HealthDay (11/16, Murez) reports, “Less screen time and more sleep are critical for preventing depression,” investigators concluded after analyzing “UK Biobank data from 85,000 people to determine impact of lifestyle on depression.” The study revealed that “physical activity, a healthy diet and getting between seven and nine hours of sleep nightly was associated with less frequency of depressed mood.” What’s more, “screen time and tobacco smoking were significantly associated with higher frequency of depression,” researchers discovered. The findings were published online Nov. 11 in the journal BMC Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Two Key Lifestyle Factors May Ward Off Depression, HealthDay, November 16, 2020

CNN (11/16, LaMotte) reports new research “comparing poor sleep among more than a million adults and children in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States found women experience more insomnia problems than men in all three countries.” What’s more, “the trend emerges during puberty, ‘suggesting sex hormones, among other social factors such as stress or parenting,’ might contribute to the development of insomnia in women,” investigators concluded after comparing “sleep studies on 1.1 million people from the US, the UK and the Netherlands.” The findings were published online in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

Related Links:

— “More women than men struggle to fall asleep in both Europe and the US, study finds “Sandee LaMotte, CNN, November 16, 2020

Healio (11/16, Gramigna) reports, “Prescription opioid use appeared to increase risk for depression,” investigators concluded in a “mendelian randomization analysis” that included data from “737,473 participants with predominantly European ancestry who were included in the population-based U.K. Biobank and Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research studies.” The findings were published online Nov. 11 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Prescription opioid use may increase depression risk “Joe Gramigna, Healio, November 16, 2020

Clinical Endocrinology News (11/12, Splete) reports, “All patients with postpartum depression should be screened for thyroid dysfunction, as postpartum thyroiditis is often missed and misdiagnosed, according to” a presentation given by Christine Kessler, CNS, ANP, at the Metabolic & Endocrine Disease Summit by Global Academy for Medical Education. Kessler explained that “postpartum thyroiditis (PPT) is ‘an inflammatory, autoimmune thyroid condition’” that “can involve high or low thyroid-stimulating hormone and may occur during the first postpartum year in women who were euthyroid prior to pregnancy.” Patients who present “with PPT in the hyperthyroid phase display symptoms including insomnia, anxiety, irritability, heat intolerance, fatigue, and palpitations, Ms. Kessler said,” and “these women ‘are often told they have postpartum depression; they aren’t sleeping well, and they feel like they are failing as a mom.’”

Related Links:

— “Don’t miss postpartum thyroiditis “Heidi Splete, Clinical Endocrinology News, November 12, 2020

The New York Times (11/12, Goldberg) reports, “The social isolation of the pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of many Americans.” However, “the impact has been especially severe on teenagers, who rely on their friends to navigate the maze and pressures of high school life.” Dr. Gabrielle Shapiro, chair of the APA’s Council on Children, Adolescents, and Their Families, is concerned that teenagers whose parents dismiss mental health symptoms are not able to confide in teachers or school counselors during the pandemic. In response, Dr. Shapiro “recommended that schools put in place lessons to teach students how to share their emotions.”

Related Links:

— “Teens in Covid Isolation: ‘I Felt Like I Was Suffocating’ “Emma Goldberg, The New York Times, November 12, 2020