USA Today (12/29, Brook) reports newly released statistics from the Pentagon show that suicide is “the leading killer of US troops deployed to the Middle East to fight Islamic State militants.” As of Dec. 27, 31 troops have died in Operation Inherent Resolve. Of those, 11 took their own lives, eight died in combat, seven died in accidents, and four died as a result of illness or injury. One other death is under investigation. Experts on military suicide say the reasons it is the leading cause of troop deaths “are complex and poorly understood,” but they “likely include mental illnesses that enlistees brought with them to boot camp, post-traumatic stress, multiple combat deployments and heightened anxiety in a military at war for 16 years.”

Related Links:

— “Suicide kills more U.S. troops than ISIL in Middle East,”Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today, December 29, 2016.

The New York Times Magazine (12/28, Chivers) has a 17,000-word profile of Marine Corps veteran Sam Siatta, who served in Afghanistan and, according to the VA, “suffered from depression, alcohol dependency and PTSD.” In 2014, he committed a home invasion in Normal, Illinois and was sentenced to prison. Writer C.J. Chivers talks with Siatta about his wartime experiences and how they led to his actions at home.

Related Links:

— “The Fighter,”C. J. Chivers, The New York Times Magazine, December 28, 2016.

The New York Times (12/28, A17, Carey, Subscription Publication) (12/29, A17, Carey) reports “the actress and author Carrie Fisher brought the subject of bipolar disorder [BD] into the popular culture with such humor and hard-boiled detail that her death on Tuesday triggered a wave of affection on social media and elsewhere, from both fans and fellow bipolar travelers.” Diagnosed with BD at age 24, Fisher often spoke “about her lifelong struggles with both addiction and bipolar disorder and her desire to erase the stigma of mental illness.” Partly due to Fisher’s “example, the language of bipolar and mental disorders has swept into the shared popular culture.” During Fisher’s lifetime, “the definition” of BD expanded, and “by the 2000s, doctors were diagnosing the condition in groups of people who had never been identified before, mostly young children.” In the article, the Times points out, “The American Psychiatric Association’s latest diagnostic manual discourages applying the label” of BD “to young children.”

Related Links:

— “Carrie Fisher Put Pen and Voice in Service of ‘Bipolar Pride’,”Benedict Carey, The New York Times, December 28, 2016.

Modern Healthcare (12/28, Johnson, Subscription Publication) reports the Department of Health and Human Services has selected eight states to participate in a two-year initiative aimed at integrating “behavioral health services within the primary-care setting.” The initiative’s goal “is to provide greater and faster access to care for those suffering from mental illness or substance use disorders.”

Healthcare IT News (12/28, Monegain) reports the eight states selected for the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic are: Minnesota, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon and Pennsylvania.

Related Links:

— “Eight states to boost behavioral healthcare through federal demonstration,” Steven Ross Johnson, Modern Healthcare, December 28, 2016.

In the Scientific American (12/28) “MIND Guest Blog,” Heather M. Snyder writes that “women make up nearly two-thirds of the more than five million Americans living with Alzheimer’s today.” New research indicates “there may be distinct biological and genetic factors shaping how the disease develops and progresses in women.” According to Snyder, “Understanding these differences will be of key importance in devising new, more effective strategies for treating, preventing and diagnosing Alzheimer’s.”

Related Links:

— “Alzheimer’s Falls More Heavily on Women Than on Men,”Heather M. Snyder, Scientific American, December 28, 2016.