Psychiatry Advisor (9/12, Ranger) reports a study suggests “a pattern of increasing psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) during adolescence predicts greater risk of developing a mental disorder, particularly psychosis.” The study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry “discerned two clear-cut patterns: stable low levels of PLE frequency and a growing frequency of PLEs. In the latter group, 3.39% of patients transitioned to a mental disorder compared with 1.28% of the stable PLE group.” Meanwhile, “in individuals with increasingly frequent PLEs, the odds ratio (OR) was 2.7 for transition to any mental health disorder, while the OR for transition to psychosis was 22.14.”

Related Links:

— “Frequent Psychotic-Like Experiences in Youth Predict Future Psychiatric Illness, “Laurel Ranger, Psychiatry Advisor, September 12, 2019

HealthDay (9/12) reports a study indicates “autism rates among U.S. children are rising fastest among blacks and Hispanics.” The analysis showed “among children born between 2007 and 2013, autism rates at ages 3 to 5 rose 73% among Hispanics, 44% among blacks and 25% among whites.” The findings were published in Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Related Links:

— “U.S. Autism Rates Rising Fastest for Hispanics, Blacks, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 12, 2019

HealthDay (9/11, Thompson) reports, “Teens who spend more time with social media are more likely to suffer from social withdrawal, anxiety or depression,” research indicated. In the nearly 6,600-adolescent study, 12- “to 15-year-olds who spent more than six hours a day on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media were nearly three times more likely to have these types of ‘internalizing’ mental health issues,” researchers found. The findings were published online in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Lots of Time on Social Media Linked to Anxiety, Depression in Teens, “Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, September 11, 2019

Psychiatric News (9/11) reports, “In an editorial” published online Sept. 4 in JAMA Psychiatry, the authors of research “published last year showing that even relatively modest regular exercise has significant beneficial effects on an individual’s mental health said that including exercise in the treatment of mental illness could improve rates of recovery and reduce illness burden.” The editorialists “wrote that when applied to the entire population, exercise could have a significant effect on reducing the population burden of mental illness.”

Related Links:

— “Getting Patients to Exercise Could Reduce Population Burden of Mental Illness, Psychiatric News, September 11, 2019

The Washington Post (9/11, Bever) reports, “Transgender people exposed to conversion therapy to change their gender identities, particularly as children, are at a greater risk of psychological distress than transgender people who were not treated with conversion therapy,” researchers concluded after analyzing “survey responses from more than 27,000 transgender adults across the United States and U.S. territories and military bases.” The study revealed that individuals “who said they had undergone conversion therapy at any point during their lifetime were twice as likely to have attempted suicide than those who had never undergone such therapies.” People “who were subjected to conversion efforts during childhood were four times as likely to have tried to take their own lives,” the study revealed. The findings were published online Sept. 11 in JAMA Psychiatry.

According to the NBC News (9/11, Fitzsimons) website, “18 states, along with the District of Columbia,” currently “ban the practice of conversion therapy on minors.”

Newsweek (9/11, Gander) reports that the American Psychiatric Association is among the “leading medical organizations” that “have stated that no one should seek out conversion therapy to change their gender or sexual identity.”

MedPage Today (9/11, Hlavinka) reports, “Prior studies have” also demonstrated “conversion therapy for sexual orientation to be associated with increased rates of depression, anxiety, and self destructive behavior.” In a 2013 position statement, the American Psychiatric Association wrote, “No credible evidence exists that any mental health intervention can reliably and safely change sexual orientation; nor, from a mental health perspective does sexual orientation need to be changed.”

Related Links:

— “Conversion therapy associated with severe psychological distress in transgender people, study says, ”
Lindsey Bever, The Washington Post, September 11, 2019