Mental Health Weekly最新文献

Adolescents with treatment-resistant depression may benefit from magnetic seizure therapy (MST) more quickly — and with fewer drawbacks — than their adult counterparts, according to new research examining age-based differences in the therapy's effects. The study looks at how young people respond to this emerging neuromodulation technique compared to adults who typically face a longer and more complicated course of illness.

In a chaotic 24-hour stretch, community mental health and addiction programs across the country were shaken by the federal government's decision to cancel — and then swiftly restore — nearly $2 billion in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) discretionary grants. Late on January 13, organizations ranging from local nonprofits to school-based programs received sudden notices indicating their federal awards were being terminated immediately because they no longer aligned with agency priorities. According to multiple accounts, the decision appeared to catch grantees off-guard (see “SAMHSA announces massive grant cut, then reverses course,” MHW, Jan. 19, 2026; https://doi.org/10.1002/mhw.34724).

The New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Inc., is holding its annual conference, “Evolving Behavioral Health, Advancing Together for 75 Years,” April 14–15 in Iselin, N.J. For more information, visit http://www.njamhaa.org.

Escalating concerns about health plan denials in California are prompting new legislative scrutiny as families and providers report growing barriers to timely mental health care. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has introduced SB 363, a measure aimed at forcing greater transparency from insurers whose coverage denials are increasingly being overturned on appeal. Providers say the trend is contributing to delays and disruptions that can be especially harmful for young people with behavioral health needs.

Numerous budget actions taken in the first year of the Trump administration have amounted to a dismantling of the infrastructure that protects children's mental health, faculty leaders at Georgetown University wrote in a strongly worded Health Affairs commentary this month.

Microdosing — once a niche practice whispered about in online forums and tech circles — has firmly entered the mainstream. A new RAND survey suggests that millions of U.S. adults are now taking sub-perceptual amounts of psychedelics such as psilocybin, LSD and MDMA, often with goals that differ sharply from those associated with traditional, full-dose use.

Despite a steady decline in prescribing potentially inappropriate central nervous system (CNS)–active medications for older adults in recent years, concerns remain about their continued use and associated risks, according to new research in JAMA, published Jan. 12. Patients with cognitive impairment were more likely than those with normal cognition to receive such medications. Researchers also found that more than two-thirds of these prescriptions lacked any documented clinical indication.

Findings of a new study suggest that many individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) who are also experiencing homelessness are more receptive to mental health treatment interventions than what providers often assume.

The Trevor Project is celebrating what it is calling a “transformational” charitable gift, from philanthropist and novelist MacKenzie Scott. The $45 million investment, announced last week, follows a $6 million contribution Scott had made to the organization in 2020. Leaders at The Trevor Project say the latest gift comes at a pivotal time for the organization's mission of supporting the needs of LGBTQ+ young people, given the consistently high numbers of LGBTQ+ youths who report they have considered suicide. The organization's recent research found that the mental health crisis in this population is worsening, with increasing rates of depression, anxiety and suicidality. “Our organization must continue to innovate and connect with more LGBTQ+ young people in crisis,” Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black said in the organization's announcement of the major gift.

As MHW was going to press last week, mental health and substance use treatment leaders were processing a chaotic course of events in Washington, as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced the termination and then reinstatement of an estimated $2 billion in existing grants within the span of a day.