The Washington Post (7/18, Hurley) reports that the Food and Drug Administration has concluded “that for carefully selected patients with profound depression, the benefits of electroconvulsive therapy…outweigh the risks of possible memory loss caused by its use.”

The FDA “is proposing to downgrade” ECT from Class III to Class II “for those whose depression has not responded to other treatments or is so severe that they need the kind of rapid response that only ECT can provide.”

However, the FDA “said that too few randomized trials have been published to justify a Class II designation” for other medical conditions like catatonia.

Related Links:

— “FDA: Electroshock has risks but is useful to combat severe depression,” Dan Hurley, Washington Post, July 19, 2016.

In a patient advice column in US News & World Report (7/15), psychiatrist and American Psychiatric Association (APA) past president Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, wrote that over the past five decades, “progress in science and technology…has dramatically changed the scientific basis and therapeutic capability of psychiatry.”

These days, “the greatest hindrance to effective care is not a gap in medical knowledge or a shortcoming in effective treatments, but the enduring social stigma of mental illness and the understandable – but no longer warranted – lack of confidence in the competence of psychiatrists.” Patients needing a referral to a psychiatrist should start with their own primary care physician, but district branches of the APA can also help patients “find a well-trained a competent psychiatrist.”

Related Links:

— “When Should You See a Shrink?,” Jeffrey Lieberman, US News & World Report, July 15, 2016.

The New York Times (7/16, Subscription Publication) editorializes that the suicide rate for American veterans constitutes a “national emergency,” citing the 7,403 veteran suicides in 2014 alone, and says the VA’s safety net – its Veterans Crisis Line – is “badly frayed.” The Times argues that the only real solution is to give the VA a serious overhaul aimed at providing greater access to mental health resources and a “well-run crisis center,” but the paper is not optimistic, saying numerous reform plans have been put forth in the past but “every year brings new failures.”

Related Links:

— “For Suicidal Veterans, a Frayed Lifeline,” THE EDITORIAL BOARD, New York Times, July 16, 2016.

The NBC News (7/17, Merod) website reported that last week, by a vote of 422-2, the House of Representatives passed HR 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, considered to be “one of the most significant bills targeting mental health reform since 1963.” Even though “Congress just began its seven-week recess Thursday, advocates say they’re optimistic a similar bill could pass in the Senate by the end of the year.”

The Hill (7/17, Sullivan) reported, however, that “hopes are dimming for passage of a mental health bill in the Senate this year.” Proposed “legislation offered by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) may have to wait until 2017.” This is because “a tougher battle has emerged in the Senate over the politics of guns.” Should the mental health measure become embroiled in “a fight over the divisive issue of gun control, many fear the legislation would be sunk.” Even if guns do not become an issue, should mental health legislation not pass the Senate before the election in November, “there would be little time to get it through this Congress.”

Related Links:

— “House Passes Most Significant Mental Health Reform Bill in Decades,” ANNA MEROD, NBC News, July 17, 2016.

US News & World Report (7/14, Schroeder) reports, “Obesity is associated with higher rates of certain mental disorders, like depression, and experts say those can hamstring the most adamant efforts to” lose weight and keep it from coming back. Even “though still only a minority of people who are obese suffer from psychological issues like depression,” Philip R. Muskin, MD, “chair of the Scientific Program Committee of the American Psychiatric Association, agrees that checking for mental conditions makes sense.” Dr. Muskin said, “When you’re depressed it may be very difficult to make healthy choices,” including diet and exercise. But “he thinks this could be accomplished, to start, through screening in a primary care setting.”

Related Links:

— “Should You Undergo a Mental Health Evaluation for Obesity?,” Michael O. Schroeder, US News & World Report, July 14, 2016.