Tag: children

Reading of the Week: Therapy = More Work + Better Income? The New Psych Medicine Study; Also, Zero Suicide & Melatonin for Kids

June 5, 2025 /

From the Editor

After completing a course of psychotherapy, he felt better and began a part-time job. The employment gave him a sense of purpose. As a physician, I could both sympathize and empathize; for many, work is a meaningful part of life, after all.

But does psychotherapy necessarily result in employment? Does therapy pay for itself with economic benefits? Otto R. F. Smith (of NLA University College) and his co-authors attempt to answer these questions in an impressive new paper in Psychological Medicine. They report on an RCT involving more than 700 Norwegian participants who were randomized to a psychotherapy program (modeled after the UK’s IAPT service) or to treatment as usual. The authors used administrative databases to analyze employment, income, and the economic benefit. “The results support the societal economic benefit of investing in IAPT-like services.” We consider the paper and its implications.

In the second selection, Dr. Calina Ouliaris (of Macquarie University) and her co-authors look at the zero suicide approach. In a Commentary for The British Journal of Psychiatry, they argue that – despite being studied and implemented in several places – it lacks evidence. “The Zero Suicide Framework is an arguably vague framework with a scant evidence base, particularly for application in healthcare settings. Despite this, the concrete goal championed… that of ‘zero suicides’, is appealing and has been widely promulgated in mental health services, ahead of evidence for the same.”

Finally, in the third selection, Dr. Chris Y. Kim (of the University of Toronto) and his co-authors weigh the use of melatonin for children and adolescents. In The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, they are cautious, in part because of the lack of consistency of over-the-counter melatonin. “Melatonin used as a hypnotic agent for the treatment of insomnia is controversial.”

DG

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Reading of the Week: Are the Kids Alright? The New JAMA Paper on Mental Disorders & Children; Also, the Remarkable Life of Dr. Mary Seeman

May 1, 2025 /

From the Editor

Are children experiencing more mental disorders than before, or are we simply getting better at screening for them? Many have opinions and there is debate among psychiatrists and within our society.

In a new JAMA paper, Janet R. Cummings (of Emory University) and her co-authors provide new data shedding light on this issue. Drawing on US government databases covering 22 states and from 2010 to 2019, they looked at diagnoses and demographics among economically disadvantaged children. “This observational study found that the percentage of publicly insured children diagnosed with any mental health or neurodevelopmental disorder increased from 10.7% in 2010 to 16.5% in 2019.” We consider the paper and the accompanying Editorial – and wonder if this reflects better screening or more illness. 

In this week’s other selection, we look at the life and career of Dr. Mary Seeman, who died in 2024. In an obituary for The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Robert B. Zipursky (of the University of Toronto) and his co-authors note her many contributions to psychiatry. “Although Mary was 89 years old at the time of her death, her passion, humour, curiosity, and productivity had not abated. It endures now in the legacy of her scientific work, in her teaching and clinical care and in the many people she inspired to follow her example.”

DG


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Reading of the Week: Screen Time and Kids’ Mental Health – the New JAMA Psych Paper; Also, Carol Smith on Her Grief (Wash Post)

May 26, 2022 /

From the Editor

Gaming. Apps. Streaming videos.

Children today have endless options at their fingertips, allowing them to entertain themselves for hours – which means less time for reading, playing, and physical activity. What effect does this have on their mental health? That question has sparked much debate: some argue that screen time is inherently problematic while others feel that it opens doors for creativity and connection to others. But what does the literature say? 

In the first selection, Rachel Eirich (of the University of Calgary) and her co-authors consider screen time and behavioural problems in children with a new systematic review and meta-analysis, just published in JAMA Psychiatry. Pulling together 87 studies, they focus on several variables. The big finding? “This study found small but significant correlations between screen time and children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior problems.” We look at the study.

And in the second selection, continuing our consideration of the first update to the DSM series in nine years, journalist Carol Smith mulls DSM-5-TR and the new diagnosis of prolonged grief disorder. In The Washington Post, she writes about her personal experience with grief: she lost her son when he was just 7. “I never thought to ask for help. I wish I had.”

DG

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