MD Magazine (6/19, Bender) reports researchers “found that 46 percent of patients receiving antidepressant medication for major depression experience emotional blunting.” Investigators arrived at this conclusion after conducting an Internet-based survey among “66,000 individuals in the US, 40,000 in the UK and 98,000 in Canada.” The findings, which appear online, will be published in October 15 issue of the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Related Links:

— “Half of Patients on Antidepressants Experience Emotional Blunting,”Kenneth Bender, MD Magazine, June 19, 2017.

Vox (6/19, Belluz) reports there appears to be “relatively strong evidence linking a mother’s infection with the rubella virus during pregnancy to an increased risk of autism in her baby,” but the “evidence for other viruses – such as influenza, or herpes – is much less clear.” Alice Kau, PhD, program director for research on autism at the National Institutes of Health, said, “Some studies show some associations [between infections and autism] and others don’t. … The findings are mixed.”

Related Links:

— “Researchers have ditched the autism-vaccine hypothesis. Here’s what they think actually causes it,”Julia Belluz, Vox , June 19, 2017.

The AP (6/19, Johnson) reports that “only 1 in 4 teens and young adults with opioid addiction receive recommended treatment medication despite having good health insurance,” according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics. The study “suggests doctors are not keeping up with the needs of youth caught up in the worst addiction crisis in U.S. history.”

Reuters (6/19, Rapaport) reports that the study also found “younger teens, females, and black and Hispanic youth were less likely to get medication for opioid use disorder than older youth, males and white people.”

HealthDay (6/19, Reinberg) and MedPage Today (6/19, Walker) also cover the story.

Related Links:

— “FEW OPIOID-ADDICTED YOUTH GET STANDARD TREATMENT MEDICATION,”Carla K. Johnson, AP, June 19, 2017.

Healio (6/15, Oldt) reports, “Chronic physical illness in childhood,” particularly cancer, “was associated with increased risk for depression and anxiety in adulthood,” researchers found in a meta-analysis of 34 studies including 45,358 youngsters. The findings were published online April 27 in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Childhood chronic illness increases risk for adult depression, anxiety,”Amanda Oldt, Healio, June 15, 2017.

USA Today (6/14, Weichselbaum) reports, “Suicides, post traumatic stress disorder and other mental-health problems that afflict corrections officers as well as police officers are an underreported sector of the criminal justice system.” Now “an awakening of sorts – from the halls of Congress to the prisons of California – is under way.” Recently, “the California peace officers association completed the first major step of a partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, by analyzing the results of a 61-question survey from more than 8,600 corrections and parole officers statewide.” The survey “responses serve as the basis for an ambitious plan to develop, test and implement a range of mental health services for officers across the state’s prison system.” Meanwhile, last month on Capitol Hill, “the Senate unanimously passed the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act.”

Related Links:

— “,”Simone Weichselbaum, USA Today, June 14, 2017.