Firearm Access Is Driving Up Teenage Boy Suicide Rates Dramatically
Data show teenage boys' suicide rates were more than three times higher than for girls between 2018 and 2020, and the majority were by firearm. Another report covers suicides among nursing staff. Other research shows: high suicide rates for nurses; and that teens' days are punctuated by phone notifications, even at night.
The 19th:
Suicide Rates Of Teenage Boys Are Skyrocketing Because Of Firearm Access
Suicide rates were 3.2 times higher for teenage boys than teen girls between 2018 and 2020 — with guns increasingly playing an outsize role. Boys and young men represent 80 percent of all youth suicide deaths, and 90 percent of all those who die by suicide using a firearm. (Gerson, 9/26)
Stat:
Suicide Rates Higher For Nurses, Health Care Support Workers, Study Says
Jobs in health care are known to be challenging for workers’ mental health. But the mental health toll can be especially burdensome for registered nurses, health technicians, and health care support workers, who are at a higher risk of suicide compared to the general population, according to a study published on Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association that looked at a nationally representative cohort of about 1.84 million employed people (both within the health care field and outside) observed from 2008 to 2019. (Merelli, 9/26)
NBC News:
Teens Inundated With Phone Prompts Day And Night, Research Finds
New research Common Sense Media released Tuesday finds about half of 11- to 17-year-olds get at least 237 notifications on their phones every day. About 25% of them pop up during the school day, and 5% show up at night. ... Dr. Benjamin Maxwell, the interim director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego, said he is "immensely concerned" by the findings. (Edwards and Snow, 9/26)
On other public health news —
Politico:
Rising Temps May Increase Hospital Visits For Drugs And Alcohol
Now, new research finds that warmer weather can increase the risk of substance-related hospitalizations. The study, published today in the journal Communications Medicine, finds that higher temperatures are associated with more hospitalizations related to the abuse of alcohol and drugs in New York state. For nonalcohol substances, hospitalizations increased until temperatures reached about 50 degrees — then tapered off. (Harvey, 9/26)
The New York Times:
Former U.S. Military Bases Remain A Toxic Menace
The cities of Seaside and Marina, Calif., where Fort Ord had been critical to the local economy, were left with a ghost town of clapboard barracks and decrepit, World War II-era concrete structures that neither of the cities could afford to tear down. Also left behind were poisonous stockpiles of unexploded ordnance, lead fragments, industrial solvents and explosives residue, a toxic legacy that in some areas of the base remains largely where the Army left it. (Vartabedian, 9/27)
Axios:
Black Infertility: Why It's Too Rarely Discussed
From better medical training to more inclusive health benefits, a host of new efforts are aimed at reversing long-standing disparities and stigma that have prevented Black women from seeking out fertility treatments. Black women may be twice as likely to have fertility challenges than white women, but cultural factors — underscored by new research — contribute to Black adults seeking treatment less and silently suffering more. (Mallenbaum, 9/27)
WMFE:
Pediatrics Specialist Weighs In On A 300% Increase In ADHD Medication User Error
Between 2000 and 2021, U.S. poison control centers across the nation reported a 300% increase in calls regarding children improperly taking ADHD medication outside of hospital settings, according to a study by the American Academy of Pediatrics. "Thinking about the use of these medications, it kind of makes sense," said Dr. Lisa Spector, division chief for the Division of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics at Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando. (Pedersen, 9/26)
