The percentage of American adults identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) increased to 4.5 percent in 2017, up from 4.1 percent in 2016 and 3.5 percent in 2012 when Gallup began tracking the measure. According to Gallup, “the expansion in the number of Americans who identify as LGBT is driven primarily by the cohort of millennials, defined as those born between 1980 and 1999.”
Approximately one in ten adults age 65 and older currently binge drink, putting them at risk for a range of health problems, according to a new study by researchers at NYU School of Medicine and the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research at NYU College of Global Public Health.
More than ten years ago, a major milestone in the treatment of mental health disorders was reached when President George W. Bush signed the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) into law. The legislation, commonly known as the federal parity law, requires most insurers to cover illnesses of the brain, such as depression or substance use disorder (SUD), just like other illnesses of the human body, such as diabetes mellitus or cancer.
America is aging. The number of Americans aged 65 and older is expected to more than double by 2060, and the 65-plus age group’s share of the total population will rise to nearly 24 percent from currently 15 percent. The challenges and opportunities involved in this trend were the focus of a recent presentation by nurses Amy Zellers and Elisha Miller, and psychiatrist Norriece Gibson as part of the Williamsburg Place Lecture Series.
Alzheimer's is a brain disease that causes a slow decline in memory, thinking, and reasoning skills. An estimated 5.8 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease (AD). By mid-century, the number of people living with Alzheimer's dementia is projected to grow to almost 14 million in the United States, fueled in large part by aging baby boomers. AD is already the sixth leading cause of death in the US.
Regular exercise and physical activity are important to the physical and mental health of almost everyone, including older adults. Being physically active can help you continue to do the things you enjoy and stay independent as you age.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, bipolar disorder affects more than 5.7 million adults in the United States each year—that’s about 3 percent of the population. The typical age of onset is the late teens or early twenties, and a history of depression is common in people diagnosed with bipolar.
The early onset means that a lot of research is focused on young people. In about 10 percent of patients with bipolar disorder, however, the illness develops after the age of 50, and 5 percent of admissions to geropsychiatric inpatient units are for bipolar disorder.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a new prescription-only nasal spray for use against treatment-resistant depression. Fast-acting Spravato is for use in conjunction with an oral antidepressant in adults with treatment-resistant depression, notes the FDA.
“The current growth of the population ages 65 and older is one of the most significant demographic trends in the history of the United States,” according to the Population Reference Bureau. “The number of Americans ages 65 and older is projected to more than double from 46 million today to over 98 million by 2060, and the 65-and-older age group’s share of the total population will rise to nearly 24 percent from 15 percent.”
It is quite common for older adults to experience multiple health problems requiring a battery of medications. Mobility and agility may be compromised and many seniors report reduced social and emotional support—even isolation. That is why many people assume that getting older also entails a certain amount of depression. Since sadness is expected with advanced age, actual depression is often overlooked and untreated.