The vast majority (84%) of Americans with pets say their animal companion brings a positive mental health impact to their lives, a new poll shows. The poll of more than 2,200 adults conducted early last month also found about two-thirds of respondents calling their pet “a true friend,” a “companion” and someone who “provide[s] unconditional love and support.” That’s according to a news release from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), which jointly funded the poll. Pets can provide a kind of mental health therapy for humans, according to APA president Dr. Petros Levounis. “It’s easy to overlook the role of pets when we’re talking about mental health,” he said. “But for people who do enjoy the company of animals, they can be a source of companionship, comfort, love and friendship. I routinely encourage adoption of a pet to my patients who struggle with addiction to alcohol, drugs or technology. We’re also starting to see more and more research around the role that animals can play in recovery from depression and other psychiatric disorders.” In the poll, about one in five (18%) of people with pets said one or more of their animals was a certified emotional support animal. Other findings from the poll: Nearly two-thirds of respondents said their pet provides a calming presence The same amount said their…  read on >  read on >

Deaths where alcohol played a key role climbed sharply in recent years, hitting women even harder than men, new government data shows. Between 2016 and 2021 (the latest numbers available), “the average number of U.S. deaths from excessive alcohol use increased by more than 40,000 [29%], to 178,000 per year,” reported a team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Put another way, during 2020 and 2021, an average of 488 Americans died each day from excessive drinking, the report’s authors concluded. The rate of increase appears to be accelerating: Between 2016 and 2019, deaths where alcohol was a factor rose by 5%, but between 2018 and 2021 they climbed by 23%. Men continue to lose their lives to alcohol in greater numbers than women, the report found. However, the rate at which women are dying from excessive drinking is rising faster than that of men, the researchers found. Over the study period, deaths from excessive alcohol use among women rose by about 35%, compared to about a 27% rise among men. The new data looked at deaths directly linked to drinking — things like alcoholic liver disease or excessive intoxication — as well as more indirect causes, such as heavy drinking’s role in heart disease and stroke. Over the study period, death rates rose for most forms of alcohol-related deaths, but “death…  read on >  read on >

Teens have a higher risk of self-injury — deliberately cutting or burning themselves — if they have a fraught relationship with a struggling parent, a new study shows. Teenagers were nearly five times more likely to self-injure if, when they were 6, their moms and dads reported stress and discomfort in their role as parents, researchers found. Teens also had a nearly doubled risk of self-harm if they perceived parental hostility and negativity at the age of 6, researchers report. “Stress in parents is hypothesized to have widespread negative impacts on child development, including the development of behavioral problems,” said researchers Tove Wichstrom and Lars Wichstrom, of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. “It is therefore possible that increased stress contributes to the emergence of risk factors in children,” including a higher risk of self-injury, they added. For the study, the researchers analyzed data from 759 Norwegian adolescents at ages 12, 14 or 16 to determine the teens’ rate of non-suicidal self-injury. About 10% of the teens reported self-injury within the past year, with girls nearly 12 times more likely than boys to cut, burn or otherwise injure themselves. Such self-injury is typically a way to cope with emotional pain, sadness, anger and stress, according to the Mayo Clinic. It’s rarely meant as a suicide attempt, but rather as a means of…  read on >  read on >

Folks hoping to quell their anxiety would do best to use cannabis products that don’t get them high, a new clinical trial has found. The non-intoxicating marijuana compound CBD appears to help manage anxiety better than THC, the chemical in weed that gets people high, researchers say. Patients with anxiety randomly assigned to smoke CBD-dominant products experienced greater improvements in mood than people smoking THC-heavy products or products with an even split between CBD and THC. “Our study suggests that CBD products may be able to relieve anxiety in the moment for adults who use them, and possibly longer-term, in a way that is meaningful and doesn’t necessarily produce the same risks or harms of THC or prescription medications,” said senior researcher Cinnamon Bidwell, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience with the University of Colorado Boulder. About one in five U.S. adults suffer from an anxiety disorder, making it the most common mental illness in the country, researchers said in background notes. Prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications are on the rise, and the drive to legalize marijuana has made cannabis products an attractive treatment option for people with anxiety. Adults rank anxiety among the top three medical reasons for turning to cannabis, alongside sleep and pain, researchers said. However, some studies have suggested that using cannabis too frequently or leaning on potent products high in…  read on >  read on >

According to the advocacy group Autism Speaks, one in every 36 U.S. children has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Early diagnosis is crucial to helping to treat the condition, but how is a diagnosis done? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has an updated review of what’s involved in diagnosing autism in kids. “Diagnosing autism spectrum disorder [ASD] can be difficult because there is no medical test, like a blood test, to diagnose the disorder,” the agency noted. “Doctors look at the child’s developmental history and behavior to make a diagnosis.” At what age can a diagnosis be made? According to the CDC, the time at which a child receives a diagnosis varies. Sometimes an ASD can be detected as young as 18 months, or even before, but only by the age of 2 can a diagnosis by a trained professional be considered reliable. Unfortunately, in many cases a diagnosis of autism may not come till later in childhood. Some people are unaware that they have an ASD until they are diagnosed as an adult. Ideally, a reliable diagnosis should take place in childhood, when therapies are most effective, the CDC said. Monitoring development As children grow, conversations between parents and health care providers that center on kids’ skills and abilities should be encouraged, the CDC said. Tracking your child’s development — how…  read on >  read on >

One out of every five adults who attempt suicide never met the criteria for a mental illness by the time the attempt happened, new research shows. “This finding challenges clinical notions of who is at risk for suicidal behavior and raises questions about the safety of limiting suicide risk screening to psychiatric populations,” concluded a team led by Dr. Maria Oquendo. She’s past president of the American Psychiatric Association and a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. The study, published Feb. 21 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, focused on data from nearly 2,000 Americans ages 20 to 65 who had all had a history of suicide attempt. The study found that 6.2% had no history of a mental illness prior to or after their attempted suicide. Another 13.4% had made a first attempt at suicide prior to the onset of any mental illness diagnosis. Some did not meet the criteria for a mental illness until years after the attempt, the study found. That means that a total of 19.6% of adults with a lifetime history of attempted suicide had no prior evidence of mental illness beforehand. For doctors, this means that they may need to be ask patients questions regarding any prior attempt at suicide, because it may have happened in the absence of a diagnosed mental illness. According to the researchers, a…  read on >  read on >