MFP/ANA e-Newsletter: August 29, 2025

MENTAL HEALTH, SUBSTANCE USE, AND NURSING ARTICLES

The Great Shift: How Gen Z is reshaping the future of nursing (opens new window)

It’s no longer a “coming trend” — Gen Z nurses have arrived, and they’re already changing the dynamics of the U.S. nursing workforce. Born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, this is the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in American history and the first to grow up entirely in the digital age. They enter the world of registered nurses, a profession with deep traditions and high-pressure demands. Yet they carry with them a distinctly modern set of priorities: flexible scheduling, mental health resources, technology that works for them, and a sustainable work-life balance. Read more (opens new window)

CDC launches new national campaign to tackle mental health, substance use among teens (opens new window)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched a new campaign on Tuesday aimed at tackling mental health and substance use among teens ahead of the upcoming school year. The federal campaign, entitled Free Mind, aims to provide teens and their parents or caregivers with "resources and information about substance use, mental health and the connection between the two." The efforts revolve around the messaging that "drugs and mental health don't mix" according to the landing page of the new campaign on the CDC's website. Read more (opens new window)

TikTok staffers worry about teens’ mental health in unsealed video: ‘You never want to leave’ (opens new window)

TikTok staffers privately raised concerns over the wildly popular app’s impact on mental health — despite the company’s public claims that it’s safe for kids and teens, according to newly unsealed videos. Current and former TikTok employees admitted to discomfort with the China-owned app’s algorithm and its tendency to push unhealthy content to kids — including “disordered eating behavior,” according to videos submitted as evidence in a major legal case brought by multiple US states. In videos presented in the lawsuit led by the state of North Carolina, Ashlen Sepulveda, who worked in trust and safety before leaving TikTok in 2021, said it “keeps me up at night.” Read more (opens new window)

Ambient Documentation Technology in Clinician Experience of Documentation Burden and Burnout (opens new window)

Insufficient time for documentation in the electronic health record (EHR) by clinicians has been associated with a higher odds of burnout,1 which in turn is associated with worse patient care quality and safety. Documentation burden is associated with clinician burnout. To address documentation burden, Mass General Brigham (MGB) in Somerville, Massachusetts, and Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, Georgia, have piloted ambient documentation technology (ADT), which develops artificial intelligence–drafted clinical notes from clinician-patient conversations. Read more (opens new window)

A blueprint for protecting physical health in people with mental illness (opens new window)

People with mental illness have an increased risk of physical disease, as well as reduced access to adequate health care. Physical-health disparities are observed across all mental illnesses in all countries. The high rate of physical comorbidity, which often has poor clinical management, reduces life expectancy for people with mental illness, and increases the personal, social, and economic cost of mental illness across the lifespan. This Commission, which includes an original, broad report, and ongoing updated reports on specific topics, summarises advances in understanding on the topic of physical health in people with mental illness, and presents clear directions for health promotion, clinical care, and future research. Read more (opens new window)  (opens new window)

CDC Gunman Blamed His Depression on the COVID Vaccine: Here's What the Research Says (opens new window)

The 30-year-old gunman who opened fireopens in a new tab or window on CDC headquarters last week, killing a police officer and inciting a campus-wide lockdown, attributed his depression and suicidal thoughtsopens in a new tab or window to the COVID-19 vaccine, according to his father and authorities. The shooter, Patrick Joseph White, had recently shared that he was thinking of taking his own life, and documents found in his home revealed his "discontent with the COVID-19 vaccinationsopens in a new tab or window," according to investigators. Read more (opens new window)

Pharmacy Barriers to Receiving Buprenorphine Among Patients Undergoing Telemedicine Addiction Treatment (opens new window)

Opioid use disorder (OUD) remains a critical public health crisis in the United States, with 5 million or 2.2% of adults aged 26 years and older meeting diagnostic criteria in 2023. The age-adjusted rate of opioid-related overdose deaths in the United States reached 24 deaths per 100 000 in 2023, up from 4.5 deaths per 100 000 persons in 2013. Buprenorphine is an US Food and Drug Administration–approved, first-line pharmacotherapy that treats OUD and reduces opioid overdose–related mortality. Read more (opens new window)

Is 'Co-Production' the Missing Puzzle Piece to Better Mental Health Care? (opens new window)

We are more aware of mental health today than ever before. We have entire months dedicated to mental health and suicide prevention -- acknowledged by social media feeds filled with anti-stigma campaigns, infographics on signs and symptoms, and prevention education. This is all, of course, powerful and important. However, I'm concerned that there has been more talk about awareness and less about whether what we're doing as a field is actually working. Why, despite increased awareness of mental health issues, is our nation still facing a mental health crisis? As a licensed therapist, mental health advocate, and suicide-attempt survivor, I am concerned. Read more (opens new window)

Here's How to Talk About Suicidality With Teenagers (opens new window)

"No one would care if you killed yourself," I thought as I stood in front of my locker in high school. That day I'd been called the n-word and a homophobic slur. Classmates passed by. I had a smile plastered on my face; no one had any idea how much I wanted to die overnight so I didn't have to come back tomorrow. I fought my suicidal thoughts into submission, but more and more I wondered, "Should I just give in?" Exhausted, I repeated one of the mantras I had to stay alive: "Get to college. Maybe things will be better." Read more (opens new window)  (opens new window)

Superagers' Brains Are Different: Here's How (opens new window)

Superagers -- a group of adults over age 80 with the memory capacity of much younger people -- maintained good brain morphology, tended to be gregarious, and appeared to be resistant to neurofibrillary degeneration and resilient to its consequences, more than two decades of research showed. In contrast to neurotypical peers who had age-related brain shrinkage, this group had a region in the cingulate gyrus that was thicker than younger adults, reported Sandra Weintraub, PhD, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and colleagues. Read more (opens new window)

Dementia Follows a Different Course in Men (opens new window)

Men had higher mortality and hospitalization rates after a dementia diagnosis compared with women, even after controlling for age and comorbidities, a study of 5.7 million Medicare beneficiaries showed. Crude 1-year mortality rates were lower for women with incident dementia compared with men (21.8% vs 27.2%, P<0.001). After adjusting for age, race, ethnicity, Medicaid dual eligibility, medical comorbidity burden, and access to healthcare resources, the hazard of death associated with male sex was 1.24 (95% CI 1.23-1.26, P<0.001), said Jay Lusk, MD, MBA, of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and co-authors. 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)