News Mentions for the week of March 4, 2024

The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), in partnership with the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC), today awarded $67 million to 99 organizations, across 30 counties, to expand early intervention programs and practices that provide mental health and wellness services to children, youth, and young adults in California. Congratulations to the INSPIRE Clinic, one of the grant awardees for operational expansion under the program's First Episode of Psychosis Implementation Track!

Over the past decade, Lillie Reed, Stanford Medicine student and Co-Lead of the Psychiatry Student Interest Group, has dedicated her life and academic career to preventing violence and helping victims heal from the resulting trauma. Reed's work in the Stanford Medicine Children's Health Trauma Clinic under the supervision of Hilit Kletter, clinical associate profess or psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is highlighted.

The proliferation of ketamine clinics in the U.S. has veered far off course from the recommendations of the nation's premier psychiatric association when it comes to using the anesthetic to treat mood disorders, experts say. Smita Das, clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s addiction council, provides comment.

Dozens of students gathered in Saratoga High School’s student center on Feb. 28 to participate in emergency lifesaving training. Unlike similar efforts in the past, the training wasn’t centered around chest compressions or mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but on how to save someone from an opioid overdose. The event was part of an effort the Los Gatos Saratoga Union High School District is undertaking to train their entire student population in the use of the overdose-reversing medication Naloxone, commonly known as Narcan. The district is among the first in the Bay Area to do so, spurred by the growing prevalence of fentanyl. Keith Humphreys, the Esther Ting Memorial professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, provides comment.

Alcohol is one of the most commonly used drugs in America, and it is also one of the deadliest, with more and more people losing their lives to alcohol-related causes over the last two decades. A new report reveals how the problem has become more acute in recent years. Keith Humphreys, the Esther Ting Memorial professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, joins William Brangham to discuss.

In time for daylight saving time starting on March 10, sleep experts weigh in on the harms of the daylight saving transition, such as increased risks for cardiovascular events, car accidents, and mortality. Logan Schneider, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is quoted.

New research is stirring interest in ibogaine, which appears to help ease the agony of detox and prevent relapse. Used in other countries, it remains illegal in the U.S. A recent study directed by Nolan Williams, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is mentioned.

Lifestyle psychiatry can play an important role in helping patients establish healthy behaviors and habits that both help prevent and treat mental illness. Learn more in this cover story from the latest edition of APA's Psychiatric News, by Douglas Noordsy, clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Amelia Abbott-Frey, psychiatry resident, and Vanika Chawla, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.