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Latest News Around the Web

Study Explores Memory Retention Through Emotional Events

The Washington Post (9/25, Timsit) reports a study published Wednesday in Science Advances explores why our brains sometimes “hold on to some seemingly ordinary moments while letting others slip away.” The study found that “our brains selectively strengthen certain memories when they are associated with important experiences, in a mechanism known as memory enhancement. As part of that process, the brain uses a sliding scale to decide which memories to preserve.” Moreover, the study “suggests that tying ‘fragile’ memories – of typically routine events – to memorable or rewarding moments could prevent them from slipping away, and that doing this in a systematic way could help strengthen useful memories or weaken irrelevant ones.” Study results further indicated “that people were more likely to remember neutral memories that came after a major event if that event was important or meaningful.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Review Finds Six School-Based Trauma Intervention Programs Found To Have Moderate To High Effectiveness

Psychiatric News (9/25) reports a systematic review of 25 school-based interventions found that “two school-based trauma intervention programs – Enhancing Resiliency Amongst Students Experiencing Stress (ERASE-Stress) and Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) – were found to have a high level of evidence for effectiveness.” The eligible studies “tested the intervention effects on posttraumatic stress and other mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, psychological distress, conduct problems, and other internalizing or externalizing symptoms.” ERASE-Stress and TRT were “rated as having a high level of evidence.” Meanwhile, “four interventions met criteria for a moderate level of evidence: Bounce Back, Classroom-Based Intervention, Support for Students Exposed to Trauma, and a selective intervention for Israeli children exposed to violence.” The review was published in Psychiatric Services.

Related Links:

— “Six School-Based Trauma Interventions Found to Have High or Moderate Effectiveness, Psychiatric News , September 26, 2025

Medical Experts Oppose Administration’s Guidance On Acetaminophen, Autism

STAT (9/24, Cooney, Gaffney, Merelli, Subscription Publication) reports, “Federal health officials are telling Americans no, they shouldn’t take Tylenol during pregnancy for fear of autism and yes, they should try a drug used in cancer care to treat children who have developed autism. The medical world disagrees.” APA CEO and medical director Marketa Wills, MD, said, “We were actually pretty alarmed by some of the output that was coming from the administration.” And “until more research is conducted, Wills recommends that doctors rely on professional societies, peer-reviewed research in medical journals, and resources like UpToDate and the Washington Manual for guidance on how to talk with patients.” Meanwhile, “despite the FDA’s unusual reapproval of leucovorin as a potential treatment for speech-related autism symptoms, there is not enough evidence for any doctor to recommend the drug to a patient in any scenario, Wills said.” She remarked, “We’re years away from a recommendation for that type of intervention.”

Related Links:

— “Trump’s ‘tough it out’ to pregnant women meets wave of opposition by medical experts,” Elizabeth Cooney, Theresa Gaffney, and Annalisa Merelli, STAT, September 24, 2025

Behavioral Health Integration, Psychotropic Prescriptions Associated With Improved Psychosocial Symptoms Among Pediatric Patients At Federally Qualified Health Centers, Study Finds

HealthDay (9/24, Gotkine) reports a study found that “for children at federally qualified health centers implementing behavioral health integration, encounters with a behavioral health clinician (BHC) and psychotropic prescriptions are associated with improved psychosocial symptoms.” Researchers observed that among 942 unique children at federally qualified health centers, “57.5 percent received any type of treatment and 42.5 percent were in the control group. The researchers found that the 17-item Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC-17) scores were 1.51 points lower among children in the treatment group after having at least one encounter with a BHC compared with the control group. PSC-17 scores were 2.21 points lower among children in the treatment group after they received a psychotropic prescription compared with the control group. There was no significant change in scores among children with at least one community health worker encounter.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Behavioral Health Integration Can Improve Psychosocial Health of Children,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay, September 24, 2025

Any Level Of Alcohol Consumption Increases Dementia Risk, Study Suggests

MedPage Today (9/23, George) reports, “Drinking any amount of alcohol increased dementia risk, data from a combined observational and genetic study suggested.” Researchers observed that “light alcohol consumption was associated with low dementia risk in observational analyses, and genetic analyses showed a monotonic increasing dementia risk with higher alcohol intake.” Furthermore, “Mendelian randomization suggested a causal role of alcohol consumption in increasing dementia risk with no evidence supporting a protective effect at any consumption level.” Overall, the study authors concluded the results “challenge the notion that low levels of alcohol are neuroprotective.” The study was published in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Foundation News

John Lion, M.D. Wins 2017 Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award

The Board of Directors of the Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry voted in February to present its 2017 Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award to Dr. John Lion for his piece, “Steadfast talking is the only cure for suicide” published December 18, 2016 in the Baltimore Sun. The board felt it reassured readers that even serious mental illness like depression can be overcome, even if there are setbacks along the way that evoke suicidal thoughts.

The award was established to recognize the article that best fulfills the following goals:

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.
A Maryland author and/or newspaper is preferred.

The award carries a $500 prize which the foundation plans to award at the April 27 Maryland Psychiatric Society annual meeting. The 2016 winner was Amy Marlow, whose article “My dad killed himself when I was 13. He hid his depression. I won’t hide mine.” was published February 9, 2016 in the Washington Post.

Amazon Smile Celebrates With Extra Donations For Organizations

Amazon celebrated its #1 ranking in customer satisfaction by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) On March 16th, 2017. The ACSI surveyed over 10,000 customers to measure perceptions of quality and value across retailers nationwide. March 16th only, Amazon donated 5% (10 times the usual donation rate) of the price of eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the Maryland Foundation For Psychiatry Inc.

While the amount is lower now, you can still make your purchases count at smile.amazon.com/ch/52-1701356.

New PSA Examines Anxiety from Political and Social Media

The Foundation has released a new Public Service Announcement now playing on local Maryland radio stations. It examines the wide variety of feelings people experience after a particularly divisive political campaign or a significant event getting 24 hour coverage across networks and online. Those feelings can include alienation from family and friends, anger at a system or event out of their control, and grief or helplessness at what may come. There are things that can be done to help, ranging from breaks from Facebook and Twitter and similar sites to seeking actual help from professionals.

Listen to the PSA on our home page or on our PSA collection here, where you can listen to or download other advice given in past PSAs, also.

“This is My Brave” Event Coming December 7

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This is my Brave – Baltimore event will be held Wednesday, December 7.
Doors Open at 5 PM – Show starts at 6 PM at Towson University’s West Village Commons, Towson, MD 21252. The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry is supporting this inspiring, monologue-based production featuring people sharing their stories of living with and recovering from mental illness through original essay, poetry, dance and music.

Foundation Establishes Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award

The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry has established the Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award. It is designed to recognize a worthy piece published in a major newspaper 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.
  • A Maryland author and/or newspaper is preferred.

The award carries a $500 prize, and has its own dedicated page here.

The winner for 2016 is Amy McDowell Marlow.

“My dad killed himself when I was 13. He hid his depression. I won’t hide mine.”
Published February 9, 2016 in the Washington Post

In this piece, Ms. Marlow gives a very poignant description of dealing with her own depression and emotional experiences beginning in childhood while dealing with a parent’s depression and eventual suicide.