Traumatic brain injury and bipolar psychosis in the Genomic Psychiatry Cohort

Sleep and Psychiatric Disorders in Persons With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) frequently challenges the integrity of sleep function by affecting multiple brain areas implicated in controlling the switch between wakefulness and sleep and those involved in circadian and homeostatic processes; the malfunction of each causes a variety of disorders. In this review, we discuss recent data on the dynamics between disorders of sleep and mental/psychiatric disorders in persons with mTBI. This analysis sets the stage for understanding how a variety of physiological, emotional and environmental influences affect sleep and mental activities after injury to the brain. Consideration of the intricate links between sleep and mental functions in future research can increase understanding on the underlying mechanisms of sleep-related and psychiatric comorbidity in mTBI.

Incidence of Mental Health Diagnoses in Veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and New Dawn, 2001-2014

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate gender, age, and race/ethnicity as predictors of incident mental health diagnoses among Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and New Dawn veterans.

METHODS

We used US Veterans Health Administration (VHA) electronic health records from 2001 to 2014 to examine incidence rates and sociodemographic risk factors for mental health diagnoses among 888 142 veterans.

RESULTS

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was the most frequently diagnosed mental health condition across gender and age groups. Incidence rates for all mental health diagnoses were highest at ages 18 to 29 years and declined thereafter, with the exceptions of major depressive disorder (MDD) in both genders, and PTSD among women. Risk of incident bipolar disorder and MDD diagnoses were greater among women; risk of incident schizophrenia, and alcohol- and drug-use disorders diagnoses were greater in men. Compared with Whites, risk incident PTSD, MDD, and alcohol-use disorder diagnoses were lower at ages 18 to 29 years and higher at ages 45 to 64 years for both Hispanics and African Americans.

CONCLUSIONS

Differentiating high-risk demographic and gender groups can lead to improved diagnosis and treatment of mental health diagnoses among veterans and other high-risk groups.