VA’s New Antidepressant Rules; App Aids Schizophrenia; Diet and Depression

A new Veterans Affairs policy for younger veterans will require signed consent forms and documented discussions about antidepressant risks and benefits before receiving a prescription. (New York Times)

Meanwhile, eight sailors assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group attempted suicide, according to the acting Navy secretary. (The Hill)

CDC data showed about 49,000 people in the U.S. died by suicide in 2023 — more than double the number of homicide deaths (23,000) that same year. (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)

Emergency room visits for pediatric mental health concerns jumped 65% between 2019 and 2025 at Children’s Hospital Colorado, a state with one of the highest pediatric suicide rates nationwide. (Axios)

Advice on how to support people who are suicidal. (CNN)

An investigational smartphone app reduced the severity of negative symptoms in schizophrenia, a randomized trial showed. (JAMA Network Open)

Acadia Pharmaceuticals’ investigational Alzheimer’s disease psychosis drug remlifanserin missed its primary endpoint in a phase II trial, but the company plans to advance the 5HT2A receptor inverse agonist to phase III studies.

Greater antipsychotic medication adherence was associated with more outpatient behavioral health visits and fewer emergency department visits in young adults with first-episode psychosis. (JAMA Network Open)

Actor Sylvester Stallone, 80, admitted that his “obsession” with his body during the height of his movie career led him to become bulimic and reach a “dangerously low” body-fat level of 2.6%. (NBC News)

In somewhat related news, owning a smartphone at age 12 was associated with eating disorder symptoms at age 14, a cohort study suggested. (JAMA Network Open)

A multipronged electronic health record-based intervention that promoted nonpharmacologic pain care after surgery helped reduce opioid exposure without worsening patient-reported outcomes, a cluster randomized trial showed. (JAMA Network Open)

The annual prevalence of dispensed benzodiazepines dropped 26.7% from 2013 to 2024, which researchers said reflects increased clinical caution and updated safety labeling. (American Journal of Psychiatry)

Roughly 9% of older adults reported using cannabis in the past year, and 11% of those met criteria for cannabis use disorder. (Addiction)

Meanwhile, a systematic review and meta-analysis linked cannabis use to a higher risk of violent behavior in both psychiatric patients and the general population. (Psychological Medicine)

Chicago launched a street psychiatry team to help homeless individuals with mental health issues. (CBS News)

Patients with major depressive disorder showed lower depression and anxiety scores when they reduced the amount of ultraprocessed foods in their diet, a small pilot crossover trial indicated. (JAMA Psychiatry)