The New York Times (11/29, Ellin) reports a recent research involving 20 couples suggests that the partners of adult patients with eating disorders can play a “critical” role in recovery. The article quotes multiple experts who explained how partners can aid or hinder the recovery process. The Times adds that while families have often been a part of treatment for children or adolescents with eating disorders, adult patients have traditionally been treated individually without their partners.

Related Links:

— “To Treat Eating Disorders, It Sometimes Takes Two, ” Abby Ellin, The New York Times, November 29, 2018.

On its front page, the Wall Street Journal (11/29, A1, McKay, Subscription Publication) reports data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that life expectancy for Americans declined again last year by one-tenth of a year, to 78.6 years. An increase in suicides, as well as the continued effects of the opioid crisis, influenza, pneumonia, and diabetes factored into the statistics, the Journal explains.

Related Links:

— “U.S. Life Expectancy Falls Further, “Betsy McKay, The Wall Street Journal, November 29, 2018.

USA Today (11/28, Godlasky, Dastagir) reports, “Americans are more than twice as likely to die by their own hands, of their own will, than by someone else’s.” USA Today adds that suicide rates are up “nearly 30 percent” since 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, says USA Today, “money to research and combat suicide continues to lag behind other leading killers and even non-fatal conditions.” The National Institutes of Health “spent $68 million on suicide last year” while spending “nearly five times” as much on “studying sleep and 10 times more on breast cancer.” In response, “NIH officials say they do not expressly budget by disease,” and that it “spent $2.7 billion on mental health.” Michael Lauer, NIH deputy director for extramural research, said, “A large portion of the research is not disease-oriented but based on human biology. For instance, if we’re studying brain function, it might be pertinent to suicide, but we might not necessarily categorize it as suicide.”

Safety Plan May Help Prevent Suicide. USA Today (11/28, Dastagir) reports, “In 2016, 9.8 million American adults seriously thought about suicide,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USA Today adds that experts said those who have “suicidal thoughts should create a personalized suicide safety plan.” Jill Harkavy-Friedman, a clinical psychologist and vice president of research for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said, “What a safety plan does is it helps you figure out beforehand a strategy for handling distress.”

Those Left Behind After Suicide Face Greater Risks Themselves. USA Today (11/28, Dastagir) reports on those “left behind after a suicide” which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, amounted to 1.44 million people in 2016. They also “face an increased risk of suicide themselves.” USA offers advice for survivors from the American Psychological Association. USA Today adds, “the bereaved can heal, suicide prevention experts said, but their pain is often underestimated.”

Related Links:

— “Suicide Becoming More Frequent, CDC Says, “Anne Godlasky and Alia E. Dastagir, USA TODAY, November 28, 2018.

Psychiatric News (11/28) reports on a study published in JAMA Psychiatry finding that “people who have hallucinatory experiences and delusional beliefs may be more likely to think about, attempt, and die by suicide than those without psychotic experiences.” The study, a meta-analysis, included “10 longitudinal population studies” that “included 84,285 people from 23 countries.”

Related Links:

— “Psychotic Experiences May Increase Risk of Suicidal Behaviors, Meta-Analysis Finds, Psychiatric News , November 28, 2018.

USA Today (11/27, O’Donnell) reports physicians “say alcohol is often the most dangerous substance for the body to withdraw from – and still more so, when attempted without medical supervision.” Currently, some “16 million people in the United States have alcohol use disorder, which the” National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines “as ‘compulsive alcohol use, loss of control over alcohol intake, and a negative emotional state when not using.’” In 2016, “the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counted 831 deaths…that could be characterized as related to alcohol withdrawal.” Currently, the NIAAA does “not have an estimate of deaths from alcohol detox.”

Related Links:

— “Quitting alcohol can be deadly: Hundreds in the US die each year, “Jayne O’Donnell, USA TODAY, November 27, 2018.