General Articles
- TikTok’s algorithms are promoting videos about self-harm and eating disorders to vulnerable teens, according to a report that highlights concerns about social media and its impact on youth mental health. Researchers at the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate created TikTok accounts for fictional teen personas in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. The researchers operating the accounts then “liked” videos about self-harm and eating disorders to see how TikTok’s algorithm would respond. Read more here.
- A growing number of adult women in the United States have been diagnosed with and are seeking treatment for ADHD, a development experts attribute to a long history of psychologists, parents and teachers overlooking symptoms in young girls. The national shortage of Adderall, a drug that treats attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is also spotlighting a spike in demand for medications that treat the developmental disorder, especially among women. Read more here.
- More adults in the U.S. expect to be more stressed in 2023 than at this time last year, but they also say they're more willing to take steps to tackle that stress, a survey finds. The American Psychiatric Association's Healthy Minds poll surveyed more than 2,200 U.S. adults Dec. 7 and 8. Roughly 26% of the respondents reported that they expected to experience more stress in the New Year, up from 20% the previous year. Read more here.
Youth Mental Health
- The beginning of a new year ushers in the opportunity for change. Goal-setters flock to the gym, challenges like Dry January and Whole30 take social media by storm, and supplements fly off store shelves. But this year, a different ambition is topping the resolution list, especially among young people: an improvement in mental health. That’s according to a new Forbes Health/OnePoll survey of 1,005 U.S. adults conducted November 18 to November 22. Read more here.
- Almost every school administrator believes the mental health challenges their students face are moderate to severe, with more than half saying conditions either worsened or haven't improved in the last year. Driving the news: The findings came from a survey released by Effective School Solutions—which provides mental health services for schools—that polled 200 administrators and 1,000 parents with children in K-12. Read more here.
- In this cohort study of 9,696 and 11,101 adolescents hospitalized with a mental health condition before and during the pandemic, respectively, at 8 children’s hospitals in the US and France, there was a significant increase in the monthly proportion of hospitalizations associated with mental health conditions following onset of the pandemic. Read more here.
Women’s Mental Health
- More women than men reported they needed mental health services in the past two years, but just half of these women tried and were able to get an appointment for mental health care, a new poll shows. Forty percent of these women did not seek care at all. The figures are based on a new Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Women’s Health Survey conducted between May and June 2022. Read more here.
- A multicenter study of nearly 11,500 US mothers finds a link between more COVID-19 pandemic-related hardships, coping mechanisms, and behavior changes and greater traumatic stress. Researchers from the University of Southern California led the nationwide study, which was published in JAMA Network Open. The team asked 11,473 mothers participating in the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes Program about their experiences during the pandemic, from April 2020 to August 2021. Read more here.
Veterans and Mental Health
- One in four veterans has at least one disability. Rates of major depression in veterans are five times as high compared to civilians, and post-traumatic stress disorder rates are 15 times as high as civilians. In the general population, major depression goes untreated at higher rates in Black and Hispanic communities compared to white communities. In addition, PTSD prevalence is higher in Black, Hispanic, and Native American veterans compared to white veterans. Read more here.
Marijuana and Mental Health
- Officials in New Mexico have approved anxiety disorders as a qualifying condition under the state’s medical marijuana program. When approving the move last month, the New Mexico Medical Cannabis Advisory Board cited that up to 25 percent of New Mexico’s adult population—roughly 465,000 people—could be experiencing the effects of such disorders. The ruling takes effect Jan. 1. Read more here.
- Not only did COVID-19 unleash a virus that affected the entire globe, but the growing pandemic also triggered an epidemic of anxiety and depression among America’s Generation Z and millennial populations. And many people turned to cannabis, as opposed to prescribed medication, to calm their minds. In 2021, cannabis sales increased to $30 billion, 40% higher than the previous year. The United States is expected to make up 75% of global cannabis sales in 2026. Read more here.
The Opioid Crisis
- A new campaign from the Ad Council and Meta Platforms Inc. is encouraging parents of teen and young-adult children to speak to them about the dangers of fentanyl. Drug overdose deaths reached a record high last year, in part because of fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid. Fentanyl is often found mixed into heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, but it also shows up in counterfeit versions of commonly prescribed medications such as Percocet, Xanax and Adderall. Read more here.
- Nearly 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, according to final figures released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s nearly 16% higher than the nearly 92,000 overdose deaths in 2020. Read more here.
- Texas lawmakers are changing their tune about how to tackle a growing fentanyl crisis in the state ahead of the next legislative session starting in January. Earlier this month, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott led the way by coming out in favor of legalizing fentanyl test strips, which help users identify whether the drugs they are planning on taking contain the deadly synthetic opioid. Read more here.
- Life expectancy in the United States dropped last year to its lowest since 1996, extending a downward trend that began in 2020, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The latest figures from the CDC, which leave expected U.S. lifespans well below those in other large, wealthy nations, reflect the federal and local governments’ ongoing struggle to meet the demands of concurrent public health crises. Read more here.
- Duluth’s Center for Alcohol and Drug Treatment is the only licensed opioid treatment program across Minnesota’s Arrowhead, a territory roughly the size of Massachusetts. Its ClearPath Clinic has space for 475 people; some drive for hours to meet with a counselor or re-up on methadone. It’s a lifeline for those trying to break free of addiction. Now, though, the clinic is full. About 40 people sit on a waiting list with few alternatives other than waiting and hoping. Read more here.
- Doctors and researchers have known for decades that safe, easy-to-use medications are a game-changer for people addicted to opioids. Buprenorphine and methadone reduce cravings for opioids and ease withdrawal symptoms, helping people avoid relapses and deadly overdoses. "If somebody has access to these life-saving medications, it cuts their mortality risk by 50 percent," says Dr. Linda Wang, a researcher who treats patients with addiction at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. "It has a huge impact preventing death." Read more here.
- Ever since the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl began showing up in the illicit drug supply in 2014, the number of U.S. overdose deaths has skyrocketed—exceeding all other accidental deaths, including car crashes and gun violence. In response, the federal government and some states are redoubling efforts to curb the epidemic of overdoses from opioid painkillers, heroin and fentanyl by making medication-assisted treatment more accessible to the estimated 9.5 million people with an opioid use disorder. Read more here.
Crisis Services
- The front-line response to emergency calls involving individuals experiencing a mental health crisis has been the subject of much debate on the local and national levels in recent years. But for the first time in Santa Cruz County, officials say they have a cross-jurisdictional survey that can serve as a “baseline of understanding” for ongoing discussions about how the response effort can be refined and improved. Read more here.
Federal and State Policy
- The number of Americans on Medicaid is expected to surpass 100 million as early as next month, according to a new projection from the Foundation for Government Accountability. Why it matters: The record uninsured rate—achieved through both ACA subsidies and Medicaid expansion—has been a point of pride for the Biden administration, particularly in light of stark health disparities exacerbated by the pandemic. Read more here.
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