Psychiatric News (7/6) reports, “Young adults with serious mental illness (SMI) who are overweight or obese experienced similar weight loss and cardiorespiratory fitness improvements after participating in a 12-month group intervention as those who received one-on-one mobile health (mHealth) coaching for 12 months,” investigators concluded in a study involving “150 adults with SMI aged 18 to 35 years with a body mass index ≥25 kg/m2 who were receiving services at four community mental health centers in the northeastern” US. The findings of the randomized study were published online June 30 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Mobile Intervention as Effective as Group Intervention for Promoting Weight Loss in Young People With SMI , Psychiatric News, July 6, 2021

Healio (7/6, Gramigna) reports, “Adults with anorexia nervosa had increased risk for relapse in the first months after acute care discharge,” researchers concluded in a study involving “93 women with anorexia nervosa.” The findings were published online June 22 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “People with anorexia nervosa at increased risk for relapse soon after acute care discharge “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 6, 2021

“Parents of kids with medical complexity face challenges other parents don’t,” the Washington Post (7/3, Blakemore) reported. But “how is their mental health compared to their counterparts whose children don’t face problems such as chronic diseases, developmental disabilities or congenital disorders?” A new large study published in the July issue of Pediatrics indicates that “parents of children with medical complexity are up to five times likelier to have poor or fair mental health – and that many don’t know how to get support.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (7/2) reported, “More than one in four American adults who had symptoms of depression or anxiety reported an unmet need for mental health counseling at the end of 2020,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from approximately 70,000 adults in the Household Pulse Survey, which was conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and other federal agencies from December 9 to December 21, 2020.” The study revealed that “overall, more than one in 10 adults in the study reported this unmet need.” The findings were published online June 30 in a brief report in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Study Reveals Extent of Unmet Need for Mental Health Counseling During Pandemic, Psychiatric News, July 2, 2021

CNN (7/4, Vera) reported that for some survivors of gun violence and mass shootings, “the loud explosions and bangs” that surround Independence Day fireworks “have become nightmarish triggers.” Gun-related “violence can lead to life-long trauma that can even develop into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” a “a psychiatric disorder that occurs in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event like a shooting, natural disaster or abuse, according to the American Psychiatric Association.” The article interviewed several gun violence “survivors and witnesses of mass shootings, including some who have been diagnosed with PTSD, in an effort to understand how July 4 fireworks celebrations might affect them.”

Related Links:

— “Independence Day fireworks, once joyous celebrations, are now nightmares for these gun violence survivors ” Amir Vera, CNN, July 4, 2021