Healio (9/24) reported, “Prolonged grief disorder will be included in the DSM-5-TR set to be released in March 2022,” the American Psychiatric Association announced in a Sept. 23 press release. According to Healio, “after a two-year process of review and public comment, APA’s board of trustees and assembly approved this DSM addition last fall.” In the release, APA President Vivian B. Pender, MD, said, “The circumstances in which we are living, with more than 675,000 deaths due to COVID, may make prolonged grief disorder more prevalent.” For his part, APA CEO and medical director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, stated, “Including prolonged grief disorder in the DSM-5-TR will mean that mental health clinicians and patients and families alike share an understanding of what normal grief looks like and what might indicate a long-term problem.”

Related Links:

— “DSM-5-TR to include prolonged grief disorder, Healio, September 24, 2021

Healio (9/23) reports that according to a Sept. 22 press release (9/22) from the “online behavioral healthcare company” Talkspace, responses from “a nationwide survey showed most employees who were considering leaving their jobs felt their employer had not properly focused on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.” The company “partnered with The Harris Poll to conduct the survey of 1,015 full-time employed adults aged 18 years or older in the U.S. between July 29 and Aug. 2.” The survey revealed that 67% “of participants considering leaving their job felt their employer had not met early pandemic promises to emphasize employee mental health, with 68% endorsing the statement, ‘My employer [said] employees should focus on ‘self-care’ but doesn’t provide the resources to do so.’”

Related Links:

— “Lack of mental health focus at work large factor when employees consider quittinge, Healio, September 23, 2021

USA Today (9/22, Hauck) reports, “More than 18 months into the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., nearly 1 in 5 Americans is consuming an unhealthy amount of alcohol, a new survey suggests.” Approximately 17% of the respondents “reported ‘heavy drinking’ in the past 30 days, according to the survey commissioned by Alkermes, an Ireland-based biopharmaceutical company.” Experts say “stress of world events and anxiety about the future can increase drinking and exacerbate symptoms of alcohol use disorder, as seen in the wake of previous disasters such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.”

The Hill (9/22, Lonas) reports, “The survey defined ‘heavy drinking’ as having two days a week where a woman drank more than four drinks or a man drank more than five drinks.” Respondents “who said they drank heavily in the past year also reported a decline in mental, psychosocial and physical health.”

Related Links:

— “Americans are using alcohol to cope with pandemic stress: Nearly 1 in 5 report ‘heavy drinking’ “Grace Hauck, USA TODAY, September 22, 2021

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