USA Today (1/8, O’Donnell, DeMio) reports that as Republicans work to repeal the Affordable Care Act, “people with addiction and mental health disorders, their families and” some healthcare professionals “wonder how patients would maintain their sobriety – and psyches – without insurance coverage.” The article says those who have benefited the most from the ACA “are the ones most likely to suffer from poor mental health and addiction.” Almost “30% of those who got coverage through Medicaid expansion have a mental disorder, such as anxiety or schizophrenia, or an addiction to substances, such as opioids or alcohol, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.” By comparison, about “20% of the overall population – 68 million people…experienced a mental health or substance abuse disorder in the past year, the American Psychiatric Association says.”

Related Links:

— “Obamacare repeal jeopardizes mental health, addiction coverage,”Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today, January 8, 2017.

In “Health & Science,” the Washington Post (1/7, Morris) reported, “A survey of 2,000 US physicians” published in the November-December issue of General Hospital Psychiatry “found that roughly half believed they had met criteria for a mental health disorder in the past but had not sought treatment.” The physicians, who “listed a number of reasons they had shunned care, including worries that they’d be stigmatized and an inability to find the time,” also “voiced a troubling reason for avoiding treatment: medical licensing applications.”

Related Links:

— “Why doctors are leery about seeking mental health care for themselves,”Nathaniel P. Morris, The Washington Post, January 7, 2017.

In the Washington Post (1/6) “On Parenting” blog, author Katie Hurley, LCSW, a child and adolescent psychotherapist, wrote, “According to recent statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health,” one in five US children “has or has had a debilitating mental health disorder.” In other words, “in a classroom of 20 students…four of those children could be struggling at any given time with anxiety, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or another issue.” Hurley went on to provide a list of “some things school faculty members can do to improve students’ daily mental health, even if there is no full-time therapist on staff.”

Related Links:

— “We need to provide better mental health treatment in schools. Here’s how to start,”Katie Hurley, The Washington Post, January 6, 2017.

The Wall Street Journal (1/6, Kamp, Subscription Publication) reported that new Federal data indicate opioid overdose fatalities rose 16 percent in 2015 from the previous year, totaling 33,091. Many local jurisdictions are still compiling data from last year, but many expect there was another increase in 2016.

The New York Times (1/6, Subscription Publication) reported that opioid overdose deaths “were nearly equal to the number of deaths from car crashes” in 2015, while “for the first time, deaths from heroin alone surpassed gun homicides.”

Related Links:

— “,”Jon Kamp, The Wall Street Journal, January 6, 2017.

Endocrine Today (1/5, Cox) reports, “Adults with diabetes – even those treated in a specialized diabetes clinic – often remain undiagnosed for cognitive disorders, including mild cognitive impairment and dementia,” researchers found after evaluating “30 adults with diabetes from the Mount Sinai Diabetes Center, as well as data from the Mount Sinai Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center on 189 adults without diabetes or cognitive impairment and 98 adults without diabetes and a diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment.” The findings were published online Dec. 22 in the Journal of Diabetes.

Related Links:

— “Cognitive disorders often missed in adults with diabetes, Healio, January 5, 2017.