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In an effort to help the public better understand the mental health implications of gaming, an international foundation and a public health nonprofit this month released a white paper, calling it a first‐of‐its‐kind report, that analyzes the potential role of gaming as an innovative solution to the increasing mental health crisis in this country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Untreated mental illness in the Hoosier state comes at a cost of more than $4 billion a year, according to a new Indiana University study, the Daily Journal reported Nov. 1. The research published by the IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health found that one in five Indiana residents with mental illness do not receive the treatment they need. Hoosiers who do not receive such treatment are also more likely to experience other chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, researchers said. The economic burden of untreated mental illness in Indiana is estimated to be $4.2 billion annually, including $3.3 billion in indirect costs — like unemployment and caregiving — $708.5 million in direct health care costs, and $185.4 million in non‐health care costs. The largest cost attributable to untreated mental illness was premature mortality, at over $1.4 billion. Productivity losses were estimated to cost $885 million each year. "The findings were published Oct. 13 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers worked with the Indiana Behavioral Health Commission to perform their analysis. Through the researchers' work, they developed a framework that allows Indiana to prioritize key areas in mental health services and treatment. The framework also provides Indiana with a baseline for tracking progress toward improvement efforts. The research was used in support of Senate Enrolled Act 1, which passed during the 2023 legislative session. The sweeping legislation will create a new mental health care system in Indiana, fortifying the relatively new 988 crisis response center and hotline with funding for mental health emergencies. The IU study population consisted of more than 6.1 million individuals of whom an estimated 429,000 had untreated mental illness in 2019, according to the research paper. "One of the most significant impacts of this research is that other states can use this framework to understand the financial burden in their state," said Justin Blackburn, Ph.D., associate professor at the Fairbanks School. "There is a scarcity of data on the costs incurred by each state — especially by individuals, families and communities — from untreated mental illnesses in the United States. Policymakers, clinicians and employers need this sort of data to determine how we should allocate our societal resources." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the best efforts of clinicians and researchers for decades, there is still so much uncertainty about why some people develop mental disorders and others do not, the nonprofit journalism organization, The Conversation, reported Aug. 4. However, changes in the brain very likely offer the best clues to future mental health outcomes. The adolescent brain is particularly important in these predictions because brain changes during this time are rapid and dynamic, shaping a person's individual uniqueness. By monitoring and tracking brain changes as they happen, [researchers] contend that they can tackle emerging mental health problems in adolescence and target early treatment. The challenge is in accurately predicting the likelihood of a person developing a mental disorder before it happens. In a paper published recently in NeuroImage, study authors used data from the Australian Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study that monitors changes in adolescents' brains. "We have been tracking adolescent brain development, using MRI scans, for several years," stated researchers. "Our recent paper is the first to show [that] the uniqueness of an adolescent's brain (or their 'brain fingerprint') can predict mental health outcomes. Brain fingerprinting could be the future of mental disorder prevention, allowing us to identify signs of concern in teenagers through brain imaging and intervene early, before illness develops." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]