Medscape (7/30, Yasgur, Subscription Publication) reports researchers found “since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a dramatic increase in depression, anxiety, psychosis, and suicidality.” Medscape adds, “The new data, released by Mental Health America, came from individuals who completed a voluntary online mental health screen.”

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

STAT (7/29, Isselbacher) reports, “In the wake of nationwide demonstrations against police brutality, there has been a surge in interest in making sure mental health” professionals, “not law enforcement, are the ones to respond to a psychiatric crisis.” Across the US, “dozens of cities…have what are known as mobile crisis units, which deploy trained professionals to respond to people experiencing a mental health crisis with compassion and clinical expertise.” Now, such “mobile crisis teams have been flooded with calls from other communities hoping to replicate their models.”

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— “As mobile mental health teams work to de-escalate crises, some warn their models still rely on police partnerships, “Juliet Isselbacher, STAT, July 29, 2020

Healio (7/29, Gramigna) reports, “More than one-fourth of U.S. adults reported using telepsychiatry for mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic,” researchers concluded. The global biopharmaceutical company “Alkermes partnered with The Harris Poll to conduct an online survey among 2,019 U.S. adults 18 years and older between May 27 and May 29,” in particular assessing “participants’ telepsychiatry use before and during the pandemic, and” then gauging “their interest in future use of telepsychiatry after the pandemic.”

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— “More than 25% of Americans using telepsychiatry during COVID-19 pandemic, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 29, 2020

Psychiatric News (7/29) reports, “Among Medicare beneficiaries, racial minorities – African Americans, Hispanics, and American Indians/Alaskan Natives – have been disproportionately affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic compared with white beneficiaries,” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) concluded in “a ‘Preliminary Medicare COVID-19 Snapshot’ released this week.” The report analyzed “claims data from the Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) and Medicare Advantage programs received by July 17,” then determined “COVID-19 cases…by an ICD-10 diagnosis code for COVID-19 on a claim or encounter record for any health care setting.”

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— “Medicare Data Show Disproportionate Effect of COVID-19 on Racial, Ethnic Minorities, Psychiatric News, July 29, 2020

Medscape (7/29, Davenport, Subscription Publication) reports research indicates that “social cognition training can benefit patients with schizophrenia, and…adding regular aerobic exercise sessions substantially increases the improvements in a dose-response manner.” In the study, which involved “47 patients with schizophrenia, improvement in cognition tripled after adding an aerobic exercise program to cognitive training (CT) compared with CT alone.” The findings were set for presentation at the Congress of the Schizophrenia International Research Society 2020, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Related Links:

— “Aerobic Exercise May Up Brain-Training Benefits in Schizophrenia, “Liam Davenport, Medscape, July 29, 2020