Week of April 17–21, 2023

Week of April 17–21, 2023

General Mental Health Articles

• For six weeks, while Sen. John Fetterman received treatment for clinical depression at Walter Reed Medical Center, handwritten cards poured into his Washington office. His staff fielded phone calls from constituents passing along well wishes. The reaction has been, overall, a shocking and pleasant surprise to Fetterman’s team, which worried about their boss and felt anxious about how the public would respond to revelations that he has depression. What they and others have discovered is that the country is increasingly open about it. And that the politics are changing around it. Read more here. 
• As soon as John Fetterman suffered a stroke on the campaign trail for U.S. Senate last May, he told his family and his staff that he would be going public with the news. He also, in an unusually public manner for a politician, admitted himself to the hospital for a severe case of depression — just one month after being sworn in to Congress. Shortly after returning home from a 44-day stay in Walter Reed Medical Center's neuropsychiatry unit, Fetterman graciously welcomes PEOPLE into his Braddock, Pennsylvania, home. Read more here.
• Over the past five years, digital mental health has risen from a niche topic to a global health priority. Patients, researchers, regulators, and investors alike are thrilled by the potential of ubiquitous mobile technology like smartphones to help diagnose problems, monitor health, and even deliver evidence-based therapies. But in March, Mindstrong announced it was ceasing operations. And on April 7, Pear Therapeutics announced that it was filing for bankruptcy. Both companies were founded by smart and passionate people who wanted to improve access to mental health care. Read more here. 
• With evermore unhoused people on the streets of our biggest cities, and publicized subway crimes in New York, mental health treatment is again in the news. Politicians speak about “caring” for the mentally ill in a new way, which turns out to be the old way—putting them away. The mention of involuntary confinement, predictably, sparks anxiety and controversy, giving rise to the question of whom this policy is meant to help: the people taken away or the rest of population, those shopping, jogging, carrying groceries home, who, presumably, will no longer be bothered by the inconvenient reality of a person speaking to God, while blocking the sidewalk. Read more here. 

Youth Mental Health

• Anxiety over academics. Post-lockdown malaise. Social media angst. Study after study says American youth are in crisis, facing unprecedented mental health challenges that are burdening teen girls in particular. Among the most glaring data: A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed almost 60% of U.S. girls reported persistent sadness and hopelessness. The Associated Press interviewed five girls in four states and agreed to publish only their first names because of the sensitive nature of the topics they discussed. Read more here. 
• Whether or not social media affects mental health, and to what degree, has long been up for debate. While some contend that social media connects the world, others argue that it feeds a culture of FOMO (fear of missing out) and an endless desire for affirmations. We spoke with Dr. Adam Brown, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, to discuss his concerns about social media’s impact on young, developing, brains. Read more here. 
• The rise of technology has brought many benefits, including improved communication, enhanced learning and entertainment. However, as we increasingly rely on screens in our daily lives, there is growing concern about the impact of screen time on mental health, particularly among children and adolescents. Recent studies have shown that excessive screen time is linked to an increase in suicidality, among other negative consequences. A 2023 study published in Preventive Medicine found that there is a clear correlation between screen time and suicidality among young people. Read more here. 
• Alabama State University is partnering on a new project to make free mental health resources more widely available to students at historically Black colleges and universities. The “She Care Wellness Pods” will give students access to therapy sessions, workshops, yoga and quiet spaces. Actress Taraji P. Henson’s Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation is partnering with the Kate Spade Foundation to place the pods on HBCU campuses. Alabama State is the first to participate in the program. Read more here. 
• Annie Artiga Garner feels a pit in her stomach every time a teacher approaches at school pickup for her twin 9-year-old boys, both in fourth grade and both diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Even medicated, the boys have had challenges at school this year, particularly as they and their peers adjust to being back in person after pandemic disruptions over the last few years. “Our family is really stressed out,” said Garner, who is an associate professor of psychology at St. Louis University. Read more here. (A free account is required to read this story.) 
• More students from middle school to high school are misusing ADHD prescription drugs, amid an increasing number of children being diagnosed with the condition in the United States, a study published Tuesday finds.  At some schools, as many as 1 in 4 students reported misusing drugs for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the previous year — meaning they used the medications without a doctor’s prescription or for nonmedical reasons, according to the study in JAMA Network Open. Read more here. 

Older Adults and Mental Health

• Overdose fatalities among older Americans climbed in recent years, with 6,702 U.S. residents 65 and older succumbing in 2021, according to research published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers reported that the rate of fatal overdoses for the age group quadrupled — rising from 3 deaths per 100,000 people in 2002 to 12 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021. Read more here. (A free account is required to read this story.) 
• Older adults are increasingly drinking excessively and dying of alcohol-related deaths, and the problem has been compounded by ageism, stigma, a lack of interest from policymakers and health care providers and few age-appropriate treatment options, experts say.  “There is such a need to help this population,” said Nicole MacFarland, the executive director of Senior Hope Counseling, the only freestanding outpatient clinic in New York that exclusively treats people 50 and older. The nonprofit specializes in geriatric addiction, leading group sessions focused on trauma, finding purpose later in life, and other issues geared toward older adults. Read more here. 

Gun Violence

• As more communities reel from deadly mass shootings – including Dadeville, Alabama, where four people were killed and 28 injured at a Sweet 16 birthday party over the weekend – there’s evidence that the trauma of gun violence in the United States is taking a collective toll on the nation’s mental health. Research published this year suggests that the negative effects that mass shootings can have on mental health may extend beyond the survivors and community directly affected to a much broader population. Read more here. 
• One-fifth of U.S. households purchased guns during the pandemic, a national arming that exposed more than 15 million Americans to firearms in the home for the first time, academic studies show. Americans purchased nearly 60 million guns between 2020 and 2022, according to an analysis by The Trace, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that tracks gun violence. Yearly gun sales are running at roughly twice the level of 15 or 20 years ago. All the new weapons may be fueling a historic surge in gun deaths, which reached record highs during the same period. Read more here. 

Veterans and Mental Health

• An executive order signed Tuesday by President Joe Biden will expand mental health services via telehealth for some caregivers of disabled veterans and suggests that the Department of Veterans Affairs broaden veterans' access to its family caregiver program as well as home health services. Under the order, the VA must develop a new pilot program offering telehealth psychotherapy -- therapy provided over the phone -- for caregivers who are enrolled in the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, also known as the Family Caregiver Program. Read more here. 

The Opioid Crisis

• Early in President Joe Biden's tenure, his administration promised to play a key role in ensuring opioid settlement funds went toward tackling the nation's addiction crisis. But today, as billions of dollars actually start to flow and state and local leaders make crucial decisions on how to spend the more than $50 billion windfall to tackle this entrenched public health crisis, the federal government has gone mostly quiet. No federal employee holds the title of opioid crisis accountability coordinator. Read more here. 
• More red states are moving to decriminalize test strips used to detect fentanyl in illicit or counterfeit drugs as the substance becomes a leading killer of adults under 50. Why it matters: The paper strips can reduce fatal overdoses, especially in instances when people unknowingly consume fentanyl-laced pills that look like prescription drugs. Yes, but: Until recently, many states viewed the strips as drug paraphernalia that could embolden people to use substances shown to be free of fentanyl. Read more here. 
• There is hope in the news that the leading version of naloxone, the No. 1 drug used to reverse opioid overdoses, will soon be available without a prescription. Making it easier to obtain the life-saving drug should save lives, but the devil, as they say, may be in the details. Drug overdoses are linked to more than 100,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, with opioids the main culprit. Recently, synthetic opioids lead the list of lethal overdoses. Fentanyl is worst of all. Read more here. 

Climate Change

• The destruction of the Marshall Fire triggered an outpouring of generosity. Much of the philanthropic money is helping homeowners rebuild physically the houses that were razed by flames. But some of the money was dedicated to helping survivors recover mentally, too, from the trauma of the fire amid compounding crises. Despite the benefits the funding has brought, the many months since the fire have revealed the significant mental health needs of the community and the resource limitations in addressing them. Read more here. 

Social Determinants

• About 1 in 4 people in the United States – more than 119 million residents – live with air pollution that can hurt their health and shorten their lives, according to a new report from the American Lung Association. People of color are disproportionately affected, as are residents of Western cities. Read more here. 

Health Insurance

• Rose had already attempted suicide at least half a dozen times before the teenager's parents found an appropriate residential care facility for her, three states and more than 500 miles away. But a little over two months into her stay, just as Rose was starting to feel better, the family's health insurance – Medical Mutual of Ohio – declined to cover any further treatment. The denial of health insurance coverage for mental health treatment continues to be extremely common, despite federal and state parity laws that are supposed to ensure fairness. Read more here. 

Medicaid Redetermination Efforts

• Tonya Moore, 49, relies on doctor visits and prescription drugs to manage her diabetes, chronic pain and high blood pressure. But her access to routine care is now in danger. She is among tens of thousands of Arkansas residents poised to lose coverage under the state’s Medicaid health insurance program for low-income and disabled residents. The federal government provided billions in federal aid to states on the condition that they wouldn’t remove people from Medicaid until the COVID-19 public health emergency ended. Read more here. 
• As many as 15 million people could lose their health insurance now that the U.S. is unwinding pandemic-era rules that required continuous Medicaid coverage. For gig workers who are impacted by the change, it’s vital that they’re ready to reaffirm eligibility, says Noah Lang, CEO of Stride Health, a benefits platform that helps independent workers sign up for health insurance plans. Now that the coronavirus is no longer declared a national emergency, states are beginning to unenroll those who are either no longer eligible for the insurance or who haven’t completed the renewal process. Read more here. 

Gender-Affirming Care Bills and Related Measures

• The Republican-controlled House passed legislation Thursday that would ban transgender women and girls from competing in female school athletics — the latest GOP salvo in the intensifying culture wars over transgender rights in America. The bill, authored by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., would amend Title IX to bar schools that receive federal funding from allowing people “whose sex is male” to participate in sports designated for women or girls. The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act defines sex as “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” Read more here. 
• In 2023, 497 bills have already been introduced in 49 states — including North Carolina — that erode student confidentiality with school personnel and seek to restrict trans people from receiving gender-affirming care and participating in sports that align with gender identity. This year, just through April, already marks the fourth consecutive record-breaking year for the number of anti-trans bills considered in the United States, according to Trans Legislation Tracker. Read more here. 
• Trans issues have clearly taken center stage at many statehouses, but do voters support these bills? And does the GOP risk a backlash for pushing these laws through? Nationally, views of this sort of legislation are mixed. Polls generally show the public is slightly opposed to preventing minors from accessing transition-related health care, for example. But Americans appear to support some of the other types of anti-trans laws that have been passed in several states. Read more here. 

Federal and State Policy

• The House Republican majority has released its demands for major government spending cuts in exchange for increasing the federal debt limit. And they include a familiar target for conservatives: Medicaid. It’s a gambit that may be more than a decade out of a date and could pose a political risk to the party. For years, Republicans have believed that Medicaid, which primarily serves low-income Americans, is less politically potent than Medicare or Social Security, two of the other core features of the US social safety net, and therefore a safer target for proposed cuts. Read more here. 
• U.S. President Joe Biden, facing congressional resistance to his "care economy" proposals, on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at advancing free preschool and expanding affordable care for children, older Americans and those with disabilities. Biden signed the order, which includes over 50 specific actions, in the White House Rose Garden, flanked by family caregivers, people with disabilities, older adults and early childhood and long-term care workers. Read more here.