The Washington Post (6/11, Chiu) reported a study the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued on Friday indicates that during 2021’s early months, trips “to emergency departments for suspected suicide attempts increased roughly 50 percent for adolescent girls compared with the same period in 2019.” The authors wrote, “The findings from this study suggest more severe distress among young females than has been identified in previous reports during the pandemic, reinforcing the need for increased attention to, and prevention for, this population.”

USA Today (6/11, Hauck, Miller) and HealthDay (6/11, Thompson) also covered the story.

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Healio (6/10, Ernst) reports, “Childhood-onset insomnia symptoms that continued into adulthood served as ‘strong determinants’ of internalizing disorders in young adults,” investigators concluded after examining data “from the Penn State Child Cohort, a population-based sample of 700 children,” then following “up with participants eight years later as adolescents (n = 421; median age, 16 years) and 15 years later as young adults (n = 492; median age, 24 years).” The findings were presented at the virtual SLEEP 2021 meeting.

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— “Childhood insomnia that persists into adulthood impacts mental health of young adults “Julia Ernst, Healio, June 10, 2021

HealthDay (6/10, Preidt) reports, “Drinking rose among older Americans during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that could put their health at risk, claim researchers” from the University of Michigan who conducted a poll (PDF) of “more than 2,000 adults ages 50 to 80 were questioned in late January, when COVID-19 case rates were high nationwide and vaccination of older adults had just begun.” Approximately “14% of respondents who drink alcohol said their drinking increased during the first 10 months of the pandemic,” but “the rate was much higher among the minority who said they drink as part of their routine, to improve their mood or to relax, or to cope with boredom, stress or pain, according to the university’s National Poll on Healthy Aging.”

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— “Pandemic Boosted Drinking Among Americans Over 50: Poll “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, June 10, 2021

Healio (6/10, Gramigna) reports, “Intern physicians commonly experienced work-related trauma exposure and PTSD,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data of 1,134 resident physicians in their internship year of training who entered an internship at U.S. residency programs nationwide in 2018.” The interns in the study “answered a baseline survey one to two months prior to the start of their internship, as well as follow-up surveys at four time points during the internship, with 12 months of internship as the exposure.” The findings were published online June 8 in JAMA Network Open.

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— “Work-related trauma exposure, PTSD common among intern physicians “Joe Gramigna, Healio, June 10, 2021

STAT (6/9, Lloreda) reports research indicates that “a low dose of” nitrous oxide may help improve symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant depression [TRMD], investigators concluded in a study that “recruited 24 patients with TRMD, who were randomized in a crossover study to receive placebo, the low dose, or the high dose of laughing gas for one hour.” Eventually, “researchers then evaluated depressive symptoms of the 20 participants who completed all three sessions with a variety of questionnaires up to two weeks after each treatment.” The study team “found that a low dose of nitrous oxide…was just as effective at improving depression as a higher dose in patients with treatment-resistant depression, with” fewer “adverse side effects after two weeks.” The findings were published online June 9 in Science Translational Medicine.

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— “A safer, low dose of laughing gas may be enough to help some patients with major depression, study finds “Claudia López Lloreda, STAT, June 9, 2021