Psychiatric News (11/1) reported, “People who are homosexual, bisexual, or unsure of their sexual orientation have both a higher risk and a higher rate of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder than people who are heterosexual,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data from the 2012-2013 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (NESARC-III), a survey of roughly 36,000 U.S. adults.” According to Psychiatric News, “the NESARC-III determined if participants had eating disorders based on whether their responses suggested that they met the DSM-5 criteria for eating disorders.” The findings were published online Oct. 31 in the International Journal of Eating Disorders

Related Links:

— “Sexual Minorities Found to Be at Elevated Risk for Eating Disorders, Psychiatric News, November 1, 2019

HealthDay (11/1, Reinberg) reported, “How the media reports on celebrity suicides may increase the risk for copycats,” researchers indicated, “but following guidelines on the reporting of these suicides can reduce the risk of others following suit,” investigators concluded after using “14 variables from recommendations by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention on how to report on suicide, which include not sensationalizing the death and framing the report as a public health issue.” In particular, “the researchers looked at how the guidelines were used after the suicides of designer Kate Spade and chef Anthony Bourdain.” The findingswere published online Nov. 1 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Media Reports on Celeb Suicides Could Trigger Copycats, ” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, November 1, 2019

Modern Healthcare (10/31, Meyer, Subscription Publication) reports a federal lawsuit, seeking class-action status, filed against Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) claims the insurer “is unlawfully denying behavioral health benefits to members in violation of generally accepted medical standards.” The complaint claims HCSC, which “runs Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in five states,” unlawfully denied coverage “to a young Chicago-area woman suffering from depression, substance use disorder, and borderline personality based on faulty guidelines issued by MCG Health in Seattle” last year. The article says that MCG’s guidelines used by HCSC are “much more restrictive than generally accepted medical standards issued by the American Psychiatric Association,” according to the lawsuit.

Related Links:

— “Major Blues insurer sued for denying behavioral health claims, “HARRIS MEYER, Modern Healthcare, October 31, 2019

MD Magazine (10/29, Ward) reports, “Patients with inflammatory bowel disease [IBD], such as ulcerative colitis,” may be “at an increased risk of developing mental illness,” researchers concluded after combing “through a commercial database containing electronic health record data from 26 major integrated US healthcare systems to aggregate a patient cohort of individuals with a diagnosis of UC and depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder between 2014 and 2019 using the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms.” The findings were presented at the American College of Gastroenterology’s annual meeting.

Related Links:

— “Psychiatric Illness More Prevalent in People With Ulcerative Colitis, “Alexandra Ward, MD Magazine, October 29, 2019

Reuters (10/31, Rapaport) reports a recent study suggests that people “who have stress disorders like PTSD may be more vulnerable to potentially life-threatening infections, especially if they are diagnosed at younger ages or dealing with other psychiatric issues.” Researchers “examined data on 144,919 people diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)” and also “looked at data for 184,612 siblings of these subjects who didn’t have a stress disorder, along with more than 1.4 million unrelated individuals without these disorders.” The study was published in The BMJ, along with an accompanying editorial that the findings add to a large body of evidence linking PTSD and other stress-related mental health problems to an increased risk of poor physical health.

Related Links:

— “Stress disorders tied to risk for life-threatening infections, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, October 31, 2019