 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Youth’s Online Activity May Point to Subsequent Suicidal Behaviors, Psychiatric News, September 21, 2021

HealthDay (9/21, Reinberg) reports, “Living within a few blocks of a shooting increases the risk that a child will end up visiting the emergency department [ED] for mental health-related problems,” investigators concluded after studying data on some 54,300 patients. The study revealed “significant increases in mental health-related” ED “visits in the two weeks after a neighborhood shooting, especially among kids who lived closest to it and those exposed to multiple shootings.” The findings were published online Sept. 20 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Neighborhood Gun Violence Means Worse Mental Health for Kids “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, September 21, 2021