MFP/ANA e-Newsletter: September 12, 2025

MENTAL HEALTH, SUBSTANCE USE, AND NURSING ARTICLES

'We lost control': Two ex-staffers describe the night of the Peace Hospital riot (opens new window)

Ian Flora backpedaled down the hallway of U of L Health's Peace Hospital as a teenage boy walked toward him with his fingers bunched into a tight ball. It was that clenched fist that made Flora, a nurse with 17 years of experience, shout, 'Call a code! Call a code!', alerting other units within the psychiatric hospital of the need for extra help within his unit, 3 South. Read more (opens new window)

Meek Mill Says There's a Mental Health Crisis in the U.S. Following Philadelphia Shooting (opens new window)

Meek Mill is urging people to focus on America's growing mental health crisis instead of framing violent crimes strictly through race. On Wednesday, the Philadelphia rapper weighed in after a pair of tragedies, one in his hometown and another in Charlotte, sparked uneven coverage online. Responding to a tweet that showed a white man allegedly fatally shooting a Black woman in Philadelphia, Meek questioned why the story drew little attention compared to a case in Charlotte, North Carolina, where a Black man was accused of stabbing a white Ukrainian refugee. Read more (opens new window)

After Charlie Kirk's assassination, how can parents shield children from graphic online content? (opens new window)

Disturbing videos from the assassination of Charlie Kirk have been circulating online, leaving many parents worried about how such graphic content may affect their children. Children's Health psychologist Nicholas Westers said while social media offers benefits, it also presents serious risks—especially for young users. "In terms of social media and parents' concerns, I think there is a lot to be concerned about," said Westers. "Being exposed to certain content online or on social media can trigger these algorithms to feed thinking that we want more of it, and it'll send more and more, and kids might not be aware of that." Read more (opens new window)

Mental health experts weigh in on coping with traumatic news events (opens new window)

The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk is a national tragedy that will take time to process. With the assassination dominating the news — and video of the shooting readily available on social media — it can be overwhelming and lead to mental health struggles. Local counselors urge people to take a break from the news and limit how much they consume. “I think everybody should make a decision about how much they want to pay attention to this,” said Dr. Jerry Cox, a licensed counselor in Roswell, told Channel 2’s Bryan Mims. Read more (opens new window)

FDA panel to weigh in on AI mental health devices (opens new window)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will hold an advisory panel meeting in November to examine the fast-emerging class of AI-enabled digital mental health devices. The agency's Digital Health Advisory Committee will meet on November 6 and focus on how these digital tools could help address a widening gap in access to mental health services in the United States, while also probing the unique risks they pose. Read more (opens new window)  (opens new window)

Parents are quietly trying ketamine therapy for their teens. It's highly controversial. (opens new window)

Jacintha was at her wits' end. Her daughter was struggling, and they had tried everything ‒ two types of antidepressants, years of talk therapy and weeks of an intensive outpatient program. She was frantically Googling one night when she came across an article about ketamine therapy. Jacintha, a horseback rider, was familiar with ketamine as a horse tranquilizer but had never heard of it as a last-stop mental health treatment for treatment-resistant patients like Lucy, who was diagnosed with depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Read more (opens new window)

The Resiliency Collaborative on Why the Mental Health of The Future Must Become a Priority (opens new window)

When schools closed, sports teams paused, and friendships were confined to screens during COVID-19, young people bore the brunt of disconnection. The abrupt loss of daily structure and social bonds created ripple effects that are still unfolding. Many teens emerged not just academically behind, but emotionally, carrying anxiety, sadness, and a sense of isolation into a world struggling to return to ‘normal.’ The World Health Organization estimates that one in seven 10–19-year-olds worldwide experiences a mental disorder, accounting for roughly 15% of the global disease burden among youth. Read more (opens new window)

The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline for the Prevention and Treatment of Delirium (opens new window)

In November 2024, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Board of Trustees approved “The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline for the Prevention and Treatment of Delirium.” The full guideline is available at APA’s Practice Guidelines web page and describes aspects of guideline implementation that are relevant to individual patients’ circumstances and preferences. Read more (opens new window)

FDA Issues New Guidance to Expand Non-Opioid Options for Chronic Pain, Curb Misuse (opens new window)

Despite recent declines, opioids remain commonly prescribed to about 1 in 5 U.S. adults who live with chronic pain as effective alternatives are limited. As part of its broader strategy to address the opioid crisis, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued draft guidance titled “Development of Non-Opioid Analgesics for Chronic Pain” to accelerate safe and effective non-opioid treatments and to reduce prescription-related opioid misuse. Read more (opens new window)  (opens new window)

U.S. Depression Rate Remains Historically High (opens new window)

The percentage of U.S. adults who report currently having or being treated for depression has exceeded 18% in both 2024 and 2025, up about eight percentage points since the initial measurement in 2015. The current rate of 18.3% measured so far in 2025 projects to an estimated 47.8 million Americans suffering from depression. Most of the increase has occurred since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Read more (opens new window)

A pilot study examining a ketogenic diet as an adjunct therapy in college students with major depressive disorder (opens new window)

A ketogenic diet (KD) has shown promise as an adjunctive therapy for neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder (MDD). We examined tolerance for a KD in young adults with MDD and assessed symptoms of depression and metabolic health. Students (n = 24) with a confirmed diagnosis of MDD at baseline receiving standard of care counseling and/or medication treatment were enrolled in a 10–12 week KD intervention that included partial provision of ketogenic-appropriate food items, frequent dietary counseling, and daily morning tracking of capillary R-beta-hydroxybutyrate (R-BHB). Read more (opens new window)

Experts: 1400+ mental health professionals needed on Southwest Florida's Gulf Coast (opens new window)

Sheridan Chester had a hard childhood. She grew up in an abusive home. At just 12 years old, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. “My sister attempted suicide when she was 7 for the first time,” Chester said. “We knew we were in trouble. We always knew we were in trouble." Over the years, Gulf Coast News has shared stories of people like Sheridan: people living with mental illness, but struggling to find the help they so badly need. Read more (opens new window)

Single Treatment With MM120 (Lysergide) in Generalized Anxiety Disorder (opens new window)

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a chronic condition marked by persistent, excessive anxiety and difficulty controlling everyday worries. GAD is one of the most common psychiatric disorders with a past-year prevalence among US adults of approximately 10%. Symptoms of GAD include fatigue, muscle tension, difficulty concentrating, and insomnia. Chronic comorbidities associated with GAD include somatic illnesses and other anxiety, depressive, and trauma-related disorders; these symptoms and comorbidities impose substantial functional, economic, and quality-of-life burdens. Read more (opens new window)

Cultural practices within Indigenous Australian communities enhance mental health (opens new window)

Cultural determinations are increasingly recognised as being crucial to mental health. We discuss an example from Indigenous Australian communities, one of the oldest continuing cultures in the world (estimated 65 000 years), to show how ancient cultural practices might support mental health by targeting the same mechanisms that underpin evidence-based psychotherapies. Read more (opens new window)

Implementing lifestyle interventions in mental health care: third report of the Lancet Psychiatry Physical Health Commission (opens new window)

The physical health disparities experienced by people who live with mental illness are well documented. This population group has cardiometabolic risks and diseases at rates 1·4–2·0 times higher than people without mental illness, and physical health conditions are responsible for 70% of the deaths of people with severe mental illness. They are the major drivers of the 13–15 year reduction in life expectancy that is found in individuals with mental illness, compared with those without mental illness. The 2019 The Lancet Psychiatry Commission: a blueprint for protecting physical health in people with mental illness brought these disparities into focus and provided guidance for health promotion, multiprofessional clinical care, and future research. Read more (opens new window)

HOTLINE RESOURCES

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (opens new window) or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) 

The Substance and Mental Health Services Administration (opens new window) provides COVID-19 guidance and resources to assist individuals, providers, communities and sates across the country. The website is updated daily.

The National CLAS Standards

The National CLAS Standards are a set of 15 action steps intended to advance health equity, improve quality, and help eliminate health care disparities by providing a blueprint for individuals and health and health care organizations to implement culturally and linguistically appropriate services. View the standards here (opens new window)