Warnings That Doctors’ Mental Health Crisis Is Impacting Patients

Vox: The Mental Health Crisis Among Doctors Is A Problem For Patients
Twice a week, Boston-area psychiatrist Elissa Ely volunteers at a US anonymous help line for physicians in crisis. The calls she takes are often from people in deep distress — physicians having panic attacks, abusing substances or alcohol, facing divorce or alienation from family and friends. A typical call, she said, could be from “an ER doctor who vomits before she goes in for her shifts; despair and depression; suicidality.” But despite her callers’ high levels of mental distress, they’re often very resistant to her suggestions that they seek mental health care, said Ely. When she suggests doctors consider even just a “tincture” of an antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication, or find a therapist, she inevitably gets the same response, a long pause followed by a question: “Is this call really anonymous?” (Landman, 10/18)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Transcendental Meditation Can Reduce Nurse Burnout, Study Says
According to a recent study published in the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, transcendental meditation is/ effective at reducing burnout and enhancing the overall well-being of nurses. The study is a response to increasing levels of burnout within the heath care industry, largely exacerbated by the pandemic. According to another recent study, by market research and consulting company PRC, 15.6% of U.S. nurses surveyed reported feeling burnout. (Boyce, 10/17)

Des Moines Register: Iowa May Remove Mental Health Questions From Medical License Paperwork
Iowa's top medical officials are exploring changes to its licensing process that advocates say could encourage more doctors to seek treatment for mental health and substance use disorders. The Iowa Board of Medicine is reviewing its licensing applications for physicians, making Iowa one of a nearly dozen states working to determine whether the questions asked may stigmatize those seeking treatment, according to the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation, a group that advocates for greater mental health support for health care workers. (Ramm, 10/18)

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: Judge Jails Ex-Cleveland Clinic Doctor After He Asks To Plead Not Guilty By Reason Of Insanity To Groping Patients 
A former Cleveland Clinic doctor was jailed Monday after he attempted to plead not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of groping six patients. Omar Massoud was evaluated last week and showed signs of Alzheimer’s and dementia, his attorney, Ian Friedman, said in court Monday. Massoud was the chief of the hepatology department before the charges were levied against him in December. The department treats patients with liver, gallbladder and pancreatic issues. (Shaffer, 10/17)

In other mental health news —

Axios: Insurers Bash Biden's Mental Health Parity Proposal
Insurers and some employers contend the Biden administration's recent proposal to bolster coverage of mental and behavioral care could actually backfire and make it more difficult for patients to access quality care. The health care payers are urging the administration to drop major features of its plan, including a new formula to determine whether insurers are improperly limiting patient access to mental health care. And a leading health insurer trade group called on the administration to scrap the whole thing. (Goldman, 10/18)

Chief Healthcare Executive: More Girls Seek Treatment For Mental Health Reasons Than Boys
Pediatric mental health encounters have generally dropped from the peak levels seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the rate of visits among females remains above pre-pandemic levels. An analysis by Epic Research shows girls are more likely to visit emergency departments, outpatient facilities and hospitals for mental health concerns than pediatric males. (Southwick, 10/18)

Fox News: Suicide Prevention Program At Nebraska Children’s Hospital Emphasizes Encouraging, ‘Life-Saving’ Notes
A hospital in Nebraska that matches teenage suicide survivors with a "caring contact" says the program has seen positive results in preventing young patients from taking their own lives. The first-of-its-kind program provides follow-up care in the form of handwritten, personalized notes from the hospital's social work staff after the teens are discharged. The notes are sent one month, two months, three months, six months, nine months and one year after discharge — and the former patients are able to write notes back as well. (Rousselle, 10/18)

If you are in need of help —

Dial 9-8-8 for 24/7 support from the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It's free and confidential.

The New York Times: Roland Griffiths Is Dead At 77; Led A Renaissance In Psychedelics Research
Roland Griffiths, a professor of behavioral science and psychiatry whose pioneering work in the study of psychedelics helped usher in a new era of research into those once banned substances — and reintroduced the mystical into scientific discourse about them — died on Monday at his home in Baltimore. He was 77. The cause was colon cancer, said Claudia Turnbull, a longtime friend. Dr. Griffiths, a distinguished psychopharmacologist and professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, spent decades studying the mechanisms of dependence on mood-altering drugs. He published scores of papers on opiates and cocaine, on sedatives and alcohol, on nicotine and caffeine. (Green, 10/17)