— News and commentary from the psychiatry world
August 19, 2026
• 2 min read
In a New York Times essay, a psychiatrist described how a growing number of teen girls and young women are using “therapy speak” to describe their mental distress, sometimes showing up at their first session announcing a diagnosis they’d researched online.
Meanwhile, experts say more people are seeking an attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder diagnosis, but then declining treatment. (The Guardian)
Five state firearm laws — including permit requirements, a minimum age of 21 for handguns, and prohibitions for people with violent misdemeanors — were linked to lower firearm suicide rates. (JAMA Network Open)
More research showed that childhood leucovorin prescriptions surged after federal officials touted the drug as an autism treatment. (New England Journal of Medicine)
An umbrella review in The BMJ outlined the most effective bipolar disorder therapies across age groups and phases (acute bipolar depression, mania or mixed episodes, maintenance).
Reports of a mental health crisis on the USS Abraham Lincoln included sailors trying to jump overboard; the aircraft carrier was deployed for more than 250 days in support of the Iran war. (The Guardian)
The White House introduced a “treatment-first” strategy for addiction, prioritizing faith-based care over Biden-era harm reduction and “housing first” strategies. (STAT)
Over a 12-month period, a digital behavioral health game was linked to modest but sustained reductions in depressive symptoms in adolescents, according to a secondary analysis of a randomized trial. (JAMA Network Open)
Meta returned to court this week over claims it helped fuel a youth mental health crisis by engineering addictive features for its social media platforms aimed at children. (Bioreports)
Neutrogena faces renewed online backlash after Hayden Panettiere’s unexpected death; the 36-year-old actress had claimed the company tried to fire her for speaking up about her postpartum depression. (USA Today)
Selena Gomez is being sued by investors for alleged securities fraud in her mental health startup, Wondermind. (Forbes)
Black women were significantly more likely to discontinue buprenorphine for opioid use disorder during pregnancy compared with white women, a nationwide Medicaid study revealed. (JAMA Psychiatry)
