Minneapolis St. Paul Mental Health Blog

Mental Health Studies | A greater percentage of patients in the migraine group were found to have restless leg syndrome compared with the control group.

Patients with migraine may exhibit higher prevalence of restless legs syndrome, fibromyalgia, and depressive symptoms compared with individuals not experiencing migraines, according to a study published in Neurological Sciences.

Patients with migraine (n=200) and healthy volunteer controls (n=200) were enrolled in this study. The presence of fibromyalgia and restless legs syndrome was determined by medical interview, and the Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were used to determine the frequency of depression and anxiety, respectively.

Patients were asked whether they received treatment for their conditions, and investigators also questioned patients about relevant risk factors associated with restless legs syndrome, fibromyalgia, and depression/anxiety (eg, family history, polyneuropathy, Parkinson disease, caffeine use).

A greater percentage of patients in the migraine group were found to have restless legs syndrome compared with the control group (33% vs 9.5%, respectively; P =.0001). Restless legs syndrome was more frequent in patients with migraine with aura vs simple migraine (P =.001).

The prevalence of a family history of restless legs syndrome as well as other risk factors for the disease were comparable in participants with and without migraine (family history: 24.2% vs 21.1%, respectively; P =.773; other risk factors: P =.638).

The frequency of fibromyalgia was higher in patients with vs without migraine (61% vs 10%, respectively; P =.0001), and more patients in the migraine group reported having depressive and anxiety symptoms compared with controls (depressive symptoms: 39% vs 13.5%, respectively; P =.0001; anxiety symptoms [BAI scores]: 33.83 vs 23.93, respectively; P =.0001). Patients with restless legs syndrome with and without migraine had comparable BAI scores (36.23 vs 32.80, respectively; P =.088).

Mental Health | Diagnoses of suicidal thoughts or attempted self-harm increased....

....from 0.67 percent of all kids treated in 2008 to 1.79 percent in 2015, according to data from 32 children's hospitals across the United States.

Suicidal thoughts or attempts among kids appear to fluctuate with the school calendar, reaching their lowest levels during the summer and spiking in the fall and spring....

Mental Health and Depression | The Prevalence of depression is higher for adults reporting use of multiple meds.

The estimated prevalence of using medications with depression as an adverse effect is 37.2%, according to a study published in the June 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Mental Health Minnesota | Depressed mood more common in young pregnant women today than in their mothers' generation.

High depressive symptom scores were found to be more common among young pregnant womentoday than in their mothers' generation,...

Mental Health Update | Weightlifting and muscle training significantly reduced depressive symptoms among adults....

....regardless of their age and health status, the amount of training, and whether they grew stronger, researchers found in a meta-analysis.

Mental Health Matters | Deaths from suicide in children and teenagers have dramatically increased during the past decade, with a notable spike in the past year, a new report shows.

The Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Well Being Trust released Pain in the Nation: Education Brief, which reports that suicide rates almost doubled in youth aged 17 years and younger during the past 10 years and that it more than tripled in girls aged 10 to 14.

Moreover, more than one million adolescents had a substance abuse disorder in 2016.

The report authors call for the development of partnerships between educators, school- and community-based health professionals, state and federal government agencies, businesses, and healthcare organizations to design and implement screening and care programs for youngsters.

"This brief is a reflection of the fact that we're seeing a dramatic increase in gaps associated with drug and alcohol abuse and that we have a particular interest in preventing those deaths by working with children, adolescents, and families to propose policies that decrease the likelihood that those students will develop addictions or suicide," John Auerbach, MBA, president and CEO of TFAH and associate director for policy, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Medscape Medical News.

"The good news is that there are a number of programs that have been shown effective, some based in schools or in schools working together with other community organizations, and we shine a light on what these programs are," he said.

TFAH is "a nonpartisan organization that focuses on prevention and public health policies and programs throughout the country," Auerbach reported. Because the foundation is "intentionally" not funded by governmental or corporate sources, "we can be a trusted, independent voice for policies and approaches that will be most useful for promoting the health and well-being of the American people," he said.

The brief reports that deaths from suicide among persons aged 17 and younger rose 84% from 2007 to 2016, with a 10% increase in from 2015 to 2016 in those younger than 18 years.

The statistics are particularly alarming for girls aged 10 to 14, whose suicide rate rose by 231% in the past decade and by 8% in 2016 alone.
The report shows that more than one million adolescents (aged 12 to 17) had a substance use disorder (either alcohol or drugs) in 2016 and that one fifth reported alcohol consumption within the past month.

An estimated 90% of adolescent drinking was binge drinking; 2 in 5 high school students reported consuming eight or more drinks on a single occasion.

The report touches upon broader systemic reasons for these alarming statistics, including "despair deaths" that "are straining our country's child welfare system, as more and more children are forced into foster care because of parental death or substance misuse.” In 2016 alone, the number of children in foster care increased for the fourth consecutive year. Parental drug misuse constituted the reason for the child's removal in more than one third of cases.

Adverse childhood experiences increase the risk for negative outcomes, including substance use disorders, and increase the odds of suicidality in offspring. Alcohol use during pregnancy leads to an array of adverse birth outcomes, as well as a higher risk for subsequent abuse by parents.

Mental Health | Cannabis use by mothers or fathers during pregnancy, or even only before pregnancy, is associated with an increased risk of psychotic-like episodes in their children, a Dutch study suggests.

Because pot use by mothers and fathers carried similar risk, and a mother’s use before pregnancy had the same effect as use during pregnancy, the study team speculates that parental pot use is likely a marker for genetic and environmental vulnerability to psychotic experiences rather than a cause, and could be useful for screening kids at risk for psychosis later in life.

As attention remains focused on opioid abuse, another drug epidemic rages outside the spotlight: inappropriate prescription of benzodiazepines.

Mental Health Matters | Suicide rates rose steadily in nearly every state from 1999 to 2016...

...increasing 25 percent nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. In 2016, there were more than twice as many suicides as homicides.

Mental Health Update | Suicide-related encounters at US children’s hospitals more than doubled between 2008 and 2015, according to a study published online in Pediatrics.