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Latest News Around the Web

Assertive Community Treatment With Police Involvement Results In Fewer Overall Police Encounters Among Patients With Mental Illness, Study Finds

Psychiatric News (10/31) reported a study found “patients with mental illness who received a model of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) that integrates local police into ACT teams (ACT-PI) had significantly fewer overall police encounters than before their entry into treatment.” The overall “rates of monthly police interactions decreased significantly for individuals after admission to the ACT-PI program, from an average of one occurrence every two months to one occurrence every three months.” In addition, “clients with a history of violence showed a decrease in violent occurrences and an increase in mental health–focused interactions with police.” According to researchers, this finding “suggests that ACT-PI program admission might reduce the risk of violent behaviors that can put staff and the public in danger while facilitating police interactions that focus on mental health.” The study was published in Psychiatric Services.

Related Links:

— “Assertive Community Treatment With Police Involvement Leads to Fewer Overall Police Encounters, Psychiatric News , October 31, 2025

Children may be more likely to be diagnosed with autism, other neurodevelopment disorders if their mother had COVID-19 during pregnancy

CNN (10/30, McPhillips) reports, “Children may be more likely to be diagnosed with autism and other neurodevelopment disorders if their mother had” COVID-19 “while pregnant, according to a new study.” Investigators “analyzed more than 18,000 births that occurred…March 2020 and May 2021, assessing records for laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 tests among the mothers and for neurodevelopment diagnoses among their children through age 3.” The investigators “found that children born to mothers who had COVID-19 during pregnancy were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with a neurodevelopment disorder than those born to mothers who did not have an infection while pregnant: more than 16% versus less than 10%, or a 1.3 times higher risk after adjusting for other risk factors.” The findings were published in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Related Links:

— “Autism diagnosis rates higher among children born to mothers who had Covid-19 during pregnancy, study suggests,”Deidre McPhillips, CNN, October 30, 2025

Patients With Serious Mental Illness Face Increased Risk Of Long COVID, Study Suggests

Psychiatric News (10/30) reports a study found that adults with serious mental illness (SMI) are more likely to develop long COVID, or “post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC).” The researchers “used health records data from the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network to compare outcomes over six months for 1.6 million U.S. adults with a confirmed COVID-19 infection between March 2020 and October 2022 who also attended a follow-up visit 30 or more days postinfection.” They observed that “among patients with a prior SMI, 28% developed PASC. After adjusting for demographics, people with any SMI were 10% more likely to develop PASC. The increased risk held true for each individual SMI category; COVID patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or recurrent depression were 7%, 14%, and 8% more likely to develop PASC, respectively.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Adults with Serious Mental Illness Face Increased Risk of Long COVID, Psychiatric News, October 30, 2025

Researchers Criticize Use Of Off-Label Magnetic E-Resonance Therapy For Pediatric Patients With Autism

The Los Angeles Times (10/30, Purtill) reports that clinics have advertised “something called magnetic e-resonance therapy, or MERT, as a therapy for autism.” The clinics “licensing MERT have claimed that their trademarked version of the treatment can also produce ‘miraculous results’ in kids with autism, improving their sleep, emotional regulation and communication abilities. A six-week course of MERT sessions typically costs $10,000 or more.” However, the FDA “hasn’t approved MERT for this use.” Although off-label prescribing “is a legal and common practice in medicine,” a group of researchers “argue in a new peer-reviewed editorial in the medical journal Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation” that when “such treatments are offered to vulnerable people,” they should be “evidence-based, clearly explained to patients and priced in a way that reflects the likelihood that they will work as advertised. Most clinics advertising off-label TMS as a therapy for autism don’t meet those standards, the researchers say.” The editorial singles out MERT as an “example of off-label TMS where there is negligible evidence of efficacy.”

Related Links:

— “Families pay thousands for an unproven autism treatment. Researchers say we need ethical guidelines for marketing the tech,”Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, October 30, 2025

Teens Who Use Cannabis Before Age 15 Are More Likely To Use The Drug Often Later In Their Lives, Develop Mental And Physical Health Problems In Young Adulthood, Study Finds

NPR (10/29, Chatterjee) reports a study found that “teens who start using cannabis before age 15 are more likely to use the drug often later in their lives.” Study results indicate that “they are also more likely to develop mental and physical health problems in young adulthood compared to their peers who did not use the drug in adolescence.” Researchers found that “early, frequent cannabis users had a 51% higher chance of seeking care for mental health problems in young adulthood compared to those who didn’t use the drug.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Teens who use weed before age 15 have more trouble later, a study finds,”Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, October 29, 2025

Foundation News

Schuster to Receive Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award

Janice Lynch Schuster will be awarded the 2020 Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry (MFP) Anti-Stigma Advocacy Prize for her op-ed, “People are not defined by their diseases” in the October 14, 2019 Baltimore Sun. The MFP Board unanimously felt that her article very effectively portrayed not only how hurtful stigma can be, but that health care providers themselves may be the culprits thoughtlessly participating in stigmatizing people – particularly when people are abusing drugs. Her statement inspires others to seek and give help, and to reframe substance abuse as a disease that must be treated scientifically and empathically.

The Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award, which carries a $500 prize, will be formally presented at the Maryland Psychiatric Society annual meeting on October 8.

The Foundation established this annual prize for a worthy piece published in a major newspaper (preferably local or regional) that accomplishes one or more of the following:
Shares with the public their experience with mental illness in themselves, a family
member, or simply in the community.
Helps others to overcome their inability to talk about mental illness or their own mental
illness.
Imparts particularly insightful observations on the general subject of mental illness.

Click here for information about past winners.

New Radio Ad Explores Racial Inequities and Mental Health in Current Crises

Institutional and structural racism are major factors in these times of pandemic and civil unrest. The African American community is particularly hit hard by the coronavirus, police brutality, and the economic burdens that come with them. The ad explains how there is hope and help available.

Racial Inequities and Current Crises in AmericaRacial Inequities and Current Crises in America, MP3, 712KB

You can listen to the ad using the player in the upper right of the website’s homepage. All past public service spots are also available for listening or to download on our Radio Advertisements page.

The Foundation Strongly Condemns All Forms of Racism

A Message from the Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry Board of Directors:

The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry strongly condemns all forms of racism.  The Foundation calls on all Americans and all levels of government to actively oppose racism, and all related violence and brutality. The Foundation recognizes that there are wide disparities in treatment of mental illness and access to care related to race. Consistent with our mission to fight stigma associated with mental illness and to promote awareness and access to care for all individuals regardless of race, the Foundation pledges to support programs which combat racism.

The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry stands in solidarity with the agendas of the American Psychiatric Association, Maryland Psychiatric Society, and the Black Psychiatrists of America.  We endorse the following action items outlined by the Black Psychiatrists of America:

• Declare racism a public health problem and establish national goals for addressing this as a health equity issue. Give priority to addressing the issues of health care disparities including the mental health needs of historically marginalized communities across the US.
 
• Provide adequate funding for the clinical care, training, and research needed to eliminate health disparities and require racism impact statements for all government funded services and research. 
 
• Establish a governmental multidisciplinary and ethnically diverse commission with representatives from the major health care professional associations in medicine, nursing, psychiatry, public health, psychology, social work, etc., and the faith-based community to provide recommendations to Congress regarding policies on how best to improve the health and well-being of our nation’s Black citizens.
 
• Declare “Civic Mental Health” a national priority and incorporate it into the educational curriculum from K-college, as well as in the training of local, state and national officials, law enforcement, and the criminal justice system. 
 
• Establish police community review boards with power to take action in areas of police misconduct pending formal review by the appropriate authorities. This will offer a level of empowerment when communities feel they have a voice that can be heard. 
 
• Assure adequate insurance coverage for mental disorders and emotional distress that are the outgrowth of racism, police brutality, discrimination of all kinds and violence. 

The Maryland Psychiatric Society has also put out a statement on their website.

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) also condemns racism and has published their statement, too.

New Radio Ad Explores Mental Health in the Wake of the Coronavirus

A recent poll shows that more than half the people in the United States are feeling extremely worried by the coronavirus. They find they aren’t sleeping properly, are distracted, or being driven into depression. The ad explains how there is hope and help available.

The Coronavirus and Your State of MindThe Coronavirus and Your State of Mind, MP3, 721KB

You can listen to the ad using the player in the upper right of the website’s homepage. All past public service spots are also available for listening or to download on our Radio Advertisements page.