Psychiatric News (9/25) reported, “The prevalence of serious mental illness (SMI) among people who live in assisted-living communities is rising faster than in the community at large,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from the Medicare Master Beneficiary Summary File, a ZIP code history file, OASIS home health assessment data, Medicare Part B claims, a national list of state licensed assisted-living communities, and a Residential History File.” The data revealed that “over the 10-year period studied, the prevalence of SMI in assisted living increased by 54%, compared with an increase of 39% in the community at large.” The findings were published online Sept. 18 in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Serious Mental Illness on Rise Among Residents of Assisted-Living Communities, Psychiatric News, September 25, 2020

Healio (9/25, Gramigna) reported, “Youth who experienced sexual exploitation exhibited high levels of sexual risk taking, multiple sexual partners, PTSD, child pornography exposure and childhood trauma,” investigators concluded in a “systematic review and meta-analysis” that synthesized “evidence of risk and protective factors linked to child sexual exploitation and their estimated effect sizes.” The findings were published online in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Specific youth behaviors linked to risk for sexual exploitation “Joe Gramigna, Healio, September 25, 2020

Dr. Saul Levin, CEO and Medical Director of the APA, wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times (9/24) in response to an article about nursing homes evicting poor patients in need of psychiatric care. Dr. Levin wrote, “The allegations in the article are deeply troubling” and that “evicting older Americans from nursing homes and into psychiatric hospitals or emergency rooms is inhumane and a disturbing exploitation of psychiatric evaluations.” Dr. Levin continues, “Mental health diagnoses are not weapons, and using them as such increases the stigma and prejudice against people who need treatment.” Dr. Levin concludes by calling for nursing homes to “ensure that their patients have access to mental health treatment while in residence,” and calling for state officials to “thoroughly investigate these claims.”

Related Links:

— “In Cities, No Place for Partisan Politics The New York Times, September 24, 2020

USA Today (9/24, Rodriguez) reports the FDA is requiring a “Boxed Warning” on all benzodiazepine products, which include Xanax (alprazolam) and Valium (diazepam), the agency announced Wednesday. These products must now include “warning labels that spell out the risks of abuse, misuse, addiction, physical dependence and withdrawal.” The agency, “in addition to the warning label…is also requiring changes to prescribing information on all products and existing patient Medication Guides.”

Medscape (9/24, Brooks, Subscription Publication) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “FDA requires stronger warning label for Xanax, Valium and other similar benzodiazepine drugs “Adrianna Rodriguez, USA Today, September 24, 2020

TIME (9/24, Kluger) reports the COVID-19 pandemic “has been devastating to mental health, and in many cases, the most vulnerable group is women.” Researchers at the non-profit international aid organization CARE “found that while almost nobody is spared from the anxiety, worry and overall emotional fatigue of the coronavirus pandemic, women are almost three times as likely as men to report suffering from significant mental health consequences (27% compared to 10%), including anxiety, loss of appetite, inability to sleep and trouble completing everyday tasks.

Related Links:

— “The Coronavirus Pandemic’s Outsized Effect on Women’s Mental Health Around the World “Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, September 24, 2020