Recovery Michigan

A study from Hasbro Children's Hospital has found that nearly 50 percent of teens seen in the emergency department for any reason report peer violence and nearly 50 percent also report being the victims of cyberbullying. Almost one-quarter of teens in the emergency department also report symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study, led by Megan Ranney, MD, MPH, shows that cyberbullying, physical peer violence and PTSD are common and inter-related, and that early identification and treatment are crucial.

Currently published online in General Hospital Psychiatry, the study examined 353 adolescents in the Hasbro Children's Hospital emergency department. Regardless of chief reason for emergency room visit, 23.2 percent of the teens reported current symptoms consistent with PTSD, 13.9 percent had moderate or higher depressive symptoms and 11.3 percent reported suicidal thoughts within the past year. The adolescents commonly reported physical peer violence (46.5 percent), cyberbullying (46.7 percent) and exposure to community violence (58.9 percent).

"PTSD in adolescents has been associated with long-term functional impairment, including poor physical health, academic failure and increased need for medical services," said Ranney. "But, despite the availability of effective treatment, PTSD is currently underdiagnosed, underreported, and undertreated, especially among children and adolescents."

The study found that the PTSD symptoms strongly correlated with a variety of co-occurring risk exposures, such as being a victim of cyberbullying or physical peer violence, exposure to community violence and alcohol or drug use. Few of the teens with PTSD reported receiving any mental health care in the past year.

Babies born at an extremely low birth weight (ELBW) are miracles, but they are more likely to be bullied as children, and this can significantly increase their risk for mental health problems as adults.

Not only that, but the more they were bullied as children, the more likely they are to develop problems such as depression,anxiety, antisocial behavior or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as adults, says a new study from McMaster University's Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine.

"Being bullied has a significant and lasting impact for those preemies, even into their 30s," said Kimberly Day, lead author of the study and Lawson Postdoctoral Fellow at the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster. "This has important implications for parents, teachers, and clinicians who need to be aware of the long-term effects of peer victimization on mental health. They need to watch out for bullying and intervene when possible."

In late January, the United States Preventive Services Task Force released its final recommendation statement for adult depression screening. In a significant shift from the 2009 recommendations, this update includes the first call for screening women for depression, specifically during pregnancy and after giving birth.

These changes in screening recommendations show national recognition of the growing body of evidence of the widespread prevalence of maternal depression, as well as the two-generation  impact of untreated maternal depression on both women and their children. Importantly, these new recommendations also acknowledge depression can begin during pregnancy as well as during the postpartum period. If untreated, this can have a devastating impact on women and their children. Most notably, untreated maternal depression can affect maternal mental and physical health, parenting behaviors, birth outcomes, early childhood development and school readiness.

Maternal depression currently affects approximately 13 percent of pregnant women and mothers in the United States. Prevalence rates are substantially greater for low-income women and women of color. Twenty-five percent of low-income women are living with material depression, and it affects 25 percent of women of color compared to 12 percent of white women. Low-income women and women of color, especially Black and Latina women, are also the least likely to receive adequate or any treatment. The disproportionate impact of maternal depression indicates that in addition to being an issue of maternal and child health more broadly, maternal depression is also an issue of health equity.

In a new study, published today in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the scientists report successful preclinical tests of a vaccine that prevents the synthetic opioid fentanyl—which some drug dealers now use as a mix-in or substitute for heroin—from reaching the brain.

"We want to stay one step ahead of these clandestine laboratories making illegal opioids for black market demand," said Kim Janda, the Ely R. Callaway Jr. Professor of Chemistry and member of the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at TSRI. "The importance of this new vaccine is that it can block the toxic effects of this drug, a first in the field."

At Doctor on Demand, a popular online health site, patients can videoconference with physicians on a host of maladies, from skin rashes and flu diagnoses to getting a prescription for an eye infection. On Maven, a telemedicine app targeted to women, nurse practitioners chat with patients on issues such as birth control, breast feeding and postpartum depression. Opternative offers online eye exams that it says are just as accurate as in-person tests. It’s a boom time for telehealth. Just as smartphone apps have revolutionized ride-hailing and apartment-sharing, telemedicine technology is upending health care.

States have been playing catch-up. As recently as 2011, only 11 states had telehealth parity laws, which require that insurers reimburse telehealth providers exactly as they would for an in-person visit. Today, 29 states and the District of Columbia have parity laws. In those jurisdictions, if a patient with a sore throat wants to confirm she has a strep infection and receive a prescription for antibiotics, it makes no difference to insurance companies whether the visit occurs over the computer or in an office. Forty-eight state Medicaid programs (every state but Connecticut and Rhode Island) offer some form of coverage for telemedicine. Congress is expected to take up legislation this year that would expand telehealth coverage for Medicare enrollees.

A new study published in the journal Phytotherapy Research has confirmed for the first time in a randomized, controlled clinical trial that the primary polyphenol in turmeric known as curcumin is both safe and effective in treating serious states of depression.[1]

The research was performed at the Department of Pharmacology, Government Medical College, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India, and involved patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD).  The objective of the trial was to compare the efficacy and safety of curcumin with fluoxetine (Prozac) in 60 patients diagnosed with MDD. Subjects were randomized to receive either a six week treatment with fluoxetine (20 mg) and curcumin (1000 mg) individually or their combination.

Success of the treatment was evaluated using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale(HAM-D₁₇). The results were reported as follows:

Curcumin, of course, is extremely safe, with a 2010 phase I safety study finding that oral doses as high as 8 grams a day were well tolerated.[3]  Fluoxetine, on the other hand, is highly controversial due to its well-known toxicity, and its laundry list of side effects, which include suicidal ideation (not a good side effect for someone already depressed!). 

Also, even though it would appear the study found that curcumin and Prozac were equivalent in effectiveness, the fact that curcumin comes "...without concurrent suicidal ideation or other psychotic disorders," clearly proves its superiority over Prozac. There are also a wide range of additional side benefits that come with using curcumin, including its powerful neuroprotective properties. You will find no less than 109 studies on our database documenting curcumin's ability to protect, and in some cases restore brain function. 

The lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts among individuals with schizophrenia was 39.2 per cent compared to 2.8 per cent of those without the disorder, according to the study.

"Even after taking into account most of the known risk factors for suicide attempts, those with schizophrenia had six times the odds of having attempted suicide in comparison to those without schizophrenia," reported lead author Professor Esme Fuller-Thomson, Sandra Rotman Endowed Chair at the University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and Institute for Life Course and Aging.

The study examined a representative sample of 21,744 community-dwelling Canadians, of whom 101 reported they had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Data were drawn from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health.

"When we focused only on the 101 individuals with schizophrenia, we found that women and those with a history of drug or alcohol abuse and/or major depressive disorder were much more likely to have attempted suicide," said co-author Bailey Hollister, a recent U of T social work graduate.

Of particular concern, individuals with schizophrenia who reported that they had been physically abused during their childhood were five times more likely to have attempted suicide and early adversities explained 24 per cent of the variability in suicide attempts, said the authors.

dults who have concussions are at three times greater risk for suicide if the injury is sustained on a weekday and four times greater risk if it happens on the weekend, according to a new study.

University of Toronto researchers said the increased risk for suicide also increased with each concussion a person had, and that risk increased regardless of any other demographic factor.

The researchers found 667 suicides during a median follow-up of 9.3 years -- about 31 out of 100,000 people per year, a rate three times higher than in the overall population.

"Understanding how a history of concussion raises the risk of suicide, and supporting patients with better screening, treatment and follow-up for recovery may be important steps in preventing these tragic and avoidable deaths," said Redelmeier.

Doctors should select cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or second generation antidepressants (SGAs) to treat adults with major depressive disorder (MDD), the American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends in a new evidence-based clinical practice guideline published today in Annals of Internal Medicine.

"Patients are frequently treated for depression by primary care physicians, who often initially prescribe SGAs," said ACP President Wayne J. Riley, MD, MPH, MBA, MACP. "However, CBT is a reasonable approach for initial treatment and should be strongly considered as an alternative treatment to SGAs where available, and after discussing treatment effects, adverse effect profiles, costs, accessibility, and preferences with patients."

Depression is a medical condition causing sadness that interferes with daily life, not a normal reaction to life situations such as the death of a loved one or the loss of a job. Common depression symptoms are lack of energy and loss of interest in things previously enjoyed.