HealthDay (12/29) reports, “Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” (AD/HD) appear to “have a strikingly high prevalence of attempted suicide, with women being at particular risk, researchers say.” Their “study of nearly 22,000 Canadian adults found that 14% of those with” AD/HD “had attempted suicide,” a rate that “was roughly five times” that of adults without AD/HD. The findings were published online Dec. 21 in the Archives of Suicide Research.

Related Links:

— “ADHD Raises Adult Suicide Risk, Especially for Women “Amy Norton, HealthDay, December 29, 2020

Healio (12/28, Gramigna) reports, “Racial/ethnic disparities in diagnoses and treatment of first-episode psychosis were apparent before the first psychosis diagnosis,” investigators concluded after analyzing “medical and prescription drug claims from January 2007 to September 2015 of 3,017 Black, Hispanic or white patients who were continually enrolled in commercial insurance plans and received a diagnosis of first-episode psychosis between ages 10 and 21 years.” The findings of the “observational cohort study” were published online Dec. 23 in JAMA Psychiatry.
“Because Black and Hispanic patients have fewer behavioral health–related clinical contacts before the occurrence of [first-episode psychosis], these patients may have reduced opportunities for timely detection of psychotic symptoms and early interventions,” Heun-Johnson and colleagues wrote.

Related Links:

— “Racial/ethnic disparities remain in diagnosis, treatment of first-episode psychosis “Joe Gramigna, Healio, December 28, 2020

Healio (12/28, Gramigna) reports, “Gay, lesbian and bisexual veterans were at increased risk for suicide mortality,” investigators concluded after assessing “suicide mortality of 8.1 million veterans by analyzing their Veterans Health Administration (VHA) electronic health record data between October 1999 and September 2017.” The findings of the “retrospective population-based cohort study” were published online Dec. 28 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Gay, lesbian, bisexual veterans at increased risk for suicide mortality “Joe Gramigna, Healio, December 28, 2020

The New York Times (12/28, Belluck) reports, “A small number of Covid patients who had never experienced mental health problems are developing severe psychotic symptoms weeks after contracting the coronavirus.” Medical experts have indicated “they expect that such extreme psychiatric dysfunction will affect only a small proportion of patients.” However, “the cases are considered examples of another way the Covid-19 disease process can affect mental health and brain function.”

Related Links:

— “Small Number of Covid Patients Develop Severe Psychotic Symptoms “Pam Belluck, The New York Times, December 28, 2020

In an opinion piece for the Washington Post (12/26), American Medical Association Chief Health Equity Officer Aletha Maybank, M.D., M.P.H.‎, past-president of the American Public Health Association Camara Phyllis Jones, Advancing Health Equity founder and CEO Uché Blackstock, and National Birth Equity Collaborative president Joia Crear Perry wrote about the treatment of Dr. Susan Moore, a Black family physician who died from COVID-19 after alleging she was mistreated by her health care provider due to her race. In a Facebook video about her treatment prior to her death, Dr. Moore said, “This is how Black people get killed, when you send them home and they don’t know how to fight for themselves.” According to the opinion piece, “Moore’s video offers a glimpse…of the injustice at the intersection of being a health-care provider and being a person of color during [COVID-19], and what happens when the system does not work to adequately care for the very people who are there to uphold it.” The authors of the piece urge, “As a nation, we need to understand four key messages about racism: Racism exists. Racism is a system. Racism saps the strength of the whole society. We must act to dismantle racism.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)