In an op-ed in the New York Times (7/24, Subscription Publication), Robert Rigo, who recently graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, discusses his experiences with self-harm and depression and even how he has considered suicide. In the classroom, as well as in adult life, people with mental health issues “are suffering – and sometimes dying – in silence because we can’t seem to talk openly about mental health.”

Rigo concludes, “We must push the conversation about mental illness forward whether it be in the classrooms of public schools or with our families and friends.” Mental health “issues are real and lethal, and the first means of prevention is acknowledging their existence.”

Related Links:

— “Let’s Talk About Suicide,” ROBERT RIGO, New York Times, July 24, 2017.

Medscape (7/24, Anderson) reports, “Depression that starts early in life increases the risk for Alzheimer’s disease,” researchers concluded after examining “data from the Prospective Population Study of Women in Gothenburg Sweden, which began almost 50 years ago.” Included in the study sample were some “800 women (mean age, 46 years), born between 1914 and 1930.” The findings were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2017.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

NBC Nightly News (7/22, story 11, 2:25, Diaz-Balart) reported that the city of Buffalo, New York has implemented a new program through its court system to address the opioid problem, in which intervention is begun “immediately after users are arrested, getting them treatment inside the justice system.”

Correspondent Gabe Gutierrez said Judge Craig Hannah is “presiding over the nation’s first opioid crisis intervention court of its kind. Unlike typical drug courts, this program gets users into treatment within hours of their arrest, not weeks. It requires detox, strict curfews, and checking in with Judge Hannah every day for a month.” Hannah said, “I think the tide is changing in our country that you can’t lock away an addict; you have to give treatment.”

HealthDay (7/21, Preidt) reported, “Nearly one in five American adults deals with a mental illness or substance abuse problem each year,” research from the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) suggests. The study found that “overall, almost 44 million Americans 18 or older had a diagnosable mental, behavioral or emotional disorder in the past year, researchers” found after reviewing “national surveys on drug use and health.”

Related Links:

— “Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. Adults Has Mental Illness or Drug Problem,”Robert Preidt , HealthDay, July 20, 2017.

Related Links:

— “,” , , July , 2017. (7/20, Szabo) reports that people who are “hospitalized for heart attack or chest pain” are approximately “four times” more likely to “develop major depression” than the general population, according to the American Heart Association. The article adds that more health systems are trying “collaborative care,” where “care managers” work with primary care physicians to address physical and mental health conditions together. The article quotes Dr. Anita Everett, president of the American Psychiatric Association, as praising care managers for their ability to reach out to patients and not allow them to “stay at home and get depressed.”

Related Links:

— “Depression in heart attack survivors is common, often untreated,” Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News, July 20, 2017.