Top articles to read during Mental Health Awareness Month

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five Americans are affected by mental health conditions. Although millions of people in the United States face issues with mental health, stigma remains a huge barrier to people receiving the care and attention they need.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. To bring attention to this national awareness month, Healio Psychiatry has compiled a list of top psychiatry-related articles written this year.

TBI may increase risk for dementia, Alzheimer’s disease

Results from a nationwide cohort study in Denmark of more than 2 million people aged 50 years and older showed that those who sustained a traumatic brain injury were more likely to develop all-cause dementia and Alzheimer’s disease than those with no history of injury. Read more.

Experts say mental illness ‘should not be stigmatized’ in wake of mass shootings

Recent mass shootings across the United States have prompted policymakers, journalists and the public to often focus the blame on individuals with serious mental illness, disregarding other contributory factors, such as firearm accessibility, according to a viewpoint published in JAMA Psychiatry. Read more.

Intranasal esketamine shows promise for major depression in phase 2 study

Phase 2 study results published in The American Journal of Psychiatry indicated that standard-of-care treatment plus intranasal esketamine outperformed placebo for rapid improvement of depressive symptoms and suicidality in patients with major depression. Read more.

Teachers, other school staff can ease children’s mental health issues

Study findings demonstrated that school-based mental health services delivered by teachers and other school personnel helped reduce mental health issues in elementary-aged children. Read more.

Early medication discontinuation may worsen outcomes in first-episode psychosis

Research published in The Lancet Psychiatry indicated that patients with first-episode schizophrenia who continued their antipsychotic treatment for at least 3 years after initiation were less likely to relapse and develop poor long-term health outcomes than those who discontinued treatment. Read more.