General Mental Health Articles
- Southern and eastern Coloradans accessed behavioral health care services more often than people in any other regions in the state in 2023 and may become a focus for state leaders working to improve the mental health system. The new data was published when the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration launched an online portal that aims to increase transparency and accountability and help the Polis administration offer better care to Coloradans who need it during the coming years. Read more here.
- There has been much handwringing about how difficult it is for Americans with mental health issues to see a psychiatrist. Failures in the health insurance market are often blamed for the problem. As a new class of psychiatry residents begins work in hospitals across the country this week, I see an additional cause: the lack of commitment to honor the subsidies that made it possible for psychiatrists to enter the profession. Read more here.
Youth Mental Health
- While about 9% of the U.S. population will have an eating disorder at some point, studies suggest that somewhere between 0.5% and 5% of the population has ARFID, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. Read more here.
- Even without homeless sweeps, housing insecurity is dangerous to children's present and future mental health. Researchers from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine analyzed data from the Future of Families and Child Well-Being study, which has tracked children from birth for more than 20 years. Their findings, published recently in the journal Pediatrics, suggest that youth who experience housing insecurity suffer worse health in their teen years, including increased levels of depression and anxiety. Read more here.
Older Adult Mental Health
- The rise in hoarding disorder as America ages requires a national response, based on a new Senate report. The prevalence and severity of hoarding disorder increases with age — and the U.S. population is growing older, making this a crucial moment for federal policymakers to address the condition. Hoarding disorder — a mental health condition associated with an inability to part with possessions that can create dangerous living conditions — affects about 2% of the general U.S. population and 6% of adults over 70 years old. Read more here.
Gender-Affirming Care and LGBTQ Issues
- Research has shown that LGBTQ people are more likely to experience mental health issues than those who are heterosexual or cisgender. Read more here.
- Wyoming’s ban on gender-affirming care went into effect July 1, restricting medical treatment like puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender youth. Wyoming is one of 25 states to pass such a law — part of a flurry of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation introduced in recent years. Read more here.
- The Supreme Court has agreed to consider a case from Tennessee in its next term that challenges the state’s gender-affirming care ban for young people. “Pressure had been mounting for the Supreme Court to weigh in here,” says Lindsey Dawson, Director for LGBTQ Health Policy at the health research organization KFF. Read more here.
Federal Policy and Judicial Rulings
- The Biden administration is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to train primary care clinicians to better serve older adults, officials announced Monday. America faces a shortage of geriatricians, who specialize in health care for patients over 65 years old. Read more here.
Manage Cookie Preferences