Psychiatric News (8/5) reports, “Children or teenagers with depression are more likely to have higher rates of anxiety and worse social functioning as adults than those without a history of depression,” researchers concluded in a study that interviewed “a total of 1,420 participants…up to eight times between the ages nine and 16 to assess for depressive disorders, associated psychiatric comorbidities, and childhood adversities (including low socioeconomic status, family dysfunction, abuse and neglect, and peer victimization) using the structured Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment.” Participants “were interviewed again at ages 19, 21, 25, and 30 using the structured Young Adult Psychiatric Assessment Interview for psychiatric outcomes and functional outcomes.” The findings were published online Aug. 3 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Adult Anxiety and Poorer Function Linked to Childhood Depression But Can Be Prevented, Psychiatric News, August 5, 2020

CQ Roll Call (8/5, Raman) reports there has been an increase in deaths by suicide in many communities across the US. Prior to the pandemic, “the nation’s suicide rate reached historic highs…with rates at the highest levels since World War II.” Back in April, a viewpoint piece published in JAMA Psychiatry described the prior trend of rising suicide rates and the coronavirus pandemic as a “perfect storm.” APA President Jeffrey Geller said, “We have people now who don’t know how to feed their family who have not had that thought for a very long time. That’s different than the last recession. There are masses of people who are quite worried today because they don’t know what is going to happen to their benefits. That kind of anxiety exacerbates fragility.”

Related Links:

— “Pandemic’s effect on already rising suicide rates heightens worry, “Sandhya Raman, CQ Roll Call, August 5, 2020

Healio (8/4, Gramigna) reports, “Individuals with dementia-related psychosis commonly experience visual hallucinations, auditory hallucinations and distortion of senses,” researchers concluded in a study that examined available data “for 26 participants living with self-reported dementia-related psychosis and 186 care partners who answered on behalf of patients.” The findings were presented at the virtual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2020.

Related Links:

— “Hallucinations, distorted senses common symptoms of dementia-related psychosis, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, August 4, 2020

CNN (8/4, Hunt) reports, “Some researchers had thought insufficient levels of vitamin D may play a role in depression but the findings of a large study of more than 18,000 US adults ages 50 years or older published” Aug. 4 in JAMA “has found no evidence of that impact.” For the study, “half of the adults, who had no clinically relevant depressive symptoms at the start of the study, took vitamin D3 (one of two types of Vitamin D supplements) in the amount of 2000IU per day, more than the current recommended amount in the United States,” while the “other half took a placebo.” Investigators tracked participants “for 5.3 years on average.”

Also providing similar coverage are MedPage Today (8/4, Hlavinka), HealthDay (8/4, Reinberg), and Psychiatric News (8/4).

Related Links:

— “Vitamin D doesn’t prevent depression in older adults, large study finds, “Katie Hunt, CNN, August 4, 2020

The New York Times (8/3, Kolata) reports researchers found “the risk for a person to develop dementia over a lifetime is now 13 percent lower than it was in 2010” in the US and Europe. Researchers observed the decrease “despite the lack of effective treatments or preventive strategies.” The findings were published in Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Dementia on the Retreat in the U.S. and Europe, “Gina Kolata, The New York Times, August 3, 2020