Healio (11/22, Oldt) reports, “Having a strong social network was associated with lower risk for” post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) “among survivors of a major bushfire disaster,” Australian researchers found. The findings of the 558-participant study were published online Nov. 14 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Strong social ties protective against post-disaster PTSD, depression,Healio, November 22, 2016.

Kaiser Health News (11/22, Szabo) reports on “a transitional care clinic at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, which annually treats up to 1,500 patients with serious mental illness until they can find regular care.” By treating patients with mental illness, the clinic helps them from “winding up in the” emergency department. The article adds, “More than half of emergency room physicians said their local mental health system has gotten worse in the past year, according to a survey of 1,716 members of the American College of Emergency Physicians, released” last month. The survey revealed that 75% of ED physicians “said on their last shift, they saw at least one psychiatric patient who needed to be hospitalized.”

Related Links:

— “Clinics Help Keep People With Serious Mental Illness Out Of ER,”Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News, November 22, 2016.

Reuters (11/21, Wulfhorst) reports, “Men who behave like promiscuous playboys or feel powerful over women are more likely to have mental health problems than men with less sexist attitudes,” researchers found after examining “results of more than 70 US-based studies involving more than 19,000 men over 11 years.”

HealthDay (11/21, Mozes) reports the findings were published online Nov. 21 in the Journal of Counseling Psychology.

Related Links:

— “Playboys and misogynists more likely to have mental health problems: study,”Ellen Wulfhorst, Reuters, November 21, 2016.

Reuters (11/21, Rapaport) reports children “who play ‘choking games’ to achieve a euphoric high are more likely to be suicidal and face a greater risk of injury and death when they play alone,” researchers found after examining “survey data collected from almost 21,000 Oregon teens” in eighth grade “in 2011 and 2013.”

HealthDay (11/21, Mozes) reports investigators found that “teens who had tried the practice alone were almost five times more likely to have thoughts of suicide than those who had done it in groups, and more than twice as likely to say they were in poor mental health overall.” The findings were published online Nov. 19 in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Choking game riskiest when kids play alone,”Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, November 21, 2016.

HealthDay (11/21, Pallarito) reports, “Most preschoolers with mood, behavior and social disorders would benefit from non-drug therapies, but few receive this type of help,” experts from the American Academy of Pediatrics found in a new report. Because “parents, policymakers and” other caregivers “fail to recognize that young children are affected by the things that happen around them,” the AAP has proposed suggestions “for closing the treatment gap…in a policy statement published online Nov. 21 in the journal Pediatrics.”

Related Links:

— “Troubled Preschoolers Not Getting Effective Treatment: Report,”Karen Pallarito, HealthDay, November 21, 2016.