Healio (3/16, Gramigna) reports researchers at Sapien Labs have released “a report that outlined global mental health during 2020.” The report, called Mental State of the World 2020, “found societal circumstance and behavior had an ‘enormous impact’ on mental wellbeing.” What’s more, the current pandemic “appeared to play an important role in changes in mental wellbeing between 2019 and 2020,” with “a total of 57% of respondents” experiencing “various negative health, financial or social consequences.”

Related Links:

— “Mental wellbeing declined significantly during 2020, global report finds “Joe Gramigna, Healio, March 16, 2021

Roll Call (3/16, Raman) reports, “House lawmakers are restructuring their bipartisan task forces dedicated to combating the drug epidemic and expect the chamber to consider behavioral health legislation this year, members told CQ Roll Call.” The changes are expected to “broaden the scope of legislative efforts beyond opioids to include all forms of addiction and mental health.”

Related Links:

— “House reshapes approach to mental health and addiction “Sandhya Raman, Roll Call, March 16, 2021

The AP (3/13, Swenson, Klepper) reported that “journalists, public health officials and tech companies” have sought to counter the “bogus claims about the virus, masks and vaccines [that] have exploded since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic a year ago,” but “much of the job of correcting misinformation has fallen to the world’s front-line medical workers.” The AP highlights that nurses are playing a key role in the effort, but concedes that “in some cases, it’s nurses and other health care workers themselves spreading misinformation. And many nurses say they encounter falsehoods about the coronavirus vaccine in their own families.”

Related Links:

— “Nurses fight conspiracy theories along with coronavirus “Ali Swenson and David Klepper, AP, March 13, 2021

The AP (3/12, Leicester) reported around the world, pediatric healthcare professionals are seeing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s mental health. In France, Japan, and other countries, physicians have reported increases in suicide attempts among children and teenagers. The AP adds, “Pediatric psychiatrists say they’re also seeing children with coronavirus-related phobias, tics and eating disorders, obsessing about infection, scrubbing their hands raw, covering their bodies with disinfectant gel and terrified of getting sick from food.”

Related Links:

— “Global rise in childhood mental health issues amid pandemic “John Leicester, AP, March 12, 2021

The Washington Post (3/12, Chiu) reported, “Several health-related organizations held a news conference Friday to raise alarm about the significant effect the coronavirus pandemic is having on Americans’ efforts to quit smoking.” In a report (PDF) released Friday, the “North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC) found a steep drop in calls during 2020 to the National Cancer Institute-operated portal that connects callers to local quitlines.” And “at the same time, the nonprofit noted, cigarette sales increased after years of steady decline, according to data from the Treasury Department.”

USA Today (3/12, Alltucker) reported, “Officials attributed the decline in calls…to stress, anxiety, depression and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)