Difficulty Sleeping May Contribute To Suicide Risk In Older Adults.
The Washington Post (8/14, Kunkle) reports that a study published online Aug. 13 in JAMA Psychiatry suggests that ¡°difficulty sleeping may contribute to a risk of suicide in older adults.¡± The study ¡°examined data on 420 people who were an average of about 75 years old and living in the community.¡± The participants, made up of ¡°400 control patients and 20 who died by suicide...were tracked over a 10 year period.¡±
The Boston Globe (8/14, Rice) mentions the study¡¯s findings and adds that ¡°according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, sleep complaints are actually one of the top 10 warning signs for suicide.¡±
The Huffington Post (8/14, Adams) reports that the study found that not only did ¡°difficulty falling asleep and non-restorative sleep put subjects at 1.4 times greater risk for suicide – 1.2 when controlled for depression,¡± but also that ¡°trouble sleeping was a better indicator than depressive symptoms when it came to predicting suicide in older adults.¡±
HealthDay (8/14, Haelle) points out that ¡°the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US National Institutes of Health contributed funding for the study.¡± Reuters (8/14, Doyle) also covers the study.
Comedian¡¯s Suicide Leads To Social Media Outpouring Of Support.
NBC Nightly News (8/13, story 6, 2:25, Holt) reported in the aftermath of the suicide of comedian and actor Robin Williams on ¡°an outpouring for people who face similar struggles with depression and suicide.¡± Correspondent Kate Snow was shown saying, ¡°People struggling with depression turned to social media, strangers supporting each other sharing deeply personal stories.¡± Snow emphasized the importance of the ¡°dialogue about suicide that¡¯s happening because of Robin Williams,¡± citing her own personal experience with the loss of a family member to suicide.
Evidence Suggests Suicide May Be Contagious. The New York Times (8/14, Sanger-Katz, Subscription Publication) reports in ¡°The Upshot¡± that ¡°there¡¯s a strong body of evidence that suicide is...contagious,¡± and that ¡°publicity surrounding a suicide has been repeatedly and definitively linked to a subsequent increase in suicide, especially among young people.¡± For that reason, ¡°suicide prevention advocates have developed guidelines for news media coverage of suicide deaths.¡± The goal is not to glamorize suicide ¡°or to make it seem like a simple or inevitable solution for people who are at risk.¡±
Robin Williams¡¯ Widow Reveals He Was In Early Stages Of Parkinson¡¯s.
Major television networks, newspapers, wire sources and Internet media outlets continue coverage of comedian and actor Robin Williams¡¯ suicide, focusing on the revelation by his widow, Susan Schneider, that Williams was in the early stages of Parkinson¡¯s disease, but he was not yet ready to share his diagnosis with the public.
ABC World News (8/14, story 3, 2:20, Muir) reported that Susan Schneider released ¡°a statement thanking everyone for the outpouring of good wishes, but she added something else, revealing that Robin Williams had received a Parkinson¡¯s diagnosis.¡± In another segment on ABC World News (8/14, story 4, 0:30, Muir), senior medical contributor Jennifer Ashton, MD reported that it is ¡°very difficult to treat depression in a patient with Parkinson¡¯s, but there is excellent treatment now and there is reason for hope.¡±
On the CBS Evening News (8/14, story 9, 1:50, Pelley), correspondent John Blackstone reported, ¡°A study published last year found that people diagnosed with depression were three times more likely to develop Parkinson¡¯s.¡± He added that ¡°depression is an early sign of the changes in brain chemistry that occur with Parkinson¡¯s.¡±
On NBC Nightly News (8/14, story 4, 1:50, Holt), correspondent Joe Fryer reported that for patients suffering from both depression and Parkinson¡¯s, ¡°the National Institute of Mental Health says each illness can make symptoms of the other worse.¡± However, ¡°it¡¯s unclear if Parkinson¡¯s can be linked to Williams¡¯ suicide.¡±
USA Today (8/15, Mandell) reports that Parkinson¡¯s, ¡°which often leads to depression, can elevate someone¡¯s risk of suicide, says Jeffrey Lieberman,¡± MD, former president of the American Psychiatric Association and now director of the New York State Psychiatric Institute. ¡°Williams was already at higher than average risk for suicide because of his history of depression and substance abuse, as well as his demographic group.¡± White men who are older, especially those who have undergone ¡°heart surgery, as he had, are at higher risk.¡± Dr. Lieberman stated that ¡°Parkinson¡¯s ¡®is another risk factor both psychologically and physiologically.¡¯¡±
The Los Angeles Times (8/15, Brown) ¡°LA Now¡± blog reports, ¡°The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Md. reports that Parkinson¡¯s affects more than half a million Americans.¡±
The Washington Post (8/15, Bernstein) ¡°To Your Health¡± blog explains that a ¡°2012 study conducted by the National Parkinson Foundation¡± revealed that ¡°61 percent of 5,557 Parkinson¡¯s patients surveyed reported that they...suffered from depression, with symptoms that ranged from mild to severe.¡±
TIME (8/15, Sifferlin) reports, ¡°The National Institutes of Health (NIH) acknowledges there is a link between Parkinson¡¯s and depression, though the association is not always biological.¡±
CNN (8/15, Duke) points out that ¡°Parkinson¡¯s disease ¡®causes certain brain cells to die,¡¯ according to¡± the NIH website. The disease ¡°is more likely to affect men than women and most often develops after age 50.¡± HealthDay (8/15, Reinberg) reports that ¡°there¡¯s no cure for Parkinson¡¯s disease, but there are medicines and therapies that can help improve symptoms, according to the NIH.¡±
Also covering the story are the AP (8/15, Elber), Bloomberg News (8/15, Palazzo, Basak), Reuters (8/15, Sinha-Roy, Kelsey), the Los Angeles Times (8/15, D'Zurilla) ¡°Ministry of Gossip¡± blog, the Washington Times (8/15, Chasmar), the NBC News (8/15, Carroll) website, the Huffington Post (8/15, Marcus), the Boston Globe (8/15), and the NPR (8/15, Neuman) ¡°The Two-Way¡± blog.
Williams¡¯ Suicide An Opportunity To Educate The Public About Mental Illness, Suicide. Psychiatric News (8/15) reports that the tragedy of Williams¡¯ suicide ¡°provided an opportunity to educate the public about mental illness, risks of suicide, and the importance of reaching out for help and seeking treatment.¡± American Psychiatric Association president Paul Summergrad, MD, was interviewed on the NBC Nightly News in which he said, ¡°It¡¯s very important that we stop seeing these illnesses as false and stop blaming patients and see them for what they are – which are medical conditions, genetic conditions, brain disorders that require appropriate diagnosis, treatment, care, and support.¡± Meanwhile, APA CEO and medical director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, pointed out, ¡°APA continues to provide expert interviews and public education resources on bipolar disorder, depression, suicidality, substance and alcohol use, and their treatments.¡±
NIMH¡¯s Insel: Comedian¡¯s Death Should Be A Call To Action. The Hill (8/14, Viebeck) reported that National Institute of Mental Health Director Thomas Insel, MD ¡°said the death of Robin Williams should be a call to action for researchers working to treat serious mental illness and prevent suicide.¡± In a blog post, Dr. Insel ¡°mourned Williams...and acknowledged that acute depression and other psychological disorders can be just as fatal as ¡®big killers¡¯ like cancer and heart disease.¡± Dr. Insel added, ¡°Our discussions of mental illness rarely focus on this inconvenient truth.¡±