In a piece discussing pandemic-related mental health, The Atlantic (7/7, Stern) says that “one thing that is certain about the current pandemic is that we are not doing enough to address its mental-health effects. Usually, says Joshua Morganstein, the chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Committee on the Psychiatric Dimensions of Disaster, the damage a disaster does to mental health ends up costing more than the damage it does to physical health.” But “in any case, the full extent of the fallout will not come into focus for some time. Psychological disorders can be slow to develop, and as a result, the Textbook of Disaster Psychiatry, which Morganstein helped write, warns that demand for mental-health care may spike even as a pandemic subsides.” Of COVID-19, Morganstein says, “If history is any indicator, we should expect a significant tail of mental-health effects, and those could be extraordinary.”

Related Links:

— “This Is Not a Normal Mental-Health Disaster , “Jacob Stern, The Atlantic, July 7, 2020

Healio (7/6, Gramigna) reports, “Physicians appeared more likely to exhibit resilience than the general U.S. working population,” investigators concluded after conducting “a cross-sectional national survey study of 5,445 U.S. physicians and a probability-based sample of 5198 individuals in the U.S. working population.” Researchers also “observed an inverse association with burnout symptoms; however, even among the most resilient physicians, burnout rates were substantial.” The findings were published online in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Physicians resilient, but still suffer burnout, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 6, 2020

Medwire News (7/6, McDermid) reports researchers analyzed “data from the AGES-Reykjavik Study” and identified “accumulating cerebral small vessel disease as a contributing factor to the increased risk for depression in people with” T2D. The findings of the 2,135-participant study were published online in Diabetes Care.

Related Links:

— “Vascular depression hypothesis upheld in type 2 diabetes, “Eleanor McDermid, Medwire News, July 6, 2020

Psychiatric News (7/6) reports that in a viewpoint published online July 1 in JAMA Psychiatry, Lewei (Allison) Lin, MD, MS, of the Veteran Affairs Center for Clinical Management Research, in Ann Arbor, MI, makes the case that “telehealth urgently needs to be adapted for the treatment of people with substance use disorders (SUDs) in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic.”

Related Links:

— “Changes Urged to Facilitate Telehealth in Treatment of Patients With Substance Use Disorders, Psychiatric News, July 6, 2020

Healio (7/2, Gramigna) reported, “Sleep problems during early childhood may be associated with the onset of psychosis and borderline personality disorder, or BPD, in adolescence,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data of 13,488 participants of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children birth cohort who had data available for more than 13 years.” The findings of the “cohort study” were published online June 30 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Childhood sleep problems linked to adolescent psychosis, borderline personality disorder, “Joe Gramigna , Healio, July 2, 2020