In a front-page story, the Wall Street Journal (12/15, A1, Whalen, Subscription Publication) reports that as opioid abuse has pushed US overdose rates to record levels, it has left thousands of traumatized children in its wake. Many states have seen the number of children in foster care skyrocket, and hospitals are treating dozens of opioid-addicted newborns each year. According to social workers, the problem is greater than anything seen during the crack cocaine and methamphetamine crises.

Related Links:

— “The Children of the Opioid Crisis,”Jeanne Whalen, The Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2016.

CNN (12/14, Scutti) reports a recent study found hundreds of commercial pilots “may be clinically depressed.” Researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health warned that many depressed pilots “may decline seeking treatment due to fears of negative career consequences, such as being grounded.” Out of about 1,848 participants who answered questions about mental health, 233 pilots, or 16 percent, met the criteria for likely depression, while 75 pilots, or 4.1 percent, “reported having suicidal thoughts within the previous two weeks.”

Reuters (12/14, Rapaport) reports senior study author Joseph Allen said that with about 140,000 active pilots flying more than 3 billion people globally each year, “the survey results should put the airline industry on notice that many pilots need better access to mental health screening and treatment.” The findings notably come “a year and a half after a Germanwings co-pilot who suffered from depression deliberately crashed a plane into the French Alps, killing 150 people.”

Related Links:

— “Airline pilots anonymously report suicidal thoughts, study finds,”Susan Scutti, CNN, December 14, 2016.

A study published online Dec. 14 in JAMA Psychiatry “undermines” the claim that “terminating pregnancy causes women to experience emotional and psychological trauma,” the New York Times (12/14, A3, Belluck, Subscription Publication) reports. The study, which is “considered to be the most rigorous to look at the question in the” US, followed “nearly 1,000 women who sought abortions nationwide for five years and found that those who had the procedure did not experience more depression, anxiety, low self-esteem or dissatisfaction with life than those who were denied it.” In addition, the study “found psychological symptoms increased only in women who sought abortions but were not allowed to have the procedure because their pregnancies were further along than the cutoff time at the clinic they visited.”

Related Links:

— “Women’s Mental Health and Well-being 5 Years After Receiving or Being Denied an Abortion
A Prospective, Longitudinal Cohort Study,”M. Antonia Biggs, JAMA Psychiatry, December 14, 2016.

USA Today (12/13, Weintraub) reports the Monitoring the Future survey, which has tracked habits of American teenagers since 1975, found the lowest ever rates of smoking, drinking, and other drug use. For example, the incidence of half-pack-a-day smokers has fallen from 11.1 percent of high school seniors in 1991 to 1.8 percent this year. Only 37.3 percent of seniors said they had ever been drunk, “down from a high of 53.2% in 2001.” National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow said the decline could be related to the fact that there are fewer “occasions to get together where the use of drugs would be facilitated,” though she acknowledged she does not have data to support that hypothesis.

Related Links:

— “There’s hope: Fewer teens are doing drugs than ever before,”Karen Weintraub, USA Today, December 13, 2016.

HealthDay (12/13, Preidt) reports, “If a test could tell them they were going to develop Alzheimer’s disease, most American seniors would take it,” researchers found after asking “875 people aged 65 and older if they would take a free, accurate test to predict their future risk of the progressive brain disorder.” In fact, “three-quarters said they would take such a test,” investigators found. The findingswere published online Dec. 12 in Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy.

Related Links:

— “Test Predicting Alzheimer’s Would Be Welcome, Survey Finds,”Robert Preidt, HealthDay, December 13, 2016.