Reuters (8/29, Joseph) reports, “Suicidal thinking, severe depression and rates of self-injury among U.S. college students more than doubled over less than a decade,” research indicated. After examining “data from two large annual surveys of college undergraduates covering the years 2007-2018, researchers found a broad worsening of mental health indicators including depression overall, anxiety, low flourishing and suicidal planning and attempts, particularly in the second half of the study period.” The findings were published online July 3 in the Journal of Adolescent Health

Related Links:

— “Depression, anxiety rising among U.S. college students, “Saumya Joseph, Reuters, August 29, 2019

Psychiatric News (8/29) reports, “Roughly 30% of people who participate in studies of in-person psychosocial treatment programs for substance use disorders (SUDs) drop out,” researchers concluded in a 151-study meta-analysis that encompassed “a total of 26,243 participants.” The findings were published online Aug. 27 in the journal Addiction.

Related Links:

— “1 of 3 Study Participants Found to Drop Out of SUD Treatment Studies, , August 29, 2019

Healio (8/29, Demko) reports, “Individuals whose childhood” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) “persists into adulthood appear to be at increased risk for motor vehicle crashes,” researchers concluded after examining “the risk for motor vehicle crashes…in 441 adults with” AD/HD and “239 controls without” the disorder. The findings were published online Aug. 22 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Adult ADHD persistence may increase car crash risk, “Savannah Demko, Healio, August 29, 2019

STAT (8/28, Robbins) reports the FDA “has been quietly pressuring a handful of companies to stop reporting results to patients about how their genes may interact with specific drugs.” The agency is concerned that “amid a boom in genetic testing that aims to predict a person’s response to medication,…unsupported claims about gene-drug links could be dangerous, if they spur patients to start, stop, or switch medications in ways that aren’t appropriate.” The article highlights several examples of companies that have fallen under the FDA’s new scrutiny of pharmacogenetic testing.

Related Links:

— “FDA warns testing companies: Don’t tell patients how their DNA influences response to specific drugs, “Rebecca Robbins, STAT, August 28, 2019

The Wall Street Journal (8/28, Petersen, Subscription Publication) reports physicians are increasingly concerned that patients taking antidepressants may be subjecting themselves to unnecessary side effects and risks over the long term. Research indicated that people taking such medications were at a 14 percent higher risk of strokes and heart attacks, and a 33 percent higher risk of death.

Related Links:

— “New Concerns Emerge About Long-Term Antidepressant Use, “Andrea Petersen, The Wall Street Journal, August 28, 2019