The Economist (11/24) reported that around the world, the suicidal “rate has fallen by 38% from its peak in 1994.” Consequently, “over 4m lives have been saved – more than four times as many people as were killed in combat over the period.” Interestingly, this “decline has happened at different rates and different times in different parts of the world.” The exception is the US, where the suicide rate “has risen by 17% to 12.8 – well above China’s current rate of seven.”

In a separate but related article, The Economist (11/24) reported the rising US suicide rate “is largely among white, middle-aged, poorly educated men in areas that were left behind by booms and crushed by busts.” The US, “in particular, could spare much pain by learning from the progress elsewhere” to reduce suicide rates, including “better health services, labour-market policies and curbs on booze, guns, pesticide and” medications.

Related Links:

— “Suicide is declining almost everywhere, The Economist, November 24, 2018.

Healio (11/21, Demko) reported, “Exposure to any type of trauma at any time from early childhood through adolescence was linked to subsequent psychotic experiences,” research indicated. The findings of the 4,433-participant study were published online Nov. 21 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “All types of childhood trauma linked to later psychotic experiences, “Savannah Demko, Healio, November 21, 2018.

Reuters (11/23, Carroll) reported, “Patients who are treated in an intensive care unit (ICU) and survive are at increased risk of depression,” researchers concluded after following “4,943 ICU patients who had spent at least 24 hours in one of 26 ICUs in the UK between 2006 and 2013.” The study also revealed that “depression in ICU survivors was linked with a higher risk of death in the next two years.” The findings were published online Nov. 23 in the journal Critical Care.

Related Links:

— “ICU stay can lead to depression, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, November 23, 2018.

CNN (11/19, Scutti) reports, “Prenatal exposure to ambient air pollution was associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder, a new study finds.”

HealthDay (11/19, Reinberg) reports researchers found that prenatal exposure to nitric oxide, “a common” traffic-related “air pollutant…was tied to higher odds of a child being diagnosed with autism by age” five. The findings of the 132,000-child study were published online Nov. 19 in JAMA Pediatrics. STAT (11/19, Weintraub) also reports.

Related Links:

— “Prenatal exposure to air pollution linked to autism risk, study says, “Susan Scutti, CNN, November 19, 2018.

Kaiser Health News (11/19, Waters) reports that in the aftermath of recent mass shootings across the US, “public health and mental health experts counter that blaming the violence on the mentally ill is unfair and inaccurate, pointing instead to lax gun laws.” Renée Binder, MD, “a professor of psychiatry at the University of California-San Francisco and a past president of the American Psychiatric Association,” said, “Most violence is not committed by people who are mentally ill.” Dr. Binder added, “Even if you took everyone who had any kind of mental illness and locked them up and gave them meds, it would hardly make a dent on the problem of violence.

Related Links:

— “Gun Control Vs. Mental Health Care: Debate After Mass Shootings Obscures Murky Reality, “Rob Waters, Kaiser Health News, November 19, 2018.