Psychiatric News (7/26) reports, “Future care planning can be difficult for aging parents and caregivers of people with serious mental illness (SMI),” so “an article…describes the important role that mental health professionals can play in helping families to prepare for the future.” The article offers “recommendations for mental health professionals on when to begin planning for future care, who should participate in this planning, and what should be included in a future care plan for the plan to be successful.” The article was published online July 20 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Future Care Planning Can Help Patients With SMI, Aging Caregivers With Major Life Transitions, Psychiatric News, July 26, 2021

Healio (7/23, Gramigna) reported, “Rates and severity of postpartum depression [PPD] and anxiety symptoms among women who sought treatment for postpartum depression worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic,” researchers concluded after examining the “data of 603 participants, of whom 305 enrolled pre-pandemic and 298 during the pandemic.” The findings were published online July 6 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Mothers with postpartum depression ‘highly vulnerable’ during pandemic ”
Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 23, 2021

Healio (7/23, Gramigna) reported, “The continued use of electroconvulsive therapy [ECT] appeared warranted for reducing suicide risk among patients with severe depression,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from Swedish national registers of 28,557 patients (ECT group mean age, 55.9 years; non-ECT group, 45.2 years; 55.5% women) who received inpatient care between Jan. 1, 2012, and Oct. 31, 2018, for moderate depression, severe depression or severe depression with psychosis.” The findings of the “registry-based cohort study” were published online July 21 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Electroconvulsive therapy significantly reduces suicide risk in severe depression “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 23, 2021

HealthDay (7/22, Murez) reports, “Youth who identify as LGBTQ+ suffer more bullying at their schools when they live in areas with politically conservative voting records.” Investigators examined “school district voting records in the 2016 presidential election, as well as bullying experiences in schools and mental health outcomes of LGBTQ+ students in Washington state using the 2018 Washington State Healthy Youth Survey.” The study revealed that “LGBTQ+ students are at a higher risk for psychological distress and suicidal thoughts as a result of bullying, particularly in school districts that voted for former President Donald Trump in the 2016 election.” The findings were published online in the journal Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy.

Related Links:

— “When It Comes to Bullying of LGBTQ Teens, Local Politics Matters  “Cara Murez, HealthDay, July 22, 2021

Psychiatric News (7/22) reports, “An estimated 1.562 million children worldwide lost a caregiver from March 2020 to April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” investigators concluded in a study that revealed that “862,365 children in…21 countries had been orphaned or lost a custodial grandparent due to COVID-19, including 788,704 who lost a mother, father, or both parents.” The findings were published online July 20 in The Lancet.

Related Links:

— “More Than 1.5 Million Children Globally Lost Caregivers Due to COVID-19 Pandemic, Psychiatric News, July 22, 2021