Minneapolis St. Paul Mental Health Blog

Mental Health Update | In children aged 6 to 12 years old, increased use of media or electronic devices (screen time) is associated with a risk for mental health issues,

...including social phobia and depressive symptoms, according to research presented at the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners' 39th National Conference on Pediatric Health Care.

Kimberly Buck, DNP, RN, CPNP, Assistant Professor at Loma Linda University School of Nursing in California, and colleagues conducted a study to determine whether the length of screen time was correlated with academic and mental health effects in children between the ages of 6 and 12.

Volunteers included 250 English-speaking parent-child dyads. Children aged 6 to 12 with no previous mental health issues were eligible, and parents were asked to complete a survey involving the child's mental health, media usage, and parental socio-demographics.

The majority of volunteering parents were women (87.1%) with an average age of 35.5 years and an average education level of a high school diploma. Nearly equivalent numbers of boys and girls were included (50.2% boys) with an average age of 9 years. The cohort was primarily Hispanic (79.1%) with 59.5% of parental participants either married or living together.

According to the results, children were not adhering to the AAP recommendations to place consistent restrictions on lengths of screen use. The investigators reported an average screen time of 3 hours in homes with an average of 6 electronic devices.

Children were likely to get less than 9 hours of sleep if they had a television in their room (compared with the recommended 9-12 hours of sleep), possibly leading to sleep issues. Among the 12-year olds in the cohort, 73% used electronic devices more than 2 hours per day; 54% of children between ages 6 and 11 confirmed the same usage per day.

Additionally, more than 2 hours of screen time was reported in 71% of children with fair academic grades, 77% of children with social phobia, and 90% of children with high risk for depressive symptoms.

“Future studies should re-examine the potential negative impact of excessive screen time on young children's mental health using larger samples and different pediatric surveys in a more diverse population,” reported the authors. “Furthermore, the amount of screen time related to school work must be explored, since Chromebooks are now becoming the newest revolution in academic learning.”

Mental Health Minnesota | Cannabidiol (CBD) is considered to be a non-psychotomimetic and non-psychoactive derivative of Cannabis sativa.

It was patented by the US Department of Health and Human Services in 2003 as an antioxidant and neuro-protectant. CBD has a complex mode of action which includes inverse agonism (functionally an antagonist) of CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors, mild monoamine uptake inhibition, and 5-HT1A agonism.

Additionally, reviews based on preclinical and clinical research identify CBD as an anxiolytic, antipsychotic, anti-insomnia and antidepressant agent. Furthermore, it has putative anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, analgesic, and neuroprotective properties.

Adjunct use of CBD in schizophrenia is supported by the highest quality of evidence.

A recent randomized controlled trial demonstrated superiority of adjunctive CBD to placebo in treating positive symptoms of schizophrenia, and a strong trend towards efficacy in addressing cognitive difficulties associated with this condition.

A prior randomized active control study found that monotherapy with CBD had comparable effect to amisulpride (one of the most efficacious antipsychotics) on positive symptoms while demonstrating a clear advantage in treating negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Several open-label studies extend and support the benefits of CBD in psychotic disorders.

Preclinical and open-label studies have found that CBD also may be helpful in the treatment of anxiety, particularly social anxiety, using a public speaking paradigm. Mostly preclinical evidence from animal studies suggests there may be a reason to study CBD as an adjunct treatment for depression, while preliminary evidence points to its potential usefulness as a safer substitute for controlled substances used in treating psychiatric and pain disorders.

While emerging evidence is encouraging, more studies utilizing rigorous scientific methodology and larger clinical samples need to be completed before we can endorse wider use of CBD in the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

Among a group of Swedish women, those with high cardiovascular fitness at middle age were 88% less likely to develop dementia...

...decades later, compared with women with moderate cardiovascular fitness, researchers reported online in Neurology.

Increased coffee intake associated with higher metabolic syndrome risk in type 1 diabetes.

Adults with type 1 diabetes who drink a minimum of five cups of coffee per day could have an increased risk of metabolic syndrome compared with those who drink less, researchers suggest. These findings from scientists at the University of Helsinki, Finland, are the latest in a multitude of studies which have reviewed the relationship between coffee, diabetes and metabolism in recent years.

Last year, drinking more coffee was shown to reduce the risk of death in an international study, including among people with diabetes. Also in 2017, regular coffee intake was reported to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. While this new study indicates heightened coffee consumption among people with type 1 diabetes may confer negative health aspects, future studies will need to explore and validate this association.

The researchers evaluated data from 1,040 adults with type 1 diabetes who were divided into four groups based on their coffee consumption, and determined potential associations regarding metabolic syndrome.

Moderate (3-5 cups per day) and high (5+) coffee consumption increased the odds of metabolic syndrome, which was categorised by possessing at least three cardiovascular riskfactors: obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar levels, high triglyceride levels and/or low HDL-cholesterol.

These findings remained regardless of age, sex, energy intake, alcohol intake, smoking or physical activity. Moreover, increasing coffee intake was also shown to impair insulin resistance among participants. But researchers stressed this is an association at most, and not intended as a warning for people with type 1 diabetes to drastically reduce or cut out their coffee consumption.

"Whether habitual coffee consumption will have any negative or beneficial effects on health outcomes, in this population of patients with type 1 diabetes, will be assessed in future studies," said the researchers. The findings appear online in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases.

Mental Health in the workplace | One in five Americans suffer from mental illness each year,

according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Of those, 60% diagnosed with stress, anxiety and depression do not seek treatment, according to the 2016 state of mental health in America report compiled by Mental Health America.

Researchers are recommending screening for heavy alcohol use as part of routine medical care ....

after their study showed alcohol use disorders are a major risk factor for all types of dementia—but especially early-onset dementia.

Mental Health Update | Chronic cannabis use seems to alter resting-state brain activity,

which may explain the negative emotionality and higher risk of psychosis linked with the habit, according to a study published online in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

Researchers are recommending screening for heavy alcohol use as part of routine medical care after their study showed alcohol use disorders are a major risk factor for all types of dementia—but especially early-onset dementia.

Compared with 50 years ago, cannabis products today contain increased amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol

(THC), the cannabinoid responsible for the high marijuana users experience,

Mental Health | Almost 47 million Americans have brain pathology that places them on a trajectory to Alzheimer's disease (AD), and that number is growing, researchers report.