Psychiatric News (11/25) reported, “Older adults may be more resilient to the anxiety, depression, and stress-related mental disorders that are being reported by younger adults during the COVID-19 pandemic,” investigators concluded after citing “a survey of 5,412 community-dwelling adults conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from June 24 to 30.” The findings were published online Nov. 20 in a viewpoint in JAMA.

Related Links:

— “Older Adults May Be More Resilient During Pandemic Than Younger People Psychiatric News, November 25, 2020

CNN (11/25, Kim) reported, “The early stages of the coronavirus pandemic and the first Covid-19 lockdown caused the number of young people with anxiety to nearly double, according to a study from the University of Bristol.” The study“found that the number of people with anxiety jumped from 13% to 24% in young people between the ages of 27 and 29, and that number was higher than their parents.”

Related Links:

— “Young people’s anxiety levels nearly doubled during first Covid-19 lockdown, study says “Allen Kim, CNN, November 25, 2020

Healio (11/24, Gramigna) reports, “A significant proportion of U.S. adults reported serious psychological distress related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” investigators concluded after receiving and analyzing “online survey data from 1,337 individuals aged 18 years or older who were included in NORC’s AmeriSpeak panel, with second wave data fielded between July 7 and July 22.” The findings were published Nov. 23 in a research letter in JAMA.

Related Links:

— “Many U.S. adults experienced serious psychological distress related to COVID-19 pandemic “Joe Gramigna, Healio, November 24, 2020

Psychiatric News (11/23) reports, “Prazosin is effective at reducing alcohol consumption in adults with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and severe withdrawal symptoms such as sweating, headache, and nausea,” investigators concluded in a “12-week, randomized clinical trial of 112 treatment-seeking adults with AUD.” The study revealed that “those with severe withdrawal symptoms who took prazosin had half as many drinking days and only one-fifth the number of heavy drinking days as adults with severe withdrawal symptoms taking placebo.” The findings were published online Nov. 19 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Prazosin Can Reduce Drinking in AUD Patients With Severe Withdrawal Symptoms, Psychiatric News, November 23, 2020

The New York Times (11/23, Carey) reports, “The Department of Veterans Affairs [VA] has turned to machine-learning to help identify vets at risk of taking their own lives.” Suicide rates among veterans have risen by 30% since 2000, and are generally higher than the civilian population. The VA has developed a program called Reach Vet which deploys an algorithm that “updates continually, generating a new list of high-risk veterans each month.” The VA will reach out to a vet to make an appointment if their name appears on the list.

Related Links:

— “Department Of Veterans Affairs Employing New Algorithm To Identify Veterans At Risk Of Suicide “Benedict Carey, The New York Times, November 23, 2020