Psychiatric News (2/19) reports, “Two-thirds of children and adolescents who had to stay in an emergency department (ED) for at least 24 hours with a mental health complaint had suicidal thoughts or behaviors, yet many did not receive a formal psychiatric evaluation by a psychiatrist with treatment recommendations,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data on 573 children and adolescents (average age of 14) who stayed at least 24 hours with a mental health complaint at one urban pediatric ED.” The findings were published online Feb. 17 in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Youth Who Stay in ED Overnight for Mental Health Problems Often Discharged Without Psychiatric Evaluation, Psychiatric News, February 19, 2020

Healio (2/19, Michael) reports, “Women with anxiety, depression and trauma were more likely to use cannabis during pregnancy,” researchers concluded after comparing “demographic and mental health characteristics in women with and without cannabis use during pregnancy who gave birth at centers in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California system between 2012 and 2017.” To do so, the investigative team used electronic health records. The study revealed that of six percent “of 196,022 pregnancies evaluated in the study…screened positive for prenatal cannabis.” Investigators then “determined that the odds of cannabis use during pregnancy were greater among women with anxiety disorders…depressive disorders” or both when “compared with women without those disorders.” The findings were published online Feb. 19 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Depression, anxiety, trauma linked to cannabis use in pregnancy, “Erin Michael, Healio, February 19, 2020

According to HealthDay (2/18, Preidt), investigators “analyzed nearly 4,000 firearm suicides and found that long guns, not handguns, are more often the method of choice for youths and people in rural areas.” Specifically, the “analysis of Maryland data for 2003 to 2018 revealed that about 45% of children and teens used long guns such as rifles and shotguns to kill themselves, compared to 20% of seniors.” The study’s lead author said, “Many of the safety protections that we have in place around the country typically don’t apply to long guns, and the data suggest that our strategy needs to be modified.” The findings were published online Feb. 3 in the journal Injury Epidemiology.

Related Links:

— “Shotguns Often Play Tragic Role in Rural Teens’ Suicides: Study, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 18, 2020

Healio (2/18, Gramigna) reports, “Early improvements of individual symptoms might contribute to later treatment response among patients with Alzheimer’s disease receiving antipsychotics for neuropsychiatric symptoms,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data from the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness-Alzheimer’s Disease,” which “included data from 421 patients with DSM-IV Alzheimer’s Disease receiving antipsychotics for neuropsychiatric symptoms.” The findings of the “re-analysis study” were published online in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Early individual symptom response to antipsychotics impacts later response in patients with Alzheimer’s
, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, February 18, 2020

Healio (2/17, Gramigna) reported, “Memory suppression is vital to positive adaptation following traumatic experiences,” investigators concluded in a “brain imaging study conducted in survivors of a terrorist attack.” For the study, researchers “implemented neutral and inoffensive intrusive memories in a lab setting among a group of 102 individuals exposed to the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, as well as 73 nonexposed individuals who were not in Paris during the attacks.” Of these people, “a total of 55 exposed individuals had been diagnosed with PTSD.” The study revealed that “upon reexperiencing intrusive memories, nonexposed individuals and exposed individuals without PTSD could adaptively suppress memory activity; however, exposed individuals with PTSD could not.” The findings were published online Feb. 14 in the journal Science.

Related Links:

— “PTSD brain mechanisms revealed using data from survivors of 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, February 17, 2020