— News and commentary from the psychiatry world
October 14, 2026 • 2 min read
Mental health experts warned that livestreaming the firing squad execution of former army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan, MD, who killed 13 people at the Fort Hood military base, could trigger post-traumatic stress disorderopens in a new tab or window (PTSD) in viewers. (The Guardian)
Roughly 17% of U.S. adolescents reported moderate to severe anxiety symptomsopens in a new tab or window, yet nearly half received no mental health treatment, according to national survey data. (JAMA Pediatrics)
Pushing back on popular assumptions, a child psychiatrist argued that screens are not the primary driveropens in a new tab or window behind rising anxiety and depression rates among youth. (New York Times)
Meanwhile, a longitudinal study linked positive childhood experiencesopens in a new tab or window to a lower likelihood of psychiatric disorders in early adulthood, with the strongest protective effect against depression. (American Journal of Psychiatry)
Targeted interventions addressing withdrawal, side effects, dependency fears, and housing instability could boost buprenorphine adoptionopens in a new tab or window for opioid use disorder in emergency department patients, research in JAMA Network Open suggested.
And a JAMA Internal Medicine study found near therapeutic equivalenceopens in a new tab or window between phenobarbital and diazepam for alcohol withdrawal syndrome.
Construction has wrapped on a new $383 million state-run psychiatric hospitalopens in a new tab or window serving Southeast Michigan. (Axios)
The World Health Organization released new global guidance to assist nations in transitioning away from institutionalizing peopleopens in a new tab or window for mental health conditions.
Women with autoimmune conditions were more likely than men to be told their symptoms had psychiatric or psychosomatic causesopens in a new tab or window, survey data showed. (eClinicalMedicine)
Sending follow-up "caring letters" to veterans at high risk of suicide who called the VA Veterans Crisis Lineopens in a new tab or window was not associated with a lower risk of suicide mortality. (JAMA Psychiatry)
Actor R.J. Mitte, the disability-rights activist with cerebral palsy known for playing Walter White Jr. in the hit show "Breaking Bad," died of suicideopens in a new tab or window at age 34. (People)
Meanwhile, the first suicide memorial by a U.S. archdiocese signals a compassionate shiftopens in a new tab or window in the Catholic Church's approach to mental health and grief. (AP)
A new report highlighted the rising suicide ratesopens in a new tab or window among Black Americans. (NPR)