Psychiatric News (9/5) reports, “Older adults who use hearing aids may be less likely to develop depression, anxiety, and dementia for at least three years after a hearing loss diagnosis compared with those who do not begin using hearing aids,” researchers concluded after examining “insurance claims data from 114,862 adults aged 66 and older who received a hearing loss diagnosis between 2008 and 2013.” The findings were published online Sept. 4 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Related Links:

— “Hearing Aids May Reduce Risk of Depression, Anxiety, Dementia in Older Adults, Psychiatric News, September 5, 2019

The New York Times (9/5, Gellman) reports, “For many people with body-focused repetitive behaviors, the predominant effects are cosmetic, and the consequences [are] emotional and social.” For example, “skin-picking behavior” is “relatively common,” as “are a family of related habitual behaviors that include hair pulling, nail biting and cheek biting, among others.” The Times adds, “While there’s no easy fix,” such behaviors “can typically be treated in a psychotherapy setting by a clinician trained in habit-reversal therapy and other behavioral-therapy methods.” The Times adds, “The behaviors are classified in the” DSM-5 “chapter covering obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. This edition” of the DSM-5, “published in 2013, was the first in which the American Psychiatric Association included detailed information about skin picking.”

Related Links:

— “Fighting the Shame of Skin Picking, “Lindsay Gellman, The New York Times, September 5, 2019

The AP (9/4, Round, Conner, Rowley) carries an article from the University of Maryland’s Howard Center and Capital News Service’s series “Code Red: Baltimore’s Climate Divide” describing how rising temperatures can lead to increased rates of health emergencies, according to a Howard Center data analysis. The analysis indicates “emergency medical calls for dehydration, respiratory distress, kidney disease, diabetes complications, heart attacks and heart failure spiked in Baltimore when the heat index rose above 103 degrees.” Moreover, “the rate of emergency medical calls for psychiatric disorders and drug and alcohol overdoses also increased sharply the analysis found.” Indeed, “the American Psychiatric Association says ‘exposure to extreme heat has been associated with increased use of alcohol to cope with stress’ and an ‘increase in suicide.’”

Heat May Be Dangerous For Some Adults With Mental Illness, Expert Says. On its website and on its “Morning Edition” program, NPR (9/4, Eckert) reports, “For the nearly” one in five “adults who experience mental illness, heat can be dangerous, according to Ken Duckworth, medical director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.” NPR adds, “Duckworth says prescribed medications are a major factor.” For example, “if a patient is on anti-psychotics…the medication can interfere with the body’s ability to regulate temperature, leading to dehydration or heat stroke, he says.”

Related Links:

— “As temperatures rise, overdoses and hospital visits increase, “Ian Round, Jazmin Conner, Jermaine Rowley and John Fairhall, AP, September 4, 2019

USA Today (9/4, Gomez) reports a report released by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) contents that “migrant children who were separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexican border under the Trump administration’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy suffered a wide range of mental trauma, including symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.” Moreover, “the children, many of whom had already endured extreme mental and physical trauma in their home countries, were hit with a second round of distress when they were separated by U.S. officials, according to the report.”

The Wall Street Journal (9/4, Hackman, Subscription Publication) reports the agency found in its report that the migrant children did not receive proper mental healthcare while in US custody. The Office of Refugee Resettlement reportedly claimed it faced difficulties recruiting mental healthcare professionals.

Related Links:

— “Government watchdog: Separated migrant children suffered PTSD, other mental trauma, “Alan Gomez, USA TODAY, September 4, 2019

Psychiatric News (9/4) reports that children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) “who play sports may be more likely to report a greater number of concussion-like symptoms and perform worse on balance tests when administered a common concussion assessment than those who do not have” AD/HD, research indicated. The findings of the 464-middle school athlete study were published online Aug. 30 in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Children With ADHD May Be More Likely to Report Concussion Symptoms, Psychiatric News, September 4, 2019