Antidepressants are effective treatments of major depression & anxiety disorders.
US veterans have ⬆️ risk of depression, anxiety & suicide than others.
The VA’s new requirement for informed consent for antidepressants could be barrier to effective care.
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/s... #medsky
nytimes.com
V.A. Institutes New Consent Requirements for Some Psychiatric Drugs
Veterans under 30 will have to sign forms before being given antidepressants. Medical groups fear the moves may stigmatize mental health treatment.
![The upward spiral of community reintegration. [A] Cross-section of the virtuous spiral of community reintegration with structural support using 4 strategies. [B] Longitudinal view of the virtuous spiral of community reintegration with structural support using 4 strategies. The figure represents how the health or social care system (support column) can deliver strategies (spokes) that link to community reintegration outcomes/health states (spiral). Maroon: Develop patient and family skills à manage symptoms of underlying impairments at home; Orange: Re-establish competence to perform healthy habits and routines; Blue: Identify & support key roles and relationships à stay connected even amid change. Green: Problem-solve the physical and social environments à Enable ongoing participation in meaningful activities. [C] Problem-identification using the virtuous spiral of community reintegration. Problems are any subjective or objective barriers to continuing to make progress toward, or to maintain, community (re) integration. They can occur anywhere on the spiral. Hypothetical Example Problem: A patient is having difficulty re-establishing a rhythm for doing laundry and meal preparation. [D] Troubleshooting problems. Troubleshooting involves a root cause analysis of why things broke down and the main impacts of the breakdown. Because the spiral is interconnected, both the root cause and the impacts can occur in any or multiple quadrants. Thus, all quadrants should be assessed to identify cross-cutting issues. Example Troubleshooting: On further questioning, the problem with laundry and meal preparation (orange quadrant) is that she’s exhausted because her sleep is disrupted. Sleep is itself a routine (orange quadrant). The question is, what is disrupting her sleep? While multifactorial, the main driver seems to be insomnia related to unrecognized trauma symptoms (maroon quadrant). The trauma symptoms have also led to some irritability that is impacting her relationships (…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:b7i26cylyzqnqtstgevcxvwc/bafkreibwye3uvib2t4px5ezkvr2xmdezpkhkkqtkuha3ordbcyn5y5algi)
