Latest Public Service Radio Minute
How Extreme Weather Changes Affect Mental HealthHow Extreme Weather Changes Affect Mental Health, MP3, 1.0MB
Listen to or download all our PSAsSupport Our Work
Please donate so we can continue our work to reduce the stigma of psychiatric illness, encourage research, and support educational activities for behavioral health professionals and the public. Ways you can donate and help are on our Support and Donations page. Thank you!
More Info
Latest News Around the Web
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative warns of risk from illegally-run online pharmacies
The Hill (1/9, Irwin ) says, “The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative warned there’s a risk of ineffective or dangerous drugs from online pharmacies that are being illegally run.” In a report (PDF) that was “released Wednesday, the office singled out 19 countries that raised concerns of possible movement of counterfeit or pirated drugs.” Additionally, the office “released its Notorious Market List that focused on the growth in illicit online pharmacies.” The office “called on trading partners to improve criminal and border enforcement to combat counterfeit medicines.”
The AP (1/9, Kurtenbach ) says, “Nearly all of the world’s 35,000 online pharmacies are being run illegally and consumers who use them risk getting ineffective or dangerous drugs, according to the” report. It “named about three dozen online retailers, many of them in China or elsewhere in Asia that it said are allegedly engaged in selling counterfeit products or other illegal activities.” The new “report says 96% of online pharmacies were found to be violating the law, many operating without a license and selling medicines without prescriptions and safety warnings.”
Related Links:
— “US warns of risk from most of world’s online pharmacies,” Lauren Irwin, The Hill, January 9, 2025
Some Effective Public Policies For Suicide Prevention Are Not Crafted With Suicide Or Mental Health In Mind, Study Suggests
HealthDay (1/9, Thompson ) reports, “Some of the most effective public policies for suicide prevention aren’t crafted with suicide or mental health in mind, a new study says.” According to one researcher, “efforts to increase the minimum wage, prohibit gender discrimination, or reduce alcohol consumption ‘have spillover benefits in that they also prevent suicides.’” Those policies may “be more effective at preventing suicides than efforts to increase access to health care or limit firearms, researchers argue.” The findings were published in the Annual Review of Public Health.
Related Links:
— “The Public Policies That Really Help Prevent Suicide,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, January 9, 2025
US Has Highest Rate Of Overdose Deaths Out Of 30 Countries, Report Says
The Hill (1/9, O’Connell-Domenech ) reports that the US “has the highest rate of drug overdose deaths out of 30 countries, according to a new report from the health nonprofit the Commonwealth Fund.” While “overdose deaths in the U.S. dipped slightly around 2018 after a years-long” increase, “those deaths began to rise again in 2019 and shot up during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from the” CDC. Meanwhile, “overdose deaths decreased slightly again in 2023 by 3 percent but still more than 100,000 people across the country died from an overdose, according to provisional CDC data.”
Related Links:
— “US overdose deaths far outpace other countries: Report,” Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech, The Hill, January 9, 2025
Analysis Examines How Social Determinants Of Health Impact Suicidality
Psychiatric News (1/8) reports, “Individuals involved with the criminal justice system or recently released from incarceration are among those at greatest risk of suicide mortality, according to an ‘umbrella analysis.’” The “analysis of how social determinants of health affect suicidality also found that exposure to parental suicide, experiencing divorce or unemployment in mid-life, and accessibility to firearms were strongly associated with suicide mortality.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.
Related Links:
— “Study Highlights Social Determinants Most Highly Associated With Suicide,” Psychiatric News, January 8, 2025
Symptoms Of Social Anxiety, Depression May Serve As Barrier To Seeking Or Maintaining Employment, Study Suggests
Psychiatric News (1/7) reports, “Symptoms of social anxiety or depression may serve as a barrier to seeking or maintaining employment, according to a study.” But, “working more hours may not by itself reduce depression or social anxiety symptoms.” The findings were published in Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice.
Related Links:
— “Addressing Adults’ Social Anxiety, Depression May Boost Employment Success,” Psychiatric News, January 7, 2025
Foundation News
Latest Foundation Ad Examines Reliving Trauma Via News and Events
Events and reports in the news can activate painful memories, causing people to relive and have to deal with abuse years after they thought they had successfully handled it via therapy or repression. A new public service ad by the Foundation is airing now that explores how someone to talk to, particularly a psychiatrist, can help cope.
Trauma: Never too late to speak, especially to a psychiatristTrauma: Never too late to speak, especially to a psychiatrist, MP3, 2.5MB
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.
This Is My Brave Project Added to Featured Websites
This Is My Brave (TIMB) has been added to our Links & Publications page. The goal of the non-profit aligns directly with our own here at the Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry: to end the stigma surrounding mental health issues. They focus on sharing personal stories of individuals living successful, full lives despite mental illness through poetry, essay and original music, on stage in front of a live audience, through stories submitted and published to their blog, and via their YouTube channel.
Two of our directors, Dr. Komrad and Mr. Wiggins, recently attended a local event and reported the program was well-attended and very moving. TIMB has 17 more shows planned across the United states and 2 upcoming in Australia. You can find more information about the organization via their web site: https://thisismybrave.org/
Dr. Daniel Hale to Receive Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award
W. Daniel Hale, Ph.D. has been awarded the 2018 Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry Anti-Stigma Advocacy Prize for his op-ed, “We need to talk about depression” in the June 13, 2016 Baltimore Sun. The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry Board of Directors chose the piece from among several nominees. Dr. Hale eloquently writes in a very personal way about his daughter’s depression and suicide and his own depression and successful recovery. His courage to speak openly about suffering may give others the courage to speak about their own, or their family’s experiences. Hiding depression only makes it harder to get help and delays recovery.
The award carries a $500 prize, which will be formally presented at the Maryland Psychiatric Society annual meeting on April 26.
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.
Foundation Radio Ad Looks At Mental Health after School Shootings
To date in 2018 there have been 18 school shootings, and the effects upon those who experience them as well as those fearing such a thing might happen to their school are real and long term. A new public service ad by the Foundation is airing now that explores how and why student, teachers, and parents may be acting as they are and how psychiatry can help them heal and get beyond the trauma.
Anxiety and Mental Health in Wake of School ShootingsAnxiety and Mental Health in Wake of School Shootings, MP3, 1.5MB
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.
PRMS Highlights Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry
Professional Risk Management Services, Inc. (PRMS) just posted a wonderful piece on its blog noting the many successful initiatives of the Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry. The information is also included in their Twitter and LinkedIn (see links below). PRMS has been a generous donor to the Foundation in addition to this excellent promotion of the significant role that it plays in our state.
Related Links: