This week, we look at red flags for adolescent suicide risk, explore the difference between Munchausen and dementia, the unexpected dangers of diabetes in elderly patients.
Do Residual Depression Symptoms Signal Teen Suicide Risk?
New research in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry reveals that certain depression symptoms could be reliable red flags for suicide risk in adolescents. It’s a danger that persists even when it appears as if the patient has improved.
While traditional teen suicide treatments target depression in a general sense, researchers at Children’s Medical Center Dallas wanted to know if specific symptoms persisted after treatment. They sought to discover whether these lingering symptoms might suggest an elevated near-term suicide risk.
Combing through the data of more than 700 teens who’d received treatment in an intensive outpatient program, the researchers tracked symptom changes using the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, in addition to follow-up reports from parents. Despite substantial improvement in overall depressive severity, some symptoms – especially anhedonia, sleep problems, and suicidal ideation – still haunted some patients. They also seemed to strongly predict suicide attempts, ER visits, or rehospitalizations within six months.
The researchers relied on robust statistical models to control for multiple risk factors while assessing the unique impact of each symptom. Notably, persistent suicidal ideation remained a strong indicator of future suicide risk.
The study underscores the need to move beyond total depression scores and instead focus on individual symptoms at discharge. Targeted follow-up care and interventions – such as CBT for insomnia and suicidal ideation specific treatments – could help curb the risk of relapse.
The research supports a symptom-focused approach to suicide prevention in high-risk youth along with a call for more vigilant monitoring after the patient is discharged.
IN OTHER PSYCHIATRY AND NEUROLOGY NEWS
- The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders reports on a case study that shows the diagnostic challenges of differentiating frontotemporal dementia from aggravating personality disorder.
- JCP also shares research that reveals that in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes, delirium drives up the risk of developing dementia in a dose-dependent manner.
- PCC also reports this week on the potential benefits, dosages, and mechanisms of GLP-1 receptor agonists on alcohol consumption and how they might modify alcohol-seeking behavior.
- Additional JCP research shows that women with ADHD were 1.14 times more likely to be diagnosed with mood disorder six weeks after childbirth.
- Finally, a PCC report explores the case of prolonged ECT-associated delirium in a 65-year-old woman, offering insights into the proposed pathophysiology.
