STAT (9/28, Robbins) reported that “several dozen companies” are now “probing patients’ DNA in search of insights to help inform decisions about what psychiatry medications patients should take,” and are even “touting applications for depression, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.” Now, “some top psychiatrists say the evidence doesn’t support the commercial rush.” In fact, in a review published online April 25 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, “a task force of the American Psychiatric Association’s research council concluded that such genetic testing is not ready for prime time in their field.” The members of the task force wrote, “Although some of the preliminary published data sound promising…there is insufficient evidence to support widespread use of combinatorial pharmacogenetic decision support tools at this point in time.”

Related Links:

— “In the race to use genetic tests to predict whether antidepressants will work, science might be getting left behind, “Rebecca Robbins, STAT, September 28, 2018.

CNBC (9/27, LaVito) reports data from Aetna Behavioral Health show that the amount spent by employers on mental health “has been rising at a rapid clip – with annual costs increasing twice as fast as all other medical expenses in recent years.” Darcy Gruttadaro, director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation’s Center for Workplace Mental Health, said, “We all have a point at which stress can creep into negatively impacting our overall health and wellness,” and “employers are increasingly recognizing … the importance of taking care of health, well-being and mental health, and also the role stress, isolation, loneliness and some of these other factors can play in overall mental health and well-being.”

Related Links:

— “Anxiety is expensive: Employee mental health costs rise twice as fast as all other medical expenses, “Angelica LaVito, CNBC, September 27, 2018.

According to the Wall Street Journal (9/26, Kesling, Subscription Publication), the most recent Department of Veterans Affairs National Suicide Data Report reveals suicides have increased in veterans aged 18 to 34. Click here (pdf) to read the report.

Related Links:

— “More Young Veterans Committing Suicide, VA Data Show, ” Ben Kesling, The Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2018.

According to The Hill (9/26, Bonn), on Sept. 26, Dr. Anne Schuchat, “the principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), warned…that suicide is on the rise in the U.S. among almost every age group.” Speaking with “Rising” Hill. TV co-hosts Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton, Dr. Schuchat said, “Suicide – in all ages except for young children and the elderly – is one of the few conditions that’s getting worse instead of better around the country.” Currently, “suicide is a leading cause of death in the” United States, “and suicide rates have spiked more than 30 percent in half of states across the country since 1999, according to the CDC.”

Related Links:

— “Suicides in the US are up, says CDC official, “Tess Bonn, The Hill, September 26, 2018.

Reuters (9/25, Rapaport) reports a study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology suggests that patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may feel relief from antidepressants or psychotherapy. Researchers looked at data from 53 trials which “compared the effects of antidepressants or psychotherapy, either alone or in combination, versus placebo treatments or ‘usual management’ in people with IBS” and concluded that “rates of ‘no relief’ were highest with placebo treatments.” Patients were 34 percent “less likely to have no relief from antidepressants and 31 percent less likely to get no relief from psychotherapy.”

Related Links:

— “Antidepressants, psychotherapy may help ease irritable bowel syndrome, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, September 25, 2018.