According to Psychiatric News (10/8), on Oct. 7, the American Psychiatric Association announced “the release of My Mental Health Crisis Plan, a mobile app that allows people with serious mental illness (SMI) to create a plan to inform their treatment should they experience a mental health crisis.” Using the app, individuals “can easily create and share a psychiatric advance directive (PAD), a legal document that outlines one’s preferences around treatment during a crisis.” In a news release, APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, said, “A psychiatric advance directive is an important tool for individuals with serious mental illness to be able to plan ahead and have some control over their treatment at a time when they may not be able to make decisions.”

Related Links:

— “New App Helps People With Serious Mental Illness Develop a Crisis Plan, Psychiatric News, October 8, 2020

Healio (10/7, Weller) reports, “Paternal self-efficacy in tasks like soothing or putting an infant to sleep was linked to a lower risk for depressive symptoms among fathers in the year after birth,” investigators concluded in a study that included “a total of 881 Black, Latino and white fathers of low socioeconomic statuses who lived in urban, mixed/suburban or rural areas.” The findings were published online Sept. 23 in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Fathers who actively parent infants may have lower risk for depression “Madison Weller, Healio , October 7, 2020

HealthDay (10/7, Reinberg) reports cocaine overdose deaths have nearly tripled over a period of five years, according to a CDC report. HealthDay adds, “After a period of stability, cocaine-induced deaths rose by about 27% per year, on average, from 2013 through 2018.”

Related Links:

— “Overdose Deaths From Cocaine Rising Dramatically “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, October 7, 2020

HealthDay (10/6, Gordon) reports researchers found “girls who played after-school sports in elementary school seem to have fewer symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) once they reach middle school.” The findings were published in Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Early School Sports Reduce ADHD Symptoms Years Later for Girls “Serena Gordon, HealthDay, October 6, 2020

CNN (10/6) reports “researchers at New York’s Columbia Business School and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Chicago found” that “being authentic” on Facebook might be beneficial for people’s mental health. The study’s authors said, “Being prompted to post in an authentic way was associated with more positive mood and affect, and less negative mood within participants. Our findings suggest that all individuals regardless of personality traits could benefit from being authentic on social media.” The study was published in Nature.

Related Links:

— “Being authentic on Facebook is better for your mental health, researchers say “Katie Hunt, CNN, October 6, 2020