The AP (5/11, Morgan) reports the VA and veterans groups are preparing for a surge in veterans with mental health needs. The VA and its partners “have kept thousands of veterans in treatment during the coronavirus pandemic through telehealth appointments. But as job losses and increased social isolation take an extended toll, some veterans’ advocates worry the already understaffed VA medical facilities can’t keep up and that telehealth isn’t enough.”

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— “Veterans groups, govt brace for surge in mental health needs, “Sarah Blake Morgan, Claudia Lauer And Hope Yen , AP, May 11, 2020

Psychiatric News (5/11) reports that in spite of “some challenges, 20 psychiatrists who completed interviews from March 31 to April 9 said that the transition to seeing patients via telemedicine due to COVID-19 has generally been a positive experience.” The findings (PDF) now “appear in an article in press at Psychiatric Services,” a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

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— “Psychiatrists Report Mostly Positive Transition to Telemedicine During Pandemic, Psychiatric News, May 11, 2020

MedPage Today (5/11, Hlavinka) reports, “Rates of pediatric emergency room visits among children with mental health disorders soared from 2007 to 2016, researchers found.” During the time frame, “pediatric emergency department visits increased somewhat, from 273.5 to 305.5 cases per 10,000 (11.7% increase, P=0.06), but visits among children with mental health disorders spiked 60%, from 15.9 to 25.4 cases per 10,000,” researchers reported in a study published in Pediatrics. Researchers “used the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) database to track trends among hospitals, and categorized pediatric emergency department volume for each site.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (5/8, Gramigna) reported investigators “have observed significant changes in the treatment of bipolar disorder over the past two decades,” investigators concluded after examining “nationally representative data from the 1997 to 2016 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys to examine trends in the use of first- and second-generation antipsychotics, antidepressants and mood stabilizers among psychiatrist visits for which one of the primary diagnoses was bipolar disorder.” The study revealed that “second-generation antipsychotics in large measure having supplanted traditional mood stabilizers.” At the same time, “antidepressant prescriptions have persisted despite a lack of evidence for their efficacy in bipolar disorder.” The findings were published online April 21 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

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— “Second-generation antipsychotics have largely replaced mood stabilizers for treatment of bipolar disorder, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, May 8, 2020

CBS News (5/8, Gordon) reported, “COVID-19 has directly claimed tens of thousands of U.S. lives, but conditions stemming from the novel coronavirus – rampant unemployment, isolation and an uncertain future – could lead to 75,000 deaths from drug or alcohol abuse and suicide,” according to a report published by the Well Being Trust. Dr. Elie Aoun, vice chairman of the APA’s Council on Addiction Psychiatry, said the projections were shocking, but not surprising, “I’ve been seeing this in practices and my colleagues have been talking about it, too.” Dr. Aoun added, “Addiction patients are relapsing, and a lot of patients who don’t have drug use or alcohol problems are drinking more now, sometimes every day from 4 or 5 p.m., and they don’t stop until they sleep.”

Related Links:

— “Coronavirus pandemic may lead to 75,000 “deaths of despair” from suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, study says, “Serena Gordon, CBS News, May 8, 2020