Pot and Pregnancy: a Risky Combination

Tuesday November 28, 2023

By Courtney Wise

Researchers in Indiana calculate the cost of untreated healthcare in their state: $4.2 billion. Plus, a record label built to support the mental health of its artists. And more.

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Cannabis use during pregnancy raises health risks for infants, study finds

It’s long been assumed that cannabis use during pregnancy increases the risk of adverse outcomes for infants, and now a new study from Kaiser Permanente supports that hypothesis. Researchers analyzed the health records of more than 360,000 infants born to Kaiser members in Northern California from 2011 to 2020 and found that 6% of them had been exposed to cannabis in utero. Those babies were more likely to be born pre-term, to have low birth weight, to be small for their gestational age, and to be admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit. What’s more, the risks were greater among infants who were more frequently exposed to cannabis during pregnancy, the research team found. 

“This is a large, well-designed study that adds important evidence about potential poor outcomes for babies when cannabis is used in pregnancy,” lead author Lyndsay Avalos, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, said in a press release. “Our analysis adds new concerns about the potential for preterm birth and NICU admission, which are associated with immediate, highly stressful situations for the family as well as long-term adverse outcomes for the child.”

The study team previously found that prenatal cannabis use has been increasing among Kaiser members – especially women grappling with nausea, as well as depression, anxiety, and trauma. This suggests they may be using cannabis to control their symptoms. The findings should prompt clinicians to offer patients information about ways they can protect their babies or reduce the risks, team members said. For some who are unable to stop using cannabis completely, reducing their use could also reduce the potential harms. “The clinician can be most effective by learning the patient’s symptoms and reasons they may be using cannabis, and following that with a factual and non-judgmental conversation about risks of cannabis and other treatment options in pregnancy,” said Deborah Ansley, regional medical director for Kaiser’s Early Start prenatal health program.

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Hair stylists in Togo bundle therapy with hair cuts

If you think the shortage of mental health providers in the U.S. is bad, check out the situation in Africa, the region that the World Health Organization says has the highest suicide rate in the world. Across the continent, just 1.6 mental health workers are available per 100,000 people. Togo, for instance, a nation of more than 8.7 million people, has just five psychiatrists. For those seeking help, cost is as prohibitive as stigma, said Daméga Wouenkourama, one of those five psychiatrists. “Many of those coming to see us do so as a last resort, after they’ve been stripped of their money by traditional healers and scammers,” he told the New York Times. “Mental health remains a foreign concept to most people, including our leaders and our fellow doctors.” 

That’s where ingenuity comes in. To fill the continent’s “mental health gap,” local nonprofits and international organizations train average people and professionals with no technical ties to psychology in recognizing signs of mental health distress. Tele da Silveira, a hair stylist and salon owner in Lomé, Togo, is one of 150 women in West and Central Africa who have been trained to offer what her client, Joseline de Lima, calls “lifesaving therapy.” During the three-day training, organized by the Bluemind Foundation, mental health professionals teach hairdressers how to ask open-ended questions, notice nonverbal signs of mental distress and avoid gossip or offering poor advice.

“People need attention in this world,” said da Silveira, who has struggled with depression. “They need to talk.” So she makes herself available to hear the women who need to unload about their financial struggles, domestic abuse and emotional pain. The women who need her help find an inexpensive, accessible and safe place for regular support in her chair. Though they’re not professional therapists, hairdressers say struggling clients often reject referrals to professionals because the cost per session is too far out of reach. Many people lack health insurance, and more than a quarter of Togo’s population lives on $2.15 per day, making $15 for an hour of therapy unaffordable.

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What’s the cost of untreated mental illness? In Indiana, about $4.2 billion

Calculating the cost of untreated mental illness is tough. For starters, people who aren’t being treated are, by definition, not interacting with the healthcare system. So a team of researchers at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis combined data from national surveys on drug use and children’s health to estimate the prevalence of mental illness in one state. The team, lead by Heather Taylor, determined that the state lost $4.2 billion in 2019 from missed workdays, premature deaths and other societal costs as a result of untreated mental illness. That’s more than the $3.8 billion the Indiana economy earned from sales of its leading commodity – corn – the year before. 

“That equates to about 100,000 jobs,” Taylor told NPR-affiliate WXVU. “So we are taking money out of our economy, because we’re not treating these conditions.” Not treating mental illness triggers also contributes to health conditions like diabetes, heart disease and stroke and social conditions like homelessness and incarceration.

Lack of social support and cultural stigma are still barriers and so is meager health insurance, a lack of clinicians, limited access to the internet for telehealth and lack of transportation. “Therapists cost so much; mental medicine costs so much,” said Willie Frazier, 24, who has diagnoses of depression and borderline personality disorder and dozens of scars from where he has cut himself. “I’m not going to pay for this when I can’t afford it.” 

Indiana’s legislature hopes that its unanimous approval of Senate Bill 1 will make an impact. It allows the state to seek federal support to expand community mental health services, aims to correct some issues with insurance reimbursement, and provides funds for a crisis hotline and mobile response teams. But Marion Greene, an IUPU researcher, says it’s still not enough. “That to me is a great start,” she said. “[But] it’s the beginning and we cannot stop there. ”

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Happy Jack, a record label designed to offer artists support and guidance for their mental health

This 6-minute CBS New York segment tells the story of Happy Jack Records, named in honor of Jack Nathan, who died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl in 2020 at 19 years old. Just before his death, Nathan founded the company to sell records and clothes, and his parents took it over after his passing. The company’s first act? Selling 1,900 hats to fund a $21,000 donation to Child Mind Institute. Since then, gifts to mental health initiatives have reached more than $100,000 and the record label has launched to “work with artists and put them and their mental wellbeing in the forefront,” said David Nathan, Jack’s father. The music executive partnered with Sam Koch, another music pro who has overcome mental health struggles, to help build the label.

King Kanje, the first artist signed to Happy Jack, said he was shocked by the company’s premise, because he never imagined a record label would have such a focus. “Your mental health is tested because there’s being a music artist and then there’s being in the music business,” he said. “I’m able to focus on my mental health, my music, my family and just making the best music I can make.” 

In addition to check-ins with artists about their wellbeing from label management, Nathan says the label connects artists to therapists, nutritionists, exercise support, and whatever they need to keep their mental health on track.

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In other news…

For Black Friday, New Era Detroit rented out an entire hotel as a gift to homeless families.  The families, including 120 children, got a two-night hotel stay, hot meals, clothing, barber and hair styling, game trucks and an indoor “exotic zoo” for children. Also offered: access to social service resources, including mental health connections, links to housing programs and health services. The grassroots organization is well known in Detroit for its boots-on-the-ground, “for us, by us” approach to community care.

Emma Well wanted to honor her daughter and raise awareness about suicide. So she’s pulling a life-sized horse-on-wheels 160 miles around Wales in honor of Brodie, a horse-lover and equestrian, who died by suicide three years ago. “I hope she would be proud of me,” Webb said. “My purpose is to help raise awareness in a positive way to make me still feel like I can love Brodie and I can help others.” Webb told the BBC that she hopes her efforts will encourage schools to speak more openly about mental health and how young people can get support. 

Why does shopping feel like an addiction around the holidays? Shopping may not be a diagnosable condtion, but it has many of the attributes of addiction, says Ashish Bhatt, medical content director for Addiction Center, an informational web guide for people struggling with substance use disorders. Shopping feels good – at least at first – because it feeds our brains’ rewards systems, said Ann-Christine Duhaime, a professor of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School. “Retailers know very well how to make it fun for you,” she told CNN.  But while buying, giving and finding bargains can feel rewarding, shopping can also cause anxiety and financial harm. Duhaime says the best way to avoid overspending is to instead spend time on things that trigger a more enduring reward response: spending time with kids and family and honoring “the deeper meaning of a holiday.” If that’s not enough to curb your spending, you can avoid malls, tell your credit card companies to limit your spending, and ask loved ones to help keep you accountable.

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If you or someone you know is in crisis or experiencing suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and connect in English or Spanish. If you’re a veteran press 1. If you’re deaf or hard of hearing dial 711, then 988. Services are free and available 24/7.

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