mental health research

The University of Maryland School of Medicine has embarked on the most ambitious recruiting drive of its 210-year history — an effort to hire top scientists with the goal of making its biomedical research programs the best in the country.

Teaching students to 'say something' when problems arise can reduce threat of gun violence in schools

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine will join several other academic and industry scientists in developing a new, stem cell based method of assessing treatments for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Recent events have confirmed the beginning of a social uprising in America that most law enforcement agencies are ill prepared to handle. As CEO of an international police training corporation, I have conducted extensive research on high-risk policing. For a current project, I compiled data on the number of law enforcement officers shot this year throughout the United States by performing a meticulous search of news reports. The numbers reflect the continuation of a disturbing trend in policing.

If you want any more proof that keeping the NRA happy is more important for our politicians than keeping Americans safe, check out the laws pushed through in eight states allowing college students to carry guns on their campuses.

David Ross walks the halls of the University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Center dressed in scrubs. He waits for victims of stabbings, shootings, and assaults to

As Sharfstein prepares to step down July 1 as president and CEO, a post he's held for 25 years, the hospital is now known as Sheppard Pratt Health System, reflecting an evolution in how mental health is funded and administered nationally and locally.

If we can put the issue of gun control aside for a moment and concentrate on making guns safer, perhaps we can all agree on how to prevent some of the 34,000 deaths each year from gun violence, shooting accidents and suicide. I believe that most guns owners would welcome more effective ways of avoiding accidental shootings or having their guns stolen and then used by criminals.

Baltimore was right to terminate its contract with a testing firm that short-circuital the process for evaluating police recruits' fitness for the job

For the first time in decades the life expectancy of whites is falling, particularly among women, the middle aged and those with little education. One study by two Princeton economists found that in 1999, decades of falling mortality statistics for American middle aged whites reversed course, began heading up, and have kept climbing ever since. Why? What changed?

We all face depression, melancholia, darkness at some point, in varying degrees. But instead of being oppressed by sadness or repressing it, we should try embracing it. As Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychologist, said: "Befriend your shadow."

Nearly 19,000 Baltimoreans used heroin in the past year, according to a city task force. Methadone maintenance programs help people quit heroin by substituting prescribed doses of a synthetic opiate that minimizes withdrawal symptoms and reduces cravings. A movement to treat addiction as a public health issue rather than a criminal justice issue has grown over the years. That treatment has to take place somewhere, though, and many methadone patients must come to the clinic every day to have

Dr. Gordon Stuart Livingston, 77, a psychiatrist and author whose books focused on the human condition and issues of death, forgiveness and bereavement, died of heart failure March 16..

Harford County seems to be doing better health-wise, according to the latest report from a national health study.

Mindfulness is a decades-old type of meditation that has become something of a craze among the stressed out, and as science begins to back up the benefits it's being adopted in clinical settings to treat a host of diseases and disorders

One of the chief sponsors of a bill that would allow terminally ill Marylanders to end their lives has withdrawn the legislation amid stiff opposition, making it likely that the effort has again failed in the General Assembly.

The Worry Quest app is aimed at college students like himself who may be grappling with the stress brought on by classes with heavy workloads, student-loan debt and learning to live in a new environment. While all students feel these stressors, those with anxiety issues may find themselves consumed by the stress so much that it may keep them from going to classes or being able to study.

Greg Bennett's challenge is remaining free of the prison of other peoples' perceptions. It is keeping loose from restrictions on his movement and personal growth. Greg's challenge is exceeding the expectations that would set an expiration date on his dreams. Greg's Challenge is a website, www.gregshallenge.org, that tells the story of a 19-year-young man who, with the support of his family, is fighting the odds.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health are growing tiny replicas of the human brain to help the study of neurological diseases in a trend many hope could lead to better treatments and even cures for some of the most debilitating illnesses.

Dr. Hazen G. Kniffin Jr., a retired psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who had taught for years at the Baltimore-Washington Center for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, died Wednesday at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. He was 85.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a type of psychotherapy focused on correcting distorted thinking and skewed beliefs, was shown to be more effective in the long term than light therapy, another common treatment for SAD. Patients in the study who were treated with cognitive behavioral therapy had less recurrence and less severe symptoms over two winters than patients treated with light therapy, a practice that involves exposure to full-spectrum light to simulate the sun.

Mark A. Thompson, 53, a former Maryland Institute College of Art student who was known for his daily walks throughout Baltimore, died Dec. 22 at his Medfield Heights home.

Baltimore County Police on Monday shot and killed a man after responding to his Bowleys Quarters home for a call of an attempted suicide.

New residents at dozens of hospitals around the country, including some in Baltimore, are working marathon 28-hour shifts as part of a pair of studies assessing impacts on patient safety, and consumer and medical student groups want it stopped

Dr. Joel Elkes, 101, a scientist who advanced research in early psychiatric drugs who was the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine's Psychiatrist in Chief, died of a heart attack and kidney failure Oct. 30 at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Fla. .

Startling rise in death rates among middle-aged white Americans with college degrees likely tied to challenging economic circumstances

DUI offenders who visit this church get credit for completing drug treatment. The pastor is not happy about it.

Democrats and Republicans in Annapolis are taking a hard look at Maryland's approach to crime and punishment.

College and university officials in Maryland say they keep close tabs on school shootings across the country, and they regularly tweak their security strategies to prevent similar tragedies.

Dr. David E. Bush, a cardiologist and an internationally known educator who was a recognized expert in the fields of cardiac computed tomography and angiography, died Sept. 3 of cancer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 63.

The researchers looked at Connecticut and found a 15.4 percent drop in the suicide-by-firearm rate after passage of a 1995 law requiring people to pass a background checks that looked at domestic violence, history of violent offenses, substance abuse and severe mental illness.

Suicide must be treated as a preventable illness — one that costs the nation dearly but is too often overlooked

Cerecor, a Baltimore pharmaceutical company planning an initial public stock offering, has launched a new study of an antidepressant it says can help patients who aren't responding to standard treatments.

Dr. Michael D. Potash, a retired Mount Vernon psychiatrist whose career spanned five decades, died of a heart attack. He was 81.

How effective is psychiatry?

Primer on kids, sports and concussions

The Lutherville-based psychology firm being investigated for rushing mental health screenings of prospective Baltimore police officers also treated — and cleared for duty — an officer who killed herself last year with her service weapon after an extended battle with bipolar disorder and depression.

The company contracted to conduct mental health evaluations of aspiring Baltimore police officers is under investigation by the city's inspector general and legal department over allegations that it rushed evaluations, according to city officials and documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun.

As police investigate how a handgun was smuggled into the holding cell of a police station this week, newly released documents show that a man who committed suicide in another police station last year not only had a gun but also a lighter, knife and more than $1,000 in cash.

A former Baltimore County officer who pleaded guilty in a drug case will avoid jail time and instead face probation and community service.

With the state publishing draft regulations for medical marijuana, and an infrastructure for distributing it coming into view, Marylanders who suffer from chronic pain or debilitating disease could gain access to the drug before the end of the year.

Every seat in a conference room at University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air was taken Thursday evening as at least 50 health care providers from Cecil and Harford counties took in reams of information on preventing suicide, a leading cause of death for young people in Harford County.

A Carroll County District Court judge has found a New Windsor man charged with attempted murder competent to stand trial.

Nearly 700 veterans in Maryland took advantage last year of a VA program with a unique dual focus: helping veterans diagnosed with mental health disorders continue treatment while getting them trained for and placed in jobs.

Newer research debunks the purported link between antidepressants and suicide.

A report from the inspector general for the Veterans Administration found shortcomings at the VA's health clinics in Maryland.

The crash of Germanwings Flight 9525, allegedly by co-pilot Andreas Lubitz and the deaths of all 150 people on board is indeed a tragedy. But some good may come out of it if it induces people to take another look at those substances the pharmaceutical industry calls "antidepressants."

Three Baltimore County brothers — Adam, Brandon and Cameron — have fought against heroin. One died, another broke free of the drug's grip, and the third is still caught up in addiction.