HealthDay (4/25, Reinberg) reports on a study published online in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs which found that overdoses in people aged 15 through 24 rose from “eight in every 100,000 people” in 2006 “to nearly 10 per 100,000 in 2015.” Among this age demographic, “death rates from prescription painkillers and opioids including heroin increased nearly 5% on average each year from 2006 to 2015, but jumped by more than 15% each year from 2013 to 2015.”

Related Links:

— “Fatal Drug ODs Surging Among Young Americans, ” Steven Reinberg, Healthday, April 25, 2019

Reuters (4/25, Rapaport) reports that in the aftermath of “violent events like mass shootings or natural disasters, people who watch the most media coverage of the story are more likely to show post-traumatic stress symptoms months later,” researchers concluded. For the study, investigators “repeatedly surveyed more than 4,000 U.S. adults who hadn’t been involved in” either the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing or the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, FL. The study revealed that “repeated exposure to explicit violent content may exacerbate fear about future traumatic events, which in turn fuels more consumption of media coverage about the next bombing or shooting.” The findings were published online April 17 in the journal Science Advances.

Related Links:

— “News coverage of violent events may contribute to ‘cycle of distress’, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, April 25, 2019

The Washington Times (4/24, Meier) reports that a bipartisan group of legislators will introduce a new bill addressing “a recent spate of high-profile veteran suicides and an uptick in suicide rates.” The bill “will require a review of the current training, workload and staffing at VA centers,” after three military veterans died of suicide on VA properties in Georgia and Texas “over the span of five days earlier this month.” Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-NY), one of the lawmakers responsible for the bill, said, “Twenty veterans die by suicide every day. This is wrong and unacceptable, and we must do more.”

Related Links:

— “Lawmakers roll out new bill to stop veteran suicides on VA properties, “Lauren Meier, The Washington Times, April 24, 2019

Science Daily (4/23) reports new research suggests women “with the dissociative subtype of PTSD, a serious variant of the disorder that can disrupt one’s sense of self and surroundings,” may be more prone to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than others. Researchers from the University of Missouri found these women “experienced a more pronounced alteration in both cortisol and oxytocin levels, indicating the body’s stress-response system functioned less effectively in these women.” The findings were published in the Archives of Psychiatric Nursing.

Related Links:

— “Some women could be more susceptible to PTSD than others, according to new study, Science Daily, April 23, 2019

MD Magazine (4/23, Kunzmann) reports, “A retroactive analysis of patients referred to a psychiatry consultation clinic often by primary care physicians with an initial schizophrenia diagnosis found that about half of all such diagnoses were inaccurate upon further review,” researchers reported after conducting “a retroactive chart review of 78 patients who has been referred…with an early psychosis diagnosis.” The study revealed that “the most common patients to be misdiagnosed with schizophrenia were in their teens and 20s with symptoms of anxiety.” The findings were published in the March issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Practice.

Related Links:

— “Patients Are Commonly Misdiagnosed with Schizophrenia, “Kevin Kunzmann, MD Magazine, April 23, 2019