CNN (7/23, Azad) reports, “People are more likely to try…party drugs and marijuana during the summer, researchers found, with over a third of LSD use and around 30% of ecstasy and marijuana use starting in the season.” In addition, “around 28% of cocaine use also began in the summer,” the study revealed. The findings were published online July 23 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

HealthDay (7/23, Preidt) reports researchers arrived at the study’s conclusions after examining “data from nearly 395,000 people, aged 12 and older, who took part in the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2011 and 2017.”

Related Links:

— “More people try drugs for the first time in the summer, study says, “Arman Azad, CNN, July 23, 2019

Psychiatric News (7/23) reports, “Twelve-year-old children who exhibit symptoms associated with borderline personality disorder – such as experiencing extremes of rage, despair, or excitement – are at higher risk of having poor mental health by age 18,” researchers concluded after assessing a “total of 2,232 British children in the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study (representing 1,116 families with same sex twins)…during home visits at age five, seven, 10, and 12; during these visits their mothers were also interviewed.” Later, “at age 18, the participants were interviewed alone.” The findings were published online July 17 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Borderline Symptoms at Age 12 Predict a Variety of Negative Outcomes at Age 18, Psychiatric News, July 23, 2019

HealthDay (7/22, Preidt) reports, “Teens who are belittled and demeaned by their parents are more likely to be bullied and to bully others,” research indicated. After following “more than 1,400 teens from ages 13 to 15,” investigators “found that derisive parenting can cause significant harm.” The study revealed that “teens who are subjected to derisive parenting can develop dysregulated anger, often a sign of difficulty controlling emotions,” and this “dysregulated anger puts teens at greater risk for bullying and for becoming bully-victims (bullies who also are victimized by other bullies), the study said.” The findings were published in the August issue of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Related Links:

— “Parents Who Belittle Their Children May Be Raising Bullies, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, July 22, 2019

Kaiser Health News (7/19, Rinker) reported that in the workplace, even with the protections offered by the American Disabilities Act of 1990 and help from employee assistance programs, “some employees” with mental illnesses “can be reluctant to ask for help at work.” Currently, “an estimated eight in 10 workers with a mental health condition don’t get treatment because of the shame and stigma associated with it, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.” Consequently, “the pressure is growing on employers to adopt better strategies for dealing with mental health.” The article detailed California “legislation that makes it the first state to establish voluntary standards for workplace mental health,” under which “the state will create guidelines to help companies strengthen access to mental health care for their employees and reduce the stigma associated with it.”

Related Links:

— “Employers Urged To Find New Ways To Address Workers’ Mental Health, ” Brian Rinker, Kaiser Health News, July 19, 2019

Politico (7/21, Rayasam) reports on the “largely unseen mental health crisis within the growing population of migrants who are being held in detention centers in border states.” The decision made by President Trump two years ago “to reverse a policy that encouraged releasing vulnerable individuals while they await deportation hearings has left U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement unequipped to deal with conditions ranging from anxiety to schizophrenia.” One current “estimate puts the number of detainees with mental illnesses between 3,000 and 6,000.” Just “21 of the 230 ICE detention facilities offering any kind of in-person mental health services from the agency’s medical staff, according to a 2016 agency oversight report.”

Related Links:

— “Migrant mental health crisis spirals in ICE detention facilities, “Renuka Rayasam, Politico, July 21, 2019