According to Kaiser Health News (10/24, Miller), across the US, “the shortage of” psychiatric “beds and mental health workers has collided with an increasing, pandemic-driven demand for mental health treatment.” Robert Trestman, PhD, MD, chairperson of the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Healthcare Systems and Financing, stated, “ERs have been flooded with patients needing psychiatric care.” He added, “The current crisis is unprecedented in the extent, severity and sweep of its national impact.” The article focused in particular on state psychiatric hospitals in Georgia, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia.

Related Links:

— “Understaffed state psychiatric facilities leave mental health patients in limbo “Andy Miller, Kaiser Health News, October 24, 2021

In “The Health 202” blog, the Washington Post (10/21, Roubein) reports the American Psychiatric Association and about two dozen other health groups “sent a letter to Congress urging Democrats to keep a national paid leave program.” The organizations “argue that many people are unable to take time off work to receive addiction treatment. A paid leave program, they write, would help remove that critical roadblock.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Healio (10/20, Gramigna) reports, “Frequent nonmedical cannabis use and cannabis use disorder appeared linked to self-reported psychotic disorders,” researchers concluded in a study that “included data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC).” Specifically, the study team “analyzed data of 43,093 participants of NESARC between 2001 and 2002 and 36,309 participants of NESARC-III between 2012 and 2013.” The findings were published online Oct. 14 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Cannabis use may increase risk for self-reported psychotic disorders “Joe Gramigna, Healio, October 20, 2021

Healio (10/20, Gramigna) reports, “Between 2011 and 2019, fewer than 12% of adolescents with major depression and substance use disorder were treated for both conditions,” researchers concluded after investigating “temporal trends and sociodemographic disparities in co-occurring major depression and SUD treatment” among “136,262 (51.1% boys; 13.8% Black; 23.2% Hispanic; 53.6% white) U.S. adolescents aged 12 to 17 years who participated in the annual cross-sectional surveys of the National Survey on Drug and Health between 2011 and 2019.” The findings of the survey study were published online Oct. 20 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Few adolescents with depression, substance use disorder treated for both “Joe Gramigna, Healio, October 20, 2021

The Hill (10/19, Prieb) reports, “A group of pediatric organizations have declared a national emergency in children’s mental health,” drawing on “statistics from March through October 2020, which showed that the percentage of emergency” department “visits for mental health emergencies among children ages 5-11 rose by 24 percent – and by 31 percent for children ages 12-17.”

Modern Healthcare (10/19, Johnson, Subscription Publication) reports, “The American Academy of Pediatrics, along with the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association declared a national emergency in children’s mental health on” Oct. 19, asking “for more federal funding to ensure access to mental healthcare services, telemedicine, and more support for school-based care which often is the first point of care.”

Related Links:

— “Pediatric groups declare national emergency over children’s mental health “Natalie Prieb, The Hill, October 19, 2021