Psychiatric News (12/11) reports, “Youth who are taking antidepressants in the class of serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for anxiety or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are more likely to experience side effects that cause them to discontinue the medication than those taking serotonin-norepinephrine inhibitors (SNRIs),” researchers concluded after analyzing “data on adverse reactions to SSRIs and SNRIs in 18 studies involving more than 2,600 children and teenagers under the age of 18 treated for anxiety or OCD.” The study also revealed that SSRIs “appear to be more commonly associated with ‘activation syndrome’ – a cluster of symptoms including restlessness, anxiety, and agitation.” The findings of the Bayesian hierarchical modeling meta-analysis were published online Nov. 1 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “SNRIs May Be More Tolerable Than SSRIs for Some Youth With Anxiety, OCD, Psychiatric News, December 11, 2019

MedPage Today (12/11, Hlavinka) reports researchers observed “modest declines in cognition…among patients with psychotic disorders in the 20 years after their first hospitalization.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Slight 20-Year Cognitive Decline in Patients With Psychotic Disorders, “Elizabeth Hlavinka, MedPage Today, December 11, 2019

Medscape (12/10, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reports, “Staff at psychiatric hospitals are frequently exposed to violence and physical threats that often lead to symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” investigators concluded after surveying “761 staff (69% female) at three psychiatric hospitals in Canada.” The findings were published online Dec. 4 in the journal Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “High Rates of PTSD Plague Psychiatric Hospital Staff, “Megan Brooks, Medscape, December 10, 2019

Courier (12/10, Vakil) reported, “Americans seeking mental healthcare treatment turn to out-of-network” clinicians “at far higher rates than when seeking medical care, according to a recently updated studycommissioned by the Mental Health Treatment and Research Institute LLC.” In the study, which “analyzed 2016 and 2017 claims data from all 50 states and hundreds of preferred provider organization (PPO) health plans that insure 37 million people,” investigators “found that patients are more than five times as likely to go out of network when seeking care at behavioral inpatient or outpatient facilities, compared to medical or surgical inpatient or outpatient facilities.” Bruce Schwartz, MD, president of the American Psychiatric Association, stated, “People who have paid for their healthcare coverage aren’t able to get behavioral health services within the networks that the insurance companies are offering.” Dr. Schwartz also stated, “I think the reason why many psychiatrists have ceased to participate with these insurance companies is that insurance companies, via their payments rates, have essentially been rationing health care,” and “this discrimination pushes psychiatrists out of the network, Schwartz said.”

Related Links:

— “Even with insurance, Americans can’t find mental health providers, “Keya Vakil, Courier , December 10, 2019

Psychiatric News (12/10) reports, “Individuals over age 60 with schizophrenia who were prescribed long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics after being discharged from a hospital were significantly less likely to be rehospitalized within a year than those receiving oral antipsychotics,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data on 1,168 patients over age 60 with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who were discharged between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2017.” The findings were published online ahead of print in the January issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Older Schizophrenia Patients Found Less Likely to Be Rehospitalized With LAI Antipsychotics, Psychiatric News, December 10, 2019