Week of May 15–19, 2023

Week of May 15–19, 2023

General Articles

• The percentage of U.S. adults who report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime has reached 29.0%, nearly 10 percentage points higher than in 2015. The percentage of Americans who currently have or are being treated for depression has also increased, to 17.8%, up about seven points over the same period. Both rates are the highest recorded by Gallup since it began measuring depression using the current form of data collection in 2015. Read more here.
• As millions of Americans, particularly our young people, continue to struggle with worsening mental health challenges, the White House announced on Thursday — the National Day of Mental Health Action — how the Biden administration plans to tackle the crisis. Coinciding with Mental Health Awareness Month, the new strategy involves increasing mental health staffing in schools, bolstering operations of the 988 crisis lifeline and making it easier for schools to obtain Medicaid funding. About 21% — roughly 50 million — of all American adults are experiencing a mental illness, according to Mental Health America, a Virginia-based nonprofit. Read more here.
• There are more new cases of chronic pain among US adults than other common long-term conditions like diabetes, depression and high blood pressure, according to a new study. The researchers say their findings “emphasize the high disease burden of chronic pain in the US adult population and the need for early management of pain.” Research published last month in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report estimated that more than 51 million people – more than 20% of US adults – have chronic pain and 17 million – almost 7% of adults – have high-impact chronic pain. Read more here.
• In the past few years, 10,000 to 20,000 apps have stampeded into the mental health space, offering to “disrupt” traditional therapy. With the frenzy around AI innovations like ChatGPT, the claim that chatbots can provide mental health care is on the horizon. The numbers explain why: Pandemic stresses led to millions more Americans seeking treatment. At the same time, there has long been a shortage of mental health professionals in the United States; more than half of all counties lack psychiatrists. Given the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that insurers offer parity between mental and physical health coverage, there is a gaping chasm between demand and supply. Read more here.
• Many of the unhoused people in Portland, Oregon, live in tents pitched on sidewalks or in aging campers parked in small convoys behind grocery stores. Mental illness can be part of the story of how a person ends up homeless — or part of the price of survival on the streets, where sleep and safety are scarce. Homeless people in Multnomah County, which includes Portland, die about 30 years earlier than the average American. These grim realities have ratcheted up the pressure on politicians to do something. Read more here.
• Though the rise of remote work has been praised for providing greater work/life balance, many parents are finding that being away from the office can also have serious drawbacks, according to a new study shared exclusively with USA TODAY. Roughly 4 in 10 parents say that when they work from home, there are times they go days without leaving their house, while 33% say they "feel very isolated,'' when working remotely, according to the ninth annual Modern Family Index, conducted by The Harris Poll for Bright Horizons, a global provider of early education, child care and workforce education services. Read more here.
•  Looking to improve your mental health? Pay attention to birds. Two studies published last year in Scientific Reports said that seeing or hearing birds could be good for our mental well-being. Research has consistently shown that more contact and interaction with nature are associated with better body and brain health. Birds appear to be a specific source of these healing benefits. They are almost everywhere and provide a way to connect us to nature. And even if they are hidden in trees or in the underbrush, we can still revel in their songs. Read more here. (Free registration is required to read this article.)

Youth Mental Health

• The Trevor Project’s 2023 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People amplifies the experiences of more than 28,000 LGBTQ young people ages 13 to 24 across the United States. This survey gives a voice to LGBTQ young people — at a time when their existence is unfairly at the center of national political debates and state legislatures have introduced and implemented a record number of anti-LGBTQ policies. For the fifth consecutive year, these data underscore that anti-LGBTQ victimization contributes to the higher rates of suicide risk reported by LGBTQ young people and that most who want mental health care are unable to get it. Read more here.
• Much like many relationships a person might have between ages 18 and 24, the relationship a young person has with social media can be complicated. No matter where they live, respondents in a new global survey said social media usage can lead to a fear of missing out (FOMO) or poor body image, but it also can help with social connections and self-expression. McKinsey Health Institute’s (MHI’s) 2022 Global Gen Z Survey asked more than 42,000 respondents in 26 countries across continents questions based on the four dimensions of health: mental, physical, social, and spiritual. Read more here.
• School avoidant behavior, also called school refusal, is when a school-age child refuses to attend school or has difficulty being in school for the entire day. Several mental health experts told USA TODAY it has become a crisis that has gotten worse since the COVID-19 pandemic. The two continued to struggle with school avoidance for four years with little guidance. In 2014, she created a website to offer families the help and support she couldn't find. The site eventually turned into the School Avoidance Alliance, which spreads awareness and educates learning facilities and families of school avoidant children. Read more here.
• As the nation's fentanyl crisis claims a growing number of American teenagers each year, school districts nationwide are scrambling to acquire the opioid-reversing drug, train teachers and students how to use it, and combat stigma from openly acknowledging problems with addiction. Last year, just two weeks after Hays County gave Nurse Baker six doses of Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, she was called to a classroom where a 16-year-old girl was unresponsive. While illicit drug use among teens nationwide has been on the decline, overdose deaths – some of them on school property – have been soaring, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Read more here.
• Growing up in poverty or experiencing any adversity, such as abuse or neglect, during early childhood can put a person at risk for poor health, including mental disorders, later in life. Although the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood, some studies have shown that adverse early childhood experience leaves persisting (and possibly irreversible) traces in brain structure. As neuroscientists who are investigating sensitive periods of human brain development, we agree: safe and nurturing environments are a prerequisite for healthy brain development and lifelong well-being. Thus, preventing early childhood adversity undoubtedly leads to healthier lives. Read more here.

 The Impact of the Pandemic

•  “This isn’t a fog. This is life under an ice sheet. The term brain fog has everyone I meet expecting I’ll be better any day now.” This is what one of us (Ken) wrote in his journal about the periodic memory loss and inability to concentrate that he experienced throughout 2022, when he struggled with symptoms of long COVID. Long COVID is a neurological disease that happens after people are no longer infected with SARS-CoV-2. Its prevalence appears to be between 15 percent and 30 percent, according to numerous studies. Read more here.

 Gun Violence

•  At the Capitol on Monday, the Minnesota House votes on a huge public safety bill. It also added a provision that some call a red flag bill to allow law enforcement to temporarily take guns from persons believed to be a risk to themselves or to others. ‘Red flag’ laws have popped up all over the United States as a response to increased gun violence. Jennifer Paruk researches extreme risk Protection orders at the University of Michigan. She's joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to explain how effective red flag laws really are. Read more here.

The Opioid Crisis

• Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. went up slightly last year after two big leaps during the pandemic. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the numbers plateaued for most of last year. Experts aren’t sure whether that means the deadliest drug overdose epidemic in U.S. history is finally reaching a peak, or whether it’ll look like previous plateaus that were followed by new surges in deaths. Read more here.
• As the nation's fentanyl crisis claims a growing number of American teenagers each year, school districts nationwide are scrambling to acquire the opioid-reversing drug, train teachers and students how to use it, and combat stigma from openly acknowledging problems with addiction. Last year, just two weeks after Hays County gave Nurse Baker six doses of Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, she was called to a classroom where a 16-year-old girl was unresponsive. Read more here.
• Vending machines that have long been stocked with snacks are getting repurposed to distribute life-saving supplies to help fight the opioid epidemic. A growing number of cities and local governments are making so-called “harm reduction” items, including the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, available for free via machines. Interest in the approach is expected to grow after U.S. regulators recently approved Narcan, the leading naloxone brand, to be sold without a prescription. That switch allows the nasal spray to be stocked in convenience stores, supermarkets and vending machines. Read more here.
• Up to one in three people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis could be at risk of long-term opioid use, a new study suggests. Academics warned that people diagnosed with rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions (RMD) are “vulnerable” to long-term use of the strong pain relief medicines. Experts warned that people who use the drugs over a long period can become addicted and opioid dependency is linked to other harms. Read more here.
• Rhode Island officials recently announced the proposed location of a place where people could safely use illegal drugs under the watch of staff trained to reverse overdoses — only the second such program in the United States. Visitors would also be able to get meals and showers, test their own drugs for deadly substances, get HIV and hepatitis C testing, and access support groups and addiction treatment. But in Pennsylvania, where another nonprofit with similar aspirations is mired in litigation, the state Senate overwhelmingly voted May 1 to ban such centers, sometimes called supervised injection sites.  Read more here.
• The US attorney general, Merrick Garland, called the Mexico-based Sinaloa cartel “the largest, most violent, and most prolific fentanyl trafficking operation in the world” in a statement accompanying the sweeping indictments covering cartel bosses, enforcers and suppliers such as Rubio and Wu. The pair are just two links in a chain connecting the Sinaloa cartel to Chinese companies and criminal organizations, relationships that are now drawing increasing attention from the US government after years of investigation by law enforcement. Read more here.

Veterans Mental Health

• Tackling the mounting military suicide rates is a massive task, but a network of nationwide providers agrees — traumatic brain injuries are a contributing factor. One of the people pushing for awareness on the issue is Mark Riddick, who served in the U.S. Army for 21 years as a combat medic and healthcare administrator. “I went to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, South Korea, all over the place. In his many years of training and service, he had quite a few bumps or blows to the head. Read more here.
• Military service members in need of mental health treatment recently got a significant boost in the resources available to them. In the first week of May 2023, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gilbert Cisneros, Jr. began the process of implementing the Brandon Act, which President Biden had signed into law late in 2021. The law in question is named for Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon Caserta, who died by suicide in 2018. Read more here.

Gender-Affirming Care State Bans

• Missouri officials on Tuesday abruptly terminated an unusual emergency rule proposed by the Republican attorney general that would have placed limits on transgender care for minors and some adults. The move was announced without explanation on the Missouri Secretary of State’s website, which said: “This emergency rule terminated effective May 16, 2023.” The rule pushed by Attorney General Andrew Bailey would have required adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery.
• Following suit with other Republican-controlled statehouses in the country, lawmakers in the Louisiana House passed a bill Tuesday that would ban gender-affirming medical care to minors, advancing the legislation to the Senate for further debate. The bill would prohibit doctors from performing “gender transition procedures” — such as hormone treatments, gender reassignment surgery or puberty-blocking drugs — on anyone under the age of 18 who is seeking treatment to “alter” their sex assigned at birth. The measure, which also establishes penalties for health professionals who provide such care, passed 71-24 mainly along party lines. Read more here.
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed into law new restrictions on gender-affirming treatments for minors, drag shows, bathroom usage and which pronouns can be used in school, the latest front in the Republican leader’s ongoing cultural battles. The package of legislation was a priority for DeSantis, who has already elevated these efforts in political speeches across the country as he marches toward an expected presidential campaign in the coming days. LGBTQ advocates in the state immediately criticized the legislation as a larger effort to erase them from Florida schools and society. Read more here.