Diminishing Evidence of Antidepressants, Anxiety Screening For All Under 65s & Sharp Rise in Teenage Eating Disorders
Good evening 👋
Another busy week for mental health news.
Breakdowns and breakthroughs.
This week we discovered the diminishing evidence of long term prescriptions of antidepressants1 that a taskforce in the US are recommending – for the first time ever – a regular screening for anxiety and depression in those under 652 and that there’s been a worrying spike in eating disorders and self-harm among teenage girls in the UK, particularly those who live in affluent areas3
Research 🎓
New research suggests that issues with the immune system, including autoimmune disease, could cause psychiatric symptoms and even contribute to mental health conditions like schizophrenia and depression.
This has opened up new treatment options, including immunotherapy, which has shown promise in clinical trials. Routine screenings for immune system markers are now being done in Germany and elsewhere.
The study has led to improved conditions for patients like April and Devine, who suffered from psychosis and schizophrenia. Devine, now 21, is rebuilding her life after losing over a decade to her condition.
April Burrell, once a top student, developed severe schizophrenia after a traumatic event. Years later, doctors discovered she also had lupus, an autoimmune disease affecting her brain. After targeted treatments, April recovered from her catatonic state. This breakthrough could help other severely mentally ill patients, especially those with underlying autoimmune conditions. This research is changing how mental illnesses are diagnosed and treated, offering hope for patients previously thought to be beyond help.
Top stories 📰
United Kingdom
More than 8 million people in England (15%) have an antidepressant prescription for conditions like depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder. 1/4 of those have been taking them for 5 years with worrying low evidence for their effectiveness. Long term use has also been linked to heart disease and diabetes whilst a pharmaceutical company has been caught covering up the difficulties of withdrawal.
Read more 🔗
United States
A phenomenon known as Brain Synchrony is being studied by neuroscientists to understand its role in social interactions. Early findings show that when people engage in conversation or share experiences, their brain waves synchronize, creating matching patterns. This synchronization is believed to prepare us for interaction and is seen as a positive or negative marker of relationships. This could potentially shed light on why we sometimes don't 'click' with others and why social isolation can be harmful to our health.
United States
A Preventive Services Task Force has recommended all adults under 65, particularly pregnant and postpartum women, should be regularly screened for anxiety and depression, even if they don't show symptoms. This is the first time the group has advocated for routine anxiety screening. This comes as emotional stress has significantly increased in recent years, putting a strain on the limited number of mental health professionals. Little evidence to back screening for adults 65 and older.
Read more 🔗
United Kingdom
There's been a worrying surge in eating disorders and self-harm among teenage girls in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic. The spike is particularly noticeable among girls from affluent areas, possibly due to better access to healthcare services. The pandemic's lockdowns, which led to a sense of lost control, could be a trigger. The UK government is pouring funds into eating disorder services, but charities insist that early mental health support needs to be universally accessible.
Read more 🔗
Spotlight 🔍
Community
We’ve been closely following the developments of a community-based for-profit organization called Vanna Health over in the US. Their revolutionary psychosocial rehabilitation model is proving to be effective by leveraging diverse 1:1 local coaches, local pod support groups and clubhouse environments too. Read more 🔗
Company
Half of the battle with mental health care is in accessibility. Charlie Health are on a mission to change that by making intensive outpatient care accessible to teenagers by accepting more than 200 insurance plans in the 23 states it operates in, and Medicaid in 14 of the states they operate in. It also seeks to improve existing problems in care such as mismatched therapy groups with algorithms based on diagnosis, maladaptive coping mechanism, and demographic information such as age, gender identity, sexual orientation and race. Read more 🔗
Campaigner
The light shines on Christian Angermayer this week as he announced that his fund, the largest VC fund dedicated to mental health care (re.Mind Capital), has invested in immersive experience wellness company TRIPP to expedite growth and provide alternative solutions to rehabilitation. Read more 🔗
Plenty to ponder… see you next week!
References
Source: Schraer R. Antidepressants: Two million taking them for five years or more. BBC News. Published June 19, 2023. Accessed June 28, 2023.