Psychiatric News (8/28) reports, “As the percentage of U.S. adults older than 65 years continues to grow, so too does the need for preventing mental illness among older adults as well as improving clinical services and outcomes for older patients with psychiatric disorders,” posited “psychiatrists Warren D. Taylor, M.D., M.H.Sc., of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Charles F. Reynolds III, M.D., of the University of Pittsburgh in” a viewpoint published online Aug. 28 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Psychiatrists Offer Recommendations to Help Older Adults With Mental Disorders, Psychiatric News, August 28, 2019

Healio (8/27, Demko) reports, “Differences between individuals with autism and those without have lessened over time, which may be tied to changes in diagnostic practices,” researchers concluded in an 11-study meta-analysis that “included data on 27,723 individuals.” The findings were published online Aug. 21 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Effect sizes of studies comparing individuals with, without autism decrease over time, “Savannah Demko, Healio, August 27, 2019

MD Magazine (8/27, Walter) reports research indicates that “individuals taking antidepressants and/or antipsychotics in weight management programs will lose weight regardless of their medication use.” Investigators arrived at that finding after analyzing data on “17,519 adults enrolled in a lifestyle weight loss intervention at the Wharton Medical Clinic in Ontario using a sex-stratified multivariable linear regression analysis to discover the association of taking antidepressants and/or antipsychotics with weight loss when adjusting for age, initial weight, and treatment time.” The findings were published online Aug. 23 in the journal Obesity.

Related Links:

— “Individuals Lose Weight Regardless of Antidepressant, Antipsychotic Use, “Kenny Walter, MD Magazine, August 27, 2019

Healio (8/27, Demko) reports, “Thyroid-stimulating hormone [TSH] concentrations were abnormal in about 6% of psychiatrically hospitalized youth with significant mood and anxiety disorders, but thyroid disease was present in less than 1% of the total sample,” researchers concluded in a study involving “1,017 hospitalized youth.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Thyroid function abnormal in some youth with mood, anxiety disorders, “Savannah Demko, Healio, August 27, 2019

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