The Hill (6/25, Wilson) said that more than half of public health workers surveyed by the CDC reported symptoms of at least one mental health condition, according to a new study by the agency. The study “found nearly a third of the 26,000 health care workers polled suffered from symptoms of depression in the last two weeks. Three in 10 reported suffering from anxiety, and more than one third say they have experienced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder”

Related Links:

— “Half of public health workers experiencing mental health strain: study “Reid Wilson, The Hill, June 25, 2021

Psychiatric News reports, “Regardless of a patient’s level of engagement in psychiatric care prior to being hospitalized, having an appointment scheduled when discharged from the hospital may increase the likelihood that the patient receives follow-up care,” results published in Psychiatric Services show. Researchers found that “the less patients were engaged in care prior to their admission, the less likely they were to have a follow-up appointment scheduled as part of their discharge plan. … However, regardless of the patients’ level of engagement, scheduling an outpatient appointment as part of the discharge plan was significantly associated with attending an initial outpatient psychiatric appointment within seven or 30 days after discharge.”

Related Links:

— “Discharge Planning Improves Engagement With Psychiatric Care, Study Finds, Psychiatric News, June 24, 2021

HealthDay (6/24, Preidt) reports, “The brain interprets physical signals differently in people with depression, anorexia and some other mental health disorders,” according to researchers who “found that in patients with bipolar disorder, anxiety, major depression, anorexia and schizophrenia, a brain region known as the dorsal mid-insula had different activity when processing pain, hunger and other physical signals.” Findings from the 626-patient study were published in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Body’s ‘Signals’ May Feel Different in People With Anorexia, Depression “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, June 24, 2021

Healio (6/23, Marabito) reports, “Patients with antipsychotic-naïve and first-episode schizophrenia who received antipsychotic treatment experienced” an average of 2.89 kg in weight gain “and improvement of clinical symptoms following 8 weeks of treatment,” researchers concluded in a study in “441 patients with schizophrenia and 313 control patients” published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. The “researchers observed a significant association between weight gain, age at onset, the course of disease and education.”

Related Links:

— “Weight gain correlates with greater symptom improvements for antipsychotic treatment “Maria Marabito, Healio, June 23, 2021

Healio (6/23, Marabito) reports, “The percentage of patients receiving medication for PTSD declined between 2009 and 2018 despite a doubling in the number of veterans diagnosed with PTSD in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) care,” researchers concluded in findings published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Despite a growth in PTSD diagnoses from 499,143 in 2009 to 1,073,183 in 2018, “the number of patients who received at least one of the examined mediations for PTSD decreased by 9% to 58% overall in 2018.”

Related Links:

— “PTSD trends among veterans: Reuptake inhibitors most prescribed, psychotherapy preferred “Maria Marabito, Healio, June 23, 2021