The Washington Post (8/20, Abutaleb, Wan) reports, “When President Trump targeted mental illness as the cause of the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton that killed 31 people, federal health officials made sure no government experts might contradict him.” An August 5 HHS directive “warned communication staffers not to post anything on social media related to mental health, violence and mass shootings without prior approval,” which “alarmed some government mental health experts who said they felt muzzled.”

Editorial: Better Mental Healthcare Preferable To Increasing Large Mental Health Institutions In an editorial, the Bangor (ME) Daily News (8/20) writes, “President Donald Trump reiterated the flawed notion that mental illness is the root cause of gun violence in America.” The Daily News says Trump’s statements are “a perilous scapegoating that falsely stigmatizes the millions of Americans with mental health concerns.” The editorial references statistics from the US Department of Health and Human Services to say that people with mental illness are more likely to be a victim of a violent crime rather than being perpetrators. However, the editorial agrees with Trump that mental health services “in America need dramatic improvement,” but they want Trump to remember “why mental health institutions were closed or downsized.” It said at these large institutions, patients “often received little treatment and were sometimes abused.” It advocates for legislators and community advocates to be concerned with mental healthcare reimbursement rates and the shortage of mental health professionals.

Related Links:

— “After Trump blames mental illness for mass shootings, health agencies ordered to hold all posts on issue, “Yasmeen Abutaleb and William Wan, The Washington Post, August 20, 2019

The NBC News (8/26, Carroll) website reports, “Teens who used a concentrated form of marijuana – sometimes called dabs, wax, shatter or crumble – are more likely to also use other drugs than kids who avoid marijuana,” researchers concluded after surveying nearly “50,000 adolescents in Arizona.” Investigators “found that among teens who used any form of cannabis, 72 percent had experience with the more potent products.” The findings were published online in Pediatrics. HealthDay (8/26, Thompson) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Teens who use concentrated marijuana more likely to use other drugs, “Linda Carroll, NBC, August 26, 2019

Medscape (8/26, Subscription Publication) features a transcript of a discussion on suicide prevention at the American Psychiatric Association meeting in San Francisco between Dr. Jeffrey A. Lieberman and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Medical Director Dr. Christine Moutier. Dr. Moutier said science is “shedding light” on “what drives suicide risk and what really constitutes effective suicide prevention efforts.” She adds, “Once we know that there are effective treatments and system change that works, it is so important that we translate that science into clinical practice and scale it around the nation.” Dr. Moutier also advocates for safety planning for those with suicidal ideation, in which a doctor “teams up with the patient to help them identify their own warning signs and triggers for crisis and suicide risk, and it outlines a series of steps they can take.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Healio (8/26, Demko) reports, “Depression-related cognitive deficits in selective attention, working memory and long-term memory persisted into remission from a major depressive episode and worsened with repeated episodes,” research indicated. Included in the meta-analysis were “75 cognitive variables from 252 studies encompassing 11,882 major depressive episode remitters and 8,533 healthy controls.” The findings were published online Aug. 15 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Cognitive deficits persist into remission of major depressive episodes, “Savannah Demko, Healio, August 26, 2019

HealthDay (8/23) reported a new study by researchers at Penn State suggests that “people with restless legs syndrome (RLS) have nearly three times the risk of suicide and self-harm, which indicates that there may be a link between the physical condition and mental health.” Investigators “analyzed data on more than 24,000 people with RLS and about 145,000 people without the neurological condition. None had a history of suicide attempts or self-harm.” Results indicate that “during the study period, people with RLS had a 2.7-fold higher risk of suicide or self-harm than people without the condition.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Restless Legs Syndrome Might Raise Risk of Suicide, Self-Harm, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August 23, 2019