Category Archives: News & updates

More patients with serious psychological distress had insurance coverage following the Affordable Care Act, but that didn’t change whether they’d seen a healthcare professional recently, researchers reported. In an analysis of data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — The atypical antipsychotic drug aripiprazole (Abilify, Abilify Maintena, Aristada) may trigger loss of impulse control, leading to “compulsive or uncontrollable urges to gamble, binge eat, shop, and have sex,” the FDA warned Tuesday. New warnings will be added … Continue reading →

Repeated infusions of ketamine “rapidly and robustly” decreased chronic thoughts of suicide in half of patients with treatment-resistant depression, secondary analysis from a preliminary open-label study showed. At the end of the series of infusions, 7 out of 14 patients … Continue reading →

Lithium was more effective than other maintenance monotherapies in reducing impulsive aggression and the tendency of patients with bipolar disorder to inflict self-harm and unintentional injury, a longitudinal cohort study showed. In addition, self-harm rates in those prescribed valproate were … Continue reading →

Despite much more insurance coverage than in the past, patients with behavioral health needs are not getting the treatment they need, according to a recent study. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was supposed to improve access to … Continue reading →

Spending for treatment stagnates in face of burgeoning opioid abuse While financing for mental health conditions by private insurers, Medicaid, and Medicare has increased over the past 30 years, funding for substance use disorder treatment remains stagnant, according to a … Continue reading →

The number of practicing psychiatrists in the U.S. has stalled over the last decade, in contrast to an upward trend among many other specialties, researchers found. Co-author Harold Pincus, MD, of Columbia University and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, told MedPage Today … Continue reading →

Fewer escapes and suicide attempts with open doors “These findings suggest that locked-door policies may not help to improve the safety of patients in psychiatric hospitals, and are not generally successful in preventing people from absconding,” said lead study author … Continue reading →

Yet many on antidepressants may not need them More than two-thirds of adults with depression don’t receive any treatment for their condition, researchers reported. In an analysis of data from the Medicare Expenditure Panel Surveys (MEPS), only about 29% of … Continue reading →

The Power of Affirmative Faith By Bruce G. Epperly Twenty-eight affirmations to help Christians and others to put their faith into action. Bruce G. Epperly is interim minister of Christ Reformed United Church of Christ in Cavetown, Maryland; director of … Continue reading →