HealthDay (5/8, Thompson) reported a study suggests that “stereotypes of autistic men in films and TV could be contributing to delayed autism diagnosis of women and non-binary people.” While characters “like Sheldon Cooper in ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and Raymond Babbitt in ‘Rain Man’ are designed to be immediately identifiable to people without autism,” researchers argue “these portrayals are overly exaggerated and simplified, to the point that they’re not relatable to people who have autism.” For the study, “researchers held a series of in-person focus group sessions involving four women with autism.” The participants “said media portrayals” of characters with autism “are typically dehumanizing, reducing people to a narrow set of traits and deficits. These characters lack complexity, autonomy and emotional depth.” Notably, one participant “reported that media stereotypes contributed to a late diagnosis of autism for both herself and her daughter.” The studywas published in Societies.

Related Links:

— “TV, Movies Offer Flawed Depictions Of Autism, Add To Delayed Diagnosis, Study Says,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay , May 8, 2026

HealthDay (5/8, Thompson) reported, “Previously, it was estimated that about 6% of people who survived an opioid overdose wound up with a repeat overdose during the following year,” but “new results indicate that 21% experience a repeat OD after an emergency department visit for opioid overdose, researchers reported…in the Journal of the American Medical Association.” Furthermore, “patients’ risk of death…increased alongside their number of additional overdoses, the study found.”

Related Links:

— “Opioid OD Survivors Have Triple Rate Of Repeat Overdoses Than Previously Estimated,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay , May 8, 2026

NPR (5/7, Chatterjee) reports that as HHS plans to “wean patients off antidepressants, mental health advocates and psychiatrists say blaming the United States’ mental health crisis on overmedicalization and overprescription of psychiatric medications is an inaccurate portrayal of a complex problem.” Theresa Miskimen Rivera, MD, President of the American Psychiatric Association, told NPR, “It really is an oversimplification. And it really ignores the larger reality, which is that too many patients really cannot access timely, comprehensive care that is much needed for our nation.” Nevertheless, she “adds that she and the American Psychiatric Association support any plans to better train healthcare [professionals] to safely prescribe and wean patients off antidepressants.” Miskimen Rivera said, “We’re also very much in support of the Administration’s plans to further investment in research and the efforts to improve quality, safety [and] evidence-based mental health treatment.”

Related Links:

— “Psychiatrists say RFK Jr.’s take on SSRIs is an ‘oversimplification’ of the problem,”Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, May 7, 2026

HealthDay (5/7, Thompson) reports a survey by The Trevor Project found that “more than a third of LGBTQ+ young people have seriously considered suicide in the past year, driven by bullying from both peers and politicians.” The survey included 16,667 LGBTQ+ individuals ages 13 to 24 living in the US. Results show about 36% of respondents “seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including 40% of transgender and nonbinary young people.” Additionally, the survey found that “1 in 10 LGBTQ+ young people attempted suicide in the past year,” and that “nearly two-thirds (62%) reported recent symptoms of anxiety and almost half (47%) symptoms of depression.” Furthermore, “nearly 3 out of 5 (59%) LGBTQ+ teens experienced bullying in the past year,” and that “about 22% of those who’d been bullied had attempted suicide in the past year, compared to 7% of those who hadn’t.”

Related Links:

— “Bullying and Politics Fuel Suicide Risk for LGBTQ+ Teens and Young Adults, Survey Finds,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay , May 7, 2026

HealthDay (5/5, Thompson) reports a study found that “about 95% of patients return to mental health services in one way or another within two decades of their first admission to a psych ward,” which suggests “these patients either needed to be readmitted to the hospital later, or continued in long-term treatment.” For the study, “researchers followed more than 150 people younger than 40 for two decades after their first admission to a general psychiatric hospital serving the Copenhagen area.” They observed that “during the two-decade follow-up period, 38% of patients received a diagnosis of schizophrenia; 35% schizotypy; 14% depression; 25% personality disorder; 11% bipolar disorder; and 6% substance use disorder. Results showed that people with schizophrenia-type disorders in particular tended to have them long-term, with 80% receiving the same diagnosis during the two decades of follow-up.” The study was published in European Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “First Psych Ward Stay Signals Long-Term Mental Health Struggles For Nearly All Patients,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay , May 5, 2026