Coverage of department activities and its faculty in the general media.

2021

December

Opioid agonist therapy guards against self-harm, suicide (study) – Medscape
Authors of an accompanying editorial note the study "adds weight" to the evidence that OAT is a "lifesaving" treatment. "It's critical to recognize that transitions in and out of care are vulnerable periods" when it comes to suicide, the co-author of the editorial, Paul S. Nestadt, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, told Medscape Medical News.

Ketamine may quickly ease tough-to-treat depression (review) – HealthDay
Since esketamine is FDA-approved for depression, it has become the more practical choice over ketamine, according to psychiatrists not involved in the review. “It’s much easier to get insurance coverage for esketamine,” said Dr. Paul Nestadt, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Anxiety Disorders Clinic. So while he has been involved in ketamine research, Nestadt said that in practice, he is prescribing esketamine.

‘Sober Curious?’ How to Embrace Mindful Drinking – NYT
The mindful drinking approach also draws on similar strategies to cognitive behavioral therapy, a psychological intervention used to address depression and anxiety, said Kenneth Stoller, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. By encouraging people to identify the impact of alcohol has on their thoughts, feelings and behaviors, mindful drinking can be an effective tool for people interested in reducing their alcohol consumption, he said, but not for anyone with a severe drinking problem or alcohol-use disorder.

How psychedelics alter our consciousness - IFL Science
[O]ne study found that giving people LSD caused a blurring of the perceived boundaries between themselves and others, but that this could be avoided by deactivating their 5-HT2A receptors using a compound called ketanserin. Dr Matthew Johnson, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, told IFLScience that this sense of ego-dissolution is a hallmark of “mystical experiences,” which some researchers believe are key to the healing potential of psychedelics.

How to make a perfect tune for an acid trip - Daily Beast
This exotic brain chemistry seems to especially enhance the emotional effects of music when combined with psychedelic drugs. “We know that music can be emotionally evocative. It's an extremely powerful tool for channeling or harnessing emotion, and so the idea is that this is amplified with psychedelics,” Matthew Johnson, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, told The Daily Beast. “They can act interactively and perhaps synergistically to create meaningful experiences.”

Beating back holiday blues during the pandemic - WTOP radio (D.C.)
“The holidays are so romanticized and I think that really can make people feel isolated and lonely — that things should be a particular way, or I should feel a particular way, and then spending time to try to create that ideal, which sometimes just isn’t feasible,” said Neda Gould, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Could magic mushrooms be the next marijuana? - Times-Union (Albany, N.Y.)
Not since the 1960s has there been so much interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics with multiple clinical studies on psilocybin indicating widespread benefits, from treating depression and drug addiction to relieving end-of-life anxiety. Johns Hopkins has an entire center now devoted to research on the natural compound.

New filing challenges Compass Pathways’ infamous patent on synthetic psilocybin – Vice
As part of its research, [Freedom to Operate] collected old samples of synthetic psilocybin to test what existed pre-Compass.... There weren’t many places that had high-quality synthetic psilocybin stored in safe conditions. One sample came from Roland Griffiths at Johns Hopkins University, stored in the Johns Hopkins University System for Controlled Substances, and was made as early as 2008.

What's the deal with functional mushrooms, and how do they work for anxiety relief? Here's what the research says - Parade magazine
At Johns Hopkins, for example, researchers have already found that psilocybin therapy can reduce existential anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer, and that along with psychotherapy, just two doses of psilocybin can reduce the symptoms of depression (which often manifests in tandem with anxiety).

Gen Z is done with the pandemic - The Atlantic
For Carisa Parrish, a child psychologist at Johns Hopkins University, it’s not strange to see young people wanting to jump back into life after such an extended period of isolation, uncertainty, and personal loss, but she also doesn’t see enough attention or acknowledgment of the smaller joys that teens and adolescents lost during the pandemic’s first year.

4 ways to cultivate resilience in 2022 - New York Times
Even if optimism doesn’t come naturally to you, it’s a skill you can nurture, said George Everly Jr., a psychologist and public health expert at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who has done research with dialysis patients and war veterans. “There is neuroscience research indicating that even if you were born a pessimist, you can become an optimist,” he said. “We must come from this and say: What are the lessons learned?”

What taking melatonin every day does to your body - Eat This, Not That!
Some melatonin supplements contain as much as 10mg of melatonin, but a higher dose isn't necessarily better. Johns Hopkins Medicine advises taking 1 to 3mg two hours before bedtime.... "If taking melatonin for sleep isn't helping after a week or two, stop using it," says Luis F. Buenaver, Ph.D., C.B.S.M., a sleep expert with Johns Hopkins.

'Magic mushroom' drug edges toward mainstream therapy – HealthDay
[John] Head, 69, took his psilocybin trip as part of a research effort at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, after doctors had told him he probably had three to five years to live. Head has appeared in the HBO dramas "The Wire" and "The Deuce," and had a small role in the 2019 movie "Joker." His psilocybin experience lasted for about seven hours, and during it he felt as though he had come into contact with a "higher power" existing in a place beyond death.

Can psychedelics meet their potential for treating mental health disorders? - Science News
[Research] studies, and the intense media coverage they received, have helped launch psychedelic medicine into the public conversation in the United States, England and elsewhere. Academic groups devoted to studying psychedelics have sprung up at Johns Hopkins, Yale, New York University Langone Health, the University of California, San Francisco and other research institutions.

November

Does seasonal affective disorder get worse with age? - Discover magazine
For the most part, research shows that SAD does not get worse with age; in fact, some data shows the opposite. "We don’t normally see new diagnoses of SAD in older individuals; it’s usually those diagnosed in younger years who continue to come in for treatment," says Paul Nestadt, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Tips for coping with the stresses of the holiday season - Islander News (Key Biscayne, Fla.)
Clinical psychologist Dr. Neda Gould, at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Medicine in Baltimore, shared four valuable coping tips at hopkinsmedicine.org: Accept imperfection; Don’t lose sight of what really counts. Respond with kindness. Rethink your resolutions.

Maryland Peace of Mind: Holiday depression (video) - WBAL-TV
Dr. Neda Gould, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, discusses holiday stress and depression on our Maryland Peace of Mind segment.

The rise of psychedelic retreats - New York Times
“The entire cultural conversation around psychedelics has changed,” said Ronald Griffiths, a professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. “And that’s a concern to me, because I think we’re underestimating the risks involved,” he said. “The retreat center question is, buyer beware.”

Why schizophrenia is different for women - Discover magazine
Women are twice as likely to present with symptoms after age 40. That means a woman with late-onset schizophrenia might live most of her life without any indication that she will one day be schizophrenic. “It could be the first mental illness at the onset,” says Nicola Cascella, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.?

Music for psychedelic therapy is a trip within a trip – Jezebel
[British beatmaker Jon] Hopkins did not follow any official template for laying out his sonic trip experience. They exist [however] — for example, Johns Hopkins researchers developed a playlist “to express the sweeping arc of the typical medium- or high-dose psilocybin session.”

These health breakthroughs changed the medical landscape in 2021 – Prevention
Medical psychedelics come of age. “Just one or two doses of psychedelics in a supported setting can provide rapid and profound improvements,” says Natalie Gukasyan, M.D., medical director of the Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, who emphasized that these results apply to psilocybin when used in a therapeutic context.

Biden’s overdose prevention plan faces social, state barriers - Bloomberg Law
Differing state policies pose challenges to ... aspects of the plan, including its focus on boosting harm reduction services, or those that cut down on the consequences of drug use, treatment professionals say. Denis Antoine, director at Johns Hopkins’ addiction services clinic, said that while harm reduction has been “practiced more and more in different states,” there “probably needs to be more evidence generated to make sure it will be effective for long term substance-use related outcomes” in various locations based on each state’s rules.

Mike Tyson says he smokes toad venom as much as 3 times a day – HuffPost
Toad venom packs a heavy punch and is illegal to possess.... “It’s such an intense experience that, in most cases, doing it at a party isn’t safe,” Alan K. Davis of the Psychedelic Research Unit at Johns Hopkins University said in a 2019 Addiction Center report. “It’s not a recreational drug. If people get dosed too high, they can ‘white out’ and disassociate from their mind and body.”

'More ill, more desperate': How hospitals are responding to changing mental health trends - Becker's Hospital Review
James Potash, MD. Director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins Hospital: Early on, the pandemic posed great challenges for us, as it did for everyone. There was a reduction in the number of people coming into the psychiatric emergency service, but for those who … needed admission, we had to set up a system to COVID test them. The people who did get admitted tended to be more psychiatrically ill than we were used to. Now the flow of psychiatric patients in the emergency department is back to normal, and the COVID processes are all ironed out.

Bill on magic mushrooms aims to make Pa. a national leader in psychedelic research - Philadelphia Inquirer
Most clinical trials of psilocybin, like those at research leader Johns Hopkins University, have been conducted using a synthetic form of the substance. The National Institutes of Health last month awarded Johns Hopkins researcher Matthew Johnson a nearly $4 million grant to lead research into whether the combination of psilocybin and talk therapy is effective in helping people quit smoking. It is the first federal funding for psilocybin research in more than 50 years, Johns Hopkins said.

U.S. government funds first therapeutic psilocybin research in 50 years - Rolling Stone
The National Institutes of Health granted Johns Hopkins Medicine, in collaboration with University of Alabama at Birmingham and New York University, $4 million to investigate if psilocybin — one of the primary psychoactive ingredients in psychedelic mushrooms — can help people quit smoking.

Mindfulness can boost your mindset after cardiac arrest (study) – HealthDay
Neda Gould, director of the mindfulness program at Johns Hopkins University and associate director of the Bayview Anxiety Disorders Clinic in Baltimore, is already sold on the potential of mindfulness. "It's not surprising that the practice of mindfulness is helpful for this patient population [cardiac arrest survivors]," said Gould, who was not part of the study.

'Magic mushrooms' get a win for depression in early trial, drugmaker says - MedPage Today
Matthew Johnson, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and psychedelics at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, told MedPage Today that the early data look encouraging. Yet without more detailed information, questions remain about the nature of the trial's AEs [adverse events], he said.

Colorado Springs could decriminalize ‘magic mushrooms’ - KRDO radio (Colorado Springs)
Researchers are currently looking at mushrooms as a natural alternative to antidepressant prescriptions, like Zoloft. “Simply two doses of psilocybin given under the supportive conditions for people who have been carefully screened, that treatment produced rapid and large reductions in major depressive symptoms,” Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, said.

Focus on women's health at JHU (audio) - WYPR radio
Johns Hopkins neurologist Dr. Michelle Johansen studies a particular kind of stroke that affects younger women, in which the heart -- for unknown reasons -- throws off a blood clot to the brain. She previews the risks she’ll describe on Saturday at Johns Hopkins’ annual seminar “A Woman’s Journey.” And psychiatrist Dr. Karen Swartz discusses how the stresses of the pandemic are piling up, and how we can support each other

Could so-called 'magic mushrooms' be a magic bullet for depression? (video) - WBAL-TV
[Em] Hanchek is one of 24 participants in a recent study at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. "For some people who have not found relief from traditional therapies that are out there, this could be lifesaving," said Dr. Natalie Gukasyan, the center's medical director. "The effects of the medication are usually evident pretty quickly, much more quickly than antidepressants."

Why people with mood disorders are now eligible for COVID vaccine boosters - WHYY radio (Philadelphia)
“The stress and frustration and the loss associated with the pandemic is going to cause people to have the almost expected anxiety and depression. Then there are many more people with these environmentally triggered problems with depression and anxiety,” said Dr. Francis Mondimore, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who specializes in mood disorders.

Dr. Ira Allen Liebson, a retired Johns Hopkins psychiatrist who assisted patients with substance abuse, dies - Baltimore Sun
Dr. Ira Allen Liebson, a retired Johns Hopkins psychiatrist who assisted patients with substance abuse issues, died of complications from injuries he suffered in a fall Oct. 25 at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The former Mount Washington and Riderwood resident was 91. “He was a splendid psychiatrist and a wonderful person,” said Dr. Paul R. McHugh, the distinguished service professor for psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

‘I’m better mentally now’: Veteran shares experience of MDMA treatment for PTSD – Today
While there are forms of healing possible without drugs like MDMA, they don’t work for everyone, said Matthew Johnson, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Therapy with the drug can be “like psychological processing therapy on rocket boosters,” said Johnson.....

Detroit votes to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms - CBS News
Nobody should try mushrooms on their own, which would be risky, said the leaders of two psychedelic mushroom studies, Dr. Stephen Ross of New York University and Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Wonderland: Miami takes shape as the largest psychedelic medicine business event - High Times
The show will attract scientists from Johns Hopkins, UCSF, Imperial College London, as well as leading financiers, innovators and CEOs, discussing the fastest growing sector in medicine. With almost a thousand new psychedelic clinics in the U.S., and an explosion of investor interest across Florida, the Wonderland conference could not be more timely.

There are 4 types of bipolar disorder — here's what to know about each – Health
All forms of bipolar disorder involve mood episodes — sometimes known as mood "swings" or mood cycling. "As the name suggests, the condition involves two poles, or periods of low mood and elevated mood," James Bennett Potash, MD, MPH, a professor of psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a psychiatrist with Hopkins Medicine, tells Health.

Defeating gambling addiction: New study looks to defy the odds with psychedelics – Forbes
[Psychiatrist David] Nutt acknowledges that he was not the first to come to [the revelation that the processes of disrupting internal thinking and depression could potentially disrupt the internal thinking in addiction as well], referencing the Bogenschutz study in New Mexico’s look into alcoholism, and the ongoing clinical trials at Johns Hopkins targeting psychedelics therapeutics for smoking cessation

Despite stress of pandemic, U.S. suicide rate dropped in 2020 - U.S. News & World Report
"Although early in 2020 sociologists were expecting a 'perfect storm' of suicide risks during the pandemic, early local data sets from the U.S. and abroad have almost universally been demonstrating a decrease in suicide rates," said Dr. Paul Nestadt, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Why the push to decriminalize psychedelics is growing in Michigan – PBS
A handful of research centers focusing on psychedelics research are housed at Ann Arbor’s University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the University of California at Berkeley, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and others.

Bipolar mood 'swings': What to know about manic and depressive episodes, and how long they can last – Health
[E]xperts aren't quite sure why mood cycling happens in bipolar disorder, or what exactly causes people's mood to change so drastically, James Bennett Potash, MD, MPH, a professor of psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a psychiatrist with Hopkins Medicine, tells Health.... According to Dr. Potash, doctors often prescribe a class of medications called mood stabilizers, such as Lithium, to prevent mood cycling.

Scientists find Alzheimer’s progresses differently than previously thought (study) - Courthouse News Service
Paul Rosenberg, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and co-director of the Memory and Alzheimer’s Treatment Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said the study was “pretty persuasive” and while the results might not be “stunning,” they could be helpful in treatment development.

The false promise of psychedelic utopia – Vice
The current period of psychedelic research has now lasted for about as long as the one that took place in the 1950s and 1960s, before psychedelics were outlawed. [David Yaden, an incoming assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Medicine and member of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research] thinks that over-exuberant promises and assumptions about global impacts could have a serious consequence: getting in the way of the research that’s going on now.

Psychedelics take a high but rocky road – Bloomberg
Psychedelics, while undergoing a renaissance, are still federally illegal, just like marijuana. Yet the world is suddenly intrigued: “Fantastic Fungi” and “Nine Perfect Strangers,” both currently available for streaming, show how psychedelics are having a cultural moment.... Even governments are relaxing: Johns Hopkins Medicine just won the first federal grant to study psilocybin;

‘I’ve experienced states of consciousness beyond this life’: The people turning to psychedelics on their deathbeds - The Independent
Faced with the very real prospect of death, [Thomas Hartle] decided to seek out new ways of coping. It was then he remembered research he’d come across online, published by Johns Hopkins Medicine in 2016, which suggested … that therapeutic use of psilocybin – the active ingredient in magic mushrooms – could help decrease depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer.

Opening up about my struggle with recurring depression - Health Affairs
In a small 2020 study of adults with major depression, researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine found that two doses of the “magic mushroom” chemical psilocybin relieves symptoms for at least one month. However, more research, investment, and testing are needed before these treatments are considered clinically accessible.

October

Classic psychedelics aren’t addictive - Discover magazine
One person could take psilocybin and have a profound, joyful experience. Another could take the same dose and endure anxiety or horror. “Classic psychedelics are unreliable,” says Matthew Johnson, a psychedelics researcher at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “Even if you have an optimal environment, for the same person sometimes it’s blissful and sometimes it’s terrifying. It’s not an easy drug escape if that’s your goal.”

Psychedelic drugs and the future of medicine (audio) - WFYI radio (Indianapolis)
Researchers are studying the potential efficacy of microdosing highly potent drugs as an alternative therapy for issues like anxiety, depression, and pain. Today we hear about new research around psychedelic drugs, and find out what it could mean for the future of medicine. [Guests include Matthew Johnson, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.]

Detroit to vote on Proposal E, which would decriminalize psychedelic plants like magic mushrooms - WDET radio (Detroit)
[Psychedelic integration coach Shan] Vicious doesn’t have a medical degree and says she looked to studies from Johns Hopkins University for guidance. Researchers there have noted improvements with magic mushrooms and psychotherapy for conditions like depression and addiction. Vicious says those treatments should be available to everyone.

‘I don’t want to be a toxin, I want to be a nutric,’ Pharrell says as he hosts forum to discuss future of Virginia Beach, Norfolk - WAVY-TV (Portsmouth, Va.)
Nutric means “someone who is supportive and fosters others’ growth and development,” according to a definition by Dr. George Everly Jr., a Johns Hopkins psychologist.

What to expect during a bipolar disorder diagnosis – Self
Francis Mondimore, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Clinic and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says genetics are likely a primary risk factor for bipolar disorder. A person who has a parent or sibling with bipolar disorder is at an elevated risk for developing the condition.

How to take a mental health day to really reap the benefits – Today
A mental health day can help you avoid hitting the point where you’re unmotivated and overwhelmed. Neda Gould, PhD, associate director of the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Anxiety Disorders Clinic in Baltimore, told Today, “What we know from the science is that people who burn out don’t take breaks.”

Brain fog can persist 8 months after COVID: Study – WebMD
Tracy Vannorsdall, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, at Johns Hopkins Medicine, in Baltimore, says she is also seeing similar effects after COVID illness. This study shows that the lasting effects are found at all levels of illness from COVID-19, Vannorsdall says, adding that the findings also add concern to what happens to young COVID survivors as they age.

Can magic mushrooms help fight mental illness? A bipartisan group of Pa. lawmakers think so - Pittsburgh City Paper
There already is some research to go off. A Johns Hopkins University study released this year on psychedelics found that people suffering depression had a substantial decrease in symptoms after taking psilocybin in controlled capsule form twice. The effects were found to last for at least four weeks.

Hallucinogen therapy: Don't swallow all the hype around magic mushrooms yet - Men's Health
With the mental-health fallout from the pandemic and concerns that suicide rates will rise, could a mystical, psychedelic experience truly bring people some much-needed relief? I called up someone who knows more about it than almost anyone else: Matthew Johnson, at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, where psilocybin is administered legally in research studies.

Countdown to ecstasy: How music is being used in healing psychedelic trips - The Guardian (U.K.)
Top psychedelic research institutions use playlists during clinical trials, and some are available to stream online: the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research’s Sacred Knowledge playlist, which dates back to 1967, is stacked with classical composers such as Brahms and Vivaldi.

Johns Hopkins wins NIH grant to study psychedelics treatment of tobacco addiction - Maryland Daily Record
Johns Hopkins Medicine announced it has received a nearly $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to explore the potential impacts of psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in so-called magic mushrooms, on treating tobacco addiction. “The historical importance of this grant is monumental,” principal investigator Matthew Johnson, Ph.D., Susan Hill Ward Professor in Psychedelics and Consciousness at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in [a] release.

Many Covid patients have memory problems months later, new study finds - NBC News
[T]herapy that helps people work around their deficits is the only treatment, said Tracy Vannorsdall, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Therapists ask patients about their strengths and weaknesses and then design a program that will teach the patients how to use their strengths to compensate for their weaknesses, Vannorsdall said.

Johns Hopkins Medicine receives first federal grant for psychedelic research in over half a century - Baltimore Fishbowl
This week, Johns Hopkins Medicine was awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health to research the potential impacts of psilocybin on tobacco addiction. It is the first NIH grant awarded for the direct investigation of a classic psychedelic in over 50 years. Johns Hopkins will lead the study of psilocybin – the active ingredient found in magic mushrooms – in collaboration with the University of Alabama at Birmingham and New York University.

TikTok is giving teen girls Tourette-like tics: Doctors call it a ‘pandemic’ - New York Post
Johns Hopkins University Tourette’s Center saw 10% to 20% of its pediatric patients arrive with these symptoms during the past year, whereas the typical rate prior to the pandemic was just 2% to 3% annually.

These YouTubers say they hunt pedophiles. Their targets keep winding up dead. – Mic
Dr. Fred Berlin has spent years studying pedophilia as a sexual disorder, conducting early research on the administration of antiandrogenic (sex drive-lowering) medication in the U.S. and establishing a sexual disorders clinic at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. In a conversation with Mic, Berlin shared insight into the stigmatization of pedophilia in society and the resources available to those struggling.

Why ketamine-assisted therapy has gone mainstream – Forbes
Promising studies out of Johns Hopkins, Imperial College London, New York University, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and other institutions have found therapeutic potential of drugs like psilocybin and MDMA for various conditions, including depression, end-of-life anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and nicotine and alcohol dependence.

‘The rage would come out of nowhere’: Personality change has emerged as a symptom of long Covid - Rolling Stone
Starting in the spring of 2020, neuropsychiatrist Adam Kaplin, MD, PhD, began working as part of the Johns Hopkins Post-Acute COVID-19 Team, a multidisciplinary group of practitioners brought together to treat the impact of Covid-19 on the body and brain. “A number of people came out of the experience [of severe illness] with PTSD,” Kaplin tells Rolling Stone.

Could a psychedelic ego death bring you back to life? – mic
Although described in many different ways, generally speaking, ego death is a phenomenon that can occur while tripping, in which the distinction between you and everything else temporarily dissolves, explains Matthew Johnson, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Food and activities to fight SAD - U.S. News & World Report
Sometimes referred to as the winter blues or the winter doldrums, SAD can actually go much deeper than that, says Dr. Paul Nestadt, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Anxiety Disorders Clinic and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. “It’s a mood disorder, much like major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder.” Whereas most people probably feel a little blah sometime in the winter, SAD is when that normal down feeling becomes more problematic….” he says.

Teen girls are developing tics. Doctors say TikTok could be a factor. - Wall Street Journal
At the Johns Hopkins University Tourette’s Center, 10% to 20% of pediatric patients have described acute-onset tic-like behaviors, up from 2% to 3% a year before the pandemic, according to Joseph McGuire, an associate professor in the university’s department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

Do those stress-relieving drinks really work? - New York Times
“At the doses [of cannabis] that we’re talking about, these are relatively benign molecules,” said Ryan Vandrey, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine who researches cannabis. “They’re not really going to hurt you, but who knows if they’re going to help you either? My sense is these things are mostly marketing and gimmickry.”

Startups are betting on a psychedelic gold rush – Vox
In September, researchers at Johns Hopkins University received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to investigate whether psilocybin could help people quit cigarettes. It appears to be the first federally funded direct study in decades of the mental health benefits of a traditional psychedelic drug.

No, psychedelic treatment doesn't look like 'Nine Perfect Strangers' - Verywell Health
The psychedelic [TV] series arrives at a time when interest is growing in the therapeutic effects of "magic mushrooms." ... "The media can cause both harms and benefits," Matthew W. Johnson, PhD, a psychiatry professor at Johns Hopkins University and a top researcher globally on the human effects of psychedelics, tells Verywell via email. "To the degree that depictions reflect the medical evidence, this can serve a role in alerting people to an important emerging field of medicine."

World Mental Health Day: If you're feeling depressed or anxious, you're not alone - Good Morning America
"I've heard the pandemic described as a disaster of uncertainty because it seems like the finish line keeps moving," said Dr. Erica Martin Richards, chair and medical director of the department of psychiatry and behavioral health at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. "And that makes it harder to come up with a plan [to cope]." … Richards, also an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said women's mental health has suffered disproportionately during the pandemic for a number of reasons.

Florida lawmakers want to authorize study of mushrooms, MDMA as alternative therapies - News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
Psilocybin is the "magic" part of "magic mushrooms." It is naturally occurring and has been used by civilizations, including those in Mexico and Central America, for centuries. Roland Griffiths, a professor of [psychiatry] and neurosciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, announced in late 2020 that his research showed two doses of psilocybin can relieve symptoms of major depression for at least a month.

Psychedelic therapy can work better if this element is in the mix — study – Inverse
Music is so important to this kind of therapy that Mendel Kaelen, a neuroscientist, refers to music as “the hidden therapist” of psilocybin-assisted therapy. In fact, the psilocybin researchers at Johns Hopkins University have their own specific psilocybin playlist they use in clinical trials. (Psilocybin is the primary hallucinogenic compound found in “magic mushrooms.”)

Happiness and joy during turbulent times: Dr. Margaret Chisolm of Johns Hopkins University on how to live with joie de vivre, even when it feels like the whole world is pulling you down – Medium
We are talking to experts, authors, and mental health professionals who share lessons from their research or experience about “How to Find Happiness and Joy During Troubled & Turbulent Times.” As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Margaret Chisolm ... a professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

How science is making sense of the mystical experience in psychedelic medicine – Forbes
Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu, a Johns Hopkins professor and member of the university’s Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, says that the mystical-type effects produced by psychedelics have been linked across the board to benefits in a number of different populations, including people with depression, cancer patients, and people with … substance use disorders like alcohol dependence and tobacco addiction.

Are you tracking your sleep because of coronasomnia? - Verywell Health
Molly Atwood, PhD, clinician at Johns Hopkins Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic, has noticed an increase in patients with insomnia since the onset of the pandemic. “Stress obviously impacts sleep, but there were also pretty significant changes in lifestyle,” Atwood tells Verywell.

September

The science of psychedelic therapy breaks on through – Axios
“The funding side of the government has been the last to the party for a long time,” says Matthew Johnson, who studies psychedelics at Johns Hopkins University. NIDA recently awarded Johnson a grant to investigate the use of psilocybin-enhanced therapy to help people quit smoking, building on earlier studies. The grant hasn’t been added to the NIH’s public database, but Johnson says it amounts to about $4 million.

How Instagram is hurting teen girls - Wall Street Journal
Angela Guarda, director for the eating-disorders program at Johns Hopkins Hospital and an associate professor of psychiatry in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, estimates that Instagram and other social-media apps play a role in the disorders of about half her patients. “It’s the ones who are most vulnerable or are already developing a problem — the use of Instagram and other social media can escalate it,” she said.

Psychedelic companies hope at-home DNA tests bring better highs - Bloomberg Businessweek
Bad trips are still problematic: A Johns Hopkins University study of 1,993 people who reported bad trips found that 11% said they had put themselves or others in harm’s way during the experience, and 8% had sought treatment for … enduring psychological symptoms related to the event. “That to me is disquieting, particularly in light of the cultural enthusiasm for legalization and decriminalization,” says Roland Griffiths, director of the Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research at the university.

Feds fund study into whether psilocybin can help people quit smoking cigarettes - Marijuana Moment
Matthew Johnson, a professor at Johns Hopkins University who will be a lead investigator in the study, announced the grant funding on Monday. He said he believes that this is the “first grant from the US government in over a half century to directly study therapeutics of a classic psychedelic.”

Mental health, with a side of psychedelics? – Ozy
Studies and clinical trials, beginning at Johns Hopkins University, the first institute in the U.S. to get permission to restart psychedelics research, are showing how psychoactive compounds can support treatment plans for depression, addiction and PTSD

Magic mushrooms may be the biggest advance in treating depression since Prozac – Newsweek
The turning point for [depression sufferer Aaron] Presley came as he lay on a psychiatrist's couch at Johns Hopkins University, wearing an eyeshade and listening through a pair of Bose headphones to a Russian choir singing hymns. He had consumed a large dose of psilocybin, the active ingredient in what's more commonly known as magic mushrooms, and entered a state that could best be described as lucid dreaming.

If you notice this when you walk, it could be an early sign of Parkinson's - Yahoo!
If you notice [your body suddently freezing], or any other serious changes to the way you walk, it's important to talk to your doctor. "Sometimes these symptoms are mild and not really that disruptive," Gwenn Smith, PhD, director of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, says on the Johns Hopkins Medicine site. "But they indicate that you should see a neurologist for an evaluation."

If I could use gene therapy to cure my manic-depression, I don’t know whether I would – Slate
More than 99 percent of the human genome doesn’t vary at all,” James Potash tells me when I ask him about the discovery of genes responsible for manic-depression. Potash is a researcher at Johns Hopkins and co-leads the Bipolar Sequencing Consortium. You have to look for the tiny fraction of genes where there is variation, a process Potash describes as “a million microscopic experiments on a platform as small as your hand.”

Nine Perfect Strangers's portrayal of psilocybin could derail progress in researching psychedelic use for mental health - Yahoo!
“Shows like ["Nine Perfect Strangers"] bring the conversation [about psychedelics] to a wider audience, and when it’s done well, it helps to educate the public about what these substances are,” [Alan Davis, PhD, adjunct assistant professor in the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins] says. “However, when it’s done poorly, or when it perpetuates stigma or misinformation, it adds fuel to the flame of those who are skeptics or those who are in leadership roles in the country who might see it and assume that these misconceptions are accurate.”

Psychedelics summer camp: A new form of tourism – BuzzFeed
As Matthew Johnson, a professor at Johns Hopkins Center For Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, explained to me, as with most psychedelics, the risks associated with 5-MeO have less to do with the compounds themselves than with the possibility of the redoubtable “bad trip,” which can lead to “someone doing something dangerous when they're panicking as a result of the effect.”

Mounting research suggests benefits of psychedelics as California considers legislation - ABC 7 (Glendale, Calif.)
"There is a great deal of incredible research. You have NYU, Johns Hopkins, Imperial College of London, all setting up centers of excellence around psychedelics and psychedelic medicine because these substances are perhaps the greatest breakthrough in mental wellness in the last 100 years," said Matt Stang, founder and CEO of Delic Corporation, a psychedelic wellness company.

World Alzheimer's Day (video) - WBFF-TV
World Alzheimer's Day is Tuesday, September 20th, raising awareness and to help families better navigate the disease. Dr. Constantine Lyketsos, Director of the Johns Hopkins Memory and Alzheimer's Treatment Center, talks about diagnosis, treatment and the upcoming Alzheimer's Awareness Walk in October.

California moves closer to decriminalizing psychedelic drugs - NBC News
Matthew W. Johnson, associate director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research, said he favors decriminalization but added that it comes with "risks." He said last year that unfettered access brings him "real concerns about very real risks of psychotic disorders — what people refer to as a bad trip." In an interview Friday, Johnson said decriminalization should be paired with more research and public education regarding the drugs' effects.

These psychedelic experiments at UW are for therapy (editorial) - Journal Times (Racine, Wis.)
[The] head-in-the-sand approach to psychedelic research lasted for decades. That landscape shifted abruptly in 2006 when Roland Griffiths at Johns Hopkins (University) published a new psilocybin study titled “Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance," [On Wisconsin magazine writer Preston] Schmitt told us.

Prescription magic mushrooms? This Israeli startup wants to make it happen - Haaretz (Israel)
The psychedelic revolution, albeit not the first, is indeed in full swing. [T]he results will not be felt for a few years, but academic institutions like Johns Hopkins and Yale, have established departments to study psychedelic materials.

$80 million granted to research psychedelic properties of ingesting toad venom – Newsweek
When the toad venom is ingested, the psychedelic effects only take about 30 seconds to kick in and then leave the person physically incapacitated for about 30 to 90 minutes, according to Johns Hopkins psychedelics researcher Alan Davis. This is why it is so important to be with a trained professional during the administration of the powerful compound.

What are intrusive thoughts? An expert weighs in - Yahoo!
Whether or not you have labeled them as such in your life, you have likely experienced intrusive thoughts before, says Dr. Paul Nestadt, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Anxiety Disorders Clinic. While the brain can conjure up thoughts when prompted — say, when you are trying to remember the name of movie — Nestadt says that intrusive thoughts are “unbidden.”

Kacey Musgraves had 'guided magic mushrooms' trip to deal with divorce - The Statesman (India)
The 'Rainbow' singer was keen … to "transform (her) trauma and pain into something else" so she embarked on "plant therapy," which involved taking the hallucinogens under supervision. She said: "I did it with a doctor friend here and her husband…. Basically, some neuroscientists (from Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University) have created a playlist that's music from all over the world, put together to guide you, in that state of mind, through different emotions, feeling memories, whatever."

Rep. Susan Wild faced trauma. It transformed her priorities in Congress. - The 19^th
Dr. Paul Nestadt, a practicing psychiatrist and the co-director of the Johns Hopkins Anxiety Disorders Clinic, said “it is both brave and important for lawmakers to share their personal experiences with mental health and suicide.” He participated in a suicide prevention roundtable Wild led in 2019.

Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show - Wall Street Journal
Angela Guarda, director for the eating-disorders program at Johns Hopkins Hospital and an associate professor of psychiatry in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said it is common for her patients to say they learned from social media tips for how to restrict food intake or purge. She estimates that Instagram and other social-media apps play a role in the disorders of about half her patients.

7 major myths about your sleep - USA Today
Electronics’ light photons suppress melatonin, a hormone that’s essential for drowsiness, says Dr. David Neubauer, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University.

Fatal opioid ODs keep rising in Black Americans (study) – HealthDay
Racial inequities in U.S. health care and social services are a likely reason for the continued increase in OD deaths among Black Americans, even as deaths among other ethnic groups have leveled out, said [lead researcher Dr. Marc Larochelle, an assistant professor at Boston University School of Medicine] and Dr. Kenneth Stoller, director of the Johns Hopkins Broadway Center for Addiction in Baltimore, who reviewed the study findings.

Rockville goes purple: Opioids: Let's talk about it panel discussion (video) - City of Rockville 11
Ashley Bone, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, and Beth Kane-Davidson, director of Suburban Hospital’s addiction treatment center, shared insights on opioid use during a recent panel discussion hosted by the City of Rockville.

Could you help prevent a suicide? Know the warning signs – HealthDay
"Suicide risk is very hard to predict," said Dr. Paul Nestadt. He's an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore. "Even seasoned experts are hard pressed to accurately determine the risk."

Optimal antipsychotic dose for schizophrenia relapse identified (study) – Medscape
Commenting on the findings for Medscape Medical News, Thomas Sedlak, MD, PhD, director, Schizophrenia and Psychosis Consult Clinic and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, said the research "is a fine addition" to a previous analysis that explored dose-response relationships of antipsychotic drugs in the acute phase.

The worldview-changing drugs poised to go mainstream – BBC
Between the 1980s and mid-2000s, flares of change amid the crackdown [on psychedelic drugs] were seen. But the recent psychedelic renaissance has blown the doors off. It began with a landmark study in 2006 at Johns Hopkins University, headed by Roland Griffiths: a scientist who’d made his name studying caffeine.

Psychoactive substance summit set for the weekend in Gainesville - Gainesville Sun (Florida)
[U]niversities are once again taking a look at the effectiveness of psychedelics on mental health. Take the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research for instance. It has $17 million in funding to study psilocybin — the compound that makes some mushrooms "magic" — for new treatment of psychiatric and behavioral disorders, its website states.

Psychedelic drugs in Vermont: A grassroots push for legalization picks up on lawmakers' effort - Burlington Free Press (Vermont)
Garnering over 260 signatures over the past two weeks, [a] petition cites research from the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research as evidence of the safety and mental health benefits of psychedelic drugs. Johns Hopkins has found that psilocybin, also known as "magic mushrooms," can help relieve depression, anxiety, nicotine addiction, and alcohol dependency.

SoundMind opens a psychedelic clinic in West Philly as momentum builds for treatment of depression, PTSD with mind-altering drugs - Philadelphia Inquirer
The current push to bring psychedelics, some of which have ancient histories among indigenous populations, into mainstream medicine started about 15 years ago with research at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Characters on Nine Perfect Strangers are microdosing psilocybin for their health — but does it work? - People magazine
The use of psilocybin and other psychedelics are not FDA approved as a medical treatment, but the concept has been around since the 1950s, and it's part of ongoing clinical trials around the country. Dr. Albert Perez Garcia-Romeu, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is one of the people working on those clinical trials.

Kacey Musgraves on writing new album Star-crossed: “You aren’t owed a visit by the muse. She can visit or not visit” – Uncut
Two days before she entered the studio to record her new album, Kacey Musgraves drove to a house outside Nashville, put on a blindfold and took a dose of psilocybin mushrooms. Her only sensory stimulation was a special playlist curated by neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins University to trigger different emotions and guide the listener through the journey.

Under pressure: Are the stresses of social media too much for teens and young adults? - Everyday Health
For some, these virtual platforms can boost social support and connectedness, says Carol Vidal, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, who has conducted research on the impact of social media on mental health among adolescents.

Students and mental health (video) - KAAL-TV (Austin, Minn.)
Dr. Hal Kronsberg, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist in Baltimore, MD who currently practices at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, went in-depth on students' mental health and biggest challenges as kids head back to school.

August

'Don't give up on them': Mother remembers daughter who died of drug overdose (video) - WBAL-TV
Dr. Kenneth Stoller is the director of the Johns Hopkins Broadway Center for Addiction.... Stoller said the pandemic fueled the rise of overdose deaths in Maryland. "People are alone more if they are using alone, there's not people there to call 911 or to use Narcan to revive them. This is a 'I carry this at all times,' this is a lifesaving medication that everybody should be carrying so that if somebody overdoses, they can be revived right away," Stoller said.

What to know about Aduhelm, the new Alzheimer's drug - Consumer Reports
Who is Aduhelm for? It’s approved for people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. The drug’s questionable clinical benefits in those with very mild symptoms suggest that it’s highly unlikely to help people with moderate to severe cognitive impairment, says Constantine Lyketsos, MD, director of the Memory and Alzheimer’s Treatment Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

'Psychedelic renaissance' sees first legal collection of Australia's medicinal magic mushrooms - ABC (Australia)
Recent international trials at Johns Hopkins Centre for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research have revealed psilocybin's potential. One treatment session with psychedelics is said to have achieved what years of psychotropic drugs and counselling had not been able to accomplish.

Psychedelics can help mitigate symptoms of racial trauma for people of color, study finds - Marijuana Moment
It should be reiterated that the study authors — who are from Ohio State University, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, University of Ottawa and University of Connecticut — aren’t suggesting that taking psilocybin mushrooms or other psychedelics does anything to repair the systemic issues that contribute to racial trauma. But in terms of mitigating resulting symptoms like anxiety and depression, the substances may be a tool for healing.

Media company DoubleBlind is the master class of psychedelics - Forbes
It’s absolutely true that there’s some amazing data coming out of universities like Johns Hopkins and New York University about psychedelics. But finding healing through psychedelics is not as simple as just tripping.

GR is getting close to decriminalizing psychedelic plants and fungi - Fox 17 (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
In recent years, academia has hopped on board. Studies at … University of Chicago, Yale, Johns Hopkins, University of California – Berkeley, and even the FDA have facilitated several studies on the potential medical benefits of entheogenic plants and fungi.

Stress brought upon by return to office amid COVID-19 could harm health (video) - WBAL-TV
Dr. Karen Swartz, a Johns Hopkins Medicine associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, said there are … benefits of being back in the office, saying it makes some people more efficient and productive and revives the synergy and energy of teamwork and collaboration. However, it can also be stressful. "Good things, like getting back to normal and getting back to the office, can be incredibly stressful," Swartz said.

Hopkins psychologist offers tips for coping amid COVID-19 surge, new restrictions (video) - WBAL-TV
"We've been through this before and so we can get through it again," said Dr. Neda Gould, a clinical psychologist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.... Gould recommends reminding yourself of your resiliency ... or use mindfulness practices like meditation or talk to people in your social support network.

Psilocybin liberates the mind from constant thoughts of death that often consume the terminally ill. But its usage is being blocked, despite the Right to Try Law. - Inverse
Albert Garcia-Romeu is an assistant professor and researcher of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He tells Inverse the continued illegality of psychedelics and cannabis stems from a willful misrepresentation of these drugs, calling it a “culture war”. “This was largely due to political as opposed to scientific motivations,” Garcia-Romeu says.

July

My depression was consuming me. My doctor’s prescription? Shock therapy. It worked. - Washington Post
Irving Michael Reti, director of Electroconvulsive Therapy Service at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and an assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, wrote in a report on ECT that the therapy “is hands-down the most controversial treatment in modern psychiatry,” but that “modern-day ECT is a far cry from the old methods that earned ECT its sinister reputation.

All kids lie: How to handle it, and when you should worry - Washington Post
Although the pandemic may have influenced the types of lies kids are telling, it didn’t increase their frequency, says Amie Bettencourt, a child psychologist at Johns Hopkins. “It’s developmentally normal to see this kind of stepwise increase in lying [among tweens and teens], and virtual learning just provides this new environment for it,” she says.

You can smoke it but you can’t study it: Cannabis researchers get creative - Courthouse News Service 
“The fact that a single chemical entity can exist in three different regulatory spaces, depending on where you are, or how it was obtained, doesn't make any sense to me,” said Dr. Ryan Vandrey, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

How a ‘party drug’ paved the way to relief for treatment-resistant depression - Scary Mommy
After being told they are “resistant” to treatment and, after sometimes waiting years, [patients with treatment-resistant depression] are offered some relief and, finally, some hope. Adam Kaplin, M.D., Ph.D., a psychiatrist with Johns Hopkins Medicine, gets it: “For some people, esketamine therapy is revolutionary, giving them the chance to experience life without depression for the first time in decades.”

Is it depression — or bipolar disorder? - Psychology Today
This commentary, which states, in part, “Psychiatrists now recognize that some people with mostly depression symptoms have a “soft” form of bipolar disorder and may benefit from drugs used to treat that illness,” was written by Francis Mondimore, M.D., an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Magic mushrooms - Dawn magazine (Pakistan)
In 2018, the FDA granted permission to research these mushrooms as a treatment for depression. A year later the world-renowned Johns Hopkins unveiled its Centre for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research where psilocybin will be evaluated as a possible treatment for addiction and substance abuse as well as PTSD and even Lyme’s disease among other conditions and ailments.

Michael Pollan shares everything he learned after quitting caffeine for 3 months - Men's Health
In order to find out just how closely linked human beings are to caffeine, Pollan decided to give it up for three months and record his experiences. He took on the challenge at the suggestion of Roland Griffiths, director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University. He recalls that Griffiths told him: "You're never going to understand your relationship to caffeine until you get off it."

June

Harvard University launches first-of-its-kind psychedelics policy center - Marijuana Moment
In 2019, Johns Hopkins University launched the nation’s first center devoted exclusively to researching psychedelic drugs — though its focus is on the therapeutic potential of these substances, rather than delving into the policy side of the issue.

California advances decriminalizing psychedelic substances -Associated Press
“People’s lives are literally transformed because of these substances," said Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, though he amended his bill to remove ketamine from the list.... Wiener cited studies by Johns Hopkins University, the University of California, San Francisco and UCLA that found psychedelic therapies can help where other treatments have failed.

How VR company Tripp simulates psychedelic euphoria to treat depression and anxiety - dot.LA
The psychedelic visual leans into what longtime Johns Hopkins psychedelics researcher Matthew Johnson called "the mystical experience" -- the part of consuming psychedelics that isn't rooted in secular sciences, but rather in individual feelings.

Why it's important to speak with a doctor if PMS symptoms are affecting your daily life - PopSugar
As far as PMDD [premenstrual dysphoric disorder] is typically diagnosed, Johns Hopkins Medicine explains that there aren't many diagnostic tests and screenings for this condition. In other words, when seeking answers for what's causing your irritability, there isn't one stand-alone PMDD test that your doctor can give you. Before a conclusion is drawn, [Johns Hopkins] also notes, a certain amount of specific symptoms must be present over the course of a year and in most periods.

Psychedelic drugs offer effective new psychiatric treatments (audio) - WYPR radio (“Midday” program)
Dr. Roland Griffiths, a psycho-pharmacologist and professor of psychiatry and neurosciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, a specialist in mind-altering meditation practices and the founding director of the two year-old Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, joins a discussion about the potential and perils of psychedelic psychiatry.

Former head of psychiatry products at FDA joins psychedelic drug developer Cybin - Forbes
Psilocybin is a tryptamine that binds to serotonin receptor 5-HT2A in the brain. At certain doses, the psilocybin elicits profound changes in consciousness. Studies in academic institutions including Johns Hopkins and Imperial College London have found that psychedelic drugs have significant potential in treating mental health disorders, including certain types of depression.

Does vitamin D deficiency play a role in opioid addiction? (study) - Medscape
[W]eighing in on this research, Kenneth Stoller, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Broadway Center for Addiction and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, noted that "95% of patients with co-occurring disorders coming to the inpatient unit are vitamin D deficient, so it's very common in the population.

Texas the latest state to legalize psychedelic medical research - Bloomberg Law
Magic mushroom research is already underway at Johns Hopkins, where experiments found that psilocybin-assisted therapy could help patients with major depressive disorder, and at the University of California, San Francisco, which has a Translational Psychedelic Research (TrPR) Program.

Atai goes public with promising new mental-health treatments based on psychedelics - Entrepreneur
As with cannabis, medicinal use of psychedelics has been hamstrung by governmental restrictions. However, major universities, such as the University of California, Yale and Johns Hopkins are conducting research into the role of psychedelics in psychological treatment.

Can psychedelics help make dying easier? - Rolling Stone
[A 2006] study found that after two or three psilocybin sessions, a majority of participants had significant and positive changes in their mood, while 33 percent rated the experience as the most spiritually significant experience of their life.... Since then, this research has continued with the same results in trials at Johns Hopkins and New York University.

Are psychedelics the next big cure? - Good Housekeeping
Every person has a different experience during a psychedelic therapy session, which many find challenging to put into words because so much happens at once, says Matthew Johnson, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at John Hopkins Medicine and associate director of [the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research].

‘I’m a lighter me’: Can Mike Tyson and psychedelics help boxers with brain trauma? - The Guardian (U.K.)
“[The recovery from brain trauma of former NHL player Daniel Carcillo] sounds viable and doesn’t surprise me,” says Matthew W Johnson, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University and an associate director of their world-leading center for psychedelic and consciousness research. “In our controlled trials, success rates look really good. It’s not uncommon for the people in our sessions to have life-changing experiences with long-lasting effect.”

A dozen birthdays, an Easter egg hunt and a toast to a new year: Families make up for lost time at COVID reunions - Baltimore Sun
Dr. Neda F. Gould, clinical psychologist and assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said this time of transition and reunions can be a lot to take in. “For many people, there is that excitement and sense of joy, but there is also a sense of sadness and grief,” Gould said. “We see family members, and they’ve aged and they look different. It’s a lot to process.

Are psychedelics the next big cure? - Good Housekeeping
For depression, anxiety, addictions and eating disorders, “people who have suffered for decades have made substantial change after [treatment with psychedelics],” generally after just one to three doses in a supportive setting, says Natalie Gukasyan, M.D., medical director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore. And these shifts seem to be lasting.

Psychedelics could be the future of psychotherapy - Discover
The business surge in psychedelics has followed a tidal shift in academic research. Since 2006, researchers at Johns Hopkins University alone have published more than 60 peer-reviewed papers on psychoactive compounds found in magic mushrooms and other plants. In late 2019, the university opened the first-of-its-kind Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research.

Will psychedelics become legal in California? - Cal Matters (Sacramento)
Beyond PTSD, psychedelic drugs also offer promise for depression and anxiety treatments. A Johns Hopkins study from last year observed how adults with depression responded to two doses of psilocybin — and they thrived. More than 70% of participants saw an improvement in their mental health.

What do you really know about psychedelics and psychedelics stocks? - Yahoo Finance
[Most folks] don’t know that in 2018, researchers at Johns Hopkins University published results from a smoking cessation study that used psilocybin (the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms), to treat smoking addiction. The results were quite positive, showing an 80% success rate. Compare that to the most effective smoking cessation treatment on the market today, which maintains a success rate of about 30%.

Deepak Chopra on MindMed partnership, how psychedelics influenced the trajectory of his life - Forbes
[Chopra's] encounter as an inquisitive teenager in medical school is now, over 50 years later, being proven out in research that illustrates the effectiveness of psychotropic drugs as therapies for mental trauma. Rigorous studies at Johns Hopkins University, NYU Langone, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (and a host of other prominent institutions globally) are showing psychedelic drugs can ease the crushing symptoms of depression, PTSD, and addiction.

A new Alzheimer's drug is giving millions hope but does it work? (video) - WUSA-TV (D.C.)
Dr. Constantine Lyketsos of the Johns Hopkins Memory and Alzheimer's Treatment Center explores the new Alzheimer's drug and whether it will work.

Do psychedelics just provide comforting delusions? - Vice
Researchers like Johns Hopkins' Matthew Johnson have cautioned that therapists and guides need to be careful about projecting their own spiritual interpretations and assumptions onto others, and that relying on narrow forms of spirituality and mysticism could be alienating some from seeking out the treatment.

Drinking among older adults split during pandemic - AARP
“A lot of older adults think that it's okay to have four drinks at a dinner or cocktail party, because they don't drink at all the rest of the week,” explains [Susan Lehmann, director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Day Hospital Program at Johns Hopkins Medicine]. “But we know that sort of binge drinking can be particularly damaging for older adults.”

Cortical thinning in adolescence 'definitively' tied to subsequent psychosis (study) - Medscape
Commenting on the findings for Medscape Medical News, Russell Margolis, MD, clinical director, Johns Hopkins Schizophrenia Center, said that "it's not so much that the findings are novel but rather that they're fairly definitive in that this is by far the largest study of its kind looking at this particular question, and that gives it power.

Elected officials, health experts discuss gun violence awareness, prevention - Baltimore Sun
Dr. Paul Nestadt, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Anxiety Disorders Clinic and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, specializes in trying to understand suicide.... According to Nestadt, attempted suicide attempts are impulsive and made based on availability. Suicide survival rates are much lower when attempted with a firearm as opposed to pills or poison.

What to expect before your new grad leaves for college - AARP
[A]s young adults start tackling more tasks and earn a sense of independence, another behavior parents may notice is confrontation about rules, says Karen Swartz, M.D. “As they prepare to go away, they often get upset or might argue about a curfew or expectations of parents knowing where they are,” says Swartz, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

A clinical counsellor describes his legal trip on magic mushrooms - Vancouver Sun (Canada)
The playlist that is used to guide patients on the trip is one that has been carefully curated by experts who understand how music works with a psilocybin experience, said [clinical counsellor Dave] Phillips. The one he used is typically used by counsellors for cancer patients, made by Bill Richards, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University.

Pandemic worsens pre-existing mental illness (video) - CBS News
Dr. Kali Cyrus, a psychiatrist and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, comments on a recent study reporting that people with schizophrenia are more than three times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those without the disorder, and she talks about the perceived link between social isolation and gun violence.

May

Don't swallow all the hype around magic mushrooms yet - Yahoo
With the mental-health fallout from the pandemic and concerns that suicide rates will rise, could a mystical, psychedelic experience truly bring people some much-needed relief? I called up someone who knows more about it than almost anyone else: Matthew Johnson, Ph.D., at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, where psilocybin is administered legally in research studies.

How does love work in psychedelic therapy? - Psychology Today
Mary Cosimano, clinical researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research: We are born as love and over time we tend to experience blocks that obscure that love. These blocks manifest in ways that cause problems in our lives and society. In order to heal these problems, we need to get back to that state of love. Psychedelics have the potential to assist with that.

With psychedelics, mental health care may never be the same - Baystreet (Canada)
Not only has the US FDA been supportive of psychedelics, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Berkeley, and Mount Sinai Hospital are establishing psychedelic divisions, as well.

State-funded psychedelic therapy research for veterans could come out of Texas - KVEO-TV (Harlingen, Texas)
Currently, in the United States, the privately funded Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research has recently put out research in the field. The center was created in 2019 and published research in November 2020 on the “Effects of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy on Major Depressive Disorder.”

A wake-up call to retirees who don’t get enough sleep – MarketWatch
In older adults, the circadian clock advances, explains [Dr. David Neubauer, a psychiatrist and professor at Johns Hopkins Medicine who has treated patients for over 35 years in the medical center’s sleep clinic]. “People as they age tend to become more early birds, being sleepier earlier in the evening and having their sleep turned off earlier in the mornings,” he tells me in an interview.

Shroom boom? Here's why investors say psychedelics are the next stock to watch - 13 News (Nofolk, Va.)
“I think there’s incredible potential here. I really do think it's gonna be a new paradigm within psychiatric treatment,” said [Dr. Matthew Johnson, a Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University]. “It’s a new treatment model, and there’s a lot of opportunities. That’s gonna come with both the positive and challenges. This stuff has to be done safely.”

How psychotherapy can help with migraine - Everyday Health
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) works by identifying behaviors that a person is engaging in or avoiding, as well as thoughts they’re having that are unhelpful, inaccurate, or maladaptive, says Neda Gould, PhD, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “We examine the thoughts that could be maintaining or exacerbating the condition and then work to change both the thoughts and the behaviors in a systematic way to improve it,” says Dr. Gould.

Peace of mind: How chronic stress affects overall wellbeing (video) - WBAL-TV
Dr. Neda Gould, director of the Johns Hopkins Mindfulness Program, explains how chronic stress affects our mental and physical well-being.

Which alcohol makes you hungover? Experts explain – Mic
First things first: What is a hangover, and what causes it? You’re probably familiar with the symptoms, which Alexis Hammond, associate Medical Director of the Center for Addiction and Pregnancy/Addiction Treatment Services at Johns Hopkins Medicine, says can include headache, nausea, diarrhea, sensitivity to light and sound, and a general malaise.

Kacey Musgraves is in her feelings – Elle
At the beginning of this year, [Kacey] decided to lean all the way into the loss of control she was feeling and take a guided mushroom trip. I’d venture to say that Musgraves has type A tendencies rolled into a type B personality, based on the fact that she used a Johns Hopkins-created playlist made for the purpose.

Is it enough to 'just' take care of patients? - MedPage Today
Jennifer Leah Goetz, MD, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, who cares primarily for adolescents with eating disorders, shared a tweet this week that sparked discussion around a long-standing issue: the value of patient care in academic medicine.

Signs that it’s time for therapy - New York Times
Are you struggling to get through the day or feeling persistently sad, irritable or anxious? Have you thought about harming yourself? These are some of the signs that you might need therapy or medication. “When it’s really affecting how you live your life, is when we want you to reach out for support,” said Dr. Erica M. Richards, medical director of the department of psychiatry at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C.

The jury is out on the effectiveness of microdosing psychedelics, experts say, but definitely don't do it at work - Business Insider
"Like it or not, this is an illegal activity," said Matthew Johnson, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins and the associate director of the university's Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, which was the first research group in the country to receive regulatory approval to study psychedelics with healthy volunteers.

Kristen Bell says she did hallucinogenic mushrooms to battle her depression – Insider
Research from scientists at Johns Hopkins and New York University late last year suggested that hallucinogenic mushrooms can help with anxiety and depression when traditional antidepressant medications don't work.

The emotional impact of Parkinson’s psychosis – HealthCentral
“At least 50% of people with Parkinson’s will suffer from either depression, anxiety, and often both at some point,” says Gregory Pontone, M.D., M.H.S., director of Johns Hopkins Parkinson’s Disease neuropsychiatry clinical program in Baltimore.... “[D]opamine medications are not the stand-alone cause [of psychosis], because most patients on medication do not have psychosis,” says Pontone.

Psychedelic treatment may offer a cure for depression and other mental illnesses - Washington Examiner
The substance psilocybin is found in various types of mushrooms. The Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University is conducting extensive research into it as a treatment for mental illness. “The psychedelic research that we’ve been doing has been going on for nearly two decades,” said Matthew Johnson, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the center. “I’ve been conducting this research since 2004.”

How social media has impacted mental health in teens during the Covid pandemic (video) - NBC News NOW
According to an NBC News poll, 54 percent of parents say the time their kids spent on social media increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, which some teens and experts say could have a negative effect on their mental health. News NOW is joined by a panel of teens [and Dr. Erica Richards, chair of psychiatry at Sibley Memorial Hospital and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins medical school] to discuss how the pandemic has changed their relationship with social media and how to create healthy online boundaries.

Our ancestors knew the healing power of psychedelics. California must decriminalize (opinion) - Sacramento Bee
[At a] talk by author Michael Pollan on his best-selling book “How to Change Your Mind.” I learned that studies at Johns Hopkins University and other prestigious universities were finding that psychoactive mushrooms and other psychedelics seemed to enable people to find purpose and meaning again.

Psychedelic drugs could help treat mental health issues. But can you get there without the trip? - Baltimore Sun
[R]ecently the government has permitted, and occasionally funded, a growing number of studies in labs at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland and several other academic and private centers nationally.... Doing the basic scientific research is important as these mood-altering drugs are getting closer to federal approval as medicines, [said Dr. Roland Griffiths, director of Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research and a longtime psychedelic drug researcher].

Why women’s brains are more vulnerable to disease, from anxiety to Alzheimer’s – Prevention
“In a memory test, women who reported more stressors in their 40s were able to recall fewer words than those who reported fewer stressors,” says [Cynthia Munro, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University]. That research didn’t find a difference in men. “We know we can’t stop stress,” she says. “But the research makes it clear that we need to train our ability to stay calm in the face of it.”

Psychiatrist: Could these interventions have prevented the Woodlawn shootings? (opinion) - Baltimore Sun
Researchers at Johns Hopkins found that 70% of their surveyed house staff (physicians in training) had little to no knowledge of ERPO [Extreme Risk Protection Order]. After ERPO was briefly described to them, over 90% said they believe they have seen patients who would have qualified for an ERPO.

MDMA, magic mushrooms could be the hottest entry in psychiatry, researchers hopeful - India Today
Johns Hopkins, Yale, the University of California, Berkeley, and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York are among the institutions that have recently set up psychedelic research divisions or are planning to do so, with financing from private donors. Scientists are conducting studies on whether psychedelics can be used in treating depression, autism and opioid addiction, anorexia and the anxieties experienced by the terminally ill.

Therapy in aisle 7: Retailers are entering the mental health market - New York Times
“I think it’s a smart model,” Dr. Kali Cyrus, a psychiatrist at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins, said of the various therapy programs. “By expanding availability, you increase visibility — and that helps reduce stigma.” But she questioned whether the therapy clinics will have a standardized approach when giving out mental health advice, making referrals or offering risk assessments.

The psychedelic revolution is coming. Psychiatry may never be the same. - New York Times
These days, the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins … is studying, among other things, psilocybin for smoking cessation and the treatment of depression associated with Alzheimer’s as well as more spiritual explorations involving religious clergy. “We have to be careful not to overpromise, but these are fantastically interesting compounds with numerous possible uses,” said Roland R. Griffiths, the center’s founding director and a psychopharmacologist.

What happens when Big Pharma starts selling mass-market hallucinogens - The Federalist
After a long hiatus during the Drug War, scientific research on psychedelics has exploded in the 21st century. The prestigious Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research in Baltimore, Md., the Beckley Foundation in Oxford, United Kingdom, and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) have all been hard at work quantifying and medicalizing the soul.

A psychedelic drug passes a big test for PTSD treatment (study) - New York Times
Albert Garcia-Romeu, a psychopharmacology researcher at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study, said that additional research is needed to explore the therapy’s efficacy for people of diverse races and ethnicities, because three-quarters of the trial participants were white.

A psychedelic drug passes a big test for PTSD treatment (study) - New York Times
In an important step toward medical approval, MDMA, the illegal drug popularly known as Ecstasy or Molly, was shown to bring relief to those suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder when paired with talk therapy.... “This is about as excited as I can get about a clinical trial,” said Gul Dolen, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the research. “There is nothing like this in clinical trial results for a neuropsychiatric disease.”

April

Cancel your trip: Scientists identify psychedelic drug without hallucinogenic side effects - BBC Science Focus
Following from pilot studies, scientists are also researching how psychedelics such as psilocybin could be used to treat smoking, alcohol dependence and depression. A small study from Johns Hopkins and New York University also showed how a single 25 mg dose of the drug reduced the anxiety and depression of terminally ill people.

Struggling with social anxiety in a post-pandemic world (video) - WMAR-TV
Anxiety is something that affects all of us, and as we begin to see the light at the end of this tunnel that is the pandemic, there's another form of anxiety and stress that may be affecting a lot of people. Social anxiety. People that have social anxiety may be more hesitant to go out in social situations where there may be other people, explains Dr. Paul Nestadt, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Anxiety Disorders Clinic.

How much do you really know about schizophrenia? Here are the basics - Parade magazine
“Schizophrenia is a clinical syndrome characterized clinically by various combinations of so-called positive symptoms, negative symptoms, cognitive difficulties and impairment in ability to function,” says Russell Margolis, M.D., clinical director of the Johns Hopkins Schizophrenia Center in Baltimore.

Clinic founders tout the promise of psychedelics for mental illness; observers urge caution - MinnPost (Minnesota)
[Co-founder Kyle] Keller explained that staff at [the Institute for Integrative Therapies] take a multipronged approach to psychedelic treatment for mental illness, combining the use of psychedelic medications with traditional psychotherapy and medical monitoring. “We follow a pretty standard structure,” he said. “It’s a model that is used by Johns Hopkins or NYU for doing psychedelic-assisted therapy.”

There is a lot of fungus among us - New York Times
[A] 2016 study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine ... found use of psilocybin relieved anxiety and depression in people with a life-threatening cancer diagnosis. A second, small study involving 24 participants conducted by Johns Hopkins researchers that was published in JAMA Psychiatry found that those who received psilocybin-assisted therapy showed improvement as well.

How to sort through emotions after the Chauvin trial verdict (audio) - KCBS radio (San Francisco)
What are some ways to sort through the emotions around this verdict? KCBS Radio's Rebecca Corral spoke with Dr. Andrea Young, Child psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Coping after COVID: Navigating psychiatry after a pandemic (video) – HCPLive
Jennifer Payne, MD, Director of the Women’s Mood Disorder Center at Johns Hopkins University, discusses how difficult the pandemic has been for patients with mood disorders who often suffer from symptoms of impulsivity.

Long-term mental health consequences after repeated exposure to violence (video) - NBC News
Dr. Erica Richards, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medicine, explains what happens to the psyche of people and communities of color when they see videos of police brutality play over and over again.

Bored in the pandemic, she made art by bruising bananas. Now she has an international following. - Washington Post
Experts have long agreed that art is good for mental and physical health. Meg Chisolm, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins … said art in almost any form promotes happiness. “When you’re creating art, you get into that flow state that actually takes you out of yourself a little bit, which allows you to be more centered and less stressed,” she said.

Blood tests offer the promise of precision psychiatry – Medscape
Reached for comment, Lauren Osborne, MD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, noted that for a long time, [the group doing the blood-test research] has been doing "very careful work" characterizing biomarkers in blood that can help predict psychiatric disorders.

Researchers in Europe, U.S. team up to produce first ever 5-MeO-DMT psychedelic training program – Forbes
Today, the energy behind psychoactive drugs as medicine is being propelled in clinical settings — in the hallowed academic halls of research titans like Johns Hopkins, U.C. San Francisco and Imperial College London.

In Canada, psychedelics re-emerge in treatment of depression - International Business Times
A recent clinical trial from Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University -- which has just opened a research center dedicated to psychedelics -- showed that two doses of psilocybin, accompanied by psychotherapy, produced "large, rapid and sustained" effects in patients suffering from serious depression.

Examining public health responses to gun violence (audio) – NPR
To help us think about [a public health response to gun violence, we've called Dr. Paul Nestadt once again. He's assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he is affiliated with the Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy.

'Magic Mushroom' hallucinogen as good as antidepressants: Study – HealthDay
Matthew Johnson is associate director of Johns Hopkins' Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, in Baltimore. In their research, Johnson and his colleagues found that one dose of psilocybin, combined with psychological therapy, produced "very large" and lasting reductions in cancer patients' depression and anxiety symptoms. Johnson said researchers have a "very good understanding" of psilocybin's immediate impact on the brain.

Psilocybin therapy may work as well as common antidepressant (study) - Scientific American
“Looking at their data, it’s very clear to me that there is a substantial difference between those two groups in precisely the direction we would have predicted,” says Roland Griffiths, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, who was not involved in this study but published his own “landmark” paper in JAMA Psychiatry last year: the first randomized controlled trial to examine psilocybin therapy for MDD [major depressive disorder].

Rick Perry urges study into using ‘magic mushrooms’ to treat veterans with PTSD - People magazine
[T]here's been increased interest in recent years about psilocybin's potential medical benefits when taken in small doses. Medical schools at universities like Johns Hopkins University and University of California-Berkeley have opened research centers in recent years dedicated to studying it.

U.S. suicides declined over all in 2020 but may have risen among people of color (study) - New York Times
“It’s clear the pandemic has hit African-Americans a lot harder than it has whites,” said Dr. Paul Nestadt, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins who was the senior author of the study, which was published in JAMA Psychiatry in December. “The pandemic may have been a perfect storm, but we’ve all been in very different boats in that storm,” he added.

Psychedelic drug worked for depression as well as common antidepressant, small trial finds - NBC News
"This is huge because it's showing that psilocybin is at least as good — and probably better — than the gold standard treatment for depression," said Roland Griffiths, director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University, who was not involved in the study.

What a trip! The first ever Jewish Psychedelic Summit is about to take off - Jewish News of Northern California
[Rabbi Zac] Kamenetz has had two experiences with psilocybin, and both were done legally as part of a Johns Hopkins University study of psychedelic experiences in clergy of various religions. Those experiences were among the most powerful of his life, he said, and convinced him of the need for psychedelic-assisted healing in the Jewish community.

Could psychedelic medicines have helped prevent DMX's overdose? – Benzinga
We’ve also seen evidence of psilocybin therapy working quite well in treating addiction. Perhaps the most well-known research in this area was the 2018 study that came out of Johns Hopkins University, which showed tremendous success in treating smoking addiction with psilocybin therapy.

Can 12-step groups and psychedelic addiction treatment coexist? – Vice
[Psychedelics] do have physical effects on the body and brain, but they also bring about profound psychological experiences that — anecdotally — people say help them stop using. “It really gets to more of the core of what addiction is, cutting across these substances,” said Matthew Johnson, the associate director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research.

Denver dabbles with magic mushrooms, but using them to treat mental health disorders remains underground - Los Angeles Times
Researchers now believe that taking psychedelics during talk therapy can help patients see their lives and the lives of others through a more compassionate lens. “Our studies have shown really promising medical potential for using psilocybin in a controlled setting for an astonishing range of mental health disorders,” said Matthew Johnson, professor of psychiatry and associate director of the Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University. “But we need to keep following the data.”

FDA OKs first new ADHD drug in over a decade for children - Associated Press
Experts say the drug may appeal to parents who don’t want to give their child stimulants. It also could be an option for kids who have substance abuse problems, dislike the side effects of stimulants or need additional therapy, said Dr. David W. Goodman, director of Suburban Psychiatric Associates near Baltimore and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

March

Unlimited Sciences: The non-profit working with Johns Hopkins on a psilocybin study (and how you can take part) – Forbes
“We formed Unlimited Sciences in 2018 and started our conversations with Johns Hopkins to create a prospective observational research registry,” [co-founder and director Del Jolly] says. “We thought, ‘who is really collecting that data, and how can we inform the best way to use psilocybin?’ Because whether it’s illegal, legal or decriminalized, people are using this.”

Oregon’s in uncharted territory with therapeutic psilocybin use. That means creating our own map. - Portland Mercury (Oregon)
[Emergency medic Angela] Carter’s observations about psilocybin are backed up by research from Johns Hopkins University, which suggests the substance is an effective treatment for anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses.

Weekly ER visits for suicidal thoughts, attempts in 2020 did not exceed pre-pandemic level, data shows - Morning Consult
Part of the increase in outpatient mental health visits in the second half of 2020 could also be pent-up demand from people who delayed care in the early months of the pandemic, said Dr. Paul Nestadt, a psychiatrist and suicide researcher at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Andrew Yang wants to legalize magic mushrooms - Queens Daily Eagle (New York)
A 2020 study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers found that doses of psilocybin produced “rapid and large reductions” in depression when combined with supportive psychotherapy. A 2016 John Hopkins study found that psilocybin relieved anxiety and depression for people with a life-threatening cancer diagnosis.

Can magic mushrooms heal us? - New York Times
“The definition of personality is it’s a trait, it doesn’t change,” Matthew Johnson at Johns Hopkins University and the associate director of its Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, told me. But Johnson has conducted multiple studies in which participants ranging from the very ill to so-called healthy-normals report profound changes to outlook and even personality after one well-facilitated dose.

Gov. Brown appoints advisory board to oversee beginnings of psilocybin therapy in Oregon - KDRV-TV (Medford, Ore.)
The board will be tasked with using the best available science and data to create Oregon’s regulatory framework for the supervised, therapeutic use of psilocybin products. Clinical studies, including research from Johns Hopkins University, UCLA, and NYU, have shown promising results using psilocybin for people suffering from anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

Are magic mushrooms the cure to what ails MMA fighters’ brains? - MMA Fighting
[Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research] co-founder Matthew Johnson told MMA Fighting the research group has been in active talks with the fight promotion about collaborating on a study into the use of psychedelics for brain health. The promotion could provide funding into such a study, though plans are at the very preliminary stage, and the university would control the research. “My strong impression of the UFC is there’s a genuine interest in exploring methods that can help athletes,” he said

Feeling anxious about returning to in-person life? You’re not alone, experts say (video) - CBS Baltimore
Dr. Neda Gould, a Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Professor, said socializing is a skill that’s gotten rusty for some during the pandemic and the reintroduction of it may cause some to become anxious. "We haven’t been interacting with people in the same ways, so I think it’s going to take some time for us to build that skill again,” Dr. Gould said.

Magic mushrooms, ayahuasca and mescaline decriminalized in Washington, D.C. – Newsweek
Last September, Johns Hopkins launched the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, having received $17 million in funding. The institution will study the impact of psychedelics on brain function with a focus on making discoveries on how to treat conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and anorexia nervosa.

10 reasons why women may have a low sex drive and what to do about it – Insider
1. Shifts in hormones during your menstrual cycle. Your levels of sex hormones like estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone change throughout your menstrual cycle, which can affect your sex drive, says Kate Thomas, PhD, the director of clinical services at The Johns Hopkins Sex and Gender Clinic. "We know that progesterone can have a negative impact on sexuality; the role of estrogen is less understood," Thomas says.

ADHD and narcolepsy: Genetic correlations, common pathways (study) - MedPage Today
An ADHD expert not involved in the study praised it: “I think the associations uncovered in this study help move the genetic field forward by looking at common biologic mechanisms that lead to a constellation of symptoms seen in both ADHD and narcolepsy,” says David W. Goodman, MD, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore.

A long, strange trip to the mainstream for psychedelics - MSN via Boston Globe
This renaissance in the study of human consciousness has galvanized not just [Massachusetts General Hospital] but medical centers at other venerable institutions such as Johns Hopkins, New York University, and UCLA, which is studying psychedelic therapies with the dying.

Daydreaming may offer an escape from covid stress, but it’s surprisingly tricky. Try these tips. - Washington Post
Neda Gould, a clinical psychologist, agrees that daydreaming could be a handy coping mechanism during the pandemic. “One could hypothesize that this would help mood when you’re thinking about pleasurable experiences,” said Gould, director of the Mindfulness Program at Johns Hopkins.

Investors are debating who should own the future of psychedelics – Vice
[Podcast host and author Tim Ferriss, an influential player in the psychedelics space] has been a vocal supporter of psychedelic therapy research on his platforms, and has invested millions of his own money while organizing financial commitments to the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research and Imperial College London.

The race to patent psychedelics is just getting started – Vice
Outside of concerns about cost, access, and monopoly, some feel that some of the latest patent applications contradict the focuses of academic psychedelic research.... The multiple pending patent applications for weight loss are filed at the same time that Johns Hopkins is conducting research on the use of psychedelics for anorexia nervosa.

Teens’ mental health claims double amid pandemic: Experts weigh in - Fox News
"Anecdotally, our own pediatric ER and inpatient psychiatric units are seeing ... increases [in teen patients]," [Dr. Paul Nestadt, assistant professor of psychiatry and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Anxiety Disorders Clinic at Johns Hopkins University of School of Medicine] said in an email. "This may reflect lack of access to routine outpatient care, which often plays a preventative role for mental health crises. However, it is very likely also the result of the dramatic shift in teen lives….”

Traces of psychedelics make you feel good, but so does placebo, finds unusual ‘self-blinding’ study - Science magazine
The results echo the findings of the handful of very small placebo-controlled studies, says Johns Hopkins University psychedelics researcher Albert Garcia-Romeu, who was not involved with the work. But the new study was much larger and had more long-term observations, he says. Still, he thinks the results are likely to be contentious, because microdosing enthusiasts may not be convinced by findings that go against their own experiences.

What if your coping strategies hit the pandemic wall, too? – Bustle
"Sometimes we need to reevaluate and adjust our coping mechanisms if they are no longer effective," Neda Gould Ph.D., an assistant professor at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, tells Bustle. Rather than going back to your old behaviors repeatedly, she recommends a reset.

"In many ways it's been disastrous": COVID pandemic provides perfect storm for Americans with eating disorders - CBS News
Marita Cooper, a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said social media can be a serious trigger for individuals with eating disorders, particularly given the prevalence of memes about gaining weight during the pandemic era. Cooper was the lead author of a July study which found the "potential impact of the pandemic on individuals with EDs is staggering and necessitates concerted intervention efforts."

'Microdosing' LSD works no better than placebo, study suggests - Live Science
"It certainly appears so far that at least a significant portion of the claimed benefits of microdosing are the result of placebo effects," Matthew Johnson, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study, told Live Science in an email. "This should be no surprise, because the placebo effect is nearly always at play in the real world use of a medication."

In the weeds: Virginia becomes the 16th state to legalize marijuana (audio) - WAMU-FM/The Kojo Nnamdi Show (D.C.)
Matthew Johnson, Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, joins Nmamdi to discuss what we know about the medical effects of marijuana and what issues the use of medical marijuana can address.

February

Why are a growing number of ex-Mormons using psychedelics? - KUER/NPR (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Bill Richards, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has been studying psychedelics for the better part of five decades, and has overseen hundreds of psychedelic trips.... [W]hile he’s excited about the potential medical uses of psychedelics, he has also witnessed their potential to [elicit] spiritual experiences. “These drugs do help heal some sicknesses,” he told me. “But they also have potential for spiritual growth.

Serious coronavirus anxiety now has a name – Bustle
"A phobia is defined as an irrational or unrealistic fear, not just the normal anxiety that many of us are experiencing," Neda Gould PhD, assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and associate director of Bayview Anxiety Disorders Clinic, tells Bustle. "The intensity of this fear makes it interfere with someone’s functioning…." While anxiety about your health in the midst of COVID is rational, she says, coronaphobia takes it to an extreme.

Treating depression before, during, and after pregnancy – WebMD
“We know that babies who are born to moms who are depressed, stressed, or anxious in pregnancy are born with increased levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, which makes the babies themselves extra reactive,” says Lauren Osborne, MD, associate professor of psychiatry, gynecology, and obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “This sets them up for their own psychological problems going into childhood.”

Are caffeinated foods safe to eat for an energy boost? – HuffPost
[Author Michael Pollan] points to studies showing that mental performance and athletic performance are improved by caffeine intake, and he quotes Johns Hopkins researcher Roland Griffiths, who pooh-poohed naysayers by saying, “If you have a steady supply of something, you can afford it and it’s not interfering with your life, there’s nothing wrong with being addicted.”

Sheppard Pratt to renovate part of Towson campus for psychedelics research center - Baltimore Business Journal
The Baltimore area has become a kind of hotspot for research into psychedelics. Johns Hopkins established a Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at its Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore last year. That center ... focuses on investigating how psychedelics can impact brain function in healthy people, as well as those affected by conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease or major depression and anxiety disorders.

Envisioning a psychedelic future for Philadelphia’s USciences as it pairs with Compass Pathways for a Drug Discovery Center - Philadelphia Inquirer
A handful of major universities and research centers are pursuing similar research.... In September, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore launched the first-of-its-kind Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research to investigate the substances.... Hopkins, along with New York University, recently completed Phase 3 clinical trials with the nonprofit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD.

Kacey Musgraves breaks her silence on divorce: 'Our season changed' - Radio.com
Additionally, the trippy country star detailed her experiences while on a “guided mushroom trip.” Spacey Kacey tells us that the experience was far from “recreational” and rather that “it was like mental and spiritual labor. Like, 10 years of therapy in one sitting.” Kacey also adds that the trip was overseen by a doctor and timed to a 7 hours and 40-minute playlist, that was created by researchers at Johns Hopkins.

Are you suffering from ‘coronaphobia?' - Fox5 (New York City)
Psychiatrists say coronaphobia is a new anxiety that stems from excessive fear of contracting the virus and is compounded by stress over job losses, finances and isolation. "It interferes with a person's ability to function," said Dr. Una McCann, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "It crosses the border from a nervous nelly who is anxious about a lot of things to 'I can't get the things in my life done that I need to get done because of this phobia.'"

Skip the school pressure and help kids find resilience - Psychology Today
Joe McGuire, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins who treats kids with anxiety disorders, explains, “When we are facing our fears, we are building that tolerance to distress, to the unknown. We see time and time again that this works.”

How I learned to sleep better, naturally – HGTV
The ability to fall asleep is a complex blend of biology and psychology, says Dr. David Neubauer, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and associate director of the Johns Hopkins Sleep Disorders Center. According to Neubauer, some 50% of the population suffers from occasional bouts of insomnia. "An awful lot of people are frustrated by their inability to achieve the sleep that they want most nights," he says.

Johns Hopkins psychologist Bill Richards studies the magical power of music - Baltimore magazine
As part of his groundbreaking work at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins, Richards now serves as lead curator of the seven-hour playlists that help support participants through their existential experiences, aka clinical “trips.”

Ask the Expert: How can I prepare my child to go back to in-person schooling? - PBS Local
We spoke to pediatric anxiety expert Dr. Joseph McGuire, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, about how to prepare your child to go back to school.... There are three strategies you can employ, [he says].

Suicide by intentional overdose in children - Psychology Today
Dr. Paul Nestadt, a psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, observed that “Suicide is also surprisingly impulsive. A majority who decide to do it act within an hour … nearly a quarter act within five minutes. Not having access to a lethal weapon during that time greatly reduces the risk of death.”

Cannabis tied to self-harm, death in youth with mood disorders (study) – Medscape
[C]ommenting on the study for Medscape Medical News, Christopher Hammond, MD, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, said: "Three major strengths of the study are the size of the sample, its longitudinal analysis, and that the authors controlled for a number of potential confounding variables." In light of the findings, Hammond recommended clinicians and other health professionals who work with young people "should screen for cannabis-related problems in youth with mood disorders."

Pandemic may be affecting how parents feed their kids (study) – HealthDay
There have been good and bad changes to U.S. children's diets during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers say. "Providing healthy meals and snacks to our kids can be a challenge even when we're not experiencing a pandemic," said senior study author Susan Carnell. She's an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore.

January

Study: Brain stimulation can be individualized to treat depression - Verywell Health
This study "really gets as near as you could get to circuit-level areas of the brain," Irving Reti, MBBS, a research psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University not involved with the study, tells Verywell. Even though personalized neuropsychiatry is still in its infancy, Reti, who is also the director of the Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Service at Johns Hopkins Hospital, says this study and its technology are "taking things to the next level."

10 surprising facts about CBD – HealthCentral
With an increasing number of states legalizing cannabis, products made from cannabidiol (CBD) are becoming more and more mainstream. We wanted to get educated, so we asked two experts [including Ryan Vandrey, Ph.D., a professor in the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine] to discuss some lesser-known facts about CBD.

Why investors are bullish about psychedelics – Forbes
Lindsay Hoover, managing partner at JLS, an early-stage plant medicine venture: I think there’s optimism that there will be less uncertainty about the path to regulation that these substances can take. There’s optimism that if there’s mental health treatments for anxiety and depression, rational heads will prevail. There’s optimism that there is no reason to stop this experiment particularly when there are studies conducted by Johns Hopkins and top-tier academic institutions the last few years.

Are you OK? I'm not. (opinion) – CNN
"Everyone's struggling," Dr. Erica Martin Richards told me on the phone. She's a psychiatrist and a medical director at the Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, DC, as well as a professor at Johns Hopkins University. She told me her patients are sicker and more anxious than usual. Research and observation tell her that other Americans are having a very hard time.

Out of the Blue: As the pandemic wears on, experts weigh in on ways to stay positive - Baltimore magazine
“If your basic needs are met, and your life hasn’t been disrupted to the core in terms of finances and health,” says Neda Gould, associate director of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, “this is an opportunity to reevaluate what matters in life, to practice gratitude for all the things we continue to have, and an opportunity to reframe and look within and develop new perspectives.”

Why the UFC decision to support psychedelics research is a very big deal (commentary) – Benzinga
Make no mistake: Professional fighters put their brains through a lot of physical and emotional trauma. So when I heard that UFC president Dana White announced the UFC approached researchers at Johns Hopkins about a psychedelics treatment study that could help fighters combat brain trauma, I was beyond excited

How does it feel to get ketamine therapy? – Gizmodo
Adam Kaplin, Clinical Director of the Psychiatric Esketamine Clinic and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University: When ketamine works, it works dramatically — in the first dose or two, people get dramatically better; some even feel they’ve returned to their old selves. To have this response in people with treatment-resistant depression, after just a few doses, is kind of amazing.

Terpenes: The little-known compounds that make cannabis a better medicine - Discover magazine
Terpenes have mostly been investigated by aromatherapy practitioners, [says Ethan Russo, CEO of a company that commercializes products derived from cannabis], and while there haven’t been a lot of high-quality investigations, they do exist. Researchers such as Ryan Vandrey of Johns Hopkins are conducting the kind of double-blind, controlled studies on terpenoids that change attitudes, Russo believes.

David W. Goodman, MD: Silver linings in ADHD (video) - HCP Live
In an interview with HCPLive, David W. Goodman, MD, FAPA, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said despite the obvious challenges the pandemic has caused, he is hopeful some [people with] ADHD were able to adapt to a new routine that did not exacerbate some of the symptoms associated with the disorder.

How to give back on Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Real Simple
"[Volunteering] likely reduces stress levels in those that volunteer and often helps increase your social network which, in the long-run, also reduces anxiety and enhances overall life satisfaction," explains Erica Richards, MD, PhD, chair and medical director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., and assistant professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

'Mindfulness' on your mind? It has limits, review finds – HealthDay
Neda Gould, director of the Mindfulness Program at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, urged caution in interpreting the findings. "It doesn't mean that mindfulness isn't helpful," Gould stressed. "We have tons of research pointing to how it can help with anxiety, stress, blood pressure, pain and other concerns, but we can't make blanket statements that these programs are helpful for every person in every situation."

Council President Mosby announces suicide prevention legislative workgroup in Baltimore -WBFF-TV
Mosby will be joined by Councilmember Danielle McCray, chairwoman of the Council’s Health, Environment and Technology Committee, Dr. Cynthia Major Lewis, director of Johns Hopkins Adult Psychiatric Emergency Services, Michael Bray, researcher and medical student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore Police Department Major Byron Conaway and Officer Joel Quillin.

UFC looks into Johns Hopkins study on psychedelic drugs as potential therapy for fighters – ESPN
The [Ultimate Fighting Championship] is looking to get involved with research into psychedelic drugs as a therapy for fighters' brain health. The promotion has been in contact with Johns Hopkins University about its psychedelics studies with an eye toward seeing if the drugs can be helpful for fighters dealing with brain issues, UFC president Dana White told MMA Junkie on Wednesday.
Also reported by: MMA Fighting

Talk to children about mental health and suicide, experts say - WFYI public radio (Indianapolis)
Dr. Paul Nestadt, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine … says children may feel more anxiety and other distress due to school closings. “We are seeing from surveys, self reports, higher numbers of distress in kids,” he says. “That may be related to the fact that kids are impacted uniquely and that they're cut off from school….”

The emerging revival of psychedelics in neuroscience - Psychology Today
The Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine aims to identify new treatments using psychedelics for various diseases such as addiction, PTSD, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, anorexia nervosa, alcohol use with patients with major depression, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Baltimore County parents worry that the extended schools closure is harming their kids - Baltimore Sun
Carol Vidal, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told members of Re-Open Baltimore County Public Schools that while children run the smallest risk from becoming seriously ill after contracting COVID-19, “they are paying the highest price.” “After months of not connecting to school,” Vidal said, “many children have lost all joy. It will affect them today and tomorrow by impacting their academic progress, job prospects and current and future mental health.

Your guide to CBD topicals for muscle and joint pain – HealthCentral
[U]ntil more large-scale, peer-reviewed studies are done, physicians are skeptical of topical CBD. “Especially with commercial products, there’s just not enough clinical evidence to back up any claims for joint and muscle pain,” says [Tory Spindle, Ph.D., a researcher in the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center]. “That’s not to say they’re not effective, but there are no clinical studies to prove they are,” he says.

Best music playlists for psychedelic therapy are explored in new Johns Hopkins study - Marijuana Moment
Psychedelic therapy sessions often incorporate music — and typically that music is of the classical genre. But new research out of the John Hopkins University School of Medicine suggests there may in fact be no special value in playing a Mozart concerto or Chopin étude for tripping patients. Gongs could work just as well, if not better, the study found.

2020

December

Winter blues: Here are some tips to help combat seasonal affective disorder - International Business Times
"People rarely 'snap out of' a depression," Johns Hopkins Medicine [says]. "But they can feel a little better day-by-day." … It's important to set realistic goals and not to pressure oneself to do too many things at once. Instead, Johns Hopkins Medicine recommends breaking down tasks into smaller ones and tackling only what one can.

2020 was the year of the magic mushroom – Vice
You could say that the starting gun for [magic mushrooms'] reentry into our collective psyche was fired by new research from the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, and the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London.

Keeping New Year’s resolutions as we say hello to 2021 (audio) - The Kojo Nnamdi Show (WAMU-FM; D.C.)
[We] talk with two local psychologists [including Dr. Neda Gould Director, Johns Hopkins' Mindfulness Program; Associate Director, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center; Faculty Member, Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine] on how we can approach goal-setting in a realistic and doable way.

Why Canada could be next to allow psychedelic therapy (and how it’s already changing lives) – Forbes
One of the earliest studies to come out of the so-called psychedelic renaissance was conducted at Johns Hopkins University in 2016, and sought to examine how psilocybin would affect depression and anxiety in patients suffering from life-threatening cancers. It found that just a single dose of psilocybin left subjects with longstanding relief, with 78% experiencing lower rates of depression and 83% experiencing lower rates of anxiety six months after receiving the treatment.

2020 was the year of psychedelics — here's why - Benzinga
Matt Johnson, a professor and researcher at Johns Hopkins University’s psychedelics program, explained to Benzinga that psilocybin’s success above other psychedelics has to do with the amount of anecdotal evidence that already existed before academic research resumed in the early 2000s.

Travelers with COVID-19 are selfishly endangering others. Experts call the problematic behavior 'truly reckless.' - Yahoo! Life
Neda Gould, PhD, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, tells Yahoo Life that the behavior is “problematic” since “the consequences can be so dire for others.”

Is coronavirus compounding your holiday stress? Experts lend advice - Fox News
A top expert at Johns Hopkins said a good place to start [combatting holiday-related stress] is by acknowledging that there may be unpleasant and mixed emotions this year. "Make space for them and acknowledge them," says Neda Gould, clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "We can hold both pleasant and unpleasant emotions simultaneously and by doing so we can free up energy and build resilience."

From adaptogens to psychedelics: What’s next for wellness’ mushroom obsession – Glossy
Psychedelics ... have been the subject of a growing body of clinical research. In November 2019, Johns Hopkins Medicine launched the Center for Psychedelic Research with $17 million in donations. Researchers there are studying psilocybin, the chemical found in psychedelic mushrooms, for a wide range of uses, including as a “new therapy for opioid addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), ... anorexia nervosa and alcohol use....”

For many with eating disorders, pandemic set off ‘cascade of problems.’ Here’s how to get help. - Washington Post
Beyond the broad mental health impacts linked to the sudden disruption of lives and widespread isolation, coronavirus-related restrictions created specific factors that could put people with eating disorders at increased risk, said [Marita] Cooper, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University [who specializes in eating disorders].

Feeling “Zoom fatigue”? 6 ways to stay social that don’t use video cams – Healthline
]M]any of us are in video meetings for work throughout the day, so the idea of using it for socializing may not be appealing,” said Neda Gould, PhD, clinical psychologist and director of the Mindfulness Program at Johns Hopkins Medicine.... 5. Drop off a care package. “It feels good for us to do nice things for others during this time, knowing that many people are really struggling, as well,” Gould said.

Fibromyalgia treatments: Living well with a chronic condition - Practical Pain Management
“Cognitive behavioral therapy can help you change your negative thoughts and modify your response to negative feelings,” says Traci Speed, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “It can help you replace maladaptive thoughts and find new coping skills.”

N.J. bill to lessen jail time for ‘magic’ mushrooms moves forward - NJ (New Jersey)
Some studies show promising medical benefits of psilocybin to treat depression and anxiety, particularly in cancer patients or others with chronic illnesses, like HIV, Mathew Johnson, a professor of psychiatry at and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said during [Monday's bill] hearing.

Johns Hopkins psychologist offers tips to avoid pandemic burnout - WTOP-FM (D.C)
“Trying to adhere to anything extra is always a challenge,” said Carisa Parrish, the co-director of Pediatric Medical Psychology at Johns Hopkins Medicine.... She recommends reading a story about someone who has battled the virus so it resonates with you.... She also advises people to make a commitment to the precautions, just as they would wearing a helmet while riding a bike. That will help make it second nature, according to Parrish.

Focus on clinical research (video) - Horizon Media
How did psychedelics, not so long ago cast into the wilderness by the medical community, so quickly return to America’s most prestigious research institutions and graduate to the pages of its premier journals? Join us as we learn the stories of the scientists who re-opened the doors, and the new generation of researchers working to explore the potential of psychedelics in science and medicine [including Johns Hopkins’ Manoj Doss, Ph.D., Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D., Natalie Gukasyan, M.D., Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., and William A. Richards, Ph.D.].

Can social media tell you how Covid-19 safe others are? - KCBS radio (San Francisco)
Dr. Carisa Parrish, Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, told KCBS Radio that she’s seen lots of scrutiny at Johns Hopkins on having “community behavior be in sync with our professional behavior, to prevent community spread for those of us that work in the hospital setting.” She said she understands that people want to be safe, which could be the reason for stalking their coworkers’ socials.

Boca Raton organization offering free virtual mental health workshop for seniors, caregivers - WPTV-TV (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
Experts are now warning a second Covid-19 wave is coming, and a Boca Raton organization is hoping to help. On Dec. 14, [Ruth and Norman Rales Jewish Family Services] is offering a free mental health workshop on Zoom featuring Dr. Susan Lehmann, the clinical director of Geriatric Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University. During the session, Dr. Lehmann will focus on ways that caregivers can help their mentally impacted loved ones cope.

Raising the bar on geriatric mental health competency training - Psychiatric Times
In this opinion piece, Dr. Susan Lehmann, Dr. Robert Roca and co-authors make the case for national education mandates from accreditation organizations and congressional support to require enhanced education of all clinicians who care for older adults. Lehmann is clinical director, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry, and associate professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins Medicine. Roca is vice chair in the Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

3 psychedelic stocks to invest in the future of medicine - Investor Place
Research is in full swing with the announcement from Johns Hopkins on its development of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. With a $17 million commitment for planned studies, the research will further help in normalizing psychedelics. Therefore, the shroom boom has well and truly arrived.

Galaxy brain is real - The Atlantic
“Some people do have the sense when they’re looking across millions of light-years, that our ups and downs are ultimately meaningless on that scale,” says David Yaden, a research scientist in psychopharmacology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and who has studied self-transcendent experiences, including in astronauts. “But I think [space images] can also draw our attention to the preciousness of local meaning — our loved ones, people close to us, this Earth.

Psilocybin treatment for mental health gets legal framework - Scientific American
Oregon made history on November 3, becoming not just the first U.S. state to legalize psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in “magic mushrooms,” but also the first jurisdiction in the world to lay out plans for regulating the drug’s therapeutic use. The next day, on the opposite coast, Johns Hopkins University researchers published results from the first randomized controlled trial of treating major depressive disorder with synthetic psilocybin.

November

Will mushrooms go the way of cannabis? Legalization efforts are growing - Orange County Register (California)
Many medical experts who study psychedelics also believe they hold promise in treating a wide variety of conditions, with minimal risks of side effects or addiction. That includes Alan Davis, a clinical psychologist and professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who specializes in psychoactive drug research. Still, while he supports decriminalization, Davis warns against creating a commercial market and he urges caution on rushing into even a supervised therapeutic model….

Mike Tyson says psychedelic drug inspired his return to boxing - Fox News
“[Taking toad venom is] such an intense experience that, in most cases, doing it at a party isn’t safe. It’s not a recreational drug. If people get dosed too high, they can ‘white out’ and disassociate from their mind and body,” Alan K. Davis, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University’s psychedelic research unit, said in [a 2019] report.

The neuroscience of psychedelic drugs, music and nostalgia (video) – TedMed
Frederick Streeter Barrett, a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine professor and core faculty member of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, explains his belief that music and psychedelics have the potential to open our minds and connect us with our most authentic selves.

New legal push aims to speed magic mushrooms to dying patients - Kaiser Health News
The Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, launched this year, has published dozens of peer-reviewed studies based on two decades of research. They include studies confirming that psilocybin helped patients grappling with major depressive disorder, thoughts of suicide and the emotional repercussions of a cancer diagnosis.

How psychedelics help you "die before you die" - Big Think
[Rick Strassman's] clinical work led to Charles Grob's government-approved research on ayahuasca and MDMA in the nineties, which opened the door to Johns Hopkins researchers studying psilocybin to treat the existential dread hospice patients encounter, which opened the floodgates to the psychedelic revolution occurring today.

Hopkins study shows 'magic mushrooms' may be effective in treating major depression - Baltimore Business Journal
Johns Hopkins researchers found in a recent study that psilocybin, or "magic mushrooms," combined with psychotherapy, may be effective in reducing depression symptoms among adults with major depressive disorder. The study was conducted by researchers at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore.

How to have a healthier relationship with social media (audio) – Self
Neda Gould, Ph.D., [is] a clinical psychologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She works with adult patients with anxiety and depression and spends a lot of her time helping people be more mindful. And grounded in the present moment. We told Dr. Gould about Alexa's struggles and asked her if she had any advice for someone who can’t get off of social media because it’s her job.

As COVID-19 cases surpass records, cautions against holiday gatherings (audio) – NPR
A very large, new study ... found 1 in 5 [diagnosed with Covid] were also diagnosed with conditions including anxiety, depression, insomnia within the first three months following the infection.... Adam Kaplin, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins, says he is not surprised by these findings. "We know that when you get Covid-19, it has this effect on the entire body, including the fact that it does affect the brain."

Microdosing psychedelics is trendy, but does it work? Here’s what science says – Forbes
While respected institutions such as Johns Hopkins and NYU conduct placebo-controlled clinical trials using larger doses of psilocybin (one ongoing trial at Johns Hopkins is looking at the effects of psilocybin on anorexia), trials employing microdosing are not common.

Q&A: In the dark about psilocybin mushrooms - Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)
[A]dvocates tout mushrooms as a safe drug with numerous health, psychological, spiritual and emotional benefits. And those benefits are being taking seriously. Johns Hopkins University is currently conducting research on types of mushrooms to see if they can help with conditions such as depression, nicotine dependence, Alzheimer’s, anxiety, opioid addiction and PTSD.

Sharing a home office with your partner? Here's how to keep the peace - Washington Post
As people spend more time at home during the pandemic and rethink how to make their space work for their new lifestyles, many homeowners in the United States are doing home-improvement projects. “So many of the couples I work with are also doing renovations or remodels,” says Chris Kraft, a couples therapist and the director of clinical services at the Sex and Gender Clinic in the psychiatry department at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “It really is all about boundaries. [The pandemic] is forcing people to reconfigure and renegotiate their living spaces.”

Inside psilocybin’s big week, from a pioneering depression study to Election Day wins - Vanity Fair
On top of [Election Day wins for psilocybin and other psychedelic substances], a new Johns Hopkins study showed that two therapeutic doses of psilocybin managed to ease major depression and put a majority of cases into remission for as long as a month.... “This is a new model in terms of psychiatry,” Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., the study’s lead researcher and a professor in the departments of psychiatry and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said by phone [last week].

How to not let pandemic fatigue turn into pandemic burnout - Everyday Health
When we thought this health crisis might last just a few months, we psyched ourselves up to cope with it, says Paul Nestadt, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Now that we understand there’s no definitive end, that is causing widespread ‘pandemic fatigue.’ ”

Startup making dissolvable psilocybin strips goes public – Forbes
In November, Johns Hopkins published results from its latest study of adults with major depressive disorder finding that two doses of the psilocybin combined with psychotherapy, produced “large, rapid, and sustained antidepressant effects” on patients. Four weeks after the session, half of study participants —13 patients out of 24 — were still in remission.

Mind menders: The future of psychedelic therapy in the US – Medscape
After a 50-year hiatus, psychedelic drugs are undergoing a research renaissance. Roland R. Griffiths, professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and the Oliver Lee McCabe, III Professor in the Neuropsychopharmacology of Consciousness, and director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University, discusses the status of these drugs in the United States and their potential to treat psychiatric disorders.

A Navy SEAL veteran with PTSD said a 'magic' mushroom trip put an end to his depression – Insider
Researchers at Johns Hopkins and NYU conducted multiple small studies of cancer patients who experienced anxiety and depression as a result of their diagnoses. After giving these patients psilocybin, the majority reported an improvement in these symptoms immediately after treatment and over time.

What happens when psychedelics make you see God - Popular Science
Because of the link between the mystical and the medical, scientists like those at Johns Hopkins are probing why people have transcendent tendencies at all, how that might help our brains, and what it means for how we perceive the world.

David W. Goodman, MD: Pros and Cons of Vyvanse for ADHD (video) – HCPLive
David W. Goodman, MD, FAPA, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, shared his thoughts on the benefits of Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (Vyvanse), a go-to treatment for ADHD.

Caregivers Corner: Some with dementia may act inappropriately. Here’s how to deal with it. -Capital Gazette
As a caregiver, continue to educate yourself on this disease. We are fortunate to have the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Frontotemporal Dementia and Young-Onset Dementias Clinic nearby.

'Magic mushroom' ingredient could work as mental health treatment – CNN
[A] new small study of 24 adults with major depression … found that two doses of psilocybin led to a large reduction in depressive symptoms.... "The magnitude of the effect we saw was about four times larger than what clinical trials have shown for traditional antidepressants on the market," said Alan Davis, an adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in a news statement.

Alert: Legal psychedelics could be the next cannabis stocks! - The Motley Fool
Johns Hopkins University — the U.S.’s oldest research university—launched a dedicated center for psychedelic studies. While it’s still early, researchers believe [psychedelics] could help treat certain psychological conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

‘Magic mushrooms’ relieve major depression within a week (find on homepage) - ZME Science
[A] new study involving patients with major depression reiterates the power of psilocybin — the active ingredient in magic mushrooms. Just two doses of the psychoactive substance were enough to produce a fast and significant reduction in depressive symptoms. “The magnitude of the effect we saw was about four times larger than what clinical trials have shown for traditional antidepressants on the market,” said Alan Davis, Ph.D., adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Also reported by: New York Post, The Hill, JAMA Network Learning, International Business Times, Fox5 (D.C.)

Why 2020 is a banner year for drug decriminalization — and what it means for public health – Vogue
Continued research by institutions like Johns Hopkins, London’s Imperial College, and MAPS are revealing that psychedelic drugs like MDMA and psilocybin have profound medicinal potential.

Confused about Covid brain fog? Doctors have questions, too – Wired
[W]hile doctors may have been expecting brain fog, there are still plenty of questions about what causes the symptom, who it affects the most, and how to treat it. “We don’t have the whole story,” says Adam Kaplin, a neuropsychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University. “What we don’t know is probably much larger than what we do know.”

The case for psychedelics for depression is getting stronger (study) – Elemental
A new study released [Wednesday] showed that psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms, is a powerful antidepressant. “[The participants in the study] were people who […] had lived with depression for decades. Their current depressive episode on average was two years or longer,” says Alan Davis, PhD, an adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University who led the study.
Also reported by: NPR, New Atlas, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, Insider, Daily Mail (U.K.)

Psychedelic mushrooms win a major electoral victory, paving the way for medical use - Fast Company
Matthew Johnson, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, has been conducting experimental researching into psychopharmacology since 1996. In May, during a panel discussion at the Future of Psychedelics Summit, Johnson said that psilocybin, and psychedelics in general, can help people see the big picture in ways that can lead to life-altering epiphanies.

Oregon becomes first state to legalize psychedelic mushrooms - The Oregonian
Recent research at universities including Johns Hopkins, Imperial College in London and the University of California, Los Angeles, have shown promising results of psilocybin therapy on depression, PTSD and addiction.

October

Oregon may become the first state to legalize 'magic' mushroom therapy on Election Day – Insider
In November 2018, researchers at Johns Hopkins published a paper urging the government to make psilocybin legally available in clinical settings after their small study showed the drug improved anxiety and depression in cancer patients.

Forget marijuana. Mushrooms are on the ballot on November 3 - Fast Company
Users on trips often see moving shapes, vivid colors, and distortion of objects — not to be confused with hallucinations, or spotting objects that aren’t there, says Albert Garcia-Romeu, assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University, and a member of that institution’s Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. It’s more akin to seeing a pattern on a carpet that’s “moving or waving or shimmering like the ocean,” he says.

What it’s like to experience depression for the first time, in a pandemic – Elemental
“Social isolation is something that’s hard for humans to deal with,” says Paul Nestadt, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Anxiety Disorders Clinic. “We’re used to a certain type of life, and we’ve had to adjust to a new lifestyle. There’s even some mourning or grieving for our old way of life.”

How the pandemic is contributing to your insomnia – CNN
Between Zoom meetings for work and people being glued to their phones, screen time is at an all-time high. Blue spectrum light generated from screens tells the brain to stop producing melatonin, a hormone that regulates the body's sleep-wake cycle, said Dr. David Neubauer, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore.

DC ballot initiative could decriminalize psychedelic plants, like magic mushrooms, in the city – ABC News
Matthew Johnson, the associate director of Johns Hopkins University's Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, told ABC News that while the FDA has not approved psychedelics for therapeutic use, there is "very strong evidence" they have anti-addiction effects and can treat depression and anxiety in some patients.

Oregon is on the verge of legalizing shrooms therapy, thanks to your favorite hippie soap – GQ
America’s attitudes about psychedelics have changed, and it looks like the laws around them will change, too. Four cities (Denver, Oakland, Ann Arbor, and Santa Cruz) have already decriminalized psilocybin, and a 2005 court ruling made it technically legal to grow mushrooms in New Mexico. Meanwhile, promising work from institutions like Johns Hopkins and NYU is at the center of what’s being called a “psychedelic renaissance” in the United States.

Pandemic fatigue (video) - St. Bonaventure University TV (Allegheny, N.Y.)
Dr. Carisa Parish, a psychology expert at Johns Hopkins Hospital, explains how exhausting it is to keep up with the changing guidelines for Covid-19. “There are all the precautions, the quarantining, the containment strategies … and the info-demic,” she says. Dr. Parish also offers some coping strategies.

Mushroom measure not such a far-out idea - Mail Tribune (Medford, Ore.)
A decade of research at Johns Hopkins University, NYU and others has indicated that psilocybin is uniquely effective in treating depression, anxiety, addiction and end-of-life psychological distress. Researchers found a single dose was found to ease anxiety and depression in patients months or years later.

Dying of loneliness: How COVID-19 is killing dementia patients - Al Jazeera
Esther Oh, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Memory and Alzheimer’s Treatment Center in Baltimore, Maryland, has found telemedicine – remote care through digital services like Zoom – to be promising ... for certain individuals living with dementia.... “Of course, I used to be a firm believer in in-person visits only,” she says. But when the pandemic started to spread, her methods had to adapt. “We went from 100 percent in-person visits only … to 100 percent telemedicine from the third week of March.”

The coronavirus pandemic’s mental health challenges (audio) - KCBS radio (San Francisco)
Dr. Carissa Parrish, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, says all the unknowns are causing more anger. "I would say people feel like they are a lot more tense or on edge or having more irritability…. She [adds that] there are some simple things people can do to help themselves … going for a walk for exercise, playing outside, talking to a friend on the phone, having meals together … can be both good for kids and for parents.

10 signs the pandemic is about to get much worse – Elemental
5. Everyone’s fed up. “This has been so emotionally taxing, and we can only take so much,” says Neda Gould, PhD, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “People are feeling exhausted and burned-out from having to do certain things a certain way, and then not do so many things.”

Measure 109 would use magic mushrooms to treat mental illness - Herald and News (Klamath Falls, Ore.)
A 2016 study at Johns Hopkins’ Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research administered psilocybin to 51 cancer patients with life-threatening diagnoses who had all exhibited symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. Six months later, 80% of the participants showed sustained decreases in those symptoms.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Can Provide Pain Relief from Episodic Migraine - PainRelief.com
[Q&A with Dr. Neda Gould, Director, Mindfulness Program at Johns Hopkins Associate Director, Bayview Anxiety Disorders Clinic] Migraines can be severe and debilitating and many of the current pharmacological treatments have side effects. We were interested in studying the effect of a non-pharmacological intervention (mindfulness meditation) on migraines using various outcomes including brain imaging.

Election, coronavirus causing stress? Experts say to limit news consumption - Fox News
Focus on the present moment, and note what is in your control, such as voting, Neda Gould, director of the Mindfulness Program at Johns Hopkins and associate director of the Bayview Anxiety Disorders Clinic of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, wrote to Fox News. She suggested spending 10 to 20 minutes a day jotting down a list of worries, and for the rest of the day, redirecting the mind to the activities at hand.

The Devil's breath (video: 2:25) - Talk Radio (U.K.)
Matthew Johnson, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medicine, explains what a drug called the devil's breath does to the mind.

In the shadow of the pandemic: The suicide crisis in America - Behavioral Health News
This commentary, co-written by Paul Nestadt, assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, states, in part, "The pandemic, overdue confrontations of racism, and fears about the outcome of the 2020 election have diminished America's alarm about rising drug overdose and suicide rates. But these epidemics continue, albeit in the shadow of COVID-19.”

The psychological cost of the pandemic (audio) - WYPR-FM
Johns Hopkins psychologist George Everly discusses, among other topics, what leaders should be doing now to address the Covid-19 pandemic’s psychological cost.

Turn on, tune in, get well - The New Yorker
For years, researchers at N.Y.U. Langone Medical Center had been discussing the idea of a center for psychedelic medicine. MindMed just pledged five million dollars to N.Y.U. Langone, to kick off such an establishment.... (The first psychedelic-medicine center in the country, at Johns Hopkins, was created last year.)

Covid-19 got you — and your productivity — down? Here’s how to get back up – Forbes
3. Take a news break. “While keeping informed about current events is important, too much attention can cause problems,” explains Joseph McGuire, a child psychologist with Johns Hopkins Medicine. “Setting boundaries can prevent feeling overwhelmed by the situation.”

Why magic mushrooms are the next big booming (and legal!) drug market (U.K.) - The Observer
“I find it very worrisome there will be a legal recreational marketplace for psychedelics. For medical use, psilocybin is given to people with drug-resistant depression. A bad trip could be detrimental for them,” Dr. Matthew Johnson, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, says. “Psychedelics should be dispensed and administered under the supervision of a medical professional.”

September

A mind-altering path to healing - U.S. News & World Report
In 2019, Johns Hopkins Medicine – with $17 million in promised funding from individuals including podcaster and “The Four-Hour Workweek” author Tim Ferriss – launched the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research to study the therapeutic potential of psychedelic compounds.

Biden's spotlight on son's addiction earns praise from advocates – Yahoo
Paul Nestadt, the co-director of the Johns Hopkins Anxiety Disorders Clinic, thinks Biden’s remarks might lighten the stigma those vulnerable Americans face at every turn. “For the millions of Americans struggling with substance dependence, it will be refreshing to hear Biden openly praise his son for his work to overcome addiction,” Nestadt said. “Stigma has been one of the major barriers to treatment in this country...."

Elder abuse and ageism during COVID-19 - Psychiatric Times
Elderly individuals are ... disproportionately affected by social distancing policies and other restrictions to stop the spread of the virus, resulting in increased loneliness, social isolation, and loss of freedom and support networks, say the writers of this commentary: Mansoor Malik, MD, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry, and Haroon Burhanullah, MD, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, both of Johns Hopkins University SOM, and Constantine G. Lyketsos, MD, a professor and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, Bayview Campus, Johns Hopkins University SOM.

If psychedelics are going mainstream, will they be accessible to everyone? - The Independent (U.K.) via Washington Post
It would be hard to avoid coverage of what’s been called “the psychedelic renaissance”: It’s everywhere. In a recent episode of “60 Minutes,” Anderson Cooper reported on successful clinical trials at Johns Hopkins and New York University that found psilocybin can help with, respectively, smoking cessation and binge drinking.

Now is the worst time for Covid-19 fatigue – Elemental
[N]ow there’s a big problem: We’re not winning this war, and that’s affecting the motivation to fight. “This has been so emotionally taxing, and we can only take so much,” says Neda Gould, PhD, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “People are feeling exhausted and burned-out from having to do certain things a certain way, and then not do so many things.”

As coronavirus rolls on in Maryland, mental health toll surges, with experts fearing spike in suicides - Baltimore Sun
Dr. Paul Nestadt, co-director of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said he is especially concerned about the pandemic’s mental health impact on Black and brown communities.... The Black and Latino communities have endured disproportionate consequences, from higher rates of infection to catastrophic job losses. Nestadt said that puts minorities at high risk of depression and suicide....

Oregon may soon legalize the use of magic mushrooms as mental health treatment. Many Portlanders aren’t waiting. - Willamette Week (Oregon)
The science is on [the side of Portland Psychedelic Society President Kayci Mitchell]. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research have published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles, many of them showing that psilocybin is therapeutic for people suffering from depression, addiction, and the existential distress of living with life-threatening diseases.

Ann Arbor OKs move to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms, plants - MLive (Michigan)
Council Member Zachary Ackerman, D-3rd Ward, noted Johns Hopkins Medicine has launched a $17 million center dedicated to psychedelic and consciousness research, seeing what he called “the tremendous potential of these future medicines.”

Who will benefit from psychedelic medicine? - Washington Post
It would be hard to avoid coverage of what’s been called “the psychedelic renaissance”: It’s everywhere. In a recent episode of “60 Minutes,” Anderson Cooper reported on successful clinical trials at Johns Hopkins and New York University that found psilocybin can help with, respectively, smoking cessation and binge drinking.

I had passive suicidal ideation. Here’s what everyone should know - Refinery29
Before reaching out to a friend about suicidal thoughts, make sure you’re in a mentally healthy place yourself. “It is difficult to help others if you are in significant distress. Make sure you are engaging in self-care strategies,” Neda Gould, PhD, a clinical psychologist and director of the Mindfulness Program at Johns Hopkins, told Refinery29 in a previous interview.

Winter may bring a lot more coronavirus cases, new Johns Hopkins research finds* - Baltimore Sun
“We have made significant inroads in this pandemic, and we can say a lot of that is because of social interventions,” said Dr. Adam Kaplin, assistant [Johns] Hopkins professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and the lead researcher. The warm weather served as a tail wind for those efforts, he said. “In the fall and colder months we are going to hit a head wind in the other direction and that will make control much more difficult,” Kaplin said.

What to do if you’re anxious about re-entering the world – Self
It’s human nature to have trouble coping with uncertainty. “We view uncertainty as a potential threat to our well-being,” Neda Gould, Ph.D., psychologist and associate director of the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Anxiety Disorders Clinic, tells Self. “Sometimes our brain fills in that uncertainty with catastrophic thoughts and possibilities. And if someone already has the predisposition to anxiety, then this is heightened even more so for them.”

August

Depression in older homebound adults improves with telehealth 'visits' by lay counselors (study) - M.D./alert via Reuters
The new study is "timely," said Dr. Susan Lehmann, an associate professor and clinical director in the division of geriatric psychiatry and neuropsychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. "It is interesting that this telehealth study was performed before the onset of the current COVID-19 pandemic," Lehmann said in an email. "This is particularly timely as now that we are in the midst of the pandemic, most outpatient mental health care is being delivered through telemedicine."

Cancer patients say psilocybin can be both therapy and “a beautiful experience” – Inverse
Matthew Johnson, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University who co-authored a 2016 landmark psilocybin trial, says that while cancer-related psychological distress is devastating and common, it’s also poorly understood. Cancer-related distress is not in the DSM, the so-called "psychiatric Bible." There's a huge unmet clinical need, Johnson explains.

'A hail Mary’: Psychedelic therapy draws veterans to jungle retreats - New York Times
“You have to recognize that there’s a Wild West element” to ayahuasca retreats, said Dr. Matthew Johnson, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University who has studied psychedelics since 2004. In a controlled setting, he said, unleashing the brain can help patients revisit repressed trauma and generate new insights.

How to cope through the pandemic while dealing with COVID-19 fatigue - WMAR-TV
Psychologist Carisa Parrish with Johns Hopkins Medicine says there are several ways to help make changes to our lives a little bit easier. Some of those include committing to things like washing our hands more often, maintaining physical distance and wearing a mask. Others include staying flexible as recommendations change, practicing precautions as if they're second nature and always being prepared with the necessary supplies.

The healers are hurting – Awaken
Rates of depression start climbing in med school and then take a big leap upward during residency training. In part, says Adam Kaplin, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins, that’s because residency training generally coincides with the peak age of onset of mood disorders. But medical training appears to be unique in the stresses it supplies.

Updates in treatment-resistant depression - Psychiatry Advisor
To learn more about ... updates in TRD treatment, we interviewed Irving Reti, MBBS, MD, research psychiatrist and associate professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and director of the Electroconvulsive Therapy Service at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

Pedophilia is a mental health issue. It's still not treated as one – Vice
“I think one of the biggest problems is that people just don't understand this as a mental health issue,” said Fred Berlin, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Rightfully, people are concerned about protecting children. And so we just quickly stigmatize people who are attracted to children and often don't even see them as human beings with a problem who might be deserving of help.

Psychedelics group raises $30 million from execs at GoDaddy, SpaceX and others for MDMA study - Marijuana Moment
[Psychedelics advocate Rick Doblin] noted that “the decrim movement has only taken place after we’ve made a lot of progress with the research — and also the Hopkins team, the NYU teams, the other teams that have worked with psilocybin,” referring to studies from universities, including Johns Hopkins, which last year launched the nation’s first center devoted exclusively to studying psychedelic drugs.

Open your mind: the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs - WAMU-FM (D.C.)
Many of us are looking for ways to escape 2020.... [F]or a growing number of Americans that means taking psychedelic drugs, as drugs like LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms) are becoming more popular. Meanwhile, clinical trials at Johns Hopkins University and New York University show the benefits of treating mental health disorders with psychedelics.

Isolation, disruption and confusion: Coping with dementia during a pandemic - California Healthline
The pandemic is also exacerbating feelings of isolation and loneliness, and not just for people with dementia, said Dr. Jin Hui Joo, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Caregivers are lonely, too.”

Johns Hopkins wants to hear about your psychedelic journeys for new ‘real-world’ study - Marijuana Moment
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University, who have been at the forefront of psychedelics studies in a lab setting, are partnering with a Denver-based nonprofit to gather thousands of real-world experiences with psilocybin, the main psychedelic component of so-called magic mushrooms. By diverging from a standard research setting, they’re hoping to gain a better understanding of the factors that influence a trip and its outcomes.

Eleusis sheds light on psychedelics that relieve asthma in rats with no mental effects - Fierce Biotech
Several academic groups are studying psychedelics as treatments for a wide variety of diseases. Last year, Johns Hopkins pulled in $17 million in funding to open the new Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, which is studying the effect of the drugs on brain function, memory, learning and mood.

Is Covid-19 Driving you crazy? - Psychology Today
Get accurate information, knowledge, and preparation to help reduce feelings of stress and overwhelm. Joseph McGuire, PhD, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine, recommends seeking solid up-to-date information from credible resources about the illness, the science, and steps you can take to prevent it. He cites the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Prevention (CDC).

On your next psychedelic journey, let an app be your guide – Wired
More recent studies from Yale and the National Institute of Mental Health home in on ketamine as a fast-acting treatment for depression. “For that, the science is good,” says Adam Kaplin, director of the Johns Hopkins Psychiatric Esketamine Clinic, before pointing out the problems: “We don’t yet know the best way to sustain the long-term benefits. It’s virgin territory. If patients don’t want to keep coming in and sitting in the clinic, what do we replace it with? We don’t know.”

Why Michelle Obama opening up about depression is a big deal for Black women – CNN
"[Michelle Obama] makes it okay to talk about [depression], and I think that will open the discussion up for so many people, especially during the pandemic, who are really struggling with trying to understand the emotions that they're experiencing," said Dr. Erica Richards, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine [and chair and medical director, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Sibley Memorial Hospital].

Hyperacusis in children with ADHD - MedPage Today
“The study highlights an underreported aspect of ADHD,” comments Joseph F. McGuire, PhD, who is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, MD. “Children with ADHD may struggle with inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity to a greater degree because of sound sensitivities,” says Dr. McGuire, who wasn’t affiliated with the study.

Canada will let terminally ill patients use psychedelic mushrooms for end-of-life care - Marijuana Moment
In September of last year, Johns Hopkins University announced the launch of the nation’s first-ever psychedelic research center, a $17-million project to study whether psychedelics can treat conditions such as opioid use disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

For 25 years I've battled emetophobia, a fear of vomiting that rules my entire life - Good Housekeeping
Emetophobia can be a tricky thing to treat. Una McCann, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, says those living with emetophobia need to “learn how to recognize automatic irrational thoughts and engage in behaviors that are soothing.”

Should D.C. police ease enforcement of magic mushroom laws? Voters will get to weigh in this fall – Dcist
Advocates for these measures say that mushrooms and other psychedelic plants have significant medicinal value, more of which they say is entering the mainstream due to research at places like the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research.

5 ways businesses can prevent a costly mental health crisis – CNN
This op-ed, which states in part, "We're urging every business to step up and address their employees' serious mental health needs during this unusual moment by taking a multi-faceted approach," was co-signed by J. Raymond DePaulo, Jr., MD, co-director of the Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine, and James Potash, MD, MPH, department director and Psychiatrist-in-Chief at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

July

New blood biomarker tests for Alzheimer’s called a game changer (study) - Everyday Health
Commenting on the study, Paul Rosenberg, MD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, states, “The most remarkable thing is that P-tau predicted amyloid in the brain. It’s not just a matter of a better chemical test — this is biology. When the plasma tau was elevated, it was an excellent predictor of having amyloid in the brain.”

During pandemic, Maryland’s drug treatment clinics grapple with health safety issues, rising caseloads* -Baltimore Sun
The costs of fewer people coming into the clinics … can’t be discounted. Dr. Kenneth Stoller, director of the Johns Hopkins Broadway Center for Addiction, said many treatment sessions before the pandemic were done in groups of eight to 10 people but now involve only three to four people seated at a distance. Given “the risk inherent in sitting in a room with multiple other people for upward of 10 hours per week … it will be a challenge to get back” to the same level of services, Stoller said.

Magic mushrooms and the future of psychology - Psychology Today
Psilocybin is [also] being studied for tobacco addiction at Johns Hopkins, and they're finishing up a controlled trial of psilocybin versus nicotine replacement, and we'll know more there soon, too. Their pilot trial, you know, was like in 12 people, and it’s astonishing.

Parents weigh options as Baltimore-area schools go virtual (video) - WBFF-TV
“The idea that we are going to have [schooling] remotely feels daunting,” says Carisa Parrish, who is an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She also has a child in elementary school. “We’re going to have to make arraignments so that screen time is not happening for every waking hour of children’s lives in the foreseeable future,” Parrish says.

New psychedelic research sheds light on why psilocybin-containing mushrooms have been consumed for centuries – PsyPost
A new study from the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine provides insight into the psychoactive effects that distinguish psilocybin from other hallucinogenic substances. The findings suggest that feelings of spiritual and/or psychological insight play an important role in the drug’s popularity.... “Recently there has been a renewal of interest in research with psychedelic drugs,” explained Roland R. Griffiths, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences who is the corresponding author of the new study.

The uptight girl's guide to psychedelics – Bustle
These researchers have mastered the art of the safe trip: Mary Cosimano, MSW, and Dr. Natalie Gukasyan, M.D., are directors at the Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University, where they research psilocybin-assisted therapy for smoking cessation, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, anorexia, and more.

Activists seek to decriminalize ‘magic’ mushrooms in DC - Associated Press
A growing body of work is looking at the effects of natural psychedelics to treat depression, trauma and addiction. Last year, Johns Hopkins University opened the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research with plans to study the effects of psychedelics on ailments including anorexia and Alzheimer’s disease. In an article, center director Roland Griffiths called natural psychedelics “a fascinating class of compounds” that can “produce a unique and profound change of consciousness….”

Coronavirus stress, depression increasing in U.S. adults - WJLA-ABC 7
“For some people it might present itself as insomnia, irritability, for some people it might be more clear-cut depression and anxiety and can identify it as such,” explained Dr. Neda Gould, Johns Hopkins clinical psychologist. So, I am seeing people who have never sought mental health treatment and are saying, ‘I just need a little extra support.’

Psilocybin Decriminalization Efforts Worth Expanding Nationwide - High Times
Luckily, several small research programs began during the 1990s, and continue today. Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research is at the forefront. Based on its research triumphs, a team of Hopkins psychiatric researchers called for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to remove psilocybin from Schedule I.

June

Medical pot may help many battle insomnia, pain and stress (study) – HealthDay
[L]ittle research has examined the impact of legalisation on the people who use medicinal cannabis, said senior study author Ryan Vandrey, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. The finding that cannabis users felt better than non-users is not necessarily surprising, according to Vandrey. But it's important to demonstrate it in a study, he said.

Push to legalize psychedelic mushrooms in Oregon picks up steam - Fox News
A petition to give voters in Oregon the option to legalize psychedelic mushrooms has garnered enough signatures to be put on the November ballot, organizers said Monday. The Oregon Psilocybin Therapy Initiative and campaign for Initiative Petition #34 said it gathered 164,782 signatures, according to its website.... “Pioneering research at institutions like Johns Hopkins, NYU, and UCLA has shown the significant promise of psilocybin therapy,” the campaign said in a press release.

The joys and sorrows of treating bipolar disorder - Psychology Today
Sometimes I think there’s a selfish reason behind [my specializing in treating bipolar disorder]: I can make a big difference in people’s lives because bipolar disorder is eminently treatable, says the author of this blog, Francis Mondimore, M.D., a psychiatrist and an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

I am part of the problem (commentary) – MDEdge
“[O]ften black clients share that they would prefer to be matched with a black therapist or a therapist who has received specific training on working with black clients.” While 13% of the American population is black, only 4% of physicians, 2% of psychiatrists, and 4% of psychologists are black, says Dr. Dinah Miller, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins.

How the COVID-19 pandemic could be messing with your sleep – Time
“There is a risk for a breakdown in the biological clock,” says Dr. David Neubauer, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a faculty member at the school’s Sleep Disorders Center. “Maybe you’re staying up later, eating regular meals in the evening but snacking or napping during the day. We have had people in whom circadian rhythmicity disintegrates.”

Medicinal cannabis users report better quality of life and fewer emergency room visits (study) - Medical Research
"The background for this study is that 33 states in the U.S. have legalized medicinal cannabis use and millions of people are using cannabis for therapeutic purposes, but we have very little data on the broad health impacts of medicinal cannabis use," says Ryan Vandrey, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Using mindfulness of the breath for stress reduction (video) - Psychiatric Times
Neda Gould, PhD, a clinical psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, directs a daily mindfulness program. She shares in a video a bit about what mindfulness meditation is and guides you through a brief practice.

Johns Hopkins is now offering a free online course on psychological first aid — here’s what that entails -Well + Good
The online class is offered by John Hopkins University and has a 4.8/5 rating from the nearly 8,000 people who’ve reviewed it. In it, psychologist George S. Everly, PhD — co-author of the book The John Hopkins Guide to Psychological First Aid and co-founder of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation — teaches his RAPID model for dealing with emergency mental health situations.

2nd gen psychedelic drugs for depression can be safer for older adults – Forbes
[Dr. Alan Kozikowski of biotechnology startup Bright Minds] estimates that it will take about two years of preclinical work before they zero in on an investigative new drug, and then another 2-3 years of clinical trials before Bright Minds can introduce a first drug into the market.... For those who don’t want to wait, Johns Hopkins is enlisting patients for a clinical study on psilocybin for treating patients with early Alzheimer’s disease. I look forward to hearing the results…

The effects of psychedelics on the brain's "consciousness conductor" - New Atlas
A new Johns Hopkins study, looking at how psilocybin influences a mysterious brain region called the claustrum, is just one of several compelling recent articles shining a light on how our brains generate our experience of consciousness.

Study finds who is most likely to stockpile toilet paper amid the pandemic - WCBS-AM (New York City)
“People who felt threatened by COVID were more likely to hoard and people who tend to be more conscientious, that is those who are future-oriented and orderly, also tend to stockpile,” said Neda Gould, a clinical psychologist and an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “It’s likely that anxious individuals were hoarding because it gave them a sense of control when so much was out of control.”

Maintaining regular sleep-wake schedule during pandemic may help adolescents - Psychiatric News
Disconnected from friends and without the structure of a full day of school, youth with anxiety and mood disorders may experience a worsening of symptoms. One way to help these youth, says Leslie Miller, M.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins and director of the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders in Adolescents and Young Adults Program, is to encourage them to keep a regular sleep and exercise schedule.

Mindfulness practice: Simple but not easy (video) - Psychiatric Times
Neda F. Gould, PhD, Associate Director of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Anxiety Disorders Clinic, and Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, discusses her work in mindfulness for patients as well as faculty. She describes what mindfulness is and how it can be useful for stress management, and she will walk through a practice session.

Why some moms experiences major mood shifts when they stop breastfeeding – Shape
"There are basically three stages of hormonal and physiological changes that allow women to produce breastmilk," explains Lauren M. Osborne, M.D., assistant director of the Women's Mood Disorders Center at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

COVID-19: Experts warn of psychological trauma from 'air hunger' – Medscape
O. Joseph Bienvenu, MD, PhD, associate professor, psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland said [lessening psychological trauma in survivors] is an issue that comes up for consultation-liaison psychiatrists. "Critical illnesses and the treatments needed to keep patients alive are huge stressors and psychiatric morbidity is common after ICU care," he told Medscape Medical News.

Imaging hallucinogen’s actions in the brain may help understand benefits for psychiatric disorders - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
“Our findings move us one step closer to understanding mechanisms underlying how psilocybin works in the brain,” said Frederick Barrett, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a member of the school’s Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. “This will hopefully enable us to better understand why it’s an effective therapy for certain psychiatric disorders….”

Terminally ill Canadians apply for legal access to 'magic mushrooms' drug - CTV (Canada)
Researchers at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore are currently conducting Phase 3 clinical trials with the aim of having psilocybin approved for market as a prescription medication. Roland Griffiths, the centre’s director, told CTV News … [the the researchers] have published multiple studies on the benefits of using one dose of psilocybin in a treatment that runs approximately six hours and has few side effects.

Psychedelics revolution creating a multi-billion-dollar investment opportunity - Baystreet (Canada)
Even the medical community is well aware of the multi-billion-dollar opportunity. Johns Hopkins Medicine, for example launched the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research to study compounds like LSD and psilocybin to treat a range of mental health problems, including anorexia, addiction and depression. Psychiatrists at Johns Hopkins University even found that mushrooms can help with smoking cessation, and another study found it can assist with alcohol dependence.

Researching psychedelics for psychiatric disorders – Medscape
Frederick S. Barrett, PhD, is affiliated with the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University. Dr Barrett spoke with Nick Andrews at TEDMED about the research that has been conducted by his center on the impact of psychedelics, or hallucinogens, on psychiatric disorders.

Why coronavirus boredom might be good for your kids - National Geographic
Overscheduled kids can feel irritable and overwhelmed, according to Shannon Barnett, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. “They may not be sleeping as well or be kind of anxious,” she says. “They might have stomachaches or other physical complaints. We see teens who’ve always been high achievers suddenly unable to meet expectations.”

May

Baltimore City leaders introduce mental health effort to combat impact of COVID-19 - WMAR-TV
City officials say the recent COVID-19 pandemic has caused physical devastation and a mental health crisis, which Johns Hopkins University Psychologist, Dr. George Everly, called a “hidden pandemic” that can be 25 times more debilitating than the physical devastation.

Doctors are concerned: Increased usage of drugs for anxiety, insomnia due to coronavirus worries - Yeshiva World
Dr. James Potash, director of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told the WSJ that although anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax, Ativan and Klonopin work very well, their use should be limited to weeks and not months.

Lockdown got you down? Experts offer tips to de-stress – HealthDay
[The goal ... to create "moments of positive emotion"] was seconded by Neda Gould, associate director of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore. And that goal, she said, can be furthered by taking time to embrace meditative moments of calm and relaxation. "Any form of relaxation or mindfulness can turn off the stress response," Gould said.

More people are taking drugs for anxiety and insomnia, and doctors are worried* - Wall Street Journal
The most popular anti-anxiety medications are benzodiazepines that include Valium, Xanax, Ativan and Klonopin.... “They are powerful, and they are powerfully attractive in that they work instantly,” says James Potash, director of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “You take Ativan, and 30 minutes later you are feeling dramatically less anxious.”

A nurse struggled with COVID-19 trauma. He was found dead in his car – Reuters
Healthcare workers with histories of substance abuse may have more difficulty coping with fear, isolation and witnessing so much death during the pandemic, psychiatrists told Reuters. Those factors could provoke relapses in workers recovering from addiction, they said. “Patients who are being treated for opioid use disorder have reported increased stress and opioid craving since this pandemic began," said Kelly Dunn, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University who researches opioid use.

Psychedelic Treatments May be Key in Helping Resolve Health Issues - Yahoo Finance
Psychedelic drugs have been largely misunderstood for years... Johns Hopkins Medicine announced the launch of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research to study compounds like LSD and psilocybin to treat a range of mental health problems, including anorexia, addiction and depression.

How to help your anxiety as we transition out of isolation (video) - WJZ-TV
Johns Hopkins’ Dr. Neda Gould talks about self-care and managing anxiety as we transition out of isolation.

Expert roundtable: Adjusting to telepsychiatry during COVID-19 - Psychiatry Advisor
While some providers had been using telemedicine before the pandemic, others have had to adapt quickly to delivering care in this context. We checked in with [some] clinicians to learn about their telemedicine experiences in recent months, [including] Paul S. Nestadt, MD, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Anxiety Disorders Clinic.

Largest ever DMT survey travels to the fringes of psychedelic science - New Atlas
Last year Johns Hopkins University launched the first dedicated psychedelic research center in the United States, called the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. Of course, this multi-million dollar enterprise is primarily focused on studying the therapeutic potential of psilocybin, from its uses in depression and anorexia, to its potential as a smoking cessation tool. But that is not all that is going on at the facility.

There’s a push to change D.C.’s laws on mushrooms and psychedelics. Here’s what you need to know – Dcist
Melissa Lavasani, a D.C. government employee and the leader of the Decriminalize Nature D.C. campaign, told us earlier this year that after she gave birth to her two kids, she suffered from severe depression and anxiety that she ultimately treated by micro-dosing magic mushrooms. And while that may sound outlandish to some, researchers at places like Johns Hopkins University are looking into the therapeutic and medical value of psychedelics.

How to find a therapist during the COVID-19 pandemic and other mental health options - Teen Vogue
... Carolina Vidal, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, is expecting mental health needs to continue to rise. Vidal, who works largely with children and adolescents, said that since the start of the pandemic, she’s noticed social distancing has taken quite a toll on some students.

Challenges mount for those with addiction disorders during COVID-19 - ABC News
"I'm not aware, right now, of any COVID-positive addiction-recovery programs [in Baltimore] at this point, although that's something that would be terrific if it were available," said Dr. Kenneth Stoller, director of the Johns Hopkins Broadway Center for Addiction in Baltimore. [This article was written by Heather J. Kagan, M.D., an internal medicine resident physician at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.]

Dr. Bronner’s soap company donates $1 million to Oregon effort to legalize psychedelic mushrooms - The Oregonian
Bronner said the company supported the therapeutic use of psilocybin to treat depression, anxiety and addiction. “We want to make sure it’s done in the right way,” Bronner said, “and we feel that [legalization advocates] Tom and Sheri a[Eckert] are putting forward models based on the best practices based off of the clinical trials coming out of Johns Hopkins and NYU but making it accessible for everyone.

How to help someone with anxiety, according to mental health experts - Refinery 29
"People are often dismissive of people experiencing anxiety," said Joseph McGuire, PhD, a pediatric psychologist, in an interview for the Johns Hopkins Medicine website. "With other medical illnesses, you may be able to see physical symptoms. But with anxiety, you don’t necessarily see what the person is dealing with."

6 ways to grow your business by focusing on personal health – Entrepreneur
Daily mindfulness ... can help (avoid a loss of focus, high stress levels and poor decision making). [R]esearch out of Johns Hopkins indicates that those who practice mindfulness experience a moderate but noticeable reduction in overall stress level.

April

Tired of video chatting? The experts weigh in on 'Zoom fatigue' amid coronavirus pandemic - Fox 5 (D.C.)
“It’s the fatigue, the tiredness, the anxiety that surrounds having so many Zoom calls in our current lifestyle,” Johns Hopkins University clinical psychologist Dr. Neda Gould said Monday via (of course) a Zoom call…. So what can we do about it? Gould recommended getting some fresh air in between meetings, spacing out your calls, and she also said to remember it is ok to just say no.

Quarantini anyone? When everyday drinking becomes a problem - New York Times
One way alcohol undermines health in quarantine is by disrupting sleep, said Dr. Una McCann, a professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Without sleep, it’s been very well documented that our stress responses are hyperreactive, we’re more likely to have panic attacks, we’re more likely to respond poorly to stressful situations the next day. It’s huge,” Dr. McCann said. “Alcohol doesn’t help with sleep.”

Lifting the veil: A landmark depression-awareness program hopes to curb the rise in youth suicide rates. - Baltimore magazine
One thing that happened [to increase suicide rates] is the opioid crisis,” says Dr. Karen Swartz, director of clinical and educational programs at the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center. Opioid use, explains Swartz, “unmasks or worsens mood symptoms in those with mood disorders” — and that can lead to suicide.

Disasters of uncertainty - Psychology Today
This commentary, written by George Everly, Ph.D., a psychologist and an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, states, in part: I believe the most effective way for local, state, and Federal agencies to respond to disasters of uncertainty is to adapt the standard of care in physical healthcare to psychological healthcare

Psychiatric hospital patients are vulnerable amid pandemic – Newsday
“The treatment of psychiatric illnesses involves more — not less — social interaction and patients attend groups and occupational therapy session,” said Dinah Miller, a psychiatrist and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

Top 12 mistakes in perinatal psychiatry - Psychiatric Times
The mistakes include avoiding the use of lithium, stopping all psychiatric medications and underestimating the risks of psychiatric illness in pregnancy, says Jennifer L. Payne, MD., associate professor of psychiatry, associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics and director of the Johns Hopkins Women's Mood Disorders Center.

Income, social determinants of health affect opioid care outcomes - Patient Engagement Hit
The promise of increased income … could be enough to improve results and yield sustained sobriety among individuals undergoing opioid use disorder treatment, according to research from Johns Hopkins Medicine.... Specifically, the research team, led by August Holtyn, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, found that adding another $8 an hour to patient salaries was enough to drive a more sustained sobriety.

Medical workers’ looming mental-health crisis - New York magazine
Dr. George Everly, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavorial sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an expert in disaster mental health, Dr. Albert Wu, a Johns Hopkins internist and founder of RISE (Resilience in Stressful Events), a peer support group for health-care workers within the university’s system, and Dr. Elliott Haut, a Johns Hopkins trauma surgeon, are quoted in this article about the unique stresses of the coronavirus pandemic.

Pandemic's impact on people battling addiction and their ability to seek treatment (video) - WJLA-TV/ABC7 News (D.C.)
The coronavirus pandemic is impacting everyone including individuals battling addiction. ABC7 News spoke with Dr. Kenneth Stoller to discuss clinical and provider measures being used to care for substance abuse disorder patients during the coronavirus crisis. Stoller is the director of the Johns Hopkins Broadway Center for Addiction.

Treating depression at home with a tDCS headset – Freethink
[U]nlike tDCS, TMS therapy is FDA-approved. ... Tracy Vannorsdall, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins medical school, says that the portability of tDCS devices still makes them a more appealing candidate for at-home solutions. "TDCS devices are less technically complex and, in fact, often run off of 9-volt batteries," says Vannorsdall.

How to cope with your coronavirus anxiety - Refinery 29
[The COVID-19 pandemic] is enough to make anyone feel anxious, and can worsen symptoms of the roughly 40 million adults in the US who already suffer from anxiety disorders, explains Neda Gould, PhD, a clinical psychologist, director of the Mindfulness Program at Johns Hopkins, and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “In a situation like our current one, some health anxiety is expected,” she says.

The heartbreaking struggle to stay sober under lockdown – Elemental
Treatment providers across the country have converted many appointments and outpatient treatment to phone calls, videoconferencing, or other web-based applications.... “We have, in the course of a week, catapulted 20 years into the future of telemental health,” said Dan Buccino, a clinical social worker and clinical manager of Johns Hopkins’ Broadway Center for Addiction in Baltimore, which treats about 150 to 200 patients at any one time.

Foods to boost your mood, now that you really need it – CNN
Coffee and tea are sources of caffeine, which can give us a lift. “When we consume caffeine, it has positive effects on mood and alertness, and people like these beneficial effects,” said Mary M. Sweeney, an instructor who researches caffeine’s effects on individuals in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Psychological first aid with Dr. George Everly (audio) - WYPR-FM
[A] look at psychological first aid in times of crisis. Dr. George Everly is Tom's guest. He’s a pioneer in the field, and the co-author of The Johns Hopkins Guide to Psychological First Aid. For more than three decades, he has helped survivors of catastrophe -- including war, natural disaster, terrorist attacks and now, a pandemic. Dr. Everly is a psychologist and an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Johns Hopkins doctors address how children are impacted by coronavirus (video) - WBAL-TV
With so many children at home these days, parents now have to come up with simple, quick answers when their kids ask questions about coronavirus. Two doctors at Johns Hopkins [Dr. Hal Kronsberg, an expert in adolescent psychology and Dr. Rachel Thornton, who specializes in pediatrics] tackled several issues when it comes to children and coronavirus.

Why women may be more susceptible to mood disorders (study) - Scientific American
“The findings could help explain why women who experienced difficulties during childhood are “more likely to be depressed during pregnancy, more likely to have postpartum depression and more likely to have perimenopausal depression,” says Lauren Osborne, a reproductive psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the new research.

How to manage panic attacks - New York Times
The coronavirus pandemic is affecting the entire globe, and it’s no wonder that, as a result, many people may be experiencing panic attacks for the first time. A panic attack comes on suddenly, bringing with it short-lived disabling anxiety, fear or discomfort. It’s an activation of the body’s physiological “fight or flight” response, which is triggered by a perceived threat, said Dr. Paul Nestadt, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Anxiety Disorders Clinic. “So all the things your body would want to do if you’re near a tiger become activated at the wrong time,” he said.

Cannabis may ease opioid withdrawal symptoms, Johns Hopkins study finds - Marijuana Moment
The study, conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and published in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, asked 200 people with past-month opioid and marijuana use whether their symptoms of opioid withdrawal improved or worsened when they consumed cannabis.

Parenting during COVID-19 // the importance of mental health check-ins... with Dr. Shannon Barnett (audio) - Anchor.FM
Dr. Shannon Barnett, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral health at Johns Hopkins, discusses the best way to handle any anxiety or mood or mental health issues that you children might be having doing this COVID-19 pandemic and the best ways as parents you can focus on trying to make sure they feel happy, healthy, good and supported.

March

Keeping kids busy at home amid pandemic (video) - WBAL-TV/NBC Baltimore
Dr. Shannon Barnett, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins, shares tips to help keep kids busy mentally and physically while at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

AA meetings canceled due to COVID-19 putting addicts at risk of relapse - 4 News (El Paso, Texas)
Assistant professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Paul Nestadt says that any person dependent on alcohol and can’t get access to it can go into withdrawal. “Alcohol is one of the few substances that when you're withdrawing you can actually die. You can't die from heroin withdrawal or cocaine withdrawal,” said Nestadt.

8 trustworthy tips on how to stay physically and mentally healthy right now – Entrepreneur
Paul Shasha Nestadt, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Anxiety Clinic, told Global Health NOW that chronic drinkers — and their loved ones — should pay careful attention to the amount they’re consuming, especially during layoffs or lost jobs. “There are risk factors with isolation, the lack of a schedule and if alcohol is just there in the house with you,” Nestadt says.

9 tips to deal with the uncertainty of the coronavirus outbreak - NBC News
What we're experiencing as a result of the pandemic is unprecedented in many ways, including the amount of uncertainty we're all facing. Uncertainty is particularly difficult to deal with because it triggers fear, says Neda Gould, an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the mindfulness program at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "We view uncertainty as a potential threat to our well-being."

Hold the “quarantinis”: Alcohol and novel coronavirus might not mix - Global Health Now
Chronic drinkers should pay extra attention, and so should their loved ones, especially during layoffs or lost jobs, said Paul Sasha Nestadt, MD, codirector of the Johns Hopkins Anxiety Disorders Clinic. “There are risk factors with isolation, the lack of a schedule, and if alcohol is just there in the house with you,” noted Nestadt. “People with depression, anxiety, and substance abuse are also at higher risk when stressed.”

How to cope with your coronavirus anxiety - Refinery29
This is enough to make anyone feel anxious, and can worsen symptoms of the roughly 40 million adults in the U.S. who already suffer from anxiety disorders, explains Neda Gould, PhD, a clinical psychologist, director of the Mindfulness Program at Johns Hopkins, and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “In a situation like our current one, some health anxiety is expected,” she says.

Anxious about coronavirus? You're not alone. - Greenville News (South Carolina)
[T]he uncertainty has led to a lot of anxiety that can easily become impairing, said Dr. Neda Gould, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Signs can be different for different people, she said. Some may have increased worry, sleeplessness, headaches or other physical manifestations, she said.

Psychedelics for mental illness: The evidence to-date (study) – Medscape
Commenting on the findings for Medscape Medical News, Matthew Johnson, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and associate director of the Center for Psychedelics and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, said the review effectively encapsulates the "promising lines of research" in psychedelics and certain psychiatric disorders.

7 reasons why it’s hard to control your coronavirus anxiety – Stat
The uncertainty about what’s coming and how bad it will be is something “the brain doesn’t like,” said clinical psychologist Neda Gould of Johns Hopkins University. “We don’t know what steps to take, which leaves us feeling vulnerable. We’re a society that likes to plan and to know what’s coming. Instead, we have these huge and unpredictable disruptions to our routine, which contribute to putting us on edge.”

Here's What Blue Light Before Bed Can Do to Your Circadian Rhythm — and How to Avoid It – Popsugar
"Generally, this is not likely to happen after just one night," said Luis Buenaver, PhD, an assistant professor and director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at Johns Hopkins's department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. "But [it] may become an issue after several nights or if it becomes a bad habit."

The world needs healing, psychedelic drug advocates tell Ann Arbor council - MLive (Michigan)
“There are studies from Johns Hopkins and NYU that show that plant-based psychedelics like psilocybin are well-tolerated and demonstrate a high safety profile, as well as remarkable results for treatment-resistant depression and addiction,” [advocate Eric Massey] said.

The history of psychedelic therapy: What can we learn? - Psychology Today
Modern research, at numerous institutions including Johns Hopkins University, New York University, and the University of New Mexico, has largely picked up where LSD research ended in the 1970s, replicating the same treatment methods, and with the same or similar types of patients, but mostly using psilocybin — the active ingredient in 'magic mushrooms' — instead of LSD.

Santa Cruz has decriminalized magic mushrooms, ayahuasca, and peyote - KCRW-FM (Santa Monica, Calif.)
“We are seeing psilocybin being used for anxiety, PTSD, depression, addiction. And the rest of them — LSD, ayahuasca — all have applications within that realm,” says [Madison Margolin, editor of a magazine dedicated to psychedelics]. “In the clinical trials that are happening right now through places like Johns Hopkins or the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies … people are seeing a lot of positive results.

February

Psychedelics, the Next Frontier in Drug Research - Financial Content
Just last year, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine opened the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research in Baltimore. Headed by renowned researcher Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D., the Center aims to further research the school has already been conducting.

Your guide to general anxiety disorder – Allure
Everyone experiences worry from time to time. But when worry or stress is persistent and interferes with a person’s life, it may lead to a diagnosis of anxiety, Jennifer Payne, director of the Women’s Mood Disorders Center and an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, tells Allure.

An unexpected new diagnosis in older adults: ADHD* - Wall Street Journal
Dr. [David] Goodman, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, sees patients between the ages of 15 and 85. He has a particular interest in ADHD patients who are over 50 and have never been diagnosed.... Cognitive difficulties in older people are often attributed to memory impairments or early signs of dementia, says Dr. Goodman.

Few U.S. residential drug rehabs give anti-addiction medicine - Reuters and numerous subscribers
Most people who check in to residential treatment facilities to recover from opioid use disorder won't be given medicines proven to help combat addiction, a U.S. study suggests. "Patients entering these facilities are paying for a very high level of care, but might not be receiving the gold standard of treatment," said study leader Andrew Huhn of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Could 'miraculous' drug be cure to opioid addiction? (video) - WBAL-TV
"Our field has a little bit of a concern about [ibogaine], because of the potential for medical consequences," said Kelly Dunn, PhD., [a researcher at Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic (& Consciousness) Research]. Dunn said there have been a handful of cardiac deaths and also prolonged psychosis tied to ibogaine. "There is not a lot of data regarding what the exact right dose would be….”

Neman: No murder + no mayhem = empty calories - St. Louis Today
[T]he Google machine also produced a 2011 article in Psychology Today by Susan Carnell, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University who specializes in eating behavior. Carnell looked at the biology of boredom eating and speculated — admittedly without any particular evidence — that boredom eating is related to dopamine.

Shotguns often play tragic role in rural teens' suicides: Study - HealthDay and subscribers
Could stricter safety rules for rifles and shotguns help prevent suicide? Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore analyzed nearly 4,000 firearm suicides and found that long guns, not handguns, are more often the method of choice for youths and people in rural areas.

Some St. Louisans find therapy, meaning in psychedelics as researchers study benefit - St. Louis Public Radio
Today, psychedelic substances like LSD and “magic” psilocybin mushrooms are often still seen as a vestige of ... hippie culture or even a dangerous threat. But a growing number of recent studies at Johns Hopkins University and other institutions show psilocybin can treat depression, addiction, PTSD and other mental health concerns.

DC mom leads effort to decriminalize magic mushrooms after treating postpartum depression - WJLA-TV (D.C.)
Studies at Johns Hopkins have proven that there are therapeutic effects after using some psychedelic substances.

Psychedelic drugs have lost their cool. Blame Gwyneth Paltrow and her Goop - The Guardian (U.K.)
Parsing Goop’s sundry claims to pseudoscience and utter quackery feels like low hanging fruit.... In the case of magic mushrooms, however, the science seems solid. Researchers at NYU, London’s Imperial College, and Johns Hopkins University, have produced reams of reputable evidence pointing to psilocybin’s role in easing depression, PTSD, anxiety, and even addiction.

Carrying on: Deadheads to doctors - Georgetown Voice (D.C.)
Last September, Johns Hopkins University received $17 million in donations to construct a Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, following a similar effort at Imperial College London that led to the first such center worldwide. Centers like these at elite research universities lend legitimacy to the “alternative” approaches for which college students and researchers alike advocate.

Can magic mushrooms and LSD treat depression and anxiety? Scientists are optimistic. - Philadelphia Inquirer
[M]edical experts don’t recommend self-medicating. “For people interested in a treatment who can’t get into a trial, this is not the only thing out there,” said Matthew Johnson, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University who has studied psychedelics for over 15 years. “It’s one promising thing, and it’s important for people to stay in treatment."

Business gets ready to trip: How psychedelic drugs may revolutionize mental health care – Fortune
[Highly successful angel investor Tim] Ferriss says he’s donated upwards of $3 million to support the underlying science and has corralled millions more from wealthy friends. They’ve kicked in half of the $17 million grant to create the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research, the first U.S. research center of its kind.

CBD abounds in central Ohio, but does it work? - Columbus Dispatch
Dr. Tory Spindle, a postdoctoral research fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said too little research has been conducted on topical [CBD] products to make conclusions about their efficacy. “No one has ever done studies to understand whether drinking CBD in coffee changes absorption compared to a tincture or some other type of drink,” Spindle said.

Plant-based comedy: Shane Mauss shares the psychedelic world he sees - Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette
As a supporter of "cognitive liberties," [Shane Mauss] doesn't believe "anyone has a right to tell someone how they can or cannot explore their brain." And he's excited about research at institutions as prestigious as Johns Hopkins that shows psychedelics may have potential to treat issues like depression and PTSD.

The growing push for medical use of psilocybin in Canada - CTV News (Canada)
The field of psychedelic research is “very exciting” according to professor Roland Griffiths, director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Griffiths’ centre was the first to obtain regulatory approval in the U.S. to restart research into psychedelics using healthy volunteers. Previous research into psychedelics met an abrupt end during the war on drugs in the 1970s.

Is coffee good for you? - New York Times
“I think that caffeine is so common and so ingrained in our culture, and daily habits, that we often don’t think about it as a potential source of problems,” said Mary M. Sweeney, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

New help for dementia patients, delivered via games and puzzles* - Wall Street Journal
The focus on volunteers [as caregivers] reflects a troubling reality as the dementia population is expected to surge: There simply aren’t enough caregivers to meet demand, says Quincy Samus, associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

Promising therapies may help Huntington’s disease - Brain&Life
[A]bout 150,000 to 250,000 people in the United States are believed to be at risk for the disease, says Jee Bang, MD, MPH, assistant professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and clinical director of the Johns Hopkins Huntington Disease Center of Excellence.... "The average range of life expectancy is 15 to 20 years after diagnosis," says Dr. Bang. "But there are many individual differences and outliers."

Physician on boosting sex with foods: Keep an open mind – Medscape
Chocolate is probably the item on [Dr. Niket Sonpal's list] that has the most scientific connection to boosting libido, says Kate Thomas, PhD, director of clinical services at the Sex and Gender Clinic of Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland. "It's been universally touted in many different cultures as an aphrodisiac," she said. And she agreed chocolate's components can be physically tied to feelings of being in love.

Addiction therapy meds barely used in residential treatment facilities - Modern Healthcare
"The majority [of residential treatment centers] are not offering medication to treat opioid use disorder, and when you look at [who’s] being prescribed it is grossly underutilized," said study lead author Andrew Huhn, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Michael Pollan explains caffeine cravings (and why you don't have to quit) – NPR
"I think the word 'addiction' has a lot of moral baggage attached to it," [Pollan] says. "As [Johns Hopkins researcher] Roland Griffith told me, if you have a steady supply of something, you can afford it and it's not interfering with your life, there's nothing wrong with being addicted."

More than a trip: Psychedelic drugs being used to help people quit smoking in just one dose (video) - WJZ-TV (CBS Baltimore)
When most people think of psychedelic drugs, they think of hippies in the sixties tripping on LSD or magic mushrooms. But at Johns Hopkins, fascinating research is being done using hallucinogens as medicine — and the results are promising, particularly when using psilocybin to treat addiction.

The silent epidemic of America’s problem with guns – BBC
"Anything that puts a barrier between a potential customer and a gun gets resistance from the industry," said Paul Nestadt, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the John Hopkins School of Medicine. "And yet study after study shows that any regulation that limits access to firearms decreases suicide rates."

Update: Some 2nd Amendment activists say suicide isn't a gun issue. Public health experts disagree. - North Country Public Radio (New York)
"Access to lethal means, specifically guns, is one of the most important health factors we could address when preventing suicides," said Paul Nestadt, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins who researches suicide…. He spoke with NCPR in 2018. Nestadt says for communities like the rural North Country, suicide should be a top issue when talking about how to make guns safer.

Dr C. Patrick Carroll on barriers to accessing nonpharmacologic treatments to SDC-related pain (video) - American Journal of Managed Care
There is not a lot of evidence on how well nonpharmacologic treatments work to treat sickle cell disease-related pain, and it can be difficult to get people access to these treatments, said C. Patrick Carroll, MD, director of psychiatric services, Sickle Cell Center for Adults, associate professor of psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Decriminalization debate - WRC-TV/NBC D.C.
The Washington, D.C., Board of Elections has approved an effort to put the decriminalization of psychedelic mushrooms on the November ballot.... Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found certain types of mushrooms impact the brain in such a way that it reduces depressions, but reaction to the idea has been mixed.

D.C. considers ballot initiative to decriminalize ‘magic mushrooms,’ other psychedelics - Washington Post
Matthew W. Johnson, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, said he has been present in clinical sessions involving people who have taken psilocybin more than 100 times. Johnson said research into the therapeutic benefits of the drug are “very promising,” but added that users should proceed with caution.

Can microdosing psychedelics improve your relationship? Experts weigh in – Mic
“We know high doses of psychedelics have strong science behind them for having therapeutic effects,” Matthew Johnson, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, [says].

Santa Cruz is third U.S. city to decriminalize psilocybin, plant medicine, as advocacy expands – Forbes
The proof behind what [Mike Sinyard, co-founder of Project New Day is] saying is best illustrated by current compelling psychedelic research performed at Johns Hopkins University on patients confronting depression, anxiety and addiction. Featured in a well-received 60 Minutes segment last October, the studies are examining the positive effects of psilocybin on alcoholics and terminally ill patients facing end-of-life anxiety

January

Santa Cruz is decriminalizing magic mushrooms – Vice
Scattered movements to decriminalize magic mushrooms and other psychedelic substances have proven successful in recent years as public perception of these drugs has shifted.... Last September, Johns Hopkins University in Maryland opened up a dedicated center to psychedelic research.

Menopause can start earlier than you think: Here's what you need to know - Science Times
If you have not heard of the term perimenopause, you are not alone. Dr. Jennifer Payne, director of the Women's Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins University, said that often when women talk about going through menopause, what they are really talking about is perimenopause, which is a transitional stage during which the body is preparing to stop ovulating.

I went to a high-end psychedelic retreat to address my anxiety – Vice
Matthew Johnson, a psychiatrist and the associate director of the Johns Hopkins Center on Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, said that though he believes deeply in the promise of psychedelic therapy, he cannot recommend any retreat in good conscience because of the wide amount of variability and lack of professional oversight.

Psilocybin: The magic ingredient in psychedelic shrooms – LiveScience
This article mentions the work of Johns Hopkins psilocybin researchers Roland Griffiths and Matthew Johnson.

Many soldiers thinking about suicide show no signs (study) – Reuters
The study shows that suicidal ideation in soldiers is triggered by similar factors to those leading civilians to think about suicide, said Dr. Paul Nestadt, an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore who also wasn’t involved in the research. What the study can’t say is who is likely to attempt suicide in the next 30 days, Nestadt noted. “That is what I want to know,” he added.

Psychedelic drug eases cancer patients' distress long term - U.S. News & World Report via HealthDay
"Research stopped because of the sociopolitical context and street use -- not because the science wasn't there," said Matthew Johnson, associate director of [Johns Hopkins’] Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. He stressed that no one is suggesting people self-treat their mental health symptoms with mushrooms. "With recreational use, there's the risk of engaging in dangerous behavior," Johnson said.

Psychedelic drug eases cancer patients' distress long term – HealthDay
Psilocybin is illegal in the United States, and researchers need permission to use it in studies. But a growing number of institutions are doing just that. NYU, Johns Hopkins, the University of California and other universities are currently studying psilocybin-assisted therapy for conditions such as eating disorders, addiction and major depression.

Single dose of magic mushrooms can reduce anxiety, depression in cancer patients, study finds - New York Post
The landmark research was a followup of a 2016 John Hopkins trial — using 51 subjects — studying whether magic mushrooms could relieve death anxiety and depression in cancer patients.

Driving & marijuana: A closer look at study suggesting cannabis impairs driving long after consumption – Cheddar
Tory Spindle, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, joined Cheddar to discuss a test that compared the simulated driving performances of non-users and heavy users of marijuana.

What is postpartum depression? Recognizing the signs and getting help – NPR
"There's this kind of myth that women couldn't possibly be depressed during pregnancy, [that] this is such a happy time," says Jennifer Payne, a psychiatrist and the director of the Women's Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins University. "The reality is that a lot of women struggle with anxiety and depression during pregnancy as well as during the postpartum period."

Cannabis for sleep: Short-term benefit, long-term disruption? (study) – Medscape
Ryan G. Vandrey, PhD, who was not involved in the study, said the findings are in line with previous research. "I think the results make sense with respect to the data I've collected and from what I've seen," said Vandrey, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.

New Vermont bill would decriminalize psychedelics and kratom - Marijuana Moment
“Research at Johns Hopkins University and other facilities around the country on the medicinal use of psilocybin mushrooms are showing some promising results as a long term treatment of depression, addiction and anxiety,” [Rep. Zachariah Ralph (Progressive/Democrat)] said. “This is especially important as we deal with increased rates of suicides and drug overdoses across the nation and especially in Vermont.”

‘Magic mushrooms’ for PTSD: Why psychedelics may help heal trauma - The Healthy
There are a variety of treatments for PTSD — cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), prolonged exposure (PE) therapy, and other therapies that similarly involve the processing of traumatic experiences, which are the gold standard, says Matthew Johnson, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, a principal investigator of multiple psychedelic research studies and an expert on addiction and risk behavior.

Psychedelics can be used to treat PTSD, finds yet another clinical trial – Vice
[A] 2016 study conducted by the Johns Hopkins University in the US, administered high doses of psychedelics to end-stage cancer patients, and found that 80 percent of patients felt free of existential depression and anxiety.

Researchers went to festivals to study psychedelic drugs and found they left people feeling happy and connected hours after the high wore off – Insider
Recently there's been a resurgence of scientific interest in the benefits of psilocybin. In 2018, researchers at John Hopkins, America's oldest research university, urged the federal government to legalize psilocybin. Last year Johns Hopkins launched a center solely dedicated to psychedelics research.

As if premenopause isn't bad enough, doctors now think it increases anxiety & depression – Moms
Jennifer Payne, Director of the Women’s Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins University, says that “women who have a previous diagnosis of major depression or [an] anxiety disorder are going to be at the greatest risk during the perimenopausal time.”

Your happiness is more likely to hit rock bottom at age 47.2—but there’s an upside, says new research – CNBC
Regret and uncertainty may play another role, according to Neda Gould, a clinical psychologist and director of the Mindfulness Program at Johns Hopkins. “We’re looking back at experiences we may regret, and then we’re looking forward and wondering what the next phase may look like. That can cause anxiety,” she tells CNBC Make It.

Returning bill to require background checks on transfer and sale of rifles and shotguns - Baltimore Fishbowl
Dr. Paul Nestadt, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Hospital Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, told lawmakers that the majority of firearm deaths are suicides and one-third of firearm suicides in Maryland are from rifles and shotguns.

Johns Hopkins scientists give psychedelics the serious treatment - Scientific American
A frenzy of interest has [triggered] some understandable wariness over promises that may sound a little too good to be true. But late last year the highly respected institution Johns Hopkins University — the U.S.’s oldest research university — launched a dedicated center for psychedelic studies, the first of its kind in the country and perhaps the world’s largest.

For some women nearing menopause, depression and anxiety can spike - NPR and affiliates
"Women who have a previous diagnosis of major depression or anxiety disorder are going to be at a greater risk during the perimenopausal time," says Jennifer Payne, who directs the Women's Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins University. And she warns that for these women, it's something to take seriously.

How to prioritize sleep and finally get the rest you've been craving, according to experts – PopSugar
I struggle to get enough sleep, but it's not because I physically can't sleep — it's just a question of time and priority. According to Neda Gould, PhD, a clinical psychologist and director of the Mindfulness Program at Johns Hopkins, this is pretty common. Most of us have dozens of demands on our time every day, from work obligations to family care to social events. "There's too much to do and not enough time," she explained.

It's premature for DC to treat Psilocybin as harmless and medicinally helpful as marijuana - WUSA-TV (D.C.)
[H]ere's the thing: the science on LSD (aka magic mushrooms) is still in its infancy since it was first banned under the Nixon administration. Researchers at Johns Hopkins have helped many people with psilocybin, using a guide to take patients through their hallucinogenic journeys that often lead to less angst about their affliction. They have also reported some patients experiencing terrifying episodes, something back in the day they used to call a “bad acid trip.”

Even when sober, frequent marijuana users are dangerous drivers, report finds - NBC News
As states legalize recreational use of marijuana, more research is needed on how consumption affects driving safety, said Ryan Vandrey, an associate professor in the behavioral pharmacology research unit at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "We don't fully understand the health impacts of heavy frequent cannabis use," Vandrey said.

4 questions about trends in the use of telepsychiatry - Consultant 360
In a recent study, researchers examined changes in the rates of use of telepsychiatry from 2010 to 2017 and sought to identify factors influencing the likelihood of its use. Consultant360 spoke with study author Stanislav Spivak, MD, medical director, Johns Hopkins Mobile Treatment Services of Community Psychiatry, and assistant professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine about their findings.

Up to a third of opioid overdose deaths might be suicides, Johns Hopkins researcher concludes* -Baltimore Sun
[A] computer program using a kind of artificial intelligence finds many [opioid overdose death] are likely suicides — possibly a third of them, according to a study by a Johns Hopkins School of Medicine researcher who partnered with a Utah high school student..... “If we’re trying to prevent deaths in the community, we have to figure out why people are dying,” said Dr. Paul Nestadt, the Johns Hopkins assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences who was one of the study’s authors. [Note: Dr. Kenneth Stoller, director of the Johns Hopkins Broadway Center for Addiction, is also quoted in this article.]
Also reported by: Subscribers to Tribune News Service

This D.C. group wants to decriminalize magic mushrooms and some psychedelic plants - WAMU-FM (D.C.)
Not unlike the push to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational use, advocates say psychedelic mushrooms and plants — including cacti, Iboga and Ayahuasca — have significant medicinal value, more of which they say is entering the mainstream due to research at places like the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research.

Anxiety's genetic roots revealed (study) – Medscape
Commenting on the findings for Medscape Medical News, James Potash, MD, MPH, psychiatrist-in-chief, Johns Hopkins Medicine, in Baltimore, Maryland, said the results "confirm that genetic susceptibility to depression and to anxiety are very tightly connected. That's not a surprise, but reassuring, and helps tell us we are on the right path."

Effects of methadone, buprenorphine on sleep quality in opioid use disorder (study) - Neurology Advisor
Sleep disturbances are a frequent complaint of patients on methadone, with 70% to 85% reporting poor sleep quality. However, less is known about the effects of newer opioid use disorder treatments on sleep, noted the researchers, led by Patrick H. Finan, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.

Utah's opioid suicide toll underreported, teen-led research project reveals - Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah)
Dr. Paul Nestadt, a researcher at Johns Hopkins in Maryland, said … a colleague alerted him to the [teen-agers' suicide prevention] poster, which won a national competition. He contacted the teenagers’ principal and invited [the two teens] to work on [a] larger study, [which] produced the recent findings.... “Do you know how rare that is,” Nestadt said, referring to an incoming high school student being in the vanguard of a scientific research project.
Also reported by: Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Associated Press and numerous subscribers

New study: Drug-caused suicides in Utah could be underestimated by 33% (study) - Daily Herald (Provo, Utah)
The nation’s opioid epidemic has clouded suicide classification, according to Paul Nestadt, one of the paper’s authors and an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “If you work in mental health, it is pretty clear there is a lot of overlap in the symptoms of someone who is using opiates and someone who may be suicidal,” Nestadt said.

2019

December

What the future holds for medical psychedelics in Canada - Global News
This fall, the University of Toronto launched the Centre for Psychedelic Studies, which will host the world’s first clinical trials on microdosing psilocybin. It joins a number of other prominent institutions devoting resources to psychedelics research, including other research centres at Johns Hopkins University and Imperial College London.

The future of psychedelic science: What the next decade holds - New Atlas
Natalie Gukasyan is a psychiatrist and research fellow at Johns Hopkins University. Her work is conducted at Johns Hopkins' Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, and she focuses on psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for mood, addictive, and eating disorders. Her latest project involves a landmark clinical trial exploring the safety and efficacy of psilocybin in persons with chronic anorexia nervosa.

Denver's psilocybin mushroom policy review panel set to launch in January - 9 News (Denver)
"Does [psilocybin] have a use? What are the health effects, positive and negative? And what are the benefits," [Councilman Chris] Hinds said. Current research by Johns Hopkins University is showing positive effects on people suffering from addiction and depression, but it says more studies need to be done.

Psilocybin sessions: Psychedelics could help people with addiction and anxiety (video) - 60 Minutes (CBS News)
Study participants at some of the country's leading medical research centers are going through intense therapy and six-hour psychedelic journeys deep into their minds to do things like quit smoking and worry less. [Johns Hopkins psilocybin researchers Roland Griffiths and Matthew Johnson are key figures in this report.)

I thought I would feel free after I stopped breastfeeding. Instead I fell into a deep depression. - Business Insider
Post-weaning depression is technically a delayed onset of postpartum depression, according to Dr. Lauren Osborne, assistant director of the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. “If you’re nursing, the state of your hormones won’t go back to normal until the time you wean,” Osbourne told Insider. “Women who are breastfeeding just keep their hormones steady for a longer time.”

A new way to quit? Psychedelic therapy offers promise for smoking cessation – NPR
By the early 1970s, many ongoing studies into the potential medical benefits of psychedelics had halted. "Unfortunately, all of that legitimate research was really sacrificed because of the association between psychedelics and the counterculture," says Matthew Johnson, an associate professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the lead investigator in the psilocybin study for smoking cessation.
Also reported by: Numerous NPR affiliates

A third of Utah overdose deaths are actually suicides, researchers find - KSL-TV (Salt Lake City)
“It is important to recognize the role that opioids are playing in suicide. Because they are increasingly prevalent and can be much more lethal on overdose than other drugs or medicines, we might compare them to firearms,” said Dr. Paul Nestadt, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

Johns Hopkins University, Greek scientists join forces to tackle dementia epidemic - Greek Reporter
Greek researchers from the US’ Johns Hopkins University and Ionian University have joined forces to confront the epidemic of Alzheimer’s disease and its related disorders in Greece. “This is a national crisis that needs a national response. I take great pride in the presence of many government and other agencies that will help us achieve this goal,” said [Greek Initiative Against Alzheimer] Professor Constantine Lyketsos, who is also head of the Memory and Alzheimer’s Treatment Center at Johns Hopkins.

What is serotonin syndrome? - The Mighty
According to Joseph Bienvenu, MD, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, it’s not clear why some patients develop serotonin syndrome and others do not. In some cases, patients on high doses of serotonin-modulating drugs will not develop it, while patients on typical therapeutic doses can show symptoms of serotonin toxicity.

When your friend is pregnant and depressed - New York Times
“We have clear and overwhelming literature to show that lack of social support is a problem,” said Dr. Lauren M. Osborne, M.D., assistant director of the Women’s Mood Disorders Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who points out that poor social support is a strong risk factor for developing a pregnancy-related mental health condition.

Why doctors are turning to psychedelics to treat depression and addiction - Men's Journal
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research in Baltimore … plan to test these drugs rigorously so that one day they could be prescribed. We talked with two of the center’s founding members, Alan Davis and Albert Garcia-Romeu, who are seeking out mental health and addiction treatments, to find out more about their research and how they plan to change our lives.

A label that suggests exercise needed to burn off a food's calories may aid weight loss - Everyday Health
There could be potential benefits to PACE [physical activity calorie equivalent], says Colleen Clarkin Schreyer, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, who specializes in eating disorders. “Obesity is a significant problem in our society, and it is associated with morbidity and mortality,” says Dr. Schreyer.

Psychedelic therapy offers hope for smoking cessation (audio) – NPR
Therapeutic research on psychedelic drugs isn't new. Scientists first started researching them in the 1950s, but when counterculture youth began using and abusing psychedelics in the 1960s, the feds criminalized their use, and that research skidded to a halt. Matthew Johnson leads the psilocybin smoking study at Johns Hopkins.

Andrew Yang wants to make psychedelic mushrooms ‘more freely available’ – Forbes
Psychedelics reform has taken major strides in the U.S. this year.... In September, Johns Hopkins University announced the launch of a new research center dedicated to studying the effects of psychedelics.

Two-century trend of Army suicide decrease during war reversed in past two decades – Reuters
The findings among military personnel mirror what’s been happening in the general population, said Dr. Paul Nestadt, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who wasn’t involved in the study. “In the general population there has been a 30% increase in suicide over the same last 17 years,” Nestadt said.

Could epigenome editing prevent developmental disorders? - Medical News Today
Epigenome editing is a way of altering the expression, or reading, of genes without altering their underlying DNA code. A team from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, led the study that focuses on the protein C11orf46. One of the study's corresponding authors is Dr. Atsushi Kamiya, who is an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Also reported by: Free Press Journal (India), Drug Target Review

Epigenome editing can reverse gene mutation, cure genetic brain disorders: Study - International Business Times
"Although this work is early, these findings suggest that we may be able to develop future epigenome editing therapies that could help reshape the neural connections in the brain, and perhaps prevent developmental disorders of the brain from occurring," Atsushi Kamiya, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, stated in the study.

‘With help, you will get better’: Howard group offers support to those going through postpartum depression* - Baltimore Sun
Postpartum depression, a major depressive episode, is the most common complication of childbirth, according to Dr. Jennifer Payne, director of the Women’s Mood Disorder Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Psychedelic 'wonder drug' that can 'reset the brain' and 'turn off' people's addictions without the downsides of tripping is due to start trials next year - Daily Mail (U.K.)
Some steadfast advocates of the benefits of micro-dosing believe [18-MC] will not work, as it is the high itself and the visions that help overcome addiction. Roland Griffiths, lead researcher on a study at Johns Hopkins Center [for] Psychedelic & Consciousness Research, said: '[Patients] come to a profound shift of worldview, essentially a shift in a sense of self.’

ASH: Consider marrow transplant for sickle cell kids - MedPage Today
In reviewing the forthcoming guideline on pain management, Patrick Carroll, MD, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, spent most of his talk [at the American Society of Hematology meeting] on the challenging -- and controversial -- topic of chronic pain management. He noted that many sickle cell patients who aren't in "crisis" still complain of ongoing pain. These patients often wind up on opioids.

Silicon Valley’s psychedelic wonder drug is almost here - Fast Company
Roland Griffiths, who led [a study testing the effects of psilocybin on addiction] and is the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center on Psychedelic and Consciousness Research], supports the idea that hallucinations play a significant role in patient recovery.

Biogen's Alzheimer's pitch yields few converts - Biopharma Dive
Constantine Lyketsos, a psychiatry and behavioral sciences professor at Johns Hopkins Medicine .... said he doesn't think aducanumab can get approved on its efficacy data and, if it did, he still wouldn't feel comfortable giving it to patients for multiple years because of safety concerns.

Paul Stamets becomes fungi phenom with acclaimed documentary and Star Trek character - The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.)
[P]sychedelic mushrooms are part of the [“Fantastic Fungi”] story — and an interesting one given that research on psilocybin’s power to alleviate depression and anxiety is so promising that Johns Hopkins University recently opened a center for research into it and other psychedelics.

Scientist talks benefits of psychedelics at federal health agency event - Marijuana Moment
A federal health agency hosted a leading psychedelics researcher on Tuesday for an event focused on the therapeutic potential of controlled substances such as psilocybin and DMT. [Johns Hopkins’] Roland Griffiths, who has spent decades studying various entheogenic plants and fungi, described the existing scientific literature and future research objectives during a speech organized by the National Institute of Mental Health.

The keys to understanding psilocybin's medical value, market potential – Benzinga
Clinical research didn’t just sprout an understanding of psilocybin’s treatment benefits. Last year, researchers at John Hopkins University released a study analyzing the compound’s abuse potential, concluding that it should be rescheduled to Schedule IV, where most prescription benzodiazepines can be found.

As medical marijuana products come to Maryland, so do regulations (video) - WBAL-TV
Ryan Vandrey is an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He said dosing of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis that gives people the feeling of being high, is critically important. "At higher doses, we see people get nauseous and vomit. We've had people get very anxious and paranoid. We've had people hallucinate at higher doses," Vandrey said. "How we allow the branding and the marketing and the labeling of products becomes important."

Firearms most lethal suicide method by far in the U.S. – Reuters
Suicide attempts are often impulsive, said Dr. Paul Nestadt, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. And if you can block that impulse, you may save a life, Nestadt added.

How to reduce suicide on the psychiatric ward - Los Angeles Times
When someone wants to die by suicide, they are typically focused on one mode, whether it be jumping off a bridge or overdosing, said Johns Hopkins University psychiatry professor Dr. Paul Nestadt. Without that option, the desire to complete suicide drops dramatically.

Their kids died on the psych ward. They were far from alone, a Times investigation found - Los Angeles Times
Though suicide is often represented in popular culture as a persistent death wish, it tends to be impulsive — a desire that comes on quickly and can pass just as quickly, said Johns Hopkins University psychiatry professor Dr. Paul Nestadt. That can make the psychiatric hospital vital to a patient’s long-term safety, he said.

First US center for psychedelic research a 'game changer' – Medscape
The funding of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research with private donations "may well be a game changer in the understanding of the efficacy of [psychedelics] in psychiatric disorders and the neurobiology of complex psychological processes such as empathy, mystical experiences, and creativity," [said William McDonald, MD, corresponding member of the American Psychiatric Association Council on Research].

November

Psychedelic drug for severe depression granted breakthrough therapy status by FDA - Medical Daily
Since psilocybin was shown to help deal with depression, anxiety and substance abuse, researchers from Johns Hopkins University had requested the government to move it to Schedule IV. So far, Oakland and Denver have decriminalized the chemical compound in 2019.

Scientists have a fascinating new map of the human brain on DMT – Vice
[W]hat’s the neurology behind [the hallucinogenic drug] DMT? And why do so many people report seeing elves? These questions have instigated a few studies, including one at Johns Hopkins in the United States, but the latest findings have just come from the Imperial College London.

In the 2010s, getting high became even more profitable and terrifying – Vice
May 7, 2019: Denver became the first U.S. city to decriminalize the possession of psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms. And, as more labs carry out tests of psychedelics to treat mental health problems, the tide seems to be shifting nationwide. Oregon is considering a therapy-based legalization structure ... more donors are getting involved, and Johns Hopkins University in Maryland has plans to open up a new research center dedicated to psychedelics.

Federal health agency hosts talk on psychedelics research - Marijuana Moment
A federal health agency invited a noted psychedelics researcher to discuss the science of substances such as psilocybin mushrooms as part of an “innovation speaker series” it’s hosting next week. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) announced that Roland Griffiths, who heads Johns Hopkins University’s newly launched Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, will lead a discussion titled “Psilocybin: History, Neuropharmacology, and Implications for Therapeutics” on December 3.

Role reversal: Caring for your parents (video) - WMAR-TV
There is new research that points to clear-cut ways to reduce both the risks of getting dementia and becoming a victim to scams. "Anything that is good for the heart is good for brain. A lot of research is now focusing on preventive strategies, lifestyle strategies, health-management strategies that focus on not smoking, not having excessive drinking, having a Mediterranean-type diet for a long period of time," says Dr. Quincy Samus, a Johns Hopkins gerontologist.

Forgive (and maybe forget) for a healthier life – WebMd
For some, the driving force [to forgive] may be a desire to let go -- freedom from holding on to the old hurt, says Neda F. Gould, PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She often counsels people trying to forgive.

Pure CBD does not trigger positive drug tests for weed, new study shows - Merry Jane (Canada)
If you take federally legal CBD products, can you fail a drug test looking for weed use? A study published this month found that many CBD products will create positive drug test results. But let's make one thing clear: Pure, pharmaceutical-grade CBD will not. The study, conducted by researchers working with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, was published in the November edition of the Journal of Analytical Toxicology.
Also reported by: London Free Press (Canada)

Does your portfolio have mushrooms in it? - Baystreet (Canada)
The “hard to argue with” evidence is leading to increased investment and interest in general. Two months ago, Johns Hopkins Medicine announced the launch of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research for the purpose of studying compounds like psilocybin and LSD for a full spectrum of mental health conditions. A group of private donors have contributed $17 million to move the research forward.

Study finds way to catch signs of cognitive decline in more women - Next Avenue
About half of people diagnosed with [mild cognitive impairment] will develop Alzheimer’s disease within five years. “The patients often think they are fine. Their families see the signs and bring them in for testing,” says Dr. Cynthia Munro, an associate professor and neuropsychologist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Enthusiastic donors pony up in support of psychedelic research, harm reduction efforts – Forbes
The vast tidal change in acceptance of psychedelic therapies is coinciding with serious research being conducted by esteemed organizations like Johns Hopkins University.... Featured in a widely watched 60 Minutes episode in October, cancer patients involved in clinical trials at Hopkins explained how psilocybin — the active agent in magic mushrooms — has aided them in dealing with their fear of dying.

A man who sold opioids and texted instructions to a depressed college student who killed herself got 24 years in prison – BuzzFeed
This case also highlights how important it is to restrict access to lethal means of suicide, Dr. Paul Nestadt, a Johns Hopkins psychiatry professor who studies opiates and suicides, told BuzzFeed News. He said that [Rachel] Bandman might have not been able to get a lethal enough dose [of drugs] on her own had [Anthony] Hunt not supplied her with it.

Anxious and depressed as a scary disease destroyed her lungs, she turned to ecstasy for relief. Here’s what happened. - Washington Post
Using recent studies at UCLA, Johns Hopkins, New York University and elsewhere, [author Michael Pollan] wrote about how hallucinogenics, specifically LSD and psilocybin, had had profound results in conjunction with psychotherapy with suicidal depressives, the terminally ill, addicts and PTSD patients.

'How do we recover?': Experts weigh in on how to talk to your kids about shootings - Los Angeles Times
Younger kids may not be as worried. But teenagers are likely to know more and have concerns, so it’s better to address the subject directly with them rather than avoid it, said Carol Vidal, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University. “The most important thing is not to minimize any sense of anxiety that they may have,” Vidal said.

"Fantastic Funghi" at Carnegie Science Center forecasts an expanded role in human evolution - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Research on medical uses of fungi is becoming more mainstream, including the recently established Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University, the first such formal center in the U.S.

9 USC students have died this semester, and the campus community is searching for answers - Los Angeles magazine
Dr. Paul Nestadt, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, told the [Los Angeles] Times that he sees the uptick in suicides and drug overdoses as potentially being linked to one another. “They’re both kind of going up at the same time, almost twin epidemics,” he said, describing both as “often driven by an ambivalence about life.”

States where recreational marijuana legalized see increased problematic use (study) – Reuters
“(It) makes sense that more people were using cannabis once it was legalized,” said Ryan Vandrey, an associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. “It makes a difference if people can buy it in a store rather than having to seek out a drug dealer.” One problem with the study, though, is that you can’t tell whether people are using cannabis to get high or if they are using it to treat medical problems, Vandrey said.

Nine student deaths has USC trying to quell rumors, prevent triggering students - Los Angeles Times
Universities don’t have rule books, nor is there any scientific research, about how to navigate addressing multiple student deaths and suicides, said Dr. Paul Nestadt, a Johns Hopkins University psychiatry professor. Officials are likely acting with an abundance of caution so as not to prompt a suicide contagion, he said.

Call for patients to take part in anorexia psilocybin treatment study - Health Europa
Johns Hopkins University recently secured funding of $17m (€15.39m) to start the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine, making it the largest research centre of its kind in the world. The centre will be carrying out research in the hope of creating precision medicine treatments tailored to individual patients’ specific needs.... Much of the early work at Johns Hopkins has focused on psilocybin, the chemical found in so-called magic mushrooms.

The healing potential of psychedelic drugs - People's Pharmacy
Dr. Matthew Johnson, associate director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, has conducted a number of clinical trials utilizing psilocybin. He and his colleagues have been exploring the possible uses of psychedelic drugs as medicines for people with life-threatening cancer. They have also examined the possible benefits of a single dose of psilocybin for smoking cessation and overcoming alcohol misuse.

Can a trip-free psychedelic still help people with depression? – Vice
[P]silocybin and other psychedelics [recently] have been hailed as powerful and much-needed interventions for mental illness. Psychedelic research centers have been formed at Imperial College, and more recently at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Atlanta woman billed $10K by lab snared in alleged genetic test fraud - Atlanta Journal Constitution
[T]op experts maintain there is still much debate over these tests’ effectiveness in mental health treatment, said Dr. James Potash, director of Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. “Even among people who are at the cutting edge of the field there is not complete agreement on how useful or not useful these tests are at the moment,” Potash said.

Some CBD products could lead to positive urine test for pot – Reuters
A small pilot study finds that vaping CBD products might lead to a positive urine test for marijuana, researchers report. The researchers hope the findings will alert users of legal CBD products to problems that could arise in drug testing, especially if they don’t know how much THC is in the products. “It’s a common perception that CBD is THC-free,” said senior study author Ryan Vandrey, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. “But that’s not necessarily the case.”

A new center at Johns Hopkins builds the case for psychedelic research - Psychiatry Advisor
Nearly 15 years after experts at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine helped to reinvigorate research on the potential therapeutic effects of psychedelic substances, experts have launched the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, the first of its kind in the United States and the largest in the world.

October

Petitioners trying to decriminalize psychedelics in Portland - KATU-TV (Portland, Ore.)
"There’s some great research coming out of Johns Hopkins University, NYU, and other places and organizations. They're really doing some exciting stuff right now, so it's really an exciting time to be in the field of mental health," said Dr. Dan Fischer, who specializes in psychiatry.

Having trouble forgiving a loved one? Ask yourself these questions - NBC News
“When you are holding a grudge, you’re going to be in a state when you are essentially angry and stressed. You’re increasing cortisol — and that gets associated with all kinds of things,” says Dr. Karen Swartz, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Why minority representation in medical research is a matter of life and death (video) - PBS NewsHour
Lack of diversity is a problem that extends well beyond clinical trials. Basic research has also been long dominated by people of European ancestry. Dr. Daniel Weinberger: "This train is speeding out of the station, and the African-American community doesn't seem to be on it nearly with the representation that it deserves." Daniel Weinberger is the head of the Lieber Institute for Brain Development [which has an affiliation with Johns Hopkins]. The train he's referring to is, once again, the revolution of precision medicine.

Review: Mushrooms are the new superheroes in documentary ‘Fantastic Fungi’ - Los Angeles Times
[The film] covers a lot of ground ... from mushrooms’ role in developing the human brain to their healing history (think penicillin), and, of course, consciousness-altering properties, which have been shown to alleviate PTSD and depression. (Johns Hopkins’ magic mushroom studies — featured in the film — have even led to the recent announcement of a new center there for psychedelic research.)

Should I try microdosing at work? The science behind the Silicon Valley brain hack – Mic
As for whether microdosing at work can boost performance, it’s still too early to say, experts tell Mic. Most of the published research on microdosing consists of surveys in which people report how they feel after microdosing (such as more focused, or more productive) which may not reliably reflect its effects, says Matthew Johnson, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

In opioid settlements, Suboxone plays a leading role - Stateline (Pew Trusts)
[I]n states that have expanded the federal-state health program, the influx of settlement Suboxone might cut state Medicaid costs and allow the money to be spent on other addiction services, said Kenneth Stoller, who runs a treatment center in Baltimore [Johns Hopkins Broadway Center for Addiction]. “But I would imagine states would rather have the money,” Stoller said, since Suboxone and the other two medications represent only a small portion of the total cost of treatment and recovery services.

How psychedelic drugs treat mental illness differently than traditional medicine – Mic
While most psychedelic drugs lie in a legal gray area, doctors and researchers across the country are beginning to offer them therapeutically. Academia and medicine alike are taking studies about their efficacy seriously, with Johns Hopkins opening a center just for psychedelic research in September.

DNA tests for psychiatric drugs are controversial but some insurers are covering them – NPR
James Potash, the head of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medicine and an expert on psychiatric genetics, says of all the tests claiming to improve depression treatment, GeneSight's has the most proof. That isn't saying much, though. "I wouldn't say there's no evidence that it works," he says. "It's just the evidence at this point is still weak."

Investors hope psychedelics are the new cannabis. Are they high? - The Economist
]B]ackers think psychedelic drugs could be used to treat mental-health disorders like depression, anxiety and addiction. In April Imperial College London, inaugurated the first research centre dedicated to psychedelics research. Last month Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore launched America’s first such scientific outfit.

Could psychedelic drugs be a cure for depression? (video) - Today show
Some of the country’s top psychiatric researchers [including Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins Medicine] are exploring whether hallucinogens, when taken in a controlled and clinical environment, can help people suffering from severe depression. Griffiths, director of Johns Hopkins' Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research, and program coordinator Mary Cosimano explain what patients go through during a session at the newly opened center.

To ease dementia agitation, drugs may not be best option (study) – Reuters
The new results were not surprising to Dr. Milap Nowrangi, an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins medical school. But "they are important," he said, adding that aggression and agitation are the kinds of symptoms "that lead to caregiver burnout and institutionalization of patients."

Psilocybin paves path for addiction research at Johns Hopkins (audio) - WAMU-FM (D.C.)
“One of the decisions a couple of decades ago when researchers jumped back into this psychedelic field is that LSD did have most of the negative cultural connotations,” Dr. [Matthew] Johnson explains. “Politically, it was easier to move forward with psilocybin.” Dr. Johnson [associate director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine] and his team have already had success using psilocybin to treat certain types of addiction and depression.

Cellular garbage aids quest for Alzheimer’s blood test – NIH
[C]ells are constantly discarding a variety of materials. This cellular trash is packaged into tiny capsules called exosomes and shipped out of cells into the bloodstream. Recently, researchers like [Intramural Research Program] investigator Dimitrios Kapogiannis, M.D., an associate professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University, have become interested in how exosomes expelled from neurons into the bloodstream differ between healthy people and those with brain illnesses like Alzheimer’s.

Charming documentary ‘Fantastic Fungi’ explores the miracle of mushrooms – Observer
[Magic mushrooms] are now studied in the research for cancer and Alzheimer’s cures, and taught in psychiatry and behavioral science courses at Johns Hopkins.

What are the benefits of CBD? - New York Times
Most of the research on cannabidiol has been in animals, and its current popularity has outpaced science. “We don’t have the 101 course on CBD quite figured out yet,” said Ryan Vandrey, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

How magic mushrooms can help smokers kick the habit - NPR
[T]here are signs that psilocybin might help [cigarette] addicts shake the habit by causing the brain to talk with itself in different ways. "These brain changes lead to, often times, a sense of unity," says Matthew Johnson, an experimental psychologist at Johns Hopkins University. It all may sound a little "woo-woo," he admits, but it seems to be working.

Free mental health workshop set Oct. 17 in Rehoboth - Cape Gazette (Delaware)
Attendees can hear from a leading expert in mental health, Andy Feinberg, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist and faculty member at Johns Hopkins Medicine. His keynote address will focus on advances in diagnosis and treatment, the challenges of managing multiple medications, and understanding the roles of different treating professionals.

With cognitive impairment, older adults struggle with — and face risks from — smartphones, computers - Washington Post
Already, some physicians are adapting to this new digital reality. At Johns Hopkins Medicine, Halima Amjad, an assistant professor of medicine, now asks her older patients if they use a computer or smartphone and are having trouble such as forgetting passwords or getting locked out of accounts.

Psilocybin Sessions: Psychedelics could help people with addiction and anxiety (video) - 60 Minutes
Carine McLaughlin was a smoker for 46 years and said she tried everything to quit before being given psilocybin at Johns Hopkins last year. Psilocybin itself is non-addictive.
(Researcher Matthew Johnson and Roland Griffiths were featured in this video)

Active agent in magic mushrooms could treat addiction, depression and anxiety - 60 Minutes Overtime
Roland Griffiths, of Johns Hopkins University, is a pioneer in psychedelic research, which was studied extensively until former President Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Thirty years later, Griffiths received FDA approval for to study psilocybin. The results amazed him. "The red light started flashing. It's unprecedented – the capacity of the human organism to change. It just was astounding."

Mental health issues aren’t just a normal part of aging – Considerable
Dr. Susan W. Lehmann, clinical director of the division of geriatric psychiatry and neuropsychiatry and director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Day Hospital at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine told US News that adults over 65 “were much less likely to be asked by their primary care physician if they felt tense or anxious and were much less likely to be referred by their primary care physician for mental health specialty care.”

How psychedelic substances can help treat anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses - WBUR-FM (Boston)
Johns Hopkins University has launched a center for psychedelic research with $17 million in donations from private donors, the first of its kind in the U.S. Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson talks with William Richards, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins, who began his work with psychedelic research in the 1960s about the promise of these substances, including LSD and psilocybin.

Kristen Bell says she takes CBD oil daily to manage her depression and anxiety - Women's Health
(FWIW, there's a growing pool of research suggesting CBD has legit benefits for pain relief, but some experts say more is needed. "We don't have what we'd want in terms of clinical trials on [CBD's] safety and efficacy for anything beyond treatment of rare seizure disorder. We need more research,” Ryan Vandrey, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, previously told Women's Health.)

Jamaica launches the World Magic Mushroom Center – Jamaicans
The University of the West Indies in Mona is launching the world’s first research facility to focus on psychedelic lifeforms. Researchers will study what makes so-called “magic mushrooms” psychedelic, for example.... The announcement of the new psychedelic research facility came a few weeks after Johns Hopkins became the largest such center in the world.

Owning a dog linked to lower risk of death after a heart attack, study finds - NBC News
While the studies don’t prove that dog ownership leads to longer lives — they can only show associations, not causation — there have been studies showing that the companionship of a dog can lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, said Neda Gould, an assistant professor and director of the Mindfulness Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

5 relaxation hacks that work as well as meditation – Medium
[M]editation is ... being studied as an intervention for [issues such as anxiety and depression]. That led Frederick Barrett, a behavioral neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University, to ask: Do psychedelics have a similar effect on the brain as meditation? “At least anecdotally, the answer seems to be almost a resounding yes,” he says.

The problem with always asking black people to forgive – CNN
"Anger is a form of stress, and so when we hold on to anger it is as though we are turning on the body's stress response, or fight or flight response, chronically," Neda Gould, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told CNN in June. "When we engage in the act of forgiveness, we can begin to turn off the stress response and the physiological changes that accompany it."

Michael Pollan, describing a drug trip: ‘I saw myself dissolve’* - Boston Globe
Only after Timothy Leary was thrown out of Harvard amid sloppy science and LSD-taking by his students did psychedelic drugs come to be seen as features of the 1960s counterculture. Now, researchers at New York University, Johns Hopkins University, and elsewhere are taking another look, and finding intriguing possibilities

5 relaxation hacks that work as well as meditation – Medium
[M]editation is ... being studied as an intervention for [issues such as anxiety and depression]. That led Frederick Barrett, a behavioral neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University, to ask: Do psychedelics have a similar effect on the brain as meditation? “At least anecdotally, the answer seems to be almost a resounding yes,” he says.

The problem with always asking black people to forgive – CNN
"Anger is a form of stress, and so when we hold on to anger it is as though we are turning on the body's stress response, or fight or flight response, chronically," Neda Gould, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told CNN in June. "When we engage in the act of forgiveness, we can begin to turn off the stress response and the physiological changes that accompany it."

Michael Pollan, describing a drug trip: ‘I saw myself dissolve’* - Boston Globe
Only after Timothy Leary was thrown out of Harvard amid sloppy science and LSD-taking by his students did psychedelic drugs come to be seen as features of the 1960s counterculture. Now, researchers at New York University, Johns Hopkins University, and elsewhere are taking another look, and finding intriguing possibilities. Most are studying psilocybin, the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms.”

In Vancouver documentary Dosed, magic mushrooms reveal a path out of addiction – Straight
While Dosed was in production in 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved psilocybin for a drug trial for treatment-resistant depression. In May of this year, Denver decriminalized magic mushrooms, and in June Oakland did the same. Just last month, the prestigious Johns Hopkins University established the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research.

Long drive times in rural areas may be a barrier to opioid addiction treatment (study) – Reuters
The new study shows that drive times may be a barrier to patients seeking opioid treatment programs in rural areas, said Dr. Kenneth Stoller, an associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore and director of the Johns Hopkins Broadway Center for Addiction. "And I agree with the authors that we are going to need to think more creatively," Stoller said.

THC breathalyzer in the works at Pitt, but there's still no solid link with intoxication (audio) - WESA-FM (Pittsburgh)
[A] major roadblock exists: there's no research directly linking intoxication with the amount of THC in someone's breath.... "The real challenge is not knowing whether or not somebody has used cannabis, but whether or not they're impaired from it," said Ryan Vandrey, a professor at Johns Hopkins University who studies how cannabis affects behavior. 

September

Mental health in black moms is largely ignored — 5 ways we can improve it – Self
Depending on the population, black women are less likely to be identified as depressed even when they are. In inner-city Baltimore, for instance, African-Americans have a really high rate of stressful life situations, and doctors subject to unconscious biases can interpret those depressive symptoms as being due to stressful circumstances instead of as an illness.” — Jennifer L. Payne, M.D., director of the Women’s Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine

What do we really know about pedophiles? - The Cut (New York magazine)
Dr. Fred Berlin, director of the Johns Hopkins Sex and Gender Clinic, tells the Times that treatment is worthwhile, and prevention is possible: “There’s a subgroup out there [who] are quite convinced that they do not want real-life sex with children.” Finding them and treating them before they become abusers — and before they participate in the exploding internet child-sex-abuse marketplace — presents an overwhelming challenge.

What could go wrong? New York partiers jump on toad venom to get high - Business & Politics Review
“[R]esearchers have discovered that use of the synthetic psychedelic 5-methocy-N,-N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) appears to be associated with unintended improvements in self-reported depression and anxiety when given in a ceremonial group setting,” the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine reported last March. “5-MeO-DMT is a psychedelic that is found in the venom of Bufo Alvarius toads, in a variety of plants species, and can be produced synthetically.”

Dr. Bronner's donated to psychedelic research again — here's why their investment matters. – Mic
Dr. Bronner’s [soap company] is known for its new age evangelism — David Bronner’s official title is CEO: Cosmic Engagement Officer — but psilocybin therapy isn’t half-baked hippie science. Earlier this year, Johns Hopkins established a new center, MAPS, specifically to study the therapeutic use of psychedelics.

Psychedelic drug therapy enters new era with Johns Hopkins center - United Press International
Johns Hopkins University researchers plan to use psychedelic drugs to attack some of society's toughest problems at a new research center, including smoking, depression, alcoholism, Alzheimer's disease, anorexia, Lyme disease and even addiction to opioids. Private donations of $17 million have been pledged for the new Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research, which opened this month in Baltimore.
Also reported by: Cheddar

Preying on children: The emerging psychology of pedophiles - New York Times
“People don’t choose what arouses them — they discover it,” said Dr. Fred Berlin, director of the Johns Hopkins Sex and Gender Clinic. “No one grows up wanting to be a pedophile.” “The important thing, I think, is that people know that treatment is possible,” Dr. Berlin said. “There’s a subgroup out there, they refer themselves here, and they are quite convinced that they do not want real-life sex with children.”

The delicate issue of taking away a senior’s smartphone - Kaiser Health News
Already, some physicians are adapting to this new digital reality. At Johns Hopkins Medicine, Dr. Halima Amjad, an assistant professor of medicine, now asks older patients if they use a computer or smartphone and are having trouble such as forgetting passwords or getting locked out of accounts. “If there’s a notable change in how someone is using technology,” she said, “we would proceed with a more in-depth cognitive evaluation.”

How to do psychedelics without killing yourself - The Stranger
[D]octors administer[ed] LSD to more than 40,000 patients from 1950 to 1965 and produc[ed] convincing evidence that psychedelics could be an effective treatment for a wide range of disorders from alcoholism to depression. That research was stunted by the American prohibition of psychedelics in 1970, but research is now restarting. Johns Hopkins University announced this year that it is launching an entire center dedicated to psychedelic research.

Even Nobel-winning chemists don’t know what’s in your weed vape – Bloomberg
Researchers are restricted from walking into a marijuana store in Denver or Los Angeles and buying products for testing because their funding could be jeopardized if they run afoul of federal regulations. “It’s an absurd situation,” said Matthew Johnson, an addiction expert at Johns Hopkins University. “It hampers our ability to know the good, the bad and the ugly about cannabis use.”

Inside the centre exploring the effect of psychedelic drugs on mental health - The Independent (U.K.)
Earlier this month, Johns Hopkins Medicine introduced the Centre for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, to study compounds like LSD and psilocybin for mental health problems, including anorexia, addiction and depression. The centre is the first of its kind in the country, established with $17m (£13.6m) in commitments from wealthy private donors and a foundation.

Can you overdose on weed? – Gizmodo
Ryan Gregory Vandrey, Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Johns Hopkins Medicine, whose research focuses on the human behavioural pharmacology of Cannabis, among other things: “The short answer is yes, you can overdose on cannabis. The nuance is this. An overdose does not necessarily mean death. From my perspective, an overdose means a several different things.”

Your toddler has A.D.H.D. Should you medicate? - New York Times
[I]t was not surprising that nearly 80 percent of the children who originally learned they had A.D.H.D. at the start of [a 2001] study still had the diagnosis six years later when assessed during a follow-up, said Dr. Mark Riddle, M.D., a pediatric psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and co-author of the … study.

Magic mushrooms as medicine? Johns Hopkins scientists launch center for psychedelic research. say psychedelics could treat Alzheimer’s, depression and addiction. – Forbes
Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D., a psychopharmacologist and professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in an interview that the approach could offer “an entirely new paradigm for treating psychiatric disorders.”

Johns Hopkins opens center for psychedelic research - Big Think
Johns Hopkins University's School of Medicine recently announced it'd be launching the largest psychedelics research center in the world. Its new Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research was funded by a $17 million donation from a group of private donors. Doctors and researchers at the center hope to learn and examine whether these psychedelic drugs will be able to treat conditions such as depression and opioid addiction.
Also reported by: Ganjapreneur

How to teach future doctors about pain in the midst of the opioid crisis (audio) – NPR
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine students Tony Wang, Jenny Franke, Annie Cho and David Botros, and faculty or pain-management experts Traci Speed, Ryan Graddy, Beth Hogans, Jennifer Haythornthwaite and Shravani Durbhakula are quoted in this article that focuses on “a mandatory, four-day course [on chronic pain] at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore — home to one of the top medical schools in the country."

Johns Hopkins launches research center on psychedelics - The Scientist
Last Wednesday (September 4), Johns Hopkins Medicine announced the launch of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, which will focus on using psychedelic compounds such as LSD, ketamine, and psilocybin to treat mental health problems.
Also reported by: Washington Post

Vaping is the easiest way to smoke weed — but may be the most harmful - Men's Journal
[E]ven [vaping] cartridges from dispensaries aren’t necessarily safe.... And that’s the real message of this growing epidemic, says Ryan Vandrey, Ph.D., who studies behavioral pharmacology of cannabis, nicotine, and tobacco at Johns Hopkins University: These are poorly regulated industries. The standards of quality are different from state to state, and we don’t even know if legalized states have the resources available to them (e.g., manpower and money) to establish and follow regulations.

Johns Hopkins launches center for psychedelic and consciousness research - High Times
One of the United States’ most respected medical institutions has announced that it will be sinking its teeth into the field of psychedelics research. Johns Hopkins University will form the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, funded by $17 million in donations from private sources. It may well be the largest research facility in the world to focus on the study of psychedelics.
Also reported by: Fierce Biotech, Yahoo (via ABC News), Pharmacy Times, boingboing

John Hopkins opens $17 million psychedelic research center to study the benefits of illegal drugs like magic mushrooms on Alzheimer's disease, anorexia and depression - Daily Mail (U.K.)
A research center will open to study the medical benefits of 'magic mushrooms' and other psychedelic drugs for mental health illnesses and addiction. John Hopkins Medicine announced it is opening the center, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the U.S. and the largest facility in the world. Around $17 million in funding was raised from private donors to start work at the center.
Also reported by: Endpoints, U.S. News & World Report, Stat, Vice, Science magazine

Tim Ferriss, the man who put his money behind psychedelic medicine - New York Times
The fund-raising for the new [Johns] Hopkins center was largely driven by the author and investor Tim Ferriss, who said in a telephone interview that he had put aside most of his other projects to advance psychedelic medicine.

Johns Hopkins opens new center for psychedelic research - New York Times
On Wednesday, Johns Hopkins Medicine announced the launch of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, to study compounds like LSD and psilocybin for a range of mental health problems, including anorexia, addiction and depression. The center is the first of its kind in the country, established with $17 million in commitments from wealthy private donors and a foundation.
Also reported by: Baltimore Sun*, CNN, ABC News, Newsweek,  Quartz, Fortune, The Hill, Discover magazine, Marijuana Moment, Endpoints

Study: Most dementia patients never see specialists - NBC Los Angeles (via City News Service)
Researchers at USC, Johns Hopkins and the University of Washington used Medicare data to track dementia diagnoses of nearly a quarter of a million people over five years. The team found 85% of individuals first diagnosed with dementia were diagnosed by a non-dementia specialist physician, usually a primary care doctor, and an "unspecified dementia" diagnosis was common.

Does marijuana lead to violence? Experts say there’s no clear link – Politifact
[W]ithout being able to legally administer marijuana in a controlled laboratory setting, researchers can’t tell whether its use causes psychosis. "In terms of whether using cannabis causes the development of psychotic disorders, there is no consensus," said Matthew Johnson, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University. "The definitive studies have yet to be run."

I tried 20 trendy anti-anxiety products, and these 8 actually work - Refinery 29
Muse 2: The Next Generation Meditation Headband: The headband connects to an app, which guides you through various meditations. Meanwhile, the sensors on the device are picking up on your brain activity, heart rate, breathing, and body movements, as you go through various techniques.... In general, this kind of mindfulness meditation is good for curbing anxiety. Doing about 30 minutes of meditation daily has been shown to improve symptoms of anxiety and depression, a Johns Hopkins analysis found.

August

Could psychedelic drugs become the new medical marijuana? Inside the potential benefits and high risks of ‘magic mushrooms’ - Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
Researchers are conducting clinical trials of psychedelic therapy at some of the United States’ most prestigious universities, including Johns Hopkins University, Yale University, New York University and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Reminiscence therapy: Bringing memories back to life - U.S. News & World Report
People suffering from dementia tend to withdraw from social engagements, conversations and everyday activities, explains Dr. Esther Oh, an associate professor in the division of geriatric medicine and gerontology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Reminiscence therapy, however, "really draws them out of [their] shell," says Oh, "because they're able to tap into their past and things they're very familiar with."

New concerns emerge about long-term antidepressant use* - Wall Street Journal
[T]here’s a growing concern among health professionals that some people who are taking the drugs long-term shouldn’t be — needlessly subjecting themselves to side effects and potential health risks. “Sometimes a person gets put on a medicine and it simply gets continued because nobody thinks very hard about it,” says James Potash, psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

World-first trial investigating psilocybin psychotherapy for anorexia commencing in US - New Atlas
Scientists from the Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research Unit are commencing a landmark human clinical trial to explore the effects of psilocybin in persons with chronic anorexia nervosa. The new trial adds to a growing body of evidence finding psychedelic psychotherapy effective for depression, addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Researchers optimistic that clinics will soon be able to offer MDMA therapy to PTSD patients - Good News Network
Back in April, researchers from Johns Hopkins University found that MDMA triggers a neural response called a “critical period” during which the brain is sensitive to learning the reward value of social behaviors. This means that patients can use this critical period to revisit traumatic events in a clinical setting so that they can form positive associations with negative memories.

Teens who use concentrated marijuana more likely to use other drugs (study) - NBC News
While some might conclude that the new findings mean that cannabis use is leading to other drugs, it’s more likely that cannabis use is simply a marker for the teens who are more likely to be drawn to drugs and other risk, said Ryan Vandrey, an associate professor [of] psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

In Denver, the spores of a psychedelic mushroom boom have landed - Denver Post
[Psilocybin is] the subject of a popular new book and promising therapeutic research studies at Johns Hopkins University and elsewhere, but the first steps of decriminalization also have prompted worries about regulation and substance-use culture.

Dopamine levels increased through deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease patients - New Atlas
Fascinating new research from scientists at Johns Hopkins University is shedding light on the mystery of how deep brain stimulation improves physical symptoms in Parkinson’s disease patients. The study reveals evidence for the first time suggesting the electrical stimulation technique directly increases dopamine release in the brain.

Half of psychiatry, psychology trial abstracts contain spin (study) – Mdedge
In an interview, Paul S. Nestadt, MD, said the findings were not surprising. “The proportion [56%] of psychiatry and psychology abstracts which [the study authors] found to contain spin is similar to that found in broader studies of all biomedical literature in previous reviews,” said Dr. Nestadt, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

Women's mid-life stress might have long-term effect on memory (study) – HealthDay
"We can't get rid of stressors, but we might adjust the way we respond to stress, and have a real effect on brain function as we age," said study author Cynthia Munro. She's an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.
Also reported by: Newsmax

New millennial patterns of cocaine use may benefit future generations – Inverse
The fact that 18-25s (who are somewhere between millennials and post-millennials, generationally speaking) are trending away from cocaine use is significant, explains Matthew Johnson, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins who studies the behavioral economics of drugs.

Can psychedelics heal the Jewish people? This rabbi is exploring that question. - Jewish News of Northern California
[Rabbi Zac] Kamenetz’s first trip took place in a comfortable room at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore with a couch and various religious symbols — a cross, a small statue of Buddha, etc. — and he was accompanied by a guide, one of the researchers. He put on a sleep mask and headphones outfitted with a playlist of classical music, was given a dose of psilocybin, and off he went.

Is CBD the panacea the adverts claim? - The Ecologist
Dr. Ryan Vandrey, associate professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, said: “People are throwing CBD at every condition under the sun at random doses and expecting it to work.” Many people claim there are minimal to no risks to using CBD, but that’s not exactly accurate…. Vandrey commented: “We know that CBD can affect the metabolism of drugs, though the extent to which that happens is still not well understood.”

Is ketamine an opioid? - Pain News Network
“A (Stanford) study done late last year delivered a black eye to ketamine, and as a result of the coverage, there was a wholesale acceptance by both potential patients and physicians that ketamine is an opioid,” says Adam Kaplin, MD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins. “This is most worrisome if people continue to think this way, particularly in the wake of the opioid epidemic...."

Baltimore methadone clinics examine security needs in wake of recent shooting* - Baltimore Sun
The Johns Hopkins Broadway Center for Addiction, on the hospital’s medical campus in East Baltimore, uses unarmed guards with special training to greet and interact with clients, who may be homeless, suffer mental health conditions or just hungry. The clinic serves lunch so clients can get a healthy meal and feel cared for, said Dr. Kenneth Stoller, the center’s director.

Fentanyl as Ohio's lethal-injection drug? Wait til you hear what opioid crisis watchers say - Cincinnati Enquirer
An opioid researcher and addiction specialist, Dr. Marc Fishman, who is an assistant professor in the psychiatry department at Johns Hopkins University, was appalled at the notion of using the drug as some kind of ultimate punishment. "A physician ought not have an opinion on improved ways of poisoning people," he said.

Is stress the reason women get Alzheimer’s more? – Considerable
A new study from Johns Hopkins shows that continual stress affects the memories of women more than men, which could suggest why more women are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.... “We can’t get rid of stressors, but we might adjust the way we respond to stress, and have a real effect on brain function as we age,” said Cynthia Munro, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Battling the 'Devil in the Third Year': The fight to foster empathy in medical trainees – Medscape
"There are a lot of forces working against empathy," explains Margaret S. Chisolm, MD, professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "Systemic forces are working against understanding patients, in terms of time and other pressures, the way the curriculum is and what's being modeled."

Urinary tract infection or dementia: Which one do I have? - U.S. News & World Report
"With evaluation, the clinician should be able to pick up on the fact that [a person's confused state is] a fairly sudden change that, with treatment, should improve," says Dr. Halima Amjad, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who sees patients at the Johns Hopkins Memory and Alzheimer's Treatment Center.

Can microdosing psychedelic mushrooms curb your anxiety? - Refinery 29
Psychedelic drugs, such as LSD and psilocybin, essentially "change the way that the brain functions," explains Albert Garcia-Romeu, PhD, a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he studies the effects of psychedelics in humans, with a focus on psilocybin as an aid in the treatment of addiction.

The search for a way to rely on sleeping pills less* (study) - Wall Street Journal
David Neubauer, an associate psychiatry professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, called the [full-dose medicine/reduced-dose medicine] experiment clever. He also noted the positive effect the [cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia] sessions may have had, as well as meeting with a doctor regularly. “This was a pretty labor-intensive process,” Dr. Neubauer says.

Women get Alzheimer’s way more than men — and stress could help explain why - Popular Science
A new study from Johns Hopkins suggests cumulative stress can have an outsize effect on women’s memories, pointing to a possible reason why women experience dementia and related illnesses at a much higher rate than men.

How electromagnetic stimulation can improve memory - Next Avenue
[M]ore research is needed, but there have been studies showing that strategically applied tDCS [transcranial direct current stimulation] can temporarily improve thinking skills in healthy older adults, says Tracy Vannorsdall, a neuroscientist at John Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. However, “We are still working to determine what brain regions to target to optimize cognition in older adults, how frequently to apply tDCS and what cognitive training activities should accompany the stimulation,” Vannorsdall adds. 

The psychiatric 'wonder drug' that almost no one is using – Vice
“I've had people who were in and out of hospitals 10 times — their parents said they had lost their children — and then after [they were given clozapine], they were not hospitalized again," said Fred Nucifora, a clinician scientist and director of the clozapine clinic at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. "I’ve seen miracles on clozapine."

People are hungry for shroom legalization, and the money to fund it is growing – Vice
There's been a steady stream of movement in the halls of power…. Last year, a team at Johns Hopkins that has been at the forefront of studying the mental-health applications of psilocybin called for it to lose this status, and the Food and Drug Administration also designated it as a "breakthrough therapy" for "treatment-resistant depression."

July

Can psychedelic drugs help solve our mental health crisis? – Spectrum
Experts like Dr. Matthew Johnson, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University, say [there is a mental health crisis]. Johnson is a principal investigator with Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research Unit. The group is at the forefront of a renaissance of sorts in the U.S.; their work is helping to resurrect study of the drugs.

Psychedelic medicine is coming. The law isn’t ready - Scientific American
When researchers at Johns Hopkins gave psilocybin to healthy participants with no history of hallucinogen use, nearly eighty percent reported that their experiences "increased their current sense of personal well-being or life satisfaction 'moderately' or 'very much' " — effects that persisted for more than a year.

Why I decided to take antidepressants during my pregnancy — even though I knew the potential risks & side effects - Your Tango
As explained by Dr. Lauren Osbourne of Johns Hopkins University, "About 30 percent of babies whose mothers take [selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors] will experience neonatal adaptation syndrome, which can cause increased jitteriness, irritability and respiratory distress (difficulty breathing), among other symptoms.

Could social media’s ‘healthy food’ focus be contributing to a little-known eating disorder? - Washington Post
Angela Guarda, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Hospital, says anorexia patients typically “have a rationalization for why they do what they do.” With orthorexia, that rationalization is clear and more societally accepted: “Those explanations are that they’re vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free or so on,” she says.

Does microdosing magic mushrooms actually work? Experts weigh in – Mic
Matthew Johnson, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University of School of Medicine [says] that the very subtle benefits microdosers claim to enjoy, such as being friendlier and more focused, “are really ripe for a placebo effect.”

Doctors explain whether fancy vitamins can really make you more focused and better at life – Cosmopolitan
Docs actually have been prescribing stimulants, a form of nootropics, since the 1930s to treat depression and fatigue, says Neeraj Gandotra, M.D., an instructor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medicine.... They work by increasing the levels of the neurotransmitters dopamine and noradrenaline in the part of the brain responsible for focus and memory, which improves your concentration, says Dr. Gandotra....  “These types of substances do not actually make people more intelligent.”

From mushrooms to pension reform: Here's what could be on your 2020 ballot - Salem Reporter (Oregon)
It may seem far-fetched, but the ... [pro-psilocybin] campaign comes amid a growing movement of tolerance and support for the medicinal use of psychedelics. This spring, Oakland, Calif., and Denver decriminalized psilocybin.... [R]esearchers at Johns Hopkins [have] found the drug to be a low-risk, high-reward mental health drug....

Age and the presidency: How old is too old? (audio) - WYPR-FM
What happens to our cognitive ability as we get older? Is age a legitimate issue in considering a person’s qualifications to be the U.S. president? [“Midday” host Tom Hall] is joined today by two guests with valuable perspectives on these questions, [including] Dr. Jason Brandt is a neuropsychologist and Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Brandt’s research focuses on cognition and neurological health in the elderly.

Can Alzheimer's be stopped? Five lifestyle behaviors are key, new research suggests - NBC News and numerous affiliates
While the studies are definitely good news, they don’t shed light on whether healthy lifestyle behaviors slow down the pathology that gunks up the brain in people with Alzheimer’s or simply make the brain more resilient to it, said Dr. Jason Brandt, a professor in the departments of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and neurology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Sex may be less satisfying with age, too few women seek help (study) – Medscape
Kate Thomas, PhD, RN, director of clinical services for the Sex and Gender Clinic and instructor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, said the fact that it was a large study adds some weight to its conclusions. She said the main message for her was that, as providers, "there's work to be done here.

Some schizophrenia brains show abnormal protein buildup similar to Alzheimer’s – PsychCentral
In a new study, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers unveiled new evidence showing that some schizophrenia brains are marked by a buildup of abnormal proteins similar to those found in the brains of people with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s or Huntington’s diseases.

‘Well, that was a weird moment’ and other signs of dementia family members should watch for - Washington Post
Halima Amjad, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said that about 60 percent of people with dementia symptoms go unreported either from not being diagnosed or because of denial or shame.

Keto-like diet may improve cognition in MCI, early Alzheimer's – Medscape
A ketogenic diet may boost cognition in older adults who have early signs of dementia, preliminary research suggests. Investigators at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine … found that when older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) switched their diet to a low-carbohydrate, high-fat ketogenic diet, they experienced modest improvement in memory, as measured by a standardized test.

Keto-like diet may improve cognition in MCI, early Alzheimer's – Medscape
A ketogenic diet may boost cognition in older adults who have early signs of dementia, preliminary research suggests. Investigators at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine … found that when older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) switched their diet to a low-carbohydrate, high-fat ketogenic diet, they experienced modest improvement in memory, as measured by a standardized test.

The psychedelics evangelist: A German financier wants to turn magic mushrooms into modern medicine – Stat
[With a handful of drugs that are considered “classic” psychedelics], “there’s no dose with observable organ damage or neurotoxicity. That’s pretty freakish,” said Matthew Johnson, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University who studies psychedelics. “You’d be hard-pressed to find anything sold over-the-counter that you could say this about — including caffeine and aspirin.”

June

Schizophrenia caused by protein buildup in the brain, new research says - Medical Daily
The [research's] lead author, Frederick Nucifora Jr., an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Medicine, said that schizophrenia only results in mental and behavioural changes and surprisingly does not cause neuronal cell death, which actually occurs in Alzheimer's disease. He and his team found similarities in the biological changes and interactions, nonetheless.

Brain study reveals type of schizophrenia similar to neurodegenerative disease - New Atlas
Research from Johns Hopkins Medicine has revealed some cases of schizophrenia can be associated with abnormal protein buildup in the brain similar to that seen in cases of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disorders. It's hoped the discovery will lead to better diagnostic strategies identifying specific types of schizophrenia.

Here's what you need to know about the new "female Viagra" drug – Shape
[M]ental health can play a role.... "A primary symptom of depression is the inability to enjoy things you normally enjoy, like sex," said Jennifer Payne, M.D., director of the Women's Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins. "People with depression also have decreased energy, feel badly about themselves and might view their partners through a negative filter, all of which impacts sex drive."

How a trip on magic mushrooms helped decriminalize psychedelic plants in a California city - Los Angeles Times
In October, the FDA granted “breakthrough therapy” status, meant to speed the development of drugs with strong potential, to a company testing psilocybin in people with treatment-resistant depression. Scientists with Johns Hopkins University recently recommended reclassifying it from a Schedule I drug with no known medical benefit to a Schedule IV drug akin to sleeping pills.

Beyond addiction: Medical therapy for addiction may benefit medical adherence - The Rheumatologist
Although medical treatments for addiction have been proved effective, they are not used often enough, said Kenneth Stoller, MD, during a session at the 2019 ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium. These treatments bring health benefits that extend beyond addiction, he said. Dr. Stoller, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, said methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone and other drugs to treat addiction are underused due to long-standing stigmas about drug use….

Recognizing the hidden signs of depression - Medical News Today
Low sex drive: According to Dr. Jennifer Payne, director of the Women's Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, MD, some health professionals consider changes in sex drive a key indicator for diagnosing episodes of major depression.

First pot, then magic mushrooms? Decriminalization is spreading – Bloomberg
In recent years, researchers at New York University found psilocybin caused a “rapid and sustained” reduction in anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer. And psychiatrists at Johns Hopkins University discovered mushrooms can help people quit smoking. Another study found the psychedelic can also help with alcohol dependence.

Tau and amyloid deposition in living former NFL players (study) - Neurology Advisor
Neurology Advisor interviewed Jennifer M. Coughlin MD, associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, for additional insights regarding [chronic traumatic encephalopathy] and the results of the Boston University Research CTE Center study.

Could California become the first state to decriminalize magic mushrooms? - Los Angeles Times
In 2018 Johns Hopkins researchers recommended rescheduling psilocybin from Schedule 1 to Schedule 4 (meaning it would go from the group that contains heroin to the group that contains Xanax), but Decriminalize California wants to take things a step further.

Alabama moves to state-ordered castration - The Atlantic
In psychiatry, there are some accepted uses for androgen-blocking medications. As the Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Fred Berlin has noted, in these cases drugs are used for “diminishing the intensity of the eroticized urges that energize unacceptable para-philic behaviors” — in other words, when a person is concerned about acting on urges they know to be wrong or illegal, and so seeks preventive help. Other people seek help when an all-consuming libido becomes a problem in daily life.

Ocasio-Cortez wants to make it easier to study magic mushrooms, other psychedelic drugs - Fox News
In an analysis published last October in an issue of Neuropharmacology, a medical journal focused on neuroscience, researchers from Johns Hopkins University recommended that psilocybin be reclassified for medical use – arguing its benefits in helping treat PTSD, depression and anxiety and helping people stop smoking.

Could “magic mushrooms” follow in the footsteps of cannabis on the road to legalization? - Well + Good
With decriminalization, it’s likely that more people across the country will become curious about psychedelic mushrooms and want to experiment with them, says Albert Garcia-Romeu, PhD, an instructor and researcher at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who specializes in psychedelics. “My concern is that like most drugs, psilocybin can be abused and carries risk...."

Storing a loaded gun at home raised soldiers’ risk of death by suicide, study finds – CNN
[A]ccess to a gun can be the difference between life and death, said Dr. Paul Nestadt, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University who was not involved in the study. “There is a common misconception out there that if you’re suicidal, you’ll just find a way,” he said. “Or that if you don’t die in your first attempt, you’ll die in another. The evidence does not show that happening.”

Oakland becomes second U.S. city to decriminalize ‘magic mushrooms’ – HuffPost
The federal government classifies psilocybin as a Schedule I drug, which means it’s legally considered to have no medical purpose and a high potential for abuse. That classification has impeded research into psilocybin’s medical uses. But some studies in recent years, including one published last year by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, have found that it can help treat anxiety and depression in cancer patients.

Forgiveness and your health: What science says about the benefits – CNN
"To better understand the process of forgiveness, it might be useful to step back and look at the process of holding on to anger," said Neda Gould, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

When are cookies or brownies not 'food?' When they've got marijuana in them, Maryland regulators say* - Baltimore Sun
“There’s absolutely no reason for any medicine to be in a brownie, a cookie or a lollipop,” said Ryan Vandrey, a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine professor who has studied the effects of edibles for five years at the schools’ Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit. “From a public health perspective, it makes no sense at all.”

The next battle in the War on Drugs will be fought over psychedelics – Quartz
Psychedelics are fast re-entering the mainstream, with prudent visionaries, scientists, and academics like Rick Doblin, founder of the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies, Michael Pollan, author of How to Change Your Mind, and Johns Hopkins researcher Roland Griffiths, among others, leading the way.

'Good luck with that': FDA aims to make sense of medicinal cannabis* - MedPage Today
Ryan Vandrey, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University, noted that not only are THC [tetrahydrocannabinol] and marijuana extracts designated as Schedule I drugs, so is synthetic CBD [cannabidiol].... Vandrey said that while CBD and THC garner the most attention, researchers should also look into the other 80-plus cannabinoids found in cannabis.

Oakland City Council looks to decriminalize 'magic mushrooms' after Denver vote - USA Today
Last year, researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore published a study in the medical journal Neuropharmacology advising that psilocybin be reclassified from a Schedule 1 drug with no known benefits to a Schedule 4 drug, which would put it in the same category as prescription sleeping pills.

CBD in the spotlight (video) - KVOA-TV (Tucson)
The Food and Drug Administration is seeking clarity on the supplement and took a first step Friday toward regulating CBD, hearing from more than 140 people, including doctors, retailers, trade groups and researchers…. “Right now [CBD supplements] are marketed and they are not tested under FDA approved strategies for safety and efficacy. The public opinion is guiding how we’re treating a number of disorders,” said Elise Weerts of Johns Hopkins University.

Psychedelics, long ignored by scientists, seeing resurgence in medical research - San Francisco Chronicle
“I came across the older era of psychedelic research in the late ’90s, when I was in college. I recognized it as this fascinating scientific history for which these threads were left dangling,” said Matthew Johnson, an associate professor in psychiatry and behaviorial sciences at Johns Hopkins University who has studied using psychedelics to change behavior.

May

A patient's guide to schizophrenia - U.S. News & World Report
“[Schizophrenia] is a construct that was developed early in the 20th century to make sense out of a group of patients that were clearly very ill and did not have what we would now call bipolar disorder – then manic depressive illness,” says Dr. Russell L. Margolis, clinical director of the Johns Hopkins Schizophrenia Center and a professor of psychiatry and neurology at Johns Hopkins University. “And yet, there’s no one precise thing that defines it.”

Broccoli sprout compound may help restore brain chemistry imbalance in schizophrenia – PsychCentral
In a series of recently published studies in humans and animals, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have identified certain glutamate-related chemical imbalances in the brains of schizophrenia patients —  and that these imbalances may potentially be reversed using a compound derived from broccoli sprouts, known as sulforaphane.

Oakland could become second US city to decriminalize ‘magic mushrooms’ - San Francisco Chronicle
Research out of Johns Hopkins University has shown that the drug could help people quit smoking. UCSF scientists are studying psilocybin as a possible treatment for long-term AIDS survivors who are feeling general malaise and demoralization. “The data are really impressive. We should be cautiously but enthusiastically pursuing these threads,” said Matthew Johnson, an associate professor in psychiatry and behavior sciences at Johns Hopkins.

My great-grandmother’s struggle with mental illness — and the therapy that saved her life – Vox
To get a better sense of how [electroconvulsive therapy] is applied, I visited a clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore that treats between 10 and 20 patients a day.... While visiting Johns Hopkins, I spoke to Dr. Irving Reti, the director of the brain stimulation program and a professor of psychiatry. He’s a soft-spoken man with a barely noticeable Australian accent who has treated thousands of patients with ECT.

Bipolar disorder a risk factor for Parkinson's? (study) – HealthDay
"I wasn't surprised [by the study's findings], because similar disorders like major depression and anxiety disorder convey a similar increased risk of Parkinson's later in life," said Dr. Gregory Pontone, director of the Parkinson's disease research center at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. "This gives you two reasons to treat bipolar disorder aggressively," he added.

'Everybody feels free here': Baltimore's nightclub for disabled adults fosters love, friendship and inclusion* - Baltimore Sun
Carol Orth, clinical supervisor for Adult Autism and Developmental Disorders Center at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, said broaching the topic of intimate relationships for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities can be tricky…. “It is a very difficult thing because they are in bodies that, chronically, want to and can be sexual, but do not necessarily have the capacity to understand intimacy,” Orth said. “It is a case-by-case basis.”

Can psychedelic experiences cure alcohol addiction? - Psychology Today
[T]here might be hope on the horizon for chronic sufferers of alcohol use disorder. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the Erowid Center explored the effects of psychedelics on heavy alcohol users. Interestingly, they found significant and long-term reductions in alcohol use following psychedelic experiences.

Where Is the grandmother I once knew? When dementia drugs steal patients’ personalities - Being Patient
Paul Rosenberg, M.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, researches depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms in relation to Alzheimer’s disease. He said researchers have been focusing on social interaction as an alternative to drug interventions. However, he thinks funding is limited for researchers who want to focus on lifestyle interventions because drug companies in the U.S. make billions of dollars.

With Denver’s vote on magic mushrooms, will Colorado anchor a psychedelic medicine revolution? - Colorado Sun
Studies measuring psilocybin’s effect on depression — at London’s Imperial College and Johns Hopkins’ Psychedelic Research Unit — show that the mushrooms can reduce symptoms, with the relief from a single treatment lasting more than a month.

The troubled history of psychiatry - New Yorker
Adolf Meyer, a Swiss-born physician who, in 1910, became the first director of the psychiatry clinic at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, advocated an approach he called, variously, “psychobiology” and “common sense” psychiatry — the gathering of data without a guiding dogma.

How the party drug ketamine is helping battle severe depression (video) - NBC 4 (D.C.)
Clinical trials found that ketamine, administered in controlled doses, could help [people] with severe hopeless depression.... "It acts through a different area in the brain than what most typical depressants are acting," said Dr. Erica Richards, the medical director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Sibley Memorial Hospital and who took part in the clinical trials. She calls the treatment a game changer because ketamine is the first depression drug that can work quickly, within hours.

'A grand experiment': how 'shrooms made Denver America's most drug-friendly city - The Guardian
At its peak, the Initiative 301 campaign had 10 staff members and 50 volunteers canvassing Denver to tell people about the “breakthrough therapy” status psilocybin-assisted treatments had received from the US Food and Drug Administration in October 2018. The designation came after studies from Johns Hopkins, UCLA, New York University and other leading medical institutions that showed psychedelic mushrooms can alleviate treatment-resistant depression without the danger of physical dependency or lethal overdose.

Psychedelics' role in beating alcoholism illustrated in LSD, psilocybin study – Inverse
[A]fter the 50-year research hiatus necessitated by [LSD's] illegal status, scientists are once again finding psychedelics like LSD as well as psilocybin to be useful tools in fighting addiction.... Matthew Johnson, Ph.D., an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, tells Inverse that this work is a “thread that was left dangling” from that earlier era of research.

Why losing ability to smell lemons, onions could herald early death (study) -The Guardian (U.K.)
Vidyulata Kamath, Ph.D., and Dr. Bruce Leff, both from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, have written an editorial to accompany the study paper. In it, they outline the growing interest in olfaction as a predictor of disease and mortality. They also explain that scientists will need to carry out much more work before this new knowledge can become part of the healthcare system at large.

The mushrooms are slowly taking effect - The Atlantic
[Denver's decriminalization of psilocybin] could also be a bellwether for the nation, and the world, as people begin to reflect on why psychedelic mushrooms are among the most tightly regulated ingestible substances on the planet, even though researchers at Johns Hopkins have recently found that they pose no risk of creating physical dependence and low risk of abuse and harm.

Denver’s successful effort to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms shows how to end the drug war – Foundation for Economic Education
Wednesday night, the Centennial State made history ... by becoming the first state to have one of its cities vote to decriminalize the use of psilocybin, more commonly known as “magic mushrooms.” ... In 2018, researchers at Johns Hopkins called for the government to remove the substance from its list of Schedule I drugs.

Everything to know about the fight to decriminalize magic mushrooms - The Cut (New York magazine)
In an October 2018 report published in the journal Neuropharmacology, researchers from Johns Hopkins University suggested that psilocybin be reclassified for medical use, as studies have shown that even just one dose of the compound can help patients who suffer from resistant forms of depression.

Fighting schizophrenia with broccoli (video) - CBS News
There is a new study suggesting broccoli could be the key to fighting schizophrenia, that is according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. They say an extract from the broccoli sprout could adjust a chemical imbalance found in the brain that is associated with schizophrenia. The results show that the extract "may someday provide a way to lower the doses of traditional antipsychotic medicines needed to manage schizophrenia symptoms.
Also reported by: NDTV, Philly Voice

Broccoli may help fight off schizophrenia: study - New York Post
Broccoli, for years hailed as a cancer-fighter and a great source of vitamin C, calcium and B vitamins, is now being seen as a safer way to manage schizophrenia. Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say a compound derived from broccoli sprouts can help adjust the chemical imbalances in the brain that have been linked to schizophrenia.

Could “magic mushrooms” follow in the footsteps of cannabis on the road to legalization? - Well + Good
With decriminalization, it’s likely that more people across the country will become curious about psychedelic mushrooms and want to experiment with them, says Albert Garcia-Romeu, PhD, a research associate at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who specializes in psychedelics. “My concern is that like most drugs, psilocybin can be abused and carries risk….”

Denver voters support ‘magic’ mushrooms - New York Times
Dr. Matthew Johnson, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, was one of the authors of a study last year recommending that the Food and Drug Administration reclassify [psilocybin] to acknowledge its potential medical uses and relatively low potential for abuse. Psilocybin is not addictive, and “there’s no direct lethal overdose” of the drug on record, Dr. Johnson said.

Key to treating schizophrenia may be found in broccoli - Daily Mail
The key to treating schizophrenia may be found in broccoli, [Johns Hopkins] research suggests. Scientists found extracts of the vegetable can tweak chemical imbalances in the brains of people with the condition. They used the compound sulforaphane, derived from broccoli sprouts, to restore lower levels of glutamate and glutathione.
Also reported by: Science Daily, News Medical

Denver approves decriminalizing psilocybin mushrooms in unofficial results, as public support for psychedelic drug research grows – Time
[Preliminary study results suggesting the hallucinogen could be used to treat a number of mental health conditions] are compelling enough, and the rates of abuse low enough, that in 2018, researchers from Johns Hopkins wrote a paper arguing that psilocybin should be reclassified from a schedule I drug to a schedule IV drug, as long as it clears clinical trials in the coming years.

Inside the fight to decriminalize magic mushrooms in Denver - Vice News
"What we've found is for the most part people who tend to be opposed initially, once they hear the research — once they hear that Johns Hopkins University and NYU have been conducting studies on psilocybin for almost 20 years now — they come around," Kevin Matthews, the campaign director for the Decriminalize Denver movement, told VICE News before the vote.

Sleep cures: CBD vs. melatonin - Mercury-News (San Jose, Calif.)
“Even sound sleepers have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep once in a while,” says Luis F. Buenaver, Ph.D., a sleep expert at Johns Hopkins, as the Johns Hopkins website noted. “You may want to try melatonin for sleep if you have difficulty for more than a night or two.”

Standing against psychiatry’s crazes - Catholic Citizens
A professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a tenacious skeptic of the crazes that periodically overtake his specialty, Dr. [Paul] McHugh has often served as psychiatry’s most outspoken critic. Either he’s crazy, or all the other psychiatrists are.
Also reported by: Wall Street Journal*

Denver votes on whether to decriminalize ‘magic mushrooms’ - New York Times
Dr. Matthew Johnson, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, was one of the authors of a study last year recommending that the Food and Drug Administration reclassify the drug [psilocybin] to acknowledge its potential medical uses and relatively low potential for abuse. Psilocybin is not addictive, and “there’s no direct lethal overdose” of the drug on record, Dr. Johnson said.
Related news reported by: NPR, CNN

As legal marijuana booms, Denver votes on decriminalizing hallucinogenic mushrooms - Washington Post
[I]n 2006, researchers at Johns Hopkins University studied 36 people who took high doses of psilocybin and were monitored for the next eight hours as they relaxed a couch and listened to classical music. “67 percent of the volunteers,” the Hopkins study found, “rated the experience with psilocybin to be either the single most meaningful experience of his or her life or among the top five most meaningful experiences of his or her life.

Colorado veteran used magic mushrooms to treat PTSD. Now he wants them decriminalized - 9 News (Denver)
Recent research shows psilocybin, or 'magic mushrooms,' may be effective in treating depression, anxiety and other disorders. A recent Johns Hopkins study monitored 51 terminally ill cancer patients with end-of-life fear after they took psilocybin in a clinical setting. Six months after taking the drug, 80-percent maintained decreased depression.

April

Personal encounters with 'God' confer lasting mental health benefits (study)* – Medscape
"These [encounters] are rated as among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant lifetime experiences, with moderate to strong persisting positive changes in life satisfaction, purpose, and meaning attributed to these experiences," lead investigator Roland Griffiths, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, told Medscape Medical News.

Proof of God? 'Encounters with the Almighty' leave people healthier - Express (U.K.)
A survey of more than 4,000 people worldwide who claim to have had some experience meeting the “ultimate reality” or God [shows that the people] tend to be healthier, even decades down the line. The research, carried out by Johns Hopkins University, found that an experience in feeling you have met God can lead to positive changes. Also reported by: Crosswalk, PsychCentral, Earth, Medical News Today

Taking mushrooms for depression cured me of my atheism - The Outline
Despite the overwhelming spiritual consensus within my small Texas town, I knew “God” didn’t exist. Nothing shook this conviction until I participated in a clinical trial at Johns Hopkins University last year in which I was given high doses of psilocybin — the psychedelic compound in “magic mushrooms” — to treat major depressive disorder.

A growing movement wants to loosen laws around psilocybin, treat mushrooms as medicine  - KUNC-FM/NPR (Greeley, Colo.)
The notion that state laws around mushrooms could be loosened up, much like they have been for cannabis, is not without controversy. Matthew Johnson has spent the last 15 years researching psychedelics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and doesn’t believe this type of access is responsible.  “(This therapy) needs to be done by appropriately trained and credentialed medical and psychological professionals,” he said.

One mystical psychedelic trip can trigger lifelong benefits - Psychology Today
[N]ew research by Roland Griffiths and colleagues at Johns Hopkins reaffirms the universal ability of one mystical psychedelic trip or having a profound "God encounter" without drugs to improve life satisfaction and psychological well-being for an indefinite amount of time.

A scientific look at your brain on shrooms - 5280 (Denver's Mile High Magazine)
Possible effects: Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that a shroom-induced mystical experience can soothe some cancer patients’ anxiety, depression, and fear of death.

Rodricks: Mayor Pugh might need an intervention to make the right decision* - Baltimore Sun
[T]he right people have to be involved [in an intervention]. That means people very close to the subject of the intervention or “people with undeniable authority,” says Annette Hanson, a forensic psychiatrist on the faculty at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University.

Atheists found "God" or "Ultimate Reality" after taking psychedelic drugs – Inverse
In [a] paper published Tuesday, psychiatry and neuroscience researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine describe the shifts that those people felt following drug-induced and non-drug-induced encounters with “God,” a “Higher Power,” an “Ultimate Reality,” or an “Aspect or Emissary of God” (an angel).
Also reported by: Newsmax, Study Finds, Independent, Free Press Journal

Hearing voices could just be a sign of stress and NOT schizophrenia: Study finds HALF of patients with the symptom may just have anxiety - Daily Mail (U.K.)
The research was carried out by Johns Hopkins University and led by Dr Russell Margolis, clinical director of the university's Schizophrenia Center. Study author Krista Baker, manager of the adult outpatient schizophrenia services at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said: 'Because we’ve shined a spotlight in recent years on emerging and early signs of psychosis, diagnosis of schizophrenia is like a new fad. 'And it’s a problem especially for those who are not schizophrenia specialists because symptoms can be complex and misleading.’

A drug for autism? Potential treatment for Pitt-Hopkins syndrome offers clues - The Conversation
In this first-person commentary, Daniel R. Weinberger, director of the Lieber Institute for Brain Development and Professor, Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, Neuroscience and The Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, says current approaches to help children with autism are of limited impact, but scientists are beginning to imagine that treatments will soon be based on an understanding of specific causes.

A life in recovery: From getting thrown out of Dunkin' Donuts to becoming a lead barista - Burlington Free Press (Vermont)
“Generally, when you look at people who are in regular community workplaces, there is a relationship between staying abstinent and staying employed,” Kenneth Silverman, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told Journalist's Resource. “But it’s not clear whether employment causes abstinence, or people who are abstinent are also more likely to get employed.”

Study suggests overdiagnosis of schizophrenia – Eurasia Review
In a small study of patients referred to the Johns Hopkins Early Psychosis Intervention Clinic (EPIC), Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report that about half the people referred to the clinic with a schizophrenia diagnosis didn’t actually have schizophrenia.

Patients are commonly misdiagnosed with schizophrenia (study) - MD magazine/HCPLive
The study, from the Johns Hopkins Early Psychosis Intervention Clinic (EPIC), reported that a multitude of factors may influence a physician too readily diagnosing a patient with schizophrenia — not the least of which being a desire to treat the chronic psychiatric condition with speed and efficacy.

What's driving the rise in teen depression? – U.S. News & World Report
As an article in Johns Hopkins Health Review explains, adolescent depression is a relatively new diagnosis. Until the 1980s, mental health professionals were reluctant to diagnose youth with a mood disorder in part because the adolescent brain is still developing and they thought it would not be appropriate to diagnose someone so young with depression.

Under the depression helmet - The Atlantic
The helmet contains magnets that exert energy on the electrical functioning of the brain, a process known as transcranial magnetic stimulation.... Researchers at some academic institutions are taking the technology seriously. Yale has a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Research Clinic, and the service is offered at Johns Hopkins.

Suicide policies in Canada and beyond: What's working and what needs to change - Ottawa Citizen
[M]olecular biologist Zachary Kaminsky’s research hit the news in 2014 after he and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore discovered a chemical alteration in a gene called SKA2 linked to stress reduction. The finding suggested that doctors could identify suicide risk and even prevent suicide through a blood or saliva test. But it’s complicated, said Kaminsky, who is now the DIFD Mach-Gaensslen Chair in Suicide Prevention Research at The Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research.

Drugstore chains turn to CBD sales amid prescription reimbursement pressures – Forbes
Whether CBD products actually provide a benefit to consumers and patients is still an open question, according to health experts. “It is a kind of a new snake oil in the sense that there are a lot of claims and not so much evidence,” Dustin Lee, an assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University told the New York Times in a February story.

'Tripping out at therapy centre to treat depression gave me new moments of joy' - Mirror (U.K.)
[Psychedelic drugs] may be illegal in this country but one study at Imperial College London had shown remarkable changes in the brains of people with depression, while researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the US last year called for psilocybin to be reclassified from a dangerous narcotic to a treatment for depression.

Recovery from opioid addiction: What research says about role of steady employment - Burlington Free Press (Vermont)
Kenneth Silverman, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, is a leading researcher in this … field. Silverman has developed an experimental therapeutic workplace that offers paid employment to poor, unemployed people with opioid dependencies and other substance use disorders — with the understanding that the researchers will be studying them. “We’re studying access to paid work as reinforcer or incentive to abstinence,” Silverman explained.

Give 'shrooms a chance - Anchorage Press
[A] Johns Hopkins group reported that psilocybin decreased both clinician and patient-rated depressed mood, anxiety, and death anxiety. The results showed increased quality of life, sense of connectedness, and optimism. Participants expressed an increased belief that death is not an ending, but rather a transition to something even greater than this life.

When psychedelics make your last months alive worth living – Vice
For more than 15 years, the Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research Unit has been the foremost research team in the US for psychedelic studies. Key among the topics being explored were psilocybin’s effects on addiction, depression in the physically healthy, and the depression and anxiety brought on by a cancer diagnosis.

Are you overdosing on caffeine? - Outside magazine
Anything over 400 milligrams a day can bring about side effects like headaches, insomnia, an upset stomach, and anxiety, according to the Mayo Clinic, and 14 percent of Americans drink that or more regularly. However, there isn’t a hard number that is unhealthy for everyone, says Maggie Sweeney, a researcher at Johns Hopkins.

Background checks for long gun sales would reduce suicides in Md.* - Baltimore Sun
This opinion piece, which states that "approximately 2,500 Marylanders have died due to firearm suicide in the past decade, mostly in rural areas where long guns are the weapon of choice", was written by Dr. Paul Nestadt, a psychiatrist and epidemiologist on faculty at Johns Hopkins and a researcher focusing on suicide and gun violence.

March

Seasonal affective disorder can happen in the spring & here's what you need to know – Bustle
Neda Gould, PhD, director of the Mindfulness Program at Johns Hopkins Medicine and associate director at the Bayview Anxiety Disorders Clinic, tells Bustle that spring SAD is less common than winter SAD, affecting about four to six percent of the U.S. population. Gould says the underlying cause of spring SAD isn’t fully understood and is different for each person....

Celebs love CBD for pain relief — but does it actually help? - Women's Health
"We don't have what we'd want in terms of clinical trials on [CBD's] safety and efficacy for anything beyond treatment of rare seizure disorder. We need more research,” says Ryan Vandrey, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Phone app may help conquer fear of heights - Reuters and numerous subscribers
Experts welcomed the latest virtual reality therapy. “The bottom line is this is fantastic,” said Dr. O. Joseph Bienvenu, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. “It’s great news that a simple smartphone-based app is available as an efficient exposure therapy.”

A new drug for postpartum depression could help everyone - Popular Science
There’s also some genetic overlap, says Jennifer Payne, director of the Women’s Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “Some genes implicated in major depression are also implicated in postpartum. We know, though, that a portion of the risk for postpartum does not overlap.”

Common ADHD medications may cause psychosis, study finds - NBC News
While the study shows that psychosis is a risk for both stimulants [amphetamines and methylphenidates], it does suggest that amphetamines “may be more implicated than methylphenidates,” said Dr. David Goodman, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. A limitation of the study is that the databases used by the researchers don’t have detailed information on how patients were diagnosed, Goodman said.

Mental health problems are on the rise among American teens and young adults - Los Angeles Times
“It is speculative,” said Dr. Ramin Mojtabai, a Johns Hopkins University psychiatrist whose 2016 research established that depression rates among adolescents and young adults rose steeply between 2005 and 2014. “We don’t have an experimental study in which we have a group of young people exposed and another group that are not exposed to social media, or that removed their digital devices from their hands and measured whether they were less depressed.”

Can LSD and magic mushrooms help win wars? This Marine officer says ‘yes’ - Marine Corps Times
Beyond the scientific research evidence emerging from institutions like Johns Hopkins, NYU or Yale, additional proof of LSD’s benefits, [an article in Marine Corps Times] claims, lies in the number of successful minds who have employed the drug for its cognitive rewards.

8 reasons why your depression may not be getting better – PsychCentral
2. The wrong diagnosis. According to the Johns Hopkins Depression & Anxiety Bulletin, the average patient with bipolar disorder takes approximately 10 years to receive the proper diagnosis. TEN YEARS. About 56 percent are first diagnosed incorrectly with major depressive disorder, leading to treatment with antidepressants alone, which can sometimes trigger mania.

FDA approves nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression - Everyday Health
“It is exciting that the FDA has approved esketamine for treatment-resistant depression,” says Atsushi Kamiya, MD, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. “One thing that makes this drug different from currently available antidepressants is how long it takes to begin working,” he says. “Traditional antidepressants can take a few weeks to see an improvement in symptoms, whereas this drug can improve symptoms of depression very quickly.”

Psychedelic mushrooms can help depression, anxiety, addiction (video) - NBC5 (Dallas-Fort Worth)
Psychedelic (psilocybin) mushrooms are proving helpful for depression, anxiety and addiction, according to research being done at Johns Hopkins University. "Psilocybin is what you'd call a classic psychedelic," said Matthew Johnson, Ph.D. "It very strongly alters conscious experience." Dr. Johnson is a leading expert on the effects of psychedelics, and is part of the Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research Unit.

10 things we know (as in, actually have published evidence for) about cannabis and health - WBUR-FM (Boston)
“Ten years ago, when you referred to cannabis, you were talking about dried plant material that people smoked,” says Ryan Vandrey, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.... “Now, cannabis — which refers to marijuana and hemp — is a blanket term that could also mean hemp oil, topical creams, CBD products, high-THC concentrates that are smoked, vaporized, or orally ingested and more.” 

What it’s like to smoke salvia for science - Motherboard (Vice)
“This is the first step off the cliff into the void,” Fred Barrett, a cognitive neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University and the lead researcher on the salvia trial, told me. “This will essentially be setting the roadmap of where future [salvia] research will take us.”

February

Experts say legal weed calls for a ‘paradigm shift’ on how we think about impairment — and drugged driving -  Hartford Courant
[The app] DRUID ... uses four quick tests to measure cognitive impairment. It’s being tested by police in Massachusetts, and used in marijuana research at Johns Hopkins, Yale, University of Colorado, Boulder and Washington State University. Its developer recently learned the federal government intends to fund DRUID with $1.7 million, half going to his subcontractor, Johns Hopkins psychiatry professor Ryan Vandrey.

How to help a loved one with chronic pain - U.S. News & World Report
Rachel Noble is a licensed therapist who specializes in helping people struggling with chronic pain and chronic medical concerns. Noble, who practices in the District of Columbia area, sees firsthand how chronic pain affects family dynamics. She sometimes refers people to the intensive Johns Hopkins Medicine inpatient program for chronic pain.

Does changing medication affect your dreams? Experts explain why you might see some changes – Bustle
Dr. David Neubauer, associate professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, tells Bustle that vivid dreams and nightmares are a common side effect when people are taking antidepressants, but there's little authoritative research on exactly why that is. "These medications tend to decrease the threshold for awakenings, so people are more aware of dreaming," Dr. Neubauer says.

Denver could soon become the first US city to decriminalize ‘magic’ mushrooms – Insider
In one 2016 study, researchers at Johns Hopkins University gave 29 cancer patients magic mushrooms in combination with psychotherapy sessions to help with depression and anxiety they reported as a result of their diagnoses. The patients who received psilocybin reported immediate reductions in anxiety and depression.

CBD Is everywhere, but scientists still don’t know much about it - New York Times
“It is a kind of a new snake oil in the sense that there are a lot of claims and not so much evidence,” said Dustin Lee, an assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University who is planning a human trial of CBD for use in quitting smoking.

Study bolsters link between prenatal nicotine exposure and ADHD – Reuters
“This is a valuable paper and I think it will contribute to the literature in this field, first of all, by showing with a biological measure of serum cotinine levels as opposed to self-reports to measure nicotine exposure prenatally,” said Dr. Christopher Hammond, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore who wasn’t involved in the study.

Maryland’s end-of-life bill is about one thing: Killing - Washington Post
Dr. Paul McHugh of Johns Hopkins Hospital is quoted in this opinion piece that argues against physician-assisted suicide. “Once doctors agree to assist a person’s suicide, ultimately they find it difficult to reject anyone who seeks their services...." McHugh says.

Can you react badly to melatonin? These 4 signs show your body might not get along with the sleep aid – Bustle
"If melatonin for sleep isn’t helping after a week or two, stop using it," Johns Hopkins sleep expert Luis F. Buenaver, Ph.D., C.B.S.M. said. "And if your sleep problems continue, talk with your health care provider." In addition, "Your body produces melatonin naturally. It doesn’t make you sleep, but as melatonin levels rise in the evening it puts you into a state of quiet wakefulness that helps promote sleep," Dr. Buenaver explained.

7 signs you have a caffeine hangover – Bustle
"Many people consume caffeine without negative consequences, but for some individuals, either regularly consuming too much caffeine or consuming too much at once can cause distress," Mary M. Sweeney, an instructor who researches caffeine's effects on individuals in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told CNN.

Novel Perioperative Pain Program Offers Multimodal Analgesia and Continuity of Care* – Pain Medicine News
“These are just preliminary data, but based on the current literature, we’re very excited about this clinic,” said Traci Jenelle Speed, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore. “We are providing continuity of care where we can continue to educate patients and minimize excessive opioid prescription and utilization that are occurring in the postoperative phase. We’re also helping patients improve physical functioning after surgery.”

40 sites across the country to test new Alzheimer's drug – Forbes
The T2 Protect AD study is newly opened at more than 30 sites across the country, including Yale University School of Medicine ... and University of Miami. More sites will open within the next few weeks, including Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer's Center; Columbia University; Johns Hopkins University; and University of Southern California.

Psychedelic mushrooms just put Denver at the center of the national drug debate — again - Denver Post
New research from Johns Hopkins University has shown that ... experiences [with psilocybin] can help people make permanent life changes — at least when used in a controlled, therapeutic setting. Researchers also have found that the drug can bring on terrifying and disturbing experiences, though.

Dissociative identity: Disorder or literalized metaphor? - Psychology Today
Paul R. McHugh, M.D., Distinguished University Professor of Psychiatry and former psychiatrist-in-chief, Johns Hopkins Hospital, is among several experts weighing in on the debate over what formerly was called multiple personality disorder.

Denver should legalize magic mushrooms - National Review
Another study suggests that mushrooms are also helpful for the mental health of those who are suffering with life-threatening illnesses. In 2016, a Johns Hopkins study reported that cancer patients who had received psilocybin experienced an average 78 percent reduction in depression and an 83 percent reduction in anxiety.

Lithium for bipolar maintenance 'safe, tolerable' in kids* (study) – Medscape
From the new study's results, clinicians have "a pretty decent signal" that after the danger of an acute episode has passed, lithium can effectively reduce the risk that children will experience relapse, lead author Robert Findling, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, told Medscape Medical News.

How technology is highlighting the role of inflammation in depression and MS (study) –TechRepublic
Adam Kaplin, MD, Ph.D., at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, talks about how depression is a common occurrence in multiple sclerosis patients and how technology is helping patients better relay data about their mood to their physicians.

Edible marijuana worries doctors after man suffers heart attack - NBC News
[Ryan] Vandrey, a psychiatry researcher at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, was especially disturbed by the high dose of THC in the lollipop [that the man ate]. "Part of my frustration with products like this is that nobody is going to take just a couple of licks and then put it away," he said. "There should be no circumstance where you get a product and you're not supposed to consume the whole thing and it's not clear when you're supposed to stop."

Teen pot smoking raises risk of depression in adulthood, study finds - NBC News
While not surprised by the new results, cannabis researcher Ryan Vandrey isn’t ready to say that cannabis in the teen years causes depression in young adulthood. “We already know that adolescents who use cannabis, particularly the ones who initiate use at a younger age, tend to have other issues,” said Vandrey, an associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “But this highlights the importance of recognizing that adolescents who do initiate cannabis use are individuals who may need attention and additional care when it comes to mental health.”

Three women's health forums coming up in Naples - Naples News (Florida)
The second event is “A Woman’s Journey,” sponsored by Johns Hopkins Medicine, on Friday, Feb. 22, at the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.... [It] will feature three speakers on the topics of lung cancer [Dr. Josephine Feliciano], heart disease [Dr. Erin Michos] and suicide [Dr. Karen Swartz].

Dasotraline improves ADHD symptoms in children aged 6 to 12 years – Healio
Treatment with daily dasotraline 4 mg significantly improved ADHD symptoms and behaviors in children aged 6 to 12 years, according to a 6- week, placebo-controlled study. “Approximately one-third of patients treated with stimulant medication do not respond adequately and/or experience safety or tolerability issues,” Robert L. Findling, MD, MBA, of the Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University, and colleagues wrote. “Therefore, there is a clear need for additional classes of treatments for ADHD.”

Republican Iowa lawmaker proposes decriminalizing psychedelics for medicinal use – Newsweek
Research has shown that mushrooms can ameliorate depression and anxiety in cancer patients. Last year, researchers from Johns Hopkins University recommended the reclassification of psilocybin to allow it to be used medically. "We want to initiate the conversation now as to how to classify psilocybin to facilitate its path to the clinic and minimize logistical hurdles in the future," Matthew W. Johnson, a professor from the university, said.

Mushrooms as medicine? Psychedelics may be next breakthrough treatment – Healthline
In a small pilot study from Johns Hopkins University, researchers found that psilocybin therapy significantly improved abstaining from smoking over a 12-month follow-up period. Matthew Johnson, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, led that study. According to him, psilocybin also has potential to treat other substance use disorders, including alcohol and cocaine addiction.

Rise in the number of suicide deaths -- despite a huge drop in the global rate - Daily Mail (U.K.)
‘Suicide rates are going down but we're not winning the war on suicide,’ Dr Paul Nestadt, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told DailyMail.com. He says that attempts to curb deaths have only worked in some parts of the world -- like the UK and Sri Lanka -- but not in nations like Russia and the US. 

Online psychotherapy for the elderly* - Wall Street Journal
Dr. [Deirdre] Johnston, a geriatric psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins Medicine, has been studying the use of telehealth visits as part of a program she helped designed to support family members who care for dementia patients at home. She says video visits ... could accomplish many of the same things as an in-person clinical visit — but with “much less upheaval for the patient and caregiver.”

January

Arizona House may vote on expelling embattled lawmaker - 12 News (Phoenix)
A Democratic Arizona lawmaker asked the state House of Representatives Monday to expel Republican Rep. David Stringer after a newspaper reported that he was charged with sex offenses in 1983 in a case that was later expunged.... The records indicate he was ordered to perform 208 hours of community service and "to seek admission to Dr. Berlin's program at Hopkins." Dr. Frederick Berlin founded the Sexual Disorders Clinic at Johns Hopkins University medical school.

Scientists rethink psychedelics as attitudes change toward formerly illicit drugs - Forbes
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University recently suggested that the FDA’s classification for psilocybin — the psychoactive compound that occurs naturally in hallucinogenic or magic mushrooms — be changed from a Schedule I drug, which has no known medical benefit, to a Schedule IV drug, which is similar to conventional prescription drugs. 

Military ‘transgender ban’ disregards science, humanity* - Baltimore Sun
This opinion piece was written by Kate Thomas, co-director of clinical services at The Sex and Gender Clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Contributing to it were Dr. Fred Berlin, director; Chris Kraft, co-director of clinical services; Dr. Chester Schmidt, medical director; and Dr. Matt Taylor, medical director.

Shortening the path to diagnosis - Scientist Live
In cooperation with specialist clinics such as the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore (USA) and committed parents, the researchers from Graz [Austria] collected and analysed data sets of 42 FXS [fragile X syndrome] children.

Do more for football players with head trauma - New York Times
This letter to the editor, which states that “it’s not enough to simply not tune in to the [football] games; we must do more for the athletes and their families living with this insidious brain disorder,” was written by Daniel R. Weinberger, director and chief executive of the Lieber Institute for Brain Development and a professor of psychiatry, neurology, neuroscience and genetics at Johns Hopkins University.

New app may improve ability to focus (study) - Reuters
The new study is “promising,” said Dr. Joseph McGuire, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. “The concept of gamifying therapy is really useful, especially in kids who play games all the time. It’s a great way to incorporate therapeutic skills in a fun manner.”

Students, colleges grapple with mental illness, Caltech speaker says - San Gabriel Valley Tribune (California)
“There’s a serious problem with mental illness and suicide (among) high school and college students and it’s getting worse.” That was the message from Kay Redfield Jamison, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center, who spoke Tuesday at Caltech to about 75 students and professionals. She came armed with troubling statistics.

Vaping marijuana is technically safer than smoking it, but one caveat could make the habit dangerous for your health - Insider
A 2018 study from Johns Hopkins Medicine, for example, found that infrequent cannabis users may get higher from vaping weed than from smoking it. "What our study suggests is that some people who use cannabis infrequently need to be careful about how much cannabis they use with a vaporizer, and they should not drive, even within several hours after use," Ryan Vandrey, the study's lead author, said in a press release.

Hopkins researchers to study whether financial rewards, video monitoring can help opioid addiction treatment* - Baltimore Sun
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have been awarded $2.1 million by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study whether paying patients to take their medicine and tracking their doses with video software can help patients stick with their treatment for opioid addiction. Also reported by: Baltimore Business Journal*, Healio

A Melbourne hospital will trial magic mushroom therapy for dying patients - Vice
A medical trial will use magic mushrooms to treat end-of-life anxiety at Melbourne [Australia’s] St Vincent’s Hospital this year.... Similar experiments in the United States regarding the efficacy of mushrooms in a palliative care context have yielded promising results. Studies at New York University and Johns Hopkins University found that terminally ill subjects who were exposed to a dose of psilocybin showed a significant and enduring reduction in anxiety, depression, and existential distress.

Fun with anxiety: Why I’m considering becoming a scofflaw - Portland Mercury (Oregon)
I’ve been researching psychedelic mushrooms as a treatment for anxiety. According to the New York Times, researchers from Johns Hopkins have recently suggested psilocybin (the magic in “magic mushrooms”) be re-classified as a Schedule IV drug so it might be used to treat anxiety after multiple successful trials with anxious cancer patients.

Does glandular fever lead to schizophrenia? Study reveals a link between the common virus and the mental disorder - Daily Mail (U.K.)
Having glandular fever as a teenager could increase your risk of schizophrenia in later life, a study has revealed. The common virus, spread by kissing, was linked to the mental disorder by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. People with schizophrenia were more than twice as likely to have increased levels of glandular fever-type antibodies, the research found.

Early capillary damage may predict dementia* - MedPage Today
"[The] brain regions [affected] show the earliest pathology in Alzheimer's disease and are associated with memory deficits," observed Gwenn Smith, PhD, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, who was not part of the research. "These promising results support further investigation of [cerebrospinal fluid] and MRI measures of blood-brain barrier breakdown as an early pathological event associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease," she told MedPage Today.

Have researchers found a new risk factor for schizophrenia? - Medical News Today
Schizophrenia, a condition characterized by a confused perception of reality, delusions, and altered behavior, affects more than 21 million people globally. In a new study, specialists from Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, MD, and the Sheppard Pratt Health System in Townson, MD, found evidence that links schizophrenia with the Epstein-Barr virus.

How can marriage be good for mental health? - U.S. News & World Report
“There is a considerable body of evidence that having meaningful, close social relationships throughout adulthood, including through later life, is related to better physical health, including lower risk for cardiovascular disease and for overall mortality,” says Dr. Susan W. Lehmann, clinical director of the division of geriatric psychiatry and neuropsychiatry and director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Day Hospital at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Millennials' odds for depression rise with social media use (study) - HealthDay
[B]ecause this was an observational study, the researchers can't say in what direction the association between depression and social media works, noted Joseph McGuire, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore. He was not involved with the study. "Is it that people who tend to be on social media more then start to feel depressed, or is it that the people who are more depressed are more withdrawn and this is their only social contact?" McGuire asked.

Why rest is the secret to entrepreneurial success entrepreneur - Entrepreneur
According to Joseph Bienvenu, a psychiatrist and director of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital, busyness has become a widespread health issue:  “Emotional distress due to overbusyness manifests as difficulty focusing and concentrating, impatience and irritability, trouble getting adequate sleep, and mental and physical fatigue.”

The extraordinary therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs, explained - Vox
At institutions like Johns Hopkins University and New York University, clinical trials exploring psilocybin as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression, drug addiction, and other anxiety disorders are yielding hopeful results.

How psilocybin — A.K.A. shrooms — could become the next legalized drug - Esquire
[L]ast year, researchers from Johns Hopkins University made headlines when they recommended that the FDA reclassify psilocybin as a Schedule IV drug, alongside drugs like Xanax and Tramadol that have a low risk for abuse. The researchers also said that psilocybin could have therapeutic benefits, which we'll only discover if more research is conducted.

How is melatonin different from CBD for sleep? If you need help sleeping, a supplement can be a short-term fix - Bustle
“You can try a supplement on a short-term basis if you’re experiencing insomnia, want to overcome jet lag, or are a night owl who needs to get to bed earlier and wake up earlier, such as for work or school,” said sleep expert Luis F. Buenaver, Ph.D., C.B.S.M., in an article for Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Magic mushroom decriminalization could be voted on in Denver - U.S. News & World Report
Proponents of the measure say psilocybin mushrooms are safe and non-addictive and can help combat opioid abuse. Last fall, researchers at Johns Hopkins University published a study recommending that psilocybin be reclassified as a Schedule IV drug, noting research that suggests psilocybin is non-addictive and is one of the least harmful drugs.

Do you need to give up coffee if you have anxiety? - Men’s Health
Although you can develop some tolerance for caffeine (depending on the dose, frequency, and your elimination rate), you're never completely tolerant. So caffeine can contribute to anxiety symptoms some days even if you start every morning by heating up your Keurig, says Mary Margaret Sweeney, Ph.D., instructor at the Johns Hopkins Medicine Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit.

What one man learned when he treated his autism symptoms with shrooms - Vice
[W]hile MDMA and psilocybin are different drugs, there's a large overlap when they're used for therapy, according to Albert Garcia-Romeu, a research associate at Johns Hopkins University who led a study giving psilocybin therapy to smokers — and found that 80 percent had quit six months after the trial ended.

2018

December

The Big Trip: How psychedelic drugs are changing lives and transforming psychiatry - CBC (Canada)
[I]n 2012, [Alice O'Donnell] enrolled in a Johns Hopkins University study using psilocybin as a tool for smoking cessation. The drug induced powerful hallucinations, including a disturbing vision of her own damaged lungs. Alice never smoked again, but she says the drugs had other benefits as well: "Just the whole expansion of my thought processes…." she said. Researcher Matthew Johnson, who helped facilitate Alice's psychedelic therapy, likened the experience to a "crash course in meditation." Also reported by: Eastern Ontario Network TV

Opioids kill kids too – through accidental overdose, suicide and homicide (study) - USA Today and subscribers
Dr. Marc Fishman is an addiction psychiatrist and professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who treats teens and young adults with opioid use disorder. He says the [study] results are alarming because deaths to children and teens are increasing the same way as they are for adults – they start with pills, turn to heroin and die from the synthetic opiod painkiller fentanyl. Young people also seek treatment far less often that adults, Fishman says, which makes it harder to track youth opioid use.

Legal weed is everywhere — unless you’re a scientist - Politico
[I]t’s not easy for medical researchers to access even [the marijuana grown on a U.S.-sanctioned pot farm].... [M]eeting the DEA laboratory requirements is costly and gaining approvals for new studies — including for researchers who have previously been verified — can take up to a year, Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Ryan Vandrey wrote in a letter to senators calling for change.

New study warns that vaporising dagga may cause more intoxication - Health24
"It's often a fine line between someone getting the drug effect they desire and having a drug effect that's too strong, and maybe produces paranoia and adverse effects that are uncomfortable for the person," said lead researcher Tory Spindle. "That sort of thing might be more likely with vaporisers," he added. Spindle is a postdoctoral research fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore.

Baltimore ranks city's hospitals for best practices in opioid addiction treatment – Baltimore Sun
Baltimore leaders ranked the city’s 11 hospitals this week for best practices in responding to the opioid crisis. The hospitals were ranked from level one, for the highest standard of care, to three. Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center were both ranked level two.

Study shows tai chi and dance benefit the brain in older adults - Everyday Health
A new meta-analysis [has] found that older adults who participate in mind-body exercises can actually show improvements in several important aspects of brain function, such as memory, verbal fluency, and learning. These findings are not surprising considering that we already know that mental activities and physical activities are good for the brain, says Neda Gould, PhD, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, who was not involved in this research.

Cannabis for Christmas? In Minnesota, CBD products are hot this holiday - Minneapolis Star Tribune
Much of the scientific research [on cannabis' medicinal value] is in its early stages, but many are clearly already embracing the promise of CBD. The Colorado-based nonprofit Realm of Caring ... is working to create a research registry, partnering with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to collect information from tens of thousands of people using [CBD] as a therapy for autism, cerebral palsy and other disorders.

How marijuana can harm teenage brains, and what may be done to prevent the damage - New Atlas
In a compelling new study, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have established a fascinating hypothesis attempting to explain how marijuana use in some teenagers can result in cognitive impairment in adulthood. The research also suggests anti-inflammatory therapies may be able to prevent the marijuana-induced brain damage.

Understanding addiction: Researchers look at solving opioid crisis (video) - WMAR-TV
Researchers ... are fighting back against the opioid crisis, not in court but on campus. At Johns Hopkins Medicine, Dr. Kelly Dunn is leading research that asks the question, what if you could predict addiction?

Teen marijuana use may trigger inflammation linked to schizophrenia and mental illness later in life, mouse study suggests - Daily Mail
The link between marijuana and schizophrenia has been studied often, and seems hard to deny though how one affects the other is a muddier question. But scientists at Johns Hopkins University believe that they have uncovered how marijuana can be the trigger for schizophrenia in teens that are already genetically predisposed to the disorder.

Mental illness doesn't mean mass murder* - MedPage Today
Paul S. Nestadt, MD, an assistant professor, and Elizabeth Prince, DO, an instructor, both of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in Baltimore are among the writers of this opinion piece.

Maintenance lithium treatment shows potential for pediatric bipolar disorder - Psychiatric Annals
Lithium demonstrated tolerability and safety as a maintenance treatment in pediatric patients with bipolar disorder for 28 weeks, study findings showed. “There are limited prospective long-term pharmacological treatment data for bipolar disorder in children and adolescents. Previous prospective data in the pediatric age group have generally been restricted to combination pharmacotherapy studies,” Robert L. Findling, MD, MBA, of Johns Hopkins University, and colleagues wrote.

Childhood antibiotics could raise risk of mental illness, study finds - Gizmodo
A common hypothesis ... is that [childhood] infections may cause chronic inflammation or other bodily side-effects that directly damage the brain. But study author Robert Yolken, a neurovirologist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and his team decided to explore a different possible explanation for why infections are linked to mental illness.

11 side effects of antipsychotics you should know about - Self
“The crucial thing is that anyone taking an antipsychotic, even at a relatively low dose, needs to be aware that there are side effects and needs to be working with a physician who they feel comfortable in contacting, should something come up,” Russell Margolis, M.D., clinical director of the Johns Hopkins Schizophrenia Center, tells SELF.

Magic mushrooms are inching closer to decriminalization in Denver and Oregon - Vice
[T]he Denver and Oregon groups trying to decriminalize psilocybin point to research from New York University’s Langone Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University, for example, that shows the drug can help cancer patients dealing with depression and anxiety. Researchers at Johns Hopkins also recently found that the hallucinogen has a low potential for abuse.

Study: Vaping pot makes for a more intense high - Newser
Hey … you want to get high? If so, you may want to consider vaping your weed, rather than smoking it. According to a study published in JAMA Network Open, the former results in “significantly greater drug effects, cognitive and psychomotor impairment, and higher blood THC concentrations” than the latter. And just how did the researchers with Johns Hopkins Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit make this determination?

Psilocybin for the masses: Oregon considering legalizing mushrooms - Rolling Stone
Currently, psychedelic mushrooms, which contain the active compound psilocybin, are classified as a Schedule I drug by the FDA, the same category as heroin and cocaine. ... Earlier this year, researchers at Johns Hopkins recommended that it be reclassified as Schedule IV, the same category as Xanax. Reclassification, however, could take up to five years.

Some people relive psychedelic trips years later - Vice
Matthew Johnson, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, [estimates] that “one in many thousands of users” have flashbacks that interfere with their lives.... “Many users report some brief visual abnormalities occurring after acute hallucinogen effects, but only for a small minority of users are these effects troubling or impairing enough to be considered clinically significant or warrant the diagnosis of [hallucinogen persisting perception disorder],” Johnson explains.

How to recognize and treat seasonal affective disorder (SAD) - The Fix
Although many people joke that they feel like hibernating during the winter, people who actually have seasonal affective disorder experience depressive symptoms that are severe enough to interfere with day-to-day life, just like the symptoms experienced by people with major depression. “Diagnosis of SAD lies on the spectrum of depression,” said Dr. Neeraj Gandotra, a psychiatrist who is on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine…. “It’s a form of depression.”

Oregon is closer than ever to becoming the first state to legalize magic mushrooms - Business Insider
Earlier this year, researchers at Johns Hopkins University said psilocybin should not be classified as a Schedule I drug, a category for substances with no known medical benefit. In an article from the October issue of the medical journal Neuropharmacology, the researchers wrote that psilocybin should instead be labeled a Schedule IV drug, a category that includes prescription sleeping pills.

‘I don’t feel like I’m doing something wrong’: Yuppies have discovered pot — and they like it - Washington Post
“If you can walk down to a nice retail storefront, and you’ve got really clever marketing and packaging .?.?. there’s some allure to that,” says Ryan Vandrey, a cannabis expert in the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

November

Vaping pot is more powerful than smoking it, study finds - NBC News and numerous subscribers
It’s important to understand the impact of vaping as more and more states legalize cannabis and the drug becomes more easily accessible, said the study’s lead author, Tory Spindle, a postdoctoral research fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “ “People] should be aware that vaping will produce stronger effects [than smoking].”
Also reported by: HealthDay and numerous subscribers, Live Science, Inverse

Unpleasant surprises with blood pressure drug for PTSD* (study) - Medscape
Reached for comment, Matthew Johnson, PhD, of the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, said the results are "noteworthy" and "concerning for the use of the drug in PTSD patients.

Vaping cannabis gets people higher than smoking it, study shows - Newsweek
Vaping cannabis makes users feel higher than smoking the drug, according to … research carried out at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine [that] involved 17 adults who rarely used marijuana. When participants inhaled vaporized cannabis at 25mg strength, they experienced “stronger effects” and had higher concentrations of THC in their blood when compared with those who smoked the same dose.

8 meditations to help you destress during the holidays - Bustle
If the thoughts in your head sound like an angry mob trying to get through security at the airport, mindfulness meditation can help your brain calm down. Neda Gould, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and director of the Johns Hopkins Mindfulness Program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, shared on the school's website how mindfulness can be beneficial for the overactive brain.

ICU stay can lead to depression (study) - Reuters
The new findings were somewhat of a surprise for Dr. Joe Bienvenu, an associate professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “We knew that symptoms of depression were associated with a worse quality of life after a critical illness,” Bienvenu said. “But this shows that they are also associated with mortality. I was struck by the fact that they were 47 percent more likely to die.”

'Ego death' is the trip competitive psychedelic users are chasing - Vice
Psychedelics have a long therapeutic history, and are currently being studied at Imperial College London, Johns Hopkins University and NYU, while – combined with professional support – they've been shown to help alleviate depression, addiction and anxiety in the terminally ill.

Johns Hopkins saves millions, improves outcomes with its J-CHiP care coordination program - Fierce Healthcare
Johns Hopkins launched a care coordination program that boosted outcomes and saved millions in care costs for some of Baltimore’s most vulnerable patients. The Johns Hopkins Community Health Partnership (J-CHiP) is a care coordination program with two central elements: a set of acute care interventions ... and a community-based care management piece based primarily in ambulatory care settings....

Everything to know about brain stimulation therapies for mental health - Self
“[Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation] is very well-tolerated, and there are no cognitive side-effects such as memory loss associated with it,” Irving Michael Reti, M.B.B.S., M.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at The Johns Hopkins University and director of the Brain Stimulation Program at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, tells SELF.

Stories from The Stoop: Graham Redgrave – WYPR
Here's a Stoop Story from Dr. Graham Redgrave, an expert in treating eating disorders.

Psilocybin trials for depression treatment get greenlight from FDA - The Fix
“FDA Breakthrough status is a big deal,” Matthew Johnson, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, told Inverse. “It implies that the FDA recognizes the treatment is potentially one with a large impact on a largely under-treated condition.”

Are party drugs the next medicine? (video) - Dr. Oz Show
Matthew Johnson, Ph.D., a leading specialist doing scientific studies on psychedelic drugs at Johns Hopkins, explains his research on hallucinogenic drugs and how they are affecting patients, for example, with severe depression. "This is cutting-edge medicine," says Johnson. "I really view it as a new paradigm in psychiatry and in medicine -- medication-facilitated psychotherapy."

Mounting evidence links sleep disturbance to Alzheimer's disease - Forbes

According to a new study, older adults who felt sleepy during the day when they wanted to be awake were almost three times more likely to have deposits of beta-amyloid — the protein that clumps in the brain as part of Alzheimer’s pathology. The research team was led by Dr. Adam Spira of Johns Hopkins University….

October

FDA "breakthrough" ruling on magic mushrooms, explained by scientists - Inverse
Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, heads the lab that conducted the first contemporary FDA-approved clinical trial on psilocybin in 2000. He’s encouraged by the news. “This is a significant positive development in the potential future regulatory approval of psilocybin, a classic psychedelic drug, for medicinal purposes,” Griffiths tells Inverse.

A woman’s journey to health (audio) - WYPR-FM
Next month, Johns Hopkins physicians will present research on a range of topics about women’s health. Two doctors join us for a preview. Nephrologist Deidra Crews describes the disproportionate impact of kidney disease on women of color, the challenge of detecting an illness that often presents no symptoms in early stages, and her research on how diet helps. Constantine Lyketsos, who heads Hopkins’ ‘Memory and Alzheimer’s Treatment Center,’ shares strategies to preserve brain health.

Here comes the legal case for medicinal psychedelics - Vice
“I’m prepared to stay legal, to completely respect the law,” [Bruce Tobin, a Canadian psychotherapist and psilocybin advocate] said. “We have chosen to emulate the research at Johns Hopkins as closely as we possibly can because they are the leaders in the science….”

Teen-reported heroin, prescription use drops, but experts urge more drug-use treatment - Cincinnati Enquirer
Marc Fishman, medical director of Maryland Treatment Centers, which treats adolescents and young adults with addiction, and an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University Department of Psychiatry, said treatment needs to cover all kinds of drug use.... "We need more treatment," Fishman said. “Treatment of cocaine-use disorder. Treatment of alcohol-use disorder. Treatment of marijuana-use disorder.”

Link identified between cured meat and mania in bipolar disorder - Psychiatry Advisor
A recent study found a strong and independent link between current mania and a history of eating nitrated dry cured meat such as beef jerky. Psychiatry Advisor interviewed study author Seva G. Khambadkone, an MD-PhD candidate and researcher at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.

Acid test – Are hallucinogenics finally shaking off their taboo? - Irish Medical Times
By late 1960s psychedelics were made illegal, regarded as Schedule 1 drugs with no medical or therapeutic benefit. It more or less stayed that way until the 2000s when Roland Griffiths, professor of psychiatry, and his team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore published a paper in 2006 in the journal Psychopharmacology with the words “mystical,” “spiritual” and “psilocybin” in the title and later in 2016 a paper looking at depression and anxiety in patients who received a life-threatening cancer diagnosis.

Nonopioid approaches to pain: The hunt is on*  – Medscape News
Traci Speed, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, told Medscape Medical News that "the more classic medicines," such as the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ibuprofen and naproxen, can also offer benefit.
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Symptoms of mental illness in seniors you shouldn’t ignore - CBS12-TV (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
Dr. Susan W. Lehmann, who is the clinical director of the division of geriatric psychiatry and neuropsychiatry and director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Day Hospital at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told the U.S. News & World Report that “adults over age 65 are much less likely to be asked by their primary care physician if they felt tense or anxious and were much less likely to be referred by their primary care physician for mental health specialty care.”

'SNL' star Pete Davidson says 'there's no shame in the medicine game' - NBC News
Some patients may worry that treating the disorder might crimp their creativity. But “most people, in the few studies that have been done, are as productive if not more productive once they’ve gotten treatment,” Kay Redfield Jamison, a professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and author of “Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament,” told NBC News in an earlier interview.

Depression: Common but undertreated in people with MS, expert says - Everyday Health
Treating and managing depression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) is as important as treating and managing other symptoms of this central nervous system disease, such as weakness and numbness, says Adam Kaplin, MD, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences in the departments of psychiatry and neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Kaplin is one of only a few neuropsychiatrists specializing in MS.

“Magic Mushrooms” may be an FDA-approved drug for anxiety and depression in the near future - Vogue
Cannabis — at the gym, in your morning smoothie and your lip balm — is becoming more mainstream by the day. So naturally, many wonder: What’s next? According to researchers at Johns Hopkins, it’s psilocybin, also known as the hallucinogen found in “magic mushrooms.”

10 physical symptoms of anxiety, because it’s not all mental - Self
When people talk about anxiety, they often focus on its mental and emotional effects. That makes perfect sense, as the overwhelming worry and fear that characterize anxiety can be debilitating. But many anxiety disorders can come with … physical symptoms, too. “When a person experiences anxiety, it’s essentially the fight-or-flight system kicking in and saying, ‘Danger!’” Neda Gould, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and associate director of the Johns Hopkins Bayview Anxiety Disorders Clinic, tells SELF.

Why I often trust common sense over data (commentary) - Psychology Today
[I]f I had an illness for which [marijuana] might be a drug of choice, I’d try it. And, if I had late-stage terminal disease, I’d probably try LSD or psilocybin mushrooms because recent studies, including from Johns Hopkins, report major improvements in state of mind. Since I’d be dying soon anyway, I’d have little to lose by trying it.

Opioid bill expands treatment options - Huffington Post
In another change to longstanding federal policy, the new opioid package would for the first time allow Medicare to cover methadone, one of three medications considered the gold standard for addiction treatment.... In Maryland, Kenneth Stoller, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, called the provision “a tremendous step forward.”

Stop blaming physicians for suicide spike - MedPage Today
Paul S. Nestadt, MD, an assistant professor, and Elizabeth Prince, DO, an instructor in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, are among the writers of this opinion piece, which calls suicide a public health issue that is much larger than the doctor-patient relationship.

Most older breast cancer patients do not suffer mental decline after chemo (study) - Reuters
“This is an important study,” said Tracy Vannorsdall, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine [who was not involved in the study] “We know breast cancer occurs more frequently in older women. But there are far fewer studies in older women showing how diseases and treatments affect them. There’s been a need for this kind of study.”

Dr. Peter J. Fagan, former director of research and development at Johns Hopkins Health Plans, dies* - Baltimore Sun
Dr. Peter J. Fagan, a former priest and a clinical psychologist who had been director of the Sexual Behaviors Consultation Unit at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, died Saturday from multiple myeloma at his Fulton residence. He was 77.
*Login required

Psychedelic mushrooms are closer to medicinal use (it’s not just your imagination) - New York Times
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have recommended that psilocybin, the active compound in hallucinogenic mushrooms, be reclassified for medical use, potentially paving the way for the psychedelic drug to one day treat depression and anxiety and help people stop smoking.

Why doctors want to reclassify psilocybin, the drug that puts the 'magic' in mushrooms - Fortune
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University hope to eventually reclassify psilocybin from a schedule I to schedule IV drug, according to a news release from the research institution. Psilocybin is the psychedelic drug that puts the “magic” in mushrooms. The hallucinogenic drug has been shown to offer therapeutics benefits such as alleviating symptoms of depression and helping people to quit smoking, for example.
Also reported by: Vice, Boing, Boing, PsychCentral

September

Suicide in adults on the rise in the United States (video) - WMAR-TV
Dr. Dan Hale, a clinical psychologist and special advisor to the President of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, shares a story of suicide in his family and calls suicide a medical problem that shouldn't be viewed as a personal failure or weakness.… Dr. Paul Nestadt, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins, talks about the red flags that often come when someone has major depressive disorder that could lead to suicide.

Magic mushrooms should be less illegal, scientists argue - Inverse
In a paper appearing in the October issue of Neuropharmacology, a team from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Alabama laid out evidence showing that psilocybin is safe for humans, effective at treating several serious conditions, and non-addictive.

'It's difficult to predict:' Psychiatrist discusses mental illness's part in mass shootings – (video) WBAL-TV
"About 5 percent of homicides are committed by someone who has a serious mental illness," said Paul Nestadt, a psychiatrist at [Johns] Hopkins Hospital. Nestadt said there are all kinds of factors that can come into play, including access to guns. "Even a professional can't really, reliably predict violence. It's difficult to predict," he said.

Take the time to be sure before transgender move* (letter to the editor) – Wall Street Journal
Regarding Jillian Kay Melchior’s “Peer Pressure and ‘Transgender’ Teens” (op-ed, Sept. 10): Clinical generalizations are often misleading. After 45 years of caring for transgendered patients, I teach psychiatric residents, “When you have seen one transgendered patient, you have seen one transgendered patient.” -- Prof. Chester Schmidt, M.D., Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore
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Psychedelic drugs to treat depression, PTSD? - WebMD
[R]esearch by Matthew Johnson, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, and others at Johns Hopkins found psilocybin can produce “clinically significant” improvements in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer. The drug may be able to provide hope where conventional antidepressant drugs have had little effect, he says.

Chronic pain may contribute to suicide, study warns  - Reuters
[C]hronic pain sufferers were three times as likely as others to have tested positive for opioids when they died. That’s an important stat, said Dr. Paul Nestadt of the department of psychiatry and behavioral health at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. “Opioids are depressants and they increase the risk of depression,” said Nestadt, who is not affiliated with the new research. “Depression is one of the highest risk factors for completing suicide.”

Rebooting Becky’s brain – Spectrum
Another team, led by Irving M. Reti at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has tested DBS in two autism mouse models of self-injury: One strain lacks the MECP2 gene on the X chromosome, and the other has been stripped of both copies of SHANK3. Both strains self-groom excessively, gnawing on their paws and obsessively rubbing them together, and biting their tail all the way down its length.

Is there a difference between an anxiety attack and a panic attack? – Self
“In my experience, a patient will say, ‘I had an anxiety attack,’ but what they mean is that they had a panic attack,” Neda Gould, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and associate director of the Johns Hopkins Bayview Anxiety Disorders Clinic, tells SELF. “‘Anxiety attack’ is more of a layperson's term.”

How to deal with suicidal thoughts — from 7 women who’ve been there – Women’s Health
There's a difference … between having brief flashes of ending your life, and ruminating about it constantly and forming a plan, says Neeraj Gandotra, M.D., a psychiatrist and instructor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. While the former is normal (although disturbing), the latter means you should seek help immediately, he says.

America becoming a no-vacation nation – Creators Syndicate
According to Joseph Bienvenu, director of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at Johns Hopkins, [sheer busyness] leads to a vicious cycle of emotional distress. "Emotional distress due to over-busyness manifests as difficulty focusing and concentrating, impatience and irritability, trouble getting adequate sleep, and mental and physical fatigue," he said. Bienvenu also noted that he sees patients so wound up from overscheduling that they can't sleep, think or make time for important activities.

August

ADHD diagnoses may be rising in U.S. (study)  - Reuters
Experts suggested that some of the "diagnoses" might be incorrect. "You really have to interpret the study with caution," said Amie Bettencourt, an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.... Bettencourt has seen a lot of misdiagnoses. 

Later breakfast, earlier dinner might help you shed body fat  - HealthDay
"Time-restricted feeding may have benefits, but could be hard to stick to, so larger trials testing effectiveness as well as feasibility of different schedules are needed," said [Susan] Carnell, who is an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences with Johns Hopkins Medicine. "Another point to consider might be that probably some schedules will work better for some people than others, so individual tailoring will probably be important for feasibility," she added.

North West Housing Partnership administers ‘Aging in Place’ program in area suburbs - Chicago Tribune
North West Housing Partnership (NWHP) is proud to be administering the CAPABLE (Community Aging in Place, Advancing Better Living for Elders) program, which has a goal to help senior citizens remain in their homes as long as possible…. This pilot program is modeled after one that was developed at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the first of its kind to be implemented in the Chicago area. Also reported by: Journal & Topics (Chicago)

Why the Jacksonville attacker was able to legally buy guns - Washington Post
For adults to be involuntarily committed, someone must file a petition for emergency evaluation that is then approved by a judge, according to Michelle Horner, assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. For minors, even if they do not want to go, that would not be considered an involuntary commitment if parents’ consent on their behalf, she said.

Magic mushrooms might be the next mental health frontier - Vox
Psilocybin is not intended to be prescribed and taken repeatedly to treat mental illness, as is done with antidepressants, says William Richards, a researcher from Johns Hopkins. University researchers use different doses while testing to see the shifts in behavior. And the process must be controlled, or a bad experience is much more likely to occur. That’s why Richards doesn’t recommend trying these psychedelics at home.

Here’s what happens when a few dozen people take small doses of psychedelics - The Atlantic
There’s new — and possibly dubious — evidence that “microdosing” hallucinogenic drugs makes people more creative…. Matthew Johnson, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University who has researched psychedelics, brought up some concerns about the study’s results. “I have virtually no confidence that this isn’t driven by placebo effect….” he said.

An urban-rural divide over gun suicide - The Bulletin (Oregon)
In 2017, Dr. Paul Nestadt, a psychiatrist with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, wondered how much of the urban-rural suicide disparity could be attributed to gun ownership rates. His home state of Maryland was the first to have a systematized statewide medical examiner system that made reviewing the data on suicide easy. 

Setting the record straight on medical psilocybin - Scientific American
Three Johns Hopkins researchers -- Matthew Johnson, Roland Griffiths and Jack Henningfield -- and a co-researcher from the University of Alabama at Birmingham say a  recent critique of their peer-reviewed assessment of medical psilocybin abuse liability in Neuropharmacology was unfair.

A fit person’s guide to CBD products and supplements - GQ
[T]here’s no definitive research on CBD and athletes, says Ryan Vandrey, a Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor whose research has evaluated the use of cannabis and cannabinoids to treat health conditions. The problem, he explains, is that CBD has hit the market without the type of research that support drugs regulated by the FDA. Now, science has to catch up.

FDA approves psychedelic magic mushrooms ingredient psilocybin for depression trial - Newsweek
A … 2016 study by researchers at the New York University and Johns Hopkins University showed a single dose of psilocybin decreased symptoms of anxiety in cancer patients for eight months when compared to a placebo. The findings were published in The Journal of Psychopharmacology

Can LSD help solve mental health issues? (study) - CBS News
Dr. Tony Bossis, of New York University, ... along with researchers at Johns Hopkins University, published their findings of what a one-time dose of psilocybin can do to treat anxiety and depression in cancer patients. It was eye-opening. "In this study, anxiety and depression reduced dramatically, immediately after the experience," he said.

Brush with madness - CBS News
"Study after study after study has shown that there is a disproportionate rate of mood disorders, in particular, in highly-creative people," said Kay Redfield Jamison, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and is considered a leading expert on mood disorders in artists.

Dr. Frederick W. Schaerf, psychiatrist and noted Alzheimer's researcher, dies - Baltimore Sun
Dr. Frederick W. Schaerf, a psychiatrist and former associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, died July 14 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, at his home in Fort Myers, Fla. He was 67.

Learning To Live Well With Dementia - The Washington Post
At first, the most significant need may be obtaining a reliable diagnosis and learning more about the type of dementia your physician has identified. According to a new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, nearly 60 percent of people with dementia have not been diagnosed or are not aware of their diagnosis.

So, about that study that linked processed meats to mania... Self
[R]esearchers can’t exactly give rats a survey about their mood or behavior changes. “We can’t say that rats are ‘manic’,” study co-author Kellie Tamashiro, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, tells SELF. “[But] what we can do is test for behavioral correlates of mania, what we refer to as ‘mania-like behavior.’”

How can you treat someone who doesn’t accept they are ill? (study) Mosaic
The idea that some people with mental illness lack insight into their condition wasn’t new. It had been codified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ... for several illnesses, including schizophrenia and anorexia nervosa. But using the word anosognosia was another matter entirely, says Dinah Miller, a psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “It’s a politically charged word,” she says. 

The hidden danger of suicide in autism – Spectrum
“We increase our detection of suicidal kids when we screen for it,” says Holly Wilcox, associate professor of mental health and psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University. “It gives us a window of opportunity to help them if we can link them up with appropriate services. Oftentimes, the suicidal individual will feel relieved that they were asked and they could disclose their thoughts.”

What is 'microdosing'? Tiny hits of psychedelic drugs reduce anxiety without the trip, study says - Newsweek
“Unlike almost all other psychiatric medications that have a direct biological effect, these drugs seem to work through biology to open up a psychological opportunity,” Matthew Johnson, a Johns Hopkins University psychiatrist, told NBC News in 2017.

Q&A: Identifying, treating depression in elderly patients -Healio Internal Medicine
About 5% to 10% of elderly patients have depression or depressive symptoms, according to a presentation by Jin Hui Joo, MA, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, at Johns Hopkins Science Writers’ Boot Camp…. In an exclusive interview, Healio Internal Medicine spoke with Joo about the signs of and risk factors for depression among older adults, as well as how PCPs can help elderly patients cope with changes and associated depression.

People With Depression May Have Less of This Chemical in Their Bodies -VICE
“This is the first paper that says people with clinical depression have low levels of this molecule,” says James Potash, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

July

Could a Blood Test Help Spot Severe Depression? - U.S. News & World Report
In the future, Brennan said, treatment trials might include only depression patients who have particularly low LAC levels. Dr. James Potash, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, agreed. "It may well be better to focus on those patients, because they might have the best chance of responding [to supplements]," said Potash, who was not involved in the study.

Study: Eating beef jerky might be linked to manic episodes in some people - Gizmodo
There is no singular cause of mental illness. Any number of things — our genes, environment, and even social mores — play a role in determining whether someone’s mental health will deteriorate to the point of being diagnosable as a disease. But researchers from Johns Hopkins have stumbled onto a possible trigger for manic episodes they didn’t expect to find: beef jerky.

Most firearm deaths in America involve suicide, not bad guys with guns - North Country Public Radio
"As I looked into suicide more and more it became very clear that access to lethal means, specifically guns, was one of the most important risk factors that we could address," said Paul Nestadt, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins who researches suicide with the School of Public Health.

A scientist clarifies the link between eating beef jerky and mania - Inverse
Eating lots of hot dogs and beef jerky is perhaps not the wisest choice for physical health, but until recently, doing so seemed fine as far as mental health was concerned. But a new paper … has raised concerns about the connection between eating nitrated dry-cured meats and mania. One author of the study, Johns Hopkins pediatrics professor Dr. Robert Yolken, is here to set the record straight.
Also reported by: HLN/CNN, Time, The Atlantic, Bustle, The Sun (U.K.), The Scotsman (Scotland)

Hopkins researchers: Processed meats could cause mania (video) -WBFF-TV
Researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have just uncovered a possible link between processed meats and manic episodes. Dr. Robert Yolken, a professor of pediatrics … and the senior author on the new study, has found a potential link between cured meats and psychiatric disorders. “Individuals who said they were exposed to cured meats had an increased rate of mania,” said Yolken. Also reported by: Newsweek, NBC News, Telegraph (U.K.), Daily Mail, CTV (Canada), HealthDay, MedPage Today, Miami Herald, CBS Philly, The Mirror (U.K.) Hans India, Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) Irish News and numerous other media outlets

Does eating beef jerky cause psychiatric symptoms? Not so fast. (study) - Live Science
Kellie Tamashiro, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine who worked on the rat study, noted that rats are far from perfect analogues to human beings. What happened to rats fed cured meats might not translate to humans, she told Live Science.

Should we loosen the restrictions on psychedelics? - Scientific American
[H]ow one understands the psychedelic drug state determines the assessment of risks and benefits, and thus drives recommendations for rescheduling. The Johns Hopkins University research group has been one of the most active [on this issue] in the U.S. over the last 15 years.

An immigrant community haunted by suicide - Stateline (Pew Trusts)
To better understand the tragedies, researchers … at Johns Hopkins University have begun to gather information on immigrant suicide.... “Stress and depression in the immigrant community have always been there, but it is heightened now,” Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Rheanna Platt told Stateline. “I see more children being very distressed about the possibility that a parent will be deported.” (Note: Johns Hopkins therapist Donna Batkis and researcher Paul Nestadt are also quoted in this article.)

National Network of Indian Depression Centers Partners with U.S. Depression Centers Network (Press Release)
Raymond DePaulo, MD, of Johns Hopkins University, NNDC Chair, said, "The leadership team assembled for the founding board of directors for NNDC India Foundation is truly impressive. I am pleased to welcome their affiliation with the NNDC. It is an honor to work with Dr. Rao and the group of leaders in psychiatry in India as they build NNDC India Foundation and bring much needed focus to depressive diseases in India and contribute to solutions globally."

June

Extreme stress in childhood is toxic to your DNA (opinion) - The Conversation
This opinion piece was written by Daniel R. Weinberger, director of the Lieber Institute for Brain Development and the Maltz Research Laboratories at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Studies by him and other researchers, he says, have shown that early life stress alters how DNA is packaged, which makes cells function differently than their original mandate.

In search of the Alzheimer's aha! moment – AARP
Even delaying the onset of the disease by a few years would be a significant step, says the author of this commentary, Marilyn S. Albert, Ph.D., the director of Cognitive Neuroscience in the department of neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the chair of the AARP Global Council on Brain Health.

Retinal thinning tied to cognitive decline* (study) - Medscape
Also commenting on the study for Medscape Medical News, Esther Seunghee Oh, MD, PhD, associate director of Johns Hopkins Memory and Alzheimer's Treatment Center and associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland, said the link between retinal thinning and cognitive decline is "exciting" on several levels.

New restrictions on epilepsy drug may do more harm than good - Spectrum
Jennifer Payne, director of the Women’s Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, explains why she thinks it’s a bad idea that the EU ban stipulates that women with bipolar disorder must stop taking valproate during pregnancy, even if no other medication works for them. [Valproate is a widely used treatment for epilepsy, bipolar disorder and migraine.]

Even 'mild' high blood pressure risks future dementia – AARP
"Being diagnosed with high blood pressure in, say, your 50s may predict a dementia risk in your 70s and 80s," says neuropsychiatrist Constantine Lyketsos of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "The mechanism is not clear, but it's probably because moderately ... elevated blood pressure in midlife slowly erodes the blood vessels in the brain and affects the blood supply to the deeper tissues of the brain over the years."

Mental illness: A different kind of #MeToo* (opinion) -Baltimore Sun
The deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain are sparking a different kind of #MeToo movement in which others are coming forward and confessing their private pain across CNN, Twitter, Facebook and other media outlets…. I have numerous relatives with bipolar disorder, and I am often one of the few lay people in the crowd at the annual Mood Disorders Symposiums at Johns Hopkins.

Suicide Is Not Just a US Problem, It's a Global Issue – Voice of America
Jennifer Payne, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said just because the CDC reported a majority of those who committed suicide did not have a known mental illness, does not mean they didn't have one. "I think it's likely that a majority of cases of suicide are related to a mental health diagnosis," she said. The illness could have been undiagnosed, or because of the stigma associated with mental illness, people may have not sought treatment.

Ketamine cases raise questions over boundaries between police and paramedics - Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Dr. Solomon Snyder, a neuroscience professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, compared the effects [of ketamine] to those of LSD, and said [the drug] hasn’t been more widely used in depression cases because of its risks. “If you take it, you’ll be out of your head,” he said. “So even if it’s good for depression, you have to do it very carefully.”

Why mental illness is so hard to spot in seniors - U.S. News & World Report
[C]ompared with younger adults and middle-aged adults, adults over age 65 were much less likely to be asked by their primary care physician if they felt tense or anxious and were much less likely to be referred by their primary care physician for mental health specialty care,” says Dr. Susan W. Lehmann, clinical director of the division of geriatric psychiatry and neuropsychiatry and director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Day Hospital at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Psychedelics forge connections between neurons (study) - Chemical & Engineering News
About one-third of people with depression do not find relief from their symptoms with current drugs for the disease…. Roland Griffiths, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine agrees that the new study is important. “Almost nothing is known about the neural mechanisms underlying the ability of psychedelics to produce enduring change in moods, attitudes, and behavior,” he says.

U.S. needs to have an ongoing conversation about suicide - How Stuff Works
"I think we need to be having a national conversation," Jennifer Payne, the director of the Women's Mood Disorders Center and an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, says. "I think there's a stigma associated with psychiatric illness that really needs to go away," Payne says.

Mental Health and Well-Being in America - Washington Post Live
Robert Findling, division director of child and adolescent psychiatry, was part of a panel hosted and broadcast by the Washington Post.

Invincibility: Young people and their decisions (video) - WMAR-TV
“The reason that adolescents tend to engage in risk-taking behavior is that they’re more focused on the potential rewards of that behavior. So when they think about driving fast in a car with friends, they’re more focused on their friends having a blast and cheering them on or the thrill of the wind going through their hair,” Dr. Elizabeth Reynolds, a clinical psychologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, said.

The woman’s libido pill is back – and so is the controversy - Bloomberg
“If you have somebody who’s depressed, and you give them an antidepressant, you don’t want the drug to make them joyous and turn them into a manic state. You want the drug to return them to normal function,” says Leonard Derogatis, an associate professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “That’s exactly what the goal is with all the sexual drugs...."

Why eight hours sleep really IS good for you: Less than six or more than 10 hours slumber a night raises the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes - The Daily Mail (U.K.)
Sleeping for more than ten hours a night -- or fewer than six -- may increase the risk of early death, new research has found…. Dr. Patrick Finan from Johns Hopkins University, who was not involved in the study, said: 'Insomnia is shaped by expectation and perception, so it is not surprising that placebos, which implicitly alter expectation, are effective in improving perceptions of sleep.'

Kate Spade’s death ignites concern about rising suicide rate - Kaiser Health News and numerous subscribers
People suffering from serious mental illness are at high risk of suicide, said Dr. Jennifer Payne, director of the Women’s Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital.... Sometimes, however, friends and families of people with a milder form of bipolar disorder — one that does not induce psychotic behavior — can mistake their condition for depression, Payne said. 

Kate Spade and the Troubling Rise in Female Suicides – Daily Beast
Karen Swartz is the clinical director of the John Hopkins Mood Disorders Center, where she researches people who are working through depression and bipolar disorder and helps train teachers at high schools, who often reach out to her in the aftermath of a tragic high school suicide.

May

Pregnancy complications might 'turn on' schizophrenia genes, study says - CNN
"The complications that mattered were very serious obstetric complications like pre-eclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction and premature rupture of membranes without induction of labor," said Dr. Daniel Weinberger, director and CEO of the Lieber Institute for Brain Development at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a leading author of the new study.

You can inherit schizophrenia. But what happens during pregnancy is key, new study says - Miami Herald
“For the first time, we have found an explanation for the connection between early life complications, genetic risk, and their impact on mental illness and it all converges on the placenta,” Daniel R. Weinberger, the lead investigator on the study from [Johns Hopkins University's] Lieber Institute for Brain Development, said in a statement. Also reported by: Stat, Scientific American

How to help someone who has depression - 9Coach (Australia)
Patients who struggle with mental health can be good at hiding symptoms because they may fear what others think of them…. “Communication becomes problematic because the person is embarrassed to say how they feel, anticipating judgment,” Dr Raymond DePaulo, Jr, [co-director of the Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine], explained to Everyday Health.

Most preclinical AD doesn't progress to dementia* (study) - MedPage Today
This "methodologically sound study" provides "hope to most with preclinical Alzheimer's that they might live dementia-free even when very old," observed Constantine Lyketsos, MD, MHS, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, who was not involved in the study. "What's encouraging here is that people with preclinical Alzheimer's are not destined to develop dementia," Lyketsos told MedPage Today.

Pot holes - Washington Post
(Most neuroscientists don’t believe that LSD is addictive; its potential benefits are being studied at Johns Hopkins and New York University, among other places.)

Yes, you can inherit depression — here’s what that means if you're struggling – Prevention
“Depression is absolutely heritable. It runs in families,” says Shizhong Han, PhD, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Any given person with no family history has about a 10 percent risk of developing depression. But if your parents or siblings have the condition? That number spikes to 20 or 30 percent, notes Han.

This will change your mind about psychedelic drugs - Time
The very first study in the modern era of psychedelic research, of any importance, was a 2006 study done at Johns Hopkins by a scientist named Roland Griffiths, a very prominent drug-abuse scientist. He found that what the psychedelics did in about 80% of cases was induce a mystical experience.

Michael Pollan on testing psychedelics as a treatment for depression - CBS News
"I tried psilocybin," he said. "I was very interested in duplicating the research that was going on at Johns Hopkins and NYU. I had a guided psilocybin trip – it was underground because I didn't qualify for any of the trials – and I worked with a guy who was very talented, very professional.

My adventures with the trip doctors - New York Times
Bill Richards, clinical director of the psychedelics-research program at Johns Hopkins and the author of “Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences,” is one of the few surviving links between the first and second waves of sanctioned psychedelic research in America.

7 myths about treating mental illness we need to shut down ASAP – Bustle
[M]ost people can't manage their mental illness via exercise alone. Jennifer Payne, associate professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine told Tonic that exercise can do a lot of good for people with various mental health conditions, but it's rarely a stand-alone treatment for someone with a full blown mental health disorder. 

Why kids and teens may face far more anxiety these days - Washington Post
“With (social media), it's all about the self-image — who's 'liking' them, who's watching them, who clicked on their picture,” said Marco Grados, associate professor of psychiatry and clinical director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital. “Everything can turn into something negative ... [K]ids are exposed to that day after day, and it's not good for them.”

Depression, memory and small vessel disease intertwine in seniors (study) - MedPage Today
"Evidence is strong that depression is clearly a brain disorder that affects cognitive and emotional functioning through myriad processes, including vascular and inflammatory processes as well as the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, to name a few," added Jin Hui Joo, MD, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who was not involved in the study.

First, marijuana. Are magic mushrooms next? - Daily Beast
[E]fforts to legitimize hallucinogenic mushrooms come at a time of renewed interest in the potential mental health benefits of psychedelics, including mushrooms, LSD and MDMA (known as ecstasy). Two small studies published in 2016 by researchers from Johns Hopkins University and New York University found that a single large dose of psilocybin, combined with psychotherapy, helped relieve depression and anxiety in cancer patients.

Why you eat more at night — and how to curb your hunger (study) - NBC News
“During the daylight [in hunter-gatherer days], it would have made more sense to prioritize going out to hunt or forage for food. When it was dark, it made more sense to stay close to home and eat,” says lead study author Susan Carnell, PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

A psychiatrist’s defense of Tully, a controversial new movie about postpartum struggles – Vox
The psychiatrist doing the defending is Dr. Lauren M. Osborne, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and of gynecology and obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She also is an expert on the diagnosis and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders during pregnancy.

The first diagnosis of autism (audio) - BBC
James Harris, a Johns Hopkins professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, talks about his mentor, Leo Kanner, who was a pioneering child psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins and who diagnosed autism in the 1940s.   

April

Are psychedelics the answer to depression and addiction?? – Salon
Roland] Griffiths ... a leading Professor of Psychology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Maryland, one of the best academic institutions in the world ... applied to conduct the very first clinical trial on a psychedelic since the ban a whole generation before. He wanted to give psilocybin, a naturally occurring chemical found inside “magic” mushrooms, to “respectable” citizens who had never used it before, to see if they would have a mystical experience — and to discover what the longer-term consequences, if any, would be.

Are psychedelics the answer to depression and addiction?? – Salon
Roland] Griffiths ... a leading Professor of Psychology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Maryland, one of the best academic institutions in the world ... applied to conduct the very first clinical trial on a psychedelic since the ban a whole generation before. He wanted to give psilocybin, a naturally occurring chemical found inside “magic” mushrooms, to “respectable” citizens who had never used it before, to see if they would have a mystical experience — and to discover what the longer-term consequences, if any, would be.

The funeral director's opioid scare mission: Can fear help stop addiction? -The Guardian
“Scared straight comes from a good place, because I think a lot of times family members and friends just feel desperate and they are trying to make a big impact,” says Kelly Dunn, an associate professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. “But they don’t realize that perhaps it’s not a moral weakness or personality – a choice.”

75 Years After First LSD Trip, Psychedelic Science is Making a Comeback - Seeker
All that work finally seems to be paying off as psychedelics, including LSD, are experiencing a full-blown research renaissance. The tipping point came in 2006 with an article published by Roland Griffiths, a respected psychopharmacologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, which showed that a single dose of psilocybin — also first isolated by Albert Hofmann from psychoactive mushrooms in Mexico — can trigger “mystical experiences” that have a lasting positive psychological effect.

The good, the bad, and the maybe, about kratom - Healio
Jack E. Henningfield, PhD, is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University and vice president for research, health policy and abuse liability at Pinney Associates, told Healio Family Medicine FDA regulation on kratom is “vital” and that regulation of the substance as a dietary supplement was a viable approach to keep kratom available with some regulatory oversite.

Why does it take so long to diagnose bipolar disorder? - NBC News
Stigma makes it even more difficult for people to get help. “The average length of time between a person’s first episode and getting the correct diagnosis is eight years,” said Kay Redfield Jamison, a professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and author of “Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament.” “That’s a very large chunk of life given that bipolar disorder most often hits in late adolescence or in the early 20s,” Jamison said.

What is bipolar II? (video) – WTTG-TV (D.C.)
Erica Richards, M.D., Ph.D., chair and medical director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Sibley Memorial Hospital, explains bipolar 2, which singer Mariah Carey has just announced she suffers from. Richards also discusses treating and managing the disorder

Mariah Carey says she has bipolar disorder (video) - WUSA-TV (D.C.)
Erica Richards, M.D., Ph.D., chair and medical director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Sibley Memorial Hospital, defines bipolar disorder and explains the difference between bipolar 1 and bipolar 2. She also encourages people who think they might be bipolar to start a conversation with their medical care provider.

New Alzheimer's definition and the clinician* - MedPage Today
Kostas Lyketsos, MD, MHS, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins Medicine, was among the top Alzheimer's specialists invited to discuss [for this article] the new definition and the issues it raises.

Opioid addiction treatment with medicine works best. Why don't more young people get it? - Philadelphia Inquirer
Young opioid users often have other mental-health issues, and many abuse other substances, as well. “They are a chaotic population,” said Marc Fishman, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and medical director of the Maryland Treatment Centers and Mountain Manor Treatment in Baltimore. “They [think they] are invincible. They’re not well-engaged in treatment of any kind.”

We’re beginning to learn how moms’ antidepressants can affect fetuses (study) - Vox
According to Lauren Osborne, the assistant director of Johns Hopkins Women’s Mood Disorders Center, who has analyzed the research, most studies compare depressed pregnant women who were taking antidepressants to healthy pregnant women — so there may be more that differs between the two groups than just the use of antidepressants.

Emmitsburg woman successfully treats depression through a little-known treatment - Frederick News-Post
[T]he little-known therapy [transcranial magnetic stimulation] is heralded by many psychiatrists as one of the most effective ways of treating depression in patients who show resistance to medications. “In our clinical experience, we’re seeing response rates of 50 to 60 percent and remission rates of 30 to 40 percent,” said Dr. Irving Reti, a psychiatrist and director of the Brain Stimulation Program at Johns Hopkins University.

Many people taking antidepressants discover they cannot quit - New York Times
“What you see is the number of long-term users just piling up year after year,” said Dr. Dr. Mark Olfson, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University. Dr. Olfson and Dr. Ramin Mojtabai, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, assisted The Times with the analysis.?

March

7 Xanax side effects you should know about? - Women’s Health
“If [Xanax is] taken regularly, even for a matter of weeks, it can be problematic to stop cold-turkey,” says Joseph Bienvenu, MD, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The science behind nervous sweating and how to put an end to it - Health24
“Involuntary sweating is like your body betraying you,” says Dr Carisa Perry-Parrish, a psychologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Sweat Disorders in Baltimore. We want to appear confident, but our bodies scream, “I cannot do this!” Then we go from sweating because we’re stressed to stressing because we’re sweating, says Perry-Parrish.

New grant allows local treatment center to pair physical health and substance abuse services - Frederick News-Post
Diabetes, asthma, heart disease and high blood pressure are frequently seen among clients who enter the [substance abuse treatment] program. Infections such as HIV and hepatitis are also experienced frequently by intravenous drug users, said Dr. Kenneth Stoller, a psychiatrist and the director of the Johns Hopkins Broadway Center for Addiction.

Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders: Redefining postpartum depression -  MD magazine
Lauren M. Osborne, MD, assistant director of the Johns Hopkins Women’s Mood Disorders Center and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders during pregnancy and postpartum....  “It’s an enormous transition from being a free person to being a person with a child,” Osborne said. “The biggest risk factor for developing postpartum depression is depression during pregnancy, but other risk factors are poor social support … adverse life events, and lack of sleep.”

If you’ve met aliens while on DMT, these scientists would like to hear from you (study) – Vice
The prestigious medical university at Johns Hopkins wants to know if you’ve ever taken so much dimethyltryptamine (DMT) that you’ve broken through reality and met the benevolent machine elves that live in the center of the universe. Researcher Roland R. Griffiths is the neuroscientist in charge of the study and he’s been on the forefront of scientific research into psychedelic experiences for decades.

A brush with madness (video) - CBS News
"Study after study after study has shown that there is a disproportionate rate of mood disorders, in particular, in highly-creative people," said Kay Redfield Jamison, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, [who] is considered a leading expert on mood disorders in artists.

Enhanced privacy for substance abuse patients under debate again in Congress - Modern Healthcare
Dr. Eric Strain, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and Research at Johns Hopkins, testified on behalf of the Mullin bill, noting that even though providers may often know from their patients that they been through addiction treatment, they can still be hamstrung by not knowing what that treatment was.?

Ageism in Medicine Must Stop, Experts Say – Medscape (sign in required to view)
An article based on Susan Lehmann-led session on Ageism in Medical Education at the recent meeting of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry(AAGP).

LSD alters the neural response to music in a number of brain regions, study finds – PsyPost
New research illuminates how the psychedelic drug LSD changes our perception of music. The study found that LSD altered the neural response to music in brain regions associated with auditory processing, memory, emotion, and self-directed thought.... “?I have always been fascinated by emotion, memory, and altered states of consciousness.... ” said study author Frederick Barrett of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Lurasidone (Latuda) gets FDA nod for bipolar depression in kids* Medscape
"We know that children who have been diagnosed with bipolar depression can be at risk for poor school performance and impairments in social functioning. The FDA approval of this medicine for the treatment of pediatric patients with bipolar depression is significant for several reasons," commented Robert Findling, MD, director of child and adolescent psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Also covered in Clinical Psychiatry News

Breast cancer incidence higher in women with schizophrenia (study) – Healio
“Because schizophrenia has been associated with lowered risks of many types of cancer, including colorectal cancer, malignant melanoma and prostate cancer, it has been hypothesized that the genetic factors involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia may be protective against cancer,” Chuanjun Zhuo, MD, PhD, department of psychiatric laboratory, Tianjin Medical University, China, and Patrick Todd Triplett, MD, department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, wrote. “However, the association between schizophrenia and breast cancer remains uncertain.”

Denver may get to vote on whether to make magic mushrooms legal - Colorado Public Radio
[Kevin Matthews, who helps lead the campaign and helped draft the initiative] points to a study by Johns Hopkins University that found psilocybin users dealing with cancer-related stress reported lasting positive effects one year later. A New York University study produced similar results.  

February

Targeting mental Illness won’t prevent mass shootings (Opinion) – Baltimore Sun
Op-Ed piece by part-time faculty member, Annette Hanson, M.D.

6 ways to prevent your smartphone from making you feel dumber - Oprah
Smartphones ... hamper our ability to recall things by overwhelming our mind with distractions, says Susan Lehmann, MD, clinical director of geriatric psychiatry and neuropsychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "When you use these devices, you're often switching quickly between topics or conversations," she says. "That rapid change in focus can prevent an idea or thought from sufficiently registering in your memory."

Doctors voice concern about opioid addiction in women, and the impact on newborns - Tampa Bay Times
"Opiate use has historically been predominantly by men, but we’ve seen that gap narrow significantly in the past 10 years," said Dr. Kelly Dunn, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. Dunn is in Tampa Bay this week joining other doctors from Johns Hopkins and its local All Children’s pediatric hospital for a series of events titled "A Woman’s Journey."

FDA serotonin syndrome warning erroneous? (study) - Medscape
This study demonstrating a "low risk of serotonin syndrome with [selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors] and [selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors] and the triptans is actually very important," Jennifer Payne, MD, director, Women's Mood Disorders Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, told Medscape Medical News. "Since both antidepressants and triptans are commonly used medications, knowing that there is a low risk of an adverse reaction is reassuring...." said Payne.

My eating disorder made me feel like a feminist fraud - Marie Claire
Several studies, including one from Johns Hopkins University, frame chewing and spitting as a symptom of anorexia, bulimia, and/or OSFED (Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disturbances), and suggest that it may be an indicator of disease severity.

Vaccines against addictive drugs push forward despite past failures - Chemical & Engineering News
Although interest from the pharmaceutical industry has been intermittent, experts in substance abuse treatment are guardedly hopeful. “The vaccines seem very promising, and they’re novel, providing a different mechanism to prevent substance abuse,” says Kelly E. Dunn, who studies opioid use disorders at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “But there is still a lot of work to do.”

Excessive alcohol use linked to early-onset dementia risk (study) – CNN
Although many studies have shown a strong association between excessive alcohol use and dementia, this study is unique in its findings about early-onset dementia, according to Dr. Kostas Lyketsos, a neuropsychiatry professor and director of the Johns Hopkins Memory and Alzheimer's Treatment Center who was not involved in the study. "That is rather unique," Lyketsos said. "It does remind us that alcoholics have shorter life expectancies.”

The perplexing semantics of anosognosia - Psychology Today
Is anosognosia [unawareness of illness] after stroke the same as anosognosia during psychosis? .... Dr. Solomon Snyder at Johns Hopkins, a renowned neuroscientist ... told me, "In my personal experience, a substantial number of psychiatric patients lack appreciation that they are disturbed and so merit the anosognosia designation.

Running away or righting the way: Is psilocybin a viable psychiatric treatment?- MD magazine
"[T]here are some leading institutions in the United States that are all about [this work],” [said Charles L. Raison, MD, director of Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies]. “If you look at the places that are doing psilocybin work, they are not second rate. They’re Yale, Johns Hopkins, the University of California at San Francisco, and NYU. These are top, top places....

ECT for self-injurious behavior in autism: A new indication - Psychiatric Times
ECT [electroconvulsive therapy] has been documented as nothing short of lifesaving for many children and young adults with autism spectrum disorder who were previously wholly incapacitated by SIB [self-injurious behavior], say the writers of this commentary. [Among them: Lee Elizabeth Wachtel, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.]

Why do so few docs have buprenorphine waivers? - MedPage Today
Even among doctors who have buprenorphine waivers, utilization is low. In a 2017 survey-based study, Kelly Dunn, MS, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore saw physicians were concerned about not having enough time or resources to help patients with opioid addiction. "The research suggested that physicians either don't feel informed enough, or aren't comfortable with, the idea of prescribing," she said.

Post-Partum Depression: A Clinical, Not Legal, Issue – MedPage today
A nurse who called law enforcement on a patient out of concern that she could harm her newborn infant could be a sign of a wider problem related to provider education about post-partum depression, experts said.... "It's easy for us to vilify, and point to all the things that went wrong in that situation -- and there were many -- but it points to the fact that our frontline providers need more education in this area," Lauren Osborne, MD, assistant director of the Johns Hopkins Women's Mood Disorders Center in Baltimore, told MedPage Today.

Homeless. Addicted to heroin. About to give birth. - Mother Jones
Unlike many in her position, [Gina] DiStefano had a place to go. A sex worker had told her about the Center for Addiction and Pregnancy at Johns Hopkins, a hulking brick building on the outskirts of Baltimore. The center, known as CAP, is one of the few places in the country that offers pregnant drug users comprehensive support.

Experts provide tips on diagnosing, treating concussions - Healio
To help primary care physicians make accurate, timely diagnoses of concussions, Healio Family Medicine asked neurological, orthopedic, sports medicine and psychiatry experts to provide information on concussion symptoms, treatments, broaching the subject with patients, and more. Among the experts: Jennifer M. Coughlin MD, assistant professor, department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Depression course for teens gets high marks - Healthline
Dr. Karen Swartz, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, has developed a proactive way to get high school students thinking about the seriousness of depression.

8 questions to ask yourself if you think you might have a drinking problem - Women's Health
Does your social life revolve around alcohol? ... Women with a drinking problem tend to lose interest in hobbies or people they once enjoyed because they'd rather go where the alcohol is. “You’re planning your social life and your time around drinking,” says licensed clinical alcohol and drug counselor Beth Kane-Davidson, director of the Addiction Treatment Center at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.

New hope for Alzheimer's sufferers (study) - AARP
Previous work with [deep brain stimulation] and Alzheimer’s led by the University of Toronto and Johns Hopkins Medicine focused on stimulating memory circuits. “We saw slower decline in some individuals,” notes Gwenn Smith, a neuropsychologist at Johns Hopkins and a coauthor of the study, and she says that an increase in brain metabolism over one year was observed.

January

Binge eating at night? Your hormones may be to blame  - New York Times
“There’s more opportunity to eat in the evening, but this study is showing that hormonal responses are setting them up to do this,” said Susan Carnell, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who was a first author of the study. It’s not clear whether these hormonal patterns precede and cause the binge eating behaviors or are conditioned by an individual’s eating habits, Dr. Carnell said.

Is brain stimulation the future of Alzheimer’s treatment? – Healthline
Deep brain stimulation is thought to affect the activity and interaction of neurons. In previous studies, said Gwenn Smith, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, “deep brain stimulation not only increased brain metabolism in specific regions, but also increased the connections between them, what’s known as ‘functional connectivity.’”

Can pot cause hallucinations? Report of officers who allegedly ate edibles fuels debate - CBC (Canada)
Ryan Vandrey, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, says there have been very clear demonstrations and scientific studies proving [that marijuana can cause hallucinations]. "Folks tend to be more prone to have hallucinations if they have a family history of psychosis, but there have been cases, even one recently in my laboratory, where somebody without a family history of psychosis has had hallucinations following acute dosing with cannabis," he said. 

Citing deaths of lab monkeys, F.D.A. ends an addiction study - New York Times
Jack Henningfield, professor of behavioral biology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, disagreed with the decision to stop the study. “These studies are done to address really serious questions about the nature of tobacco addiction,” Dr. Henningfield said. ‘‘This is research in serious service to humanity.

Mixing magic mushrooms and meditation has long-term benefits, Johns Hopkins study finds - Big Think
[R]esearchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine wanted to see how “quantum change experiences” induced with the help of psilocybin (the psychoactive substance in magic mushrooms) combined with regular spiritual practices (like meditation, journaling, awareness) resulted in the overall well-being of healthy volunteers over the course of six months.

How daytime stress turns into nighttime snacking – Forbes
"Our findings suggest that evening is a high-risk time for overeating, especially if you're stressed and already prone to binge eating," says Susan Carnell, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and the study's first author.

Education is a simple yet effective tool for teens fighting depression – Inverse
[R]esearchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore [have] created the Adolescent Depression Awareness Program (ADAP), which marries student curriculums with training for health and school-based professionals in order to deliver a core message to the public: depression is a treatable medical illness and people should feel empowered to seek help.

Why evenings may be a dangerous time for dieters – HealthDay
The small study suggests that you're more likely to overeat in the evening -- especially if you're feeling stressed. "The good news is that having this knowledge, people could take steps to reduce their risk of overeating by eating earlier in the day, or finding alternative ways to deal with stress," said study lead researcher Susan Carnell. She's an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Are new brands of strong coffee boosting heart palpitation risks? – Newsmax
"For the same amount of coffee [Black Insomnia vs. Starbucks], you will get double the amount of caffeine," said Mary Sweeney, who researches the effects of caffeine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "This makes it easier to consume more caffeine than you intend to and effects can range from mild to severe, for example, jitteriness, nervousness, restlessness and trouble sleeping. The most serious effect would be cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat)."

The truth about electrical brain stimulation – Lifehacker
“You’re affecting large swaths of neurons that then have downstream effects in their relationship with other neuronal populations and networks, so where you place the electrodes is really critical,” says Tracy Vannorsdall, a neuropsychologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “We know that very small changes in the electrode montage—where we’re placing them on the brain—can have significant different effects in terms of cognitive outcomes.”

Self-report screening questionnaires overestimate prevalence of depression (analysis) - Healio
Jennifer L. Payne, MD, associate professor of psychiatry, and director, Johns Hopkins Women’s Mood Disorders Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, describes the analysis as “a thoughtful discussion of the pros and cons of screening instruments for depression” and adds that “[t]he paper makes several important points including that screening instruments should not be used to estimate prevalence….”

Some health providers now treat depression with magnets instead of pharmaceuticals - North Bay Business Journal (Santa Rosa, Calif.)
[Transcranial magnetic stimulation] was first developed in 1985 and was approved by the FDA in 2008. Though not completely mainstream, the treatment is covered by most insurances and is used by the Mayo Clinic, the Johns Hopkins Brain Stimulation Program, and several clinics throughout the North Bay, including Brainefit, in Davis. 

Second Opinion: Eating Disorders - WXXI-TV
Using real-life medical cases, specialists grapple with diagnosis and treatment options to give patients and TV viewers up-to-date, accurate medical information. In this episode, Angela Guarda, M.D., director of the Eating Disorders Program at Johns Hopkins Hospital, is on a panel discussing eating disorders. View video

Expert Panel Unveils Recommendations for Home-Based Dementia Care (Press Release)
A panel of leading researchers and policy experts, funded by BrightFocus Foundation and led by Johns Hopkins University researchers, has released five key recommendations for public and private sector leaders to better support people with dementia living in their own home. The panel noted that the vast majority of people with dementia prefer to remain in their own home, and that home-based dementia care can be less costly to families and taxpayers than care provided through nursing homes or other long-term care facilities.

How opioids kill - Scientific American
When a person smokes, snorts or injects an opioid, the substance enters the bloodstream, then the brain. There it can act on mu-opioid receptors, says Eric Strain, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and Research at Johns Hopkins University. “Once the drug binds to those opioid receptors and activates them, it sets off a cascade of psychological and physical actions; it produces euphoric effects, but it also produces respiratory-depressing effects,” Strain says.

The Teenage Mental Health Crisis: Finding Meaning in Arts Education - WYPR-FM
Dr Karen Swartz, talk about this exchange and the things that can go right or wrong at a moment like this when a teenager comes to a parent with this sort of issue. "One of the biggest challenge parents have is not really understanding enough about depression to take it seriously. Given the choice between thinking well my child's having a hard time or they are having a little bit of a rough patch versus they have potentially a life-threatening illness, they're not going to chose the second. They want to think that they're ok and that it's going to pass with time. The average adult doesn't know much about depression and so, they're not recognizing the signs. [Joelle] just gave a beautiful description of so many of the symptoms that young people have, but you could right them all off. You could understand them all and that's the problem. The way we make a diagnosis is to look for those coming together and staying, but I would say most parents aren't armed with the information to say, 'Oh my goodness, this is the serious kind of depression.'"

Some health providers now treat depression with magnets instead of pharmaceuticals
North Bay Business Journal (Santa Rosa, Calif.)
[Transcranial magnetic stimulation] was first developed in 1985 and was approved by the FDA in 2008. Though not completely mainstream, the treatment is covered by most insurances and is used by the Mayo Clinic, the Johns Hopkins Brain Stimulation Program, and several clinics throughout the North Bay, including Brainefit, in Davis. 

People have spent centuries trying to prove caffeine is dangerous, but the science suggests otherwise – Quartz
If caffeine-use disorder became a recognized diagnosis, it would appear alongside opioid-use disorder, tobacco-use disorder, and other often-deadly addictions. This could “minimize the severity of other substance-use disorders,” says Maggie Sweeney, a psychiatry instructor at Johns Hopkins University. 

Regional and national acceptance of medical cannabis reaches historic highs - Chicago Tribune
Prestigious medical centers and teaching hospitals around the world and in the United States such as Johns Hopkins and other universities have received initial funding to begin baseline data collection on registered medical cannabis patients from around the country using medical marijuana to treat the symptoms associated with their qualifying medical conditions.

2017

December

Child sex dolls, the newest outlet for pedophiles, must be banned - The Hill
[E]emerging psychology on the topic says these obscene dolls encourage abuse of real children. Peter Fagan from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine recently told The Atlantic that child sex dolls likely have a “reinforcing effect” on pedophiles, and “in many instances cause [the urge] to be acted upon with greater urgency.”

Coping with seasonal depression (audio) - WYPR-FM
Today on Midday, ways to cope with grief, depression, and anxiety during the holidays. [Guests include] Dr. Mark Komrad, a senior supervising psychiatrist and Ethicist-in-Residence at Sheppard Pratt Hospital in Baltimore. He’s also a faculty member in the departments of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins and at the University of Maryland.

'Phenomenal' trial results may lead to a treatment for Huntington's disease, experts say - Washington Post
The good news for Huntington's patients is the hope that the drug might even reverse the progression of the disease. “What's really interesting in animal studies, if you stop the production of the mutant protein, not only does progression stop, but the brain starts to heal itself,” said Christopher Ross, director of the Huntington's Disease Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine, who was not involved in the research. “Which means there might be improvement.”

Peter Thiel is betting on magic mushrooms to treat depression — and he's not the only one - Business Insider
Usona, a non-profit company based in Madison, Wisconsin, is also in the planning phases of studies of psilocybin for depression and anxiety. Its advisors include three American researchers who were involved in Clark Martin's clinical trial from Johns Hopkins University and New York University.

Hopkins cardiologist says love is more than a matter of the heart - Baltimore Sun Dr. Peter V. Rabins, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, is the author of “The Why of Things,” a 2013 exploration of causality in science and in life. “In this age of hookup apps, and with all the stuff about sexual harassment that has come out in the ...

Can Social Media Help Improve ADHD Treatments? – U.S. News and World Report
Dr. David W. Goodman, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the director of the Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Center of Maryland, calls the research “interesting and very sophisticated,” touting its ability “to parse out language” used on Twitter and yield high prediction rates when picking out ADHD individuals versus non-ADHD individuals.

This is a scientifically determined playlist for tripping? - Inverse
The swelling soundscape surrounding you is the artistry of psychologist Bill Richards, Ph.D., who developed the playlist specifically for your psychedelic trip. Richards works with Roland Griffiths’s lab at Johns Hopkins University, where patients get more than just conventional medicine.

There Once Was a Girl: Against the false narratives of anorexia. - Slate
Though their effect is hard to quantify, “a lot of war stories and memoirs out there … glorify the specialness and suffering of anorexia,” says Dr. Angela Guarda, director of the Johns Hopkins Eating Disorders Program. “Anecdotally, patients often acknowledge that these writings romanticize the disorder,” and that “reading them can be triggering and worsen their ED.”

Fundraising stamps will benefit Alzheimer's disease research (video) - WBAL-TV
The United States Postal Service is doing its part to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Officials held a ceremony at Johns Hopkins [Bayview Medical Center] to unveil the Alzheimer's semi postal fund-raising stamp. It will benefit the Department of Health and Human Services and their efforts to find a cure

November

Mount Airy woman recognized at Alzheimer's awareness stamp dedication - Carroll Count Times
Thursday’s ceremony included comment from many, including Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center President Dr. Richard Bennett and Congressman Elijah Cummings, D-District 7.

USPS dedicates Alzheimer’s fundraising stamp - WCBD News 2
Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan dedicated a stamp today to fund research to help find a cure for one of the top 10 leading causes of death — Alzheimer’s. The first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony for the Alzheimer’s Semipostal Fundraising stamp took place at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore.

Redefining age (audio; 21:35) - WYPR-FM
[The show's host says to author Ann Kaiser Stearns]: You write that there's a learning curve to caregiving, and you quote Dr. Ray DePaulo, the former head of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medicine, about ways to avoid what you call "the catastrophic reaction."

Self-harm rises sharply among tween and young teen girls, study shows - Los Angeles Times
In a November 2016 study chronicling the rise in depression among young girls, a team led by Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Ramin Mojtabai noted that adolescent girls appear to be coming under increasing stress. As an example, Mojtabai and his team wrote that cyberbullying may have increased more dramatically among girls than boys.

What is ephebophilia? Some say attraction to teens is not the same as paedophilia - International Business Times
"The average man refrains from sex with a child not only because he's a moral person but also because a child does not tempt him sexually," said [Fred] Berlin, founder of the Sexual Disorders Clinic at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. "Ephebophilia is a condition in which a person is attracted not to prepubescent children but to children or adolescents around the time of puberty, basically teenagers. Most men can find adolescents attractive sexually, although, of course, that doesn't mean they're going to act on it."

A change of mind: Scientists are learning to predict psychosis years in advance — and possibly prevent -The Scientist
[W]hy does one person with these early signs develop psychosis and not another? Brain studies have yielded some clues. In healthy kids, "the brain dynamically changes" during adolescence, says Akira Sawa, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. 

Why can’t Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford offer care for mentally ill kids? - San Jose Mercury News
Model inpatient youth psychiatric care is provided at other U.S. hospitals, including Johns Hopkins, which delivers inpatient diagnosis and treatment for ages 5 to 17.

The U.S. Postal Service is taking on Alzheimer’s with a new stamp - Washington Post
The first-class stamp, which shows someone placing a hand on the shoulder of an elderly woman, hints at the hope and companionship that caregivers, researchers and an aware public can bring.... The stamp will be dedicated at a ceremony at the Memory & Alzheimer’s Treatment Center at Johns Hopkins’s Bayview campus in Baltimore on Nov. 30.

This doctor might have the answer to the fentanyl crisis - Vancouver magazine
The last five or so years have seen a resurgence of clinical interest in psychedelics — the old hippie drugs that can open what Johns Hopkins psychologist Roland Griffiths calls a “spiritual window” through which deep insight might flow.

Why powerful men make women watch them masturbate - San Diego Union-Tribune
Driven by strong, recurrent sexual urges, exhibitionists act on a self-deceptive fantasy that the witness might enjoy the experience, said Frederick Berlin, the director of the Sex and Gender Clinic at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. When the witness responds negatively, the exhibitionist often feels intense regret, shame and self-disgust, said Berlin, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.?

How caring for a sick pet can raise your risk of depression - U.S. News & World Report
Caring for a sick pet has many parallels with providing care to human loved one, says Dr. Susan W. Lehmann, clinical director of the division of geriatric psychiatry and neuropsychiatry and director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Day Hospital at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

October

Monthly shot for opioid addiction might be as effective as daily medication - Healthline News
“One of the biggest risk factors for people when they detox is that in the 30 days after, they are no longer physically dependent on opiates. They have a very high risk of relapsing to opiates,” Kelly Dunn, PhD, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told Healthline.

The Most Lethal Means: Guns and Suicide – WYPR
Paul Nestadt, MD, postdoctoral fellow, is interviewed.  His recent research paper compares urban and rural suicide rates in Maryland. Ramin Mojtabai, MD and Patrick Triplett are also authors on that paper. 

How to talk to kids about the deadly New York City truck attack - ABC News
Joan Kaufman, a professor of psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said having conversations about Tuesday’s attack with children of all ages -- including as young as preschool -- is a must for parents. “There might be the feeling they want to protect their kids and not talk to them about it, but children are going to find out,” she said. “It’s better if information about the event comes from the parents.”

The caffeine 'detox': How and why to cut back on your daily fix - CNN
"Caffeine is the most commonly consumed psychoactive drug," said Mary M. Sweeney, an instructor who researches caffeine's effects on individuals in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "When we consume caffeine, it has positive effects on mood and alertness, and people like these beneficial effects."

Why we all have clutter and how to get rid of it - Psych Central
I do not feel equipped to give advice here when I’m tripping over piles of books on the floor of my bedroom. But I like the behavioral tips offered by Dr. Gerald Nestadt, director of the Johns Hopkins OCD clinic, in an issue of The Johns Hopkins Depression & Anxiety Bulletin.

Betty Jarratt, psychiatric liaison at Hopkins Hospital - Baltimore Sun
Betty Jarratt, a former psychiatric liaison at Johns Hopkins Hospital … died Thursday of respiratory failure at The Cedars, a Portland, Maine, retirement community. She was 94…. After Ms. Jarratt was divorced in 1966, she moved to Baltimore when she was selected by Hopkins Hospital to work with Dr. Joel Elkes, a noted expert on brain chemistry and early psychiatric drugs.

Will psychedelic therapy transform mental health care? - NBC News
In 2016 … a Johns Hopkins study and a concurrent New York University study found that about 80 percent of cancer patients showed clinically significant decreases in depressed mood and anxiety even six months after receiving one to two psilocybin treatments.

September

You can't cure depression by working out – Vice
"People experience anxiety, no doubt about it, but [most] don't have an anxiety disorder," says Jennifer Payne, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "Yoga is fabulous and can be great for anxiety, but it's not going to cure an anxiety disorder."

Interrupted sleep can prevent slow wave sleep and wreck your mood  -Today
“When sleep is disrupted several times during the night you may never get to slow wave sleep,” explains the study’s lead author, Patrick Finan, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. And that, Finan says, may be what makes all the difference in a person’s mood the next day.

Parental age ups rate of new mutations passed to children  - Spectrum
The findings provide one possible explanation for the increased risk of autism among children born to older parents. But it is still unclear how much of the risk the increased mutation rate explains, says Daniel Weinberger, professor of psychiatry, neurology and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who was not involved in the study.

Matter of Fact: State of Addiction (video; 33:28) - WBAL-TV
This primetime, one-hour special that addresses America's opioid epidemic includes the story of a Baltimore heroin user who has been treated at, among other places, Johns Hopkins’ Broadway Center for Addiction. A woman who has been supportive of his recovery treatment says the Broadway Center “has really taken the time to diagnose him and treat him as a person.”

Psychiatric services from pages to practice (audio; 9:15) - Psychiatric Services
The hosts of this podcast discuss a recent report by Stanislav Spivak, medical director, Johns Hopkins’ Mobile Treatment Services of Community Psychiatry, on the effects of direct-to-consumer advertising on medication adherence.

America’s Opioid Epidemic - Search for Solutions – The Hill
A panel discussion featuring Ken Stoller, M.D. Director of the JH Broadway Center for Addiction

Changing the dialogue about mental illness in black community - Afro American
Resources are available. Maryland boasts a higher doctor to patient ratio than the national average. Organizations like The Simon Life and Wellness Center and All Walks of Life, among others, cater to Baltimore’s underserved populations. Inpatient and outpatient programs that accept Medicaid are available at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Alzheimer’s linked to low brain chemical count? - National Enquirer
Research carried out by Gwenn Smith, a psychiatry professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, examined the levels of serotonin in the brains of 56 participants.... Scans found participants with [mild cognitive impairment] had up to 38 percent less serotonin than healthy participants of the same age. The findings suggest the brain chemical may drive the illness rather than simply being its by-product.

2 scientists are locked in a race to develop a groundbreaking vaccine for heroin, but it might not be a 'magic bullet' - Business Insider
While the Obama administration made administrative changes to increase the number of prescribers administering buprenorphine last year, a study conducted by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine earlier this year found that only 44% of physicians who had obtained a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine were doing so at full capacity.

Hobart man seeks 'chemical castration' instead of prison time - Chicago Tribune
[Michael] Bessigano asked that the court consider the time he's spent incarcerated and release him on the condition that he undergoes chemical hormone treatments using the drug Depo-Lupron, that would reduce his testosterone levels.... Fred Berlin, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, evaluated Bessigano during a July interview and wrote in a letter that the hormone treatment could prove effective.

The Secret To Chronic Happiness As You Age - Kaiser Health News
“You have to be willing to accept your new reality — and move forward,” said Dr. Susan Lehmann, director of the geriatric psychiatry day program at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Aim to have the best life you can at where you are right now.”

August

Helping children exposed to trauma recover (audio) - KJZZ-FM (Tempe, Ariz.)
How do violent and traumatic experiences in childhood affect ... kids [in war-torn areas] as they grow up, and how can experts help them? With me to help answer those questions is Dr. Carolina Vidal. She's an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry.

Research into marijuana benefits for vets with PTSD in danger of shutdown - Military Times
[The study] has faced numerous problems. Getting federal approval took five years. Officials at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland withdrew from the study shortly after its formal start, leaving [the principal investigator] with a single Arizona site to monitor participants.

California moves to become the first US state to legalise magic mushrooms - International Business Times (U.K.)
Psilocybin is considered a Schedule I drug by the California Controlled Substances Act and the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Drugs in this ranking have no accepted medical use and a high potential for dependence and abuse, according to the DEA.... However, a New York University study and a Johns Hopkins University research paper published late last year found that psilocybin helped ease anxiety and depression for some cancer patients.

Going deep with psychedelic therapy - Vice
Two years ago, after reading about a study carried out by Johns Hopkins University, which showed that psilocybin had an 80 percent success rate in smoking cessation, I decided to try it out for myself. With ... a handful of freshly picked magic mushrooms, I achieved in an afternoon what years of painful attempts to go cold turkey and abortive nicotine replacement courses had failed to do. I haven't touched – or even thought about – cigarettes since.

VA roadblock hinders study on cannabis as PTSD treatment for veterans, researcher says - The Cannabist (via Denver Post)
The study [to treat post-traumatic stress disorder] moved forward under MAPS [Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies], and after receiving funding from Colorado, Johns Hopkins University joined the study in September 2015. However, in March the Baltimore university pulled out of the study without enrolling any veterans.... [A] dispute reportedly arose over federal drug policy, and whether to openly challenge federal rules on medical cannabis research.

Ecstasy could be ‘breakthrough’ therapy for soldiers, others suffering from PTSD - Washington Post
The next step was investigating MDMA’s effects on people. [Rick] Doblin again raised money to fly psychedelic users he had befriended to Stanford University and Johns Hopkins University for spinal taps. The studies were approved by review boards at both institutions.

How to lose weight? Get your brain under control - Boston Globe
“If you have an overweight mother, you’re more likely to become obese,” said Susan Carnell, the study’s author and an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. “We were trying to see if there’s something different about the brain in students with a high risk of becoming obese later in life.”

Guns Play Oversize Role in Rural Suicides – New York Times
“Patients with mental health issues should be assessed for gun availability,” said the lead author, Dr. Paul S. Nestadt, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins. “We give out condoms and clean needles to people at risk for H.I.V. Why not give out trigger locks to family members of patients at risk for suicide?”
Also covered by Kaiser Health News and Healthline

Montel Williams Shares His MS Treatment Story – WUSA
Features Dr. Adam Kaplin talking about depression in MS.

Researchers leverage PET and MR to uncover serotonin's role in Alzheimer's - Dotmed
“The study shows that the serotonin system is affected in the early stages before memory problems are severe enough to meet criteria for dementia,” Dr. Gwenn Smith, professor and director of geriatric psychiatry and neuropsychiatry at the university, told HCB News. “We hope the study will stimulate development of medications targeting the serotonin system for use in individuals at risk for dementia.”

Scans show lower brain serotonin levels linked to dementia - United Press International
Researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine found that lower levels of serotonin transporter in the brain are linked to dementia. Serotonin transporter is the brain chemical responsible for appetite, sleep and mood.... Researchers examined brain scans of patients with early signs of memory decline and found that lower serotonin transporters may be the driving force of dementia, not a byproduct.

Humanities in Healthcare - WYPR
How can the humanities be used to help doctors provide better care for their patients? Meg Chisolm, Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Education in the department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, spoke about the BEAM (Bedside Education in the Art of Medicine) initiative (@BedEdArtMed).

Weed and depression: Does marijuana make for depressed brains? - U.S. News & World Report
While there is substantive evidence that pot increases the risk of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, the link to depression is unclear. “If there is an association, the data are not as robust as with psychotic illness. It’s just conjecture,” says Dr. Eric C. Strain, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and Research and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins.

Psychedelic drugs saved my life. So why aren't they prescribed? - Wired
Roland Griffiths, a professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, has likened psychedelics' ability to bring about neural rerouting as akin to a "surgical intervention."

When addiction treatment means decades on Methadone – WYPR On Point
…according to Ken Stoller, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins Hospital who specializes in addiction psychiatry. For example, he said when Methadone is prescribed properly, there are no real long-term health risks — no more than there might be side effects with any medication. “This is one area of medicine where it seems like there’s more focus on opinion or philosophy as opposed to the science because the science is really, really clear on this,” Stoller said.

'I suffered from an eating disorder you've probably never heard of before' - Women's Health
Several studies ... including one from Johns Hopkins University, have identified [chewing and spitting] as a common behavior in individuals with anorexia, bulimia, and/or other eating disorders, and have suggested it may be a marker of disorder severity.

New Yorker shares tools he’s developed to overcome chronic pain in new book - am New York
[Jim] Curtis defines a “stimulati” as someone who “ignites passion, thought and wellness.” After 20 years seeking out everything from reiki to acupuncture to cryotherapy to treat his pain, he found his own stimulati. They include ... Adam Kaplin, a psychiatrist affiliated with Johns Hopkins Hospital, with whom Curtis created the anxiety-tracking app Mood 24/7, and career coach Denise Spatafora.

July

As dozens more report blackouts at Mexico resorts, country says it will act on tainted alcohol -Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Matthew Johnson, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, has no direct evidence, but the stories [about tainted alcohol] point to several likely possibilities: scopolamine, phencyclidine (better known as PCP) or methaqualone (quaaludes, a drug popular in the 1970s). Based on the many accounts vacationers described, any of those drugs seems to make sense, said Johnson, a specialist in behavioral pharmacology.
Also reported by: USA Today

How to improve your memory and brain health - AARP?
“The GCBH [Global Council on Brain Health] recommends people incorporate cognitively stimulating activities into their lifestyle to help maintain their brain health as they age,” says Marilyn Albert, chair of GBCH and director of the Division of Cognitive Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “The sooner you start, the better because what you do now may make you less susceptible to disease-related brain changes later in life.”

In the context of the opioid crisis, doctors discuss the future of chronic pain treatment - KPCC-FM (Los Angeles)
Against the backdrop of the opioid crisis, we sit down with three doctors to explore the rise of opiates, and how pain treatment can move past them.… Among the guests: Michael Clark, M.D., vice chair for clinical affairs and director of the pain treatment program in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Psychedelics like shrooms could address depression in a way that's fundamentally different from prescription drugs - Business Insider
[The] shrinking of the sense of self has been linked with long-lasting shifts in perspective — changes that appear to be related to a reduction in symptoms of depression and anxiety. That’s according to clinical trials of magic mushrooms’ active ingredient, psilocybin, in cancer patients at Johns Hopkins and New York University.

Challenging intake guidelines with Dr Graham Redgrave - The Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast 
Tabitha Farrar talks to Dr Graham Redgrave about the research done at Johns Hopkins looking into higher weights and a faster rate of refeeding patients with anorexia in an inpatient hospital setting. 

Are movies about eating disorders fundamentally uncinematic? - Pacific Standard magazine
[Dr. Angela Guarda, director of the Eating Disorders Program at the Johns Hopkins University, says] that filmmakers could emphasize that one recovers from an eating disorder — as most do — through treatment that helps patients create healthy eating habits.... She says that films would do well to also include plots where loved ones encourage a sufferer to get help, providing an audience with practical, helpful information.

Drug testing at raves & festivals could save lives - The Fix
“People would be safest not taking any street drugs at all, but if free, no-fault testing can reduce deaths and other catastrophic consequences, it may be a service worth having,” said Matthew Johnson, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Keith Conners, psychologist who set standard for diagnosing A.D.H.D., dies at 84 - New York Times
The field of child psychiatry was itself still young when Dr. Conners joined the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the early 1960s as a clinical psychologist.... Dr. Conners focused on a group of youngsters who were chronically restless, hyperactive and sometimes aggressive.

Clinical trial examines tramadol to treat opioid withdrawal - United Press International
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found the drug tramadol, when combined with other therapies, may be effective for treating opioid withdrawal. The results of the clinical trial, published in JAMA Psychiatry, showed tramadol extended-release suppressed withdrawal symptoms more than clonidine and was similar to buprenorphine, both drugs commonly used in opioid withdrawal.
Study also highlighted in NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research website and newsletter.

Can psychoactive drugs help ministers be more effective? University researchers aim to find out - Christian Today
Pastors and priests are taking drugs – but it's all in the name of science. Scientists at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have enlisted two dozen religious leaders for a study in which they are given two doses of psilocybin, the active ingredient in 'magic mushrooms'. The idea is to see how a transcendental experience affects religious thinking and whether it makes them more effective in their work, according to The Guardian.
Also reported by: Scientific American

What happens when a rabbi, a priest and twenty two other religious leaders get high on magic mushrooms? - Daily Mail (U.K.)
Religious leaders are taking a psychedelic drug to study its effect on religious experience. Scientists have recruited 24 religious leaders from different faiths and practices to participate in the ongoing study at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. The participants, who are anonymous, will be given doses of psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms.
Also reported by: The Guardian (U.K.)

Surprise: A large share of ‘Molly’ brought to music festivals doesn’t actually contain MDMA, Hopkins researchers say - Baltimore Fishbowl
A medical research team from the school, led by psychiatry and behavioral sciences professor Matthew Johnson, partnered up on a study with the nonprofit DanceSafe, which tested samples of concertgoers’ drugs for free (and without penalty) from July 2010 through July 2015.

The robot sex doll revolution may have some big downsides, experts warn - Vice
There’s no evidence to suggest that these dolls really help anybody, and experts are unconvinced. In fact, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine paraphilia researcher Peter Fagan told the Atlantic in 2016 that childlike sex dolls would likely lead would-be pedophiles to act upon their urges “with greater urgency.”

The fine art of mental illness: What paintings tell us about someone’s psyche - Washington Post and numerous subscribers
James C. Harris, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science and director of Johns Hopkins University’s Developmental Neuropsychiatry Clinic, spent more than a decade writing monthly essays that connect the visual arts to larger issues of psychiatry and mental illness. Now, those essays and the art that inspired them have been collected by the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

My Time: Lecture combines clinical research with powerful personal narratives - Baltimore Sun
Around 80 people, many of whom are clinical professionals, attended the lecture hosted by Chesapeake Life Center and held May 3 at the Meeting House in Columbia. The first speaker, Dr. D. Andrew Tompkins, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, shared his research on opioid use disorders and their treatments. Also reported by: Capital Gazette

June

Here's how much Fitbit users sleep - PC magazine
"These findings further support the general recommendation that most adults need to consistently sleep 7 to 9 hours per night, and illustrate why a good night's rest is so important for your overall well-being," Fitbit advisory panel sleep expert Michael T. Smith, Jr., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry, neurology, and nursing at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, said in a statement.

How People With Dementia Can Live at Home Longer – Next Avenue
The MIND program makes a difference, saving money for families and Medicaid
Quincy Samus, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins who leads the MIND at Home research team, is conducting two more studies of the program. One, through a $6.4 million innovation grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, focuses on low-income older adults and their caregivers. The other, funded with $3.4 million from the National Institute on Aging, looks at participants of all income levels. Both studies will gain insight into the program’s costs and long-term sustainability. Combined, they involve 647 people with dementia and an equal number of family members in central Maryland.

How people with dementia can live at home longer - Forbes
[The Gerben family] got a boost from a program in Maryland called Maximizing Independence (MIND) at Home. [It was] designed in 2006 by dementia specialists at Johns Hopkins University and offered to families as part of Johns Hopkins research that is still ongoing.

What a ‘transcendent experience’ really means - New York magazine
[O]ne day in 2008, [Janeen Delaney] learned about a study at Johns Hopkins University looking at people facing imminent death. The research team, led by psychiatrist Roland Griffiths, wanted to know whether having a major transcendent experience — induced by psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called magic mushrooms — would help people like Janeen face death with peace rather than despair.... Janeen signed up.

Alzheimer's patients need special care, but providers aren't ready to give it - Healthcare Dive
Older people with Alzheimer’s have twice as many hospital stays per year as other older Americans…. “People with Alzheimer’s really need a lot of care,” Dr. Kostas Lyketsos, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told Healthcare Dive.

9 things to consider when your antidepressant poops out - Everyday Health
Rule out noncompliance. This seems like a no-brainer, but according to Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D., a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the biggest challenge professionals face in treating bipolar disorder ... is medical adherence. Approximately 40 to 45 percent of bipolar patients do not take their medications as prescribed.

After Mission bust, hemp oil producer to make no-THC products for Kansas - Kansas City Star
Ryan Vandrey, a psychiatry professor at Johns Hopkins University who has studied the effects of cannabis, said it’s hard to pin down how much low-THC hemp oil one would have to consume to have a psychoactive effect. But he said it’s a lot, and most law enforcement agencies haven’t done much to crack down on it, in part because “the hemp law is a little bit confusing.”

Caffeine is a silent performance killer - Huffington Post
New research from Johns Hopkins shows that performance increases due to caffeine intake are the result of caffeine drinkers experiencing a short-term reversal of caffeine withdrawal. By controlling for caffeine use in study participants, Johns Hopkins researchers found that caffeine-related performance improvement is nonexistent without caffeine withdrawal.

The new way to prevent anxiety in kids - Time
Researchers at the University of Connecticut and Johns Hopkins University tested an eight-week therapy for healthy kids who each had at least one parent with an anxiety disorder. During the following year, 31% of kids who didn’t receive the therapy developed an anxiety disorder, whereas only 5% of kids who received treatment developed one.

The VA admits pot could help veterans, but doctors still can't prescribe medical marijuana - Circa
In March, Johns Hopkins University pulled out of a marijuana PTSD study due to a dispute over federal drug policy and whether to challenge federal rules requiring researchers to only use medical cannabis grown by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Michael Phelps added to Medibio board of directors - Swimming World
According to a press release put out by Medibio, an evidence-based medical technology company located in Australia, Michael Phelps has been added to the organization’s Board of Directors.... Medibio’s depression diagnostic is being validated in clinical studies undertaken by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and The University of Ottawa, among others.

May

Seniors and depression: Not a normal part of aging - U.S. News & World Report
Dr. Susan W. Lehmann, clinical director of the division of geriatric psychiatry and neuropsychiatry and director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Day Hospital at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: “Depression is never considered a normal part of aging,” she says. “While the more of life we live, the more likely we are to experience times of sadness and grief related to loss or change, most people handle these life challenges without developing a persistent depressive disorder.”

The long, hard road to a science of bad drug trips - Motherboard/Vice
[The] renewed interest in psychedelic harm reduction has increasingly attracted individual researchers running psychedelic studies at various research institutions around the world. At the forefront of these psychedelic studies is Johns Hopkins University, which has been pioneering research into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin, the psychoactive component of magic mushrooms, for the last few years.

Is Alcohol a Depressant? - U.S. News & World Report
[H]aving a mental illness makes treating substance dependence much more difficult. “The dilemma for those with depression is that a drug that produces a transient elevation of mood may make the person think, 'This is helpful,'” says Dr. Eric C. Strain, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and Research and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

Adult ADHD can't be diagnosed with a simple screening test, doctors warn? (audio) - NPR and numerous subscribers
Dr. David Goodman, an ADHD specialist at Johns Hopkins University and the Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Center of Maryland, [says] that not everyone who experiences the symptoms of ADHD necessarily suffers from the disorder, and that a simple screening test cannot diagnose it.??

Magic mushrooms might be the "safest" recreational drug, but they're still risky - Mashable
Two recent studies at New York University and Johns Hopkins University found that psilocybin — a key compound in the mushrooms — has promising therapeutic benefits for people with depression. Proponents are seeking to legalize mushrooms for use in controlled, medical settings.

Bipolar disorder dating tips - Teen Vogue
According to Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who both has and studies bipolar illness, the average age of onset is around 22. But some people experience symptoms earlier — right about when they are starting to date.

Magic mushrooms might be the "safest" recreational drug, but they're still risky - Mashable
Two recent studies at New York University and Johns Hopkins University found that psilocybin — a key compound in the mushrooms — has promising therapeutic benefits for people with depression. Proponents are seeking to legalize mushrooms for use in controlled, medical settings.

The truth about 'Blue Whale,' an online game that tells teens to self-harm - Motherboard
Dr. Shannon Barnett, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told Motherboard in an email that while this game exemplifies the risk of someone taking advantage of youth who are emotionally distressed, there is no one reason for adolescents to feel so bad that they have suicidal thoughts and/or thoughts of harming themselves.

Bipolar disorder dating tips - Teen Vogue
According to Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who both has and studies bipolar illness, the average age of onset is around 22. But some people experience symptoms earlier — right about when they are starting to date.

Sex workers who use LSD have lower suicide risk, study finds - The Globe and Mail (Canada)
There is a growing body of research into the benefits of psychedelic drugs. In 2014, researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore reported that some long-time smokers who had failed many attempts to quit did so successfully while receiving magic mushrooms, in the context of a cognitive behavioral therapy treatment program. 

This is how much caffeine it takes to kill an average person - USA Today and numerous affiliates
[T]he limit varies from person to person, says Maggie Sweeney, a postdoctoral research fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine's department of psychiatry. "For adults it would be uncommon to experience effects of caffeine intoxication at less than 250 milligrams of caffeine (or 2.5 cups of coffee)," she said. "...It would typically be more than 12 ounces, but much more common to have the negative effects with greater than 500 milligrams of caffeine."

Psychedelic drugs: The future of mental health - Reason
A recent study found that MDMA-assisted therapy could help veterans suffering from PTSD. Another paper from Johns Hopkins presented evidence that therapy in conjunction with psilocybin mushrooms can help ease the mental suffering of terminal cancer patients. These findings, among others, were presented at the 2017 Psychedelic Science Conference in Oakland, California.

How a man's near-death with cancer inspired him to fund LSD research - Inc.
[E]ntrepreneur Rodrigo Niño has launched Fundamental, a crowdfunding platform that allows people to fund psychedelic research in an effort to develop FDA-approved therapies.... The psychedelic renaissance was jumpstarted by Roland Griffiths, a professor of behavioral biology at Johns Hopkins, in 2006 when he published an influential paper about the meaningful spiritual experiences patients go through while on psilocybin.

Can psychedelic drugs treat mental illness? Scientists need your help to find out. - Huffington Post
This past December ... researchers at [New York University and] Johns Hopkins University published the results of two separate clinical trials on the effects of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy on patients with cancer-related anxiety and depression. All told, between 60 and 80 percent of the subjects showed clinically significant reductions in both psychological disorders after treatment.

Researchers will soon evaluate risks, benefits of self-medicating with small doses of LSD - Mashable
Two concurrent studies at New York University and Johns Hopkins University found that psilocybin — a key compound in hallucinogenic mushrooms — can help ease existential depression in people with life-threatening cancer, specifically when taken in a controlled setting and combined with therapy.

Is a placebo better than nothing to treat insomnia?? - Reuters
Beyond the small number of total participants, another limitation of the current study is that researchers didn’t have objective measurements of sleep quality or duration to compare placebos against no treatment, the authors note in Sleep Medicine. Still, the results make sense because insomnia is ultimately a disorder of perception, said Patrick Finan, a psychiatry and behavior researcher at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

A doorway to change - Psychology Today
At Johns Hopkins, psychiatrist Matthew Johnson led a 2014 pilot study of 15 longtime smokers treated with psilocybin and had found that 80 percent abstained from smoking six months after the trial — an especially compelling result as nicotine dependence is often thought to be primarily physiological....

One family's journey through a mental health crisis - Today
In a Q&A, Dr. Jennifer Payne, a noted researcher and clinician who directs the Women's Mood Disorder Clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital, tells Today both medicine and society still have a ways to go in the treatment of mental illness.

Can psychedelic drugs treat anxiety and depression? - Men's Health
Psychedelics are again finding favor among scientists. NYU Langone isn't alone: Teams at institutions as varied as Imperial College London, the University of Alabama, and Johns Hopkins are currently studying them.

Know the warning signs of suicide - WBAL-TV
Following a segment on a new Netflix show that focuses on a teenage girl’s suicide, Dr. Holly Wilcox, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins, expresses concern that the show discusses suicide in an irresponsible and graphic way and suggest that if parents want to allow their children to watch it, they should watch it with them.

April

Psychedelic drugs might actually tap into a higher power (study) - Inverse
“It’s our thought that the foundational underpinnings of the world’s religions may stem from a common sense of unity and interconnectedness, and that perhaps there’s something very similar about them,” says Johns Hopkins psychologist Dr. Roland Griffiths, lead author of the study. 

‘Higher state of consciousness’ from psychedelics is not just a hippie idea — it’s biological - The Fix
As for psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, research from scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University have found it to be an effective tool for treating depression and anxiety in terminally ill individuals.

What happens if you smoke marijuana every day? - USA Today and numerous subscribers
Dr. Ryan Vandrey, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Medicine, says you can't generalize marijuana users. Other factors need to be considered, such as their dosage and the reason a person is using the drug. However, he said marijuana can have impact on how people perform at their job or at school. Withdrawal can occur after a period of long-term repeated use.

JCS Partners with Hopkins on Innovative Dementia Study – Baltimore Jewish Times
More than 10 years ago, the late philanthropist LeRoy E. Hoffberger sought to improve the lives of people living at home with dementia and the lives of their caregivers. Together, Hoffberger and Dr. Constantine Lyketsos, director of Johns Hopkins Memory and Alzheimer’s Treatment Center, brainstormed on what became the MIND at Home: Memory Care Coordination studies. (MIND stands for Maximizing Independence)

Howard County's shortage of affordable housing for mentally ill undermines stability* - Baltimore Sun
Demand for Howard County General Hospital's inpatient psychiatric unit is increasing, according to a hospital spokesperson. A new psychiatric unit is part of the plans for a new two-story addition to the hospital, along with a larger expanded emergency unit and a new pediatric emergency unit.

The ayahuasca ceremony is going under the scientific-method microscope - Quartz
[R]ather than playing the sacred songs which are said to influence the effects of the ayahuasca, the researchers are considering using the same recorded music that is used in the psilocybin trials at Johns Hopkins and New York universities. 

Judge sees a boy, not a disorder - Baltimore Sun
One man sees a child suffering from a psychological disorder. The other sees a young civil rights leader. The sharply contrasting opinions of two prominent men from Baltimore – one a former chief psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, the other a senior judge of the federal appeals court in Richmond — appear in the case of Gavin Grimm….

The Federal Government Makes It Ridiculously Hard to Study Gun Violence and Medical Marijuana - Scientific American
“It can't come off of Schedule I to a different schedule until the traditional drug development work has been done, and I don't think the traditional drug development work [large phase III trials] really can be done while it's Schedule I,” said Ryan Vandrey of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine on February 19 at the AAAS conference. “It's a catch-22.”

New research on treatment for pediatric bipolar disorder focus of UC Davis lecture - UC Davis Health
Robert Findling. Findling is the director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and vice chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins. He is also the vice president for Psychiatric Services and Research at the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

The Innovating, Creative Superpowers of ADHD - Yes Magazine
Dr. David Goodman, assistant professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, explained how a person can have an IQ of 140 or 80 and have ADHD.

5 ways to help a partner who's suffering from mild depression -  Prevention
Instead of reacting negatively to a thought or a feeling about your partner's depression (i.e. "why do you never want to go to the movies?") try asking a question that will make him or her feel like their feelings are valid, suggests Lauren Osborne, MD, assistant director of the Women's Mood Disorders Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Something like, "I notice you have been really irritable and down lately, do you want to talk?"

Hopkins to resume gender reassignment surgeries - Washington Blade
In a little-noticed development, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore disclosed last July that it would open a new Center for Transgender Health and will resume performing gender reassignment surgeries after a 38-year hiatus.... “We will wait until we are fully staffed and officially open, probably this summer, before we plan any proactive outreach on the new Center for Transgender Health,” [a spokeswoman for] Johns Hopkins Medicine told the Washington Blade in an email.

Can trans people trust Johns Hopkins’s new clinic? - Daily Beast
[I]n a new statement to The Daily Beast ... a Johns Hopkins Medicine spokesperson stated: “Johns Hopkins Medicine has and is taking steps toward becoming an employer and provider of choice for all, including transgender individuals. And statements or actions to the contrary by current or former affiliates of Johns Hopkins do not reflect our institution’s current views. We are committed to being a caring, inclusive place for all patients, families and employees.”

The problem with America's marijuana DUI laws: Science - Reno Gazette Journal
While it would seem logical to model drugged driving laws after existing drunken driving laws, marijuana is a tricky substance. “Alcohol is the exception. Alcohol is the only drug that we can immediately determine whether someone is acutely impaired on the roadside,” said [Dr. Ryan Vandrey, associate professor of behavioral pharmacology research at Johns Hopkins University]. “There are lots of drugs that we don’t have reliable tests for – cannabis is the normative.”

March

I Saw The Light: Reducing anxiety, stress, depression, more with shrooms – City Paper
Nearly four decades after research into psychedelics was suppressed by the government, a new wave of scientists is restoring legitimacy to a misunderstood and promising area of research. Baltimore is home to arguably the most prestigious psychedelic research program in the world. The studies conducted by Roland Griffiths and his team at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine did not just commence this new era of legally sanctioned research; they are also the most rigorous scientific studies to date on psilocybin.

Hopkins was ready to test pot as a treatment for PTSD. Then it quit the study. - Washington Post and subscribers
Eighteen months after joining a study on using marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, Johns Hopkins University has pulled out without enrolling any veterans, the latest setback for the long-awaited research. A Johns Hopkins spokeswoman said the university’s goals were no longer aligned with those of the administrator of the study, the Santa Cruz-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Also reported by: The Cannabist, Weed Weekly

Do You Zone Out? Procrastinate? Might Be Adult ADHD - NPR Shots

"It's very important to look at the questions in their totality, not each individual symptom," says Dr. David Goodman, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine who was not involved in the study. "No single question stands out as indicating ADHD."

Social Media Is Causing Depression Among Teen Girls - MSN
A "steady stream of research" suggests that far more girls than boys are battling major depression in their almost-adult years — and the growing psychological dependence on Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and other social media may be making young women more vulnerable to mental illness. Ramin Mojtabai’s research is mentioned.

Baltimore's spot in the history of psychotherapy* (audio) WYPR-FM
As the American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work gathered [in Baltimore] this past weekend, [WYPR talked]  to two therapists [including Daniel Buccino, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a clinical supervisor in the community psychiatry program at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center] about Baltimore’s special spot in the development of psychoanalysis, the challenges for therapists and residents in a city suffused with trauma….

The sublime psychology of Baltimore - Baltimore Sun
This opinion piece that looks at Baltimore’s "tender and tough, wounded and surviving, swaggering and fearful, Northern and Southern, black and white" psychology was co-written by Daniel Buccino, clinical director of the Mood Disorders Clinic at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

Why some women may be more biologically susceptible to postpartum depression? - Shape
Researchers estimate that only 15 percent of women who are affected [by postpartum depression] get treatment. That's why we're stoked to see the latest research coming from Johns Hopkins University. It shows that having high levels of an anti-anxiety hormone throughout pregnancy — especially the second trimester — may protect soon-to-be-moms against PPD.

How tripping kills your fear of dying, and why that could change your life - The Rooster
Matthew W. Johnson is a researcher at Johns Hopkins who has the interesting job of giving magic mushrooms to dying people. In one recent study, with FDA approval and university funding, Johnson got 51 cancer patients [high] on mushrooms, and 80 percent of them said it helped them feel more optimistic and less scared of death.

Why the clinical use of psychedelics may heal sexual trauma - Psychology Today
Research on such chemicals as psilocybin (the psychoactive ingredient in "magic mushrooms") and MDMA ("ecstasy") are now in Phase 3 FDA-approved trials, with significant preliminary results. Psilocybin research at Johns Hopkins University and NYU, for example, have found that patients with terminal cancer experienced a reduction in mortality related depression and anxiety and heightened levels of well-being.

Forgiveness … the ultimate freedom - W4CY radio (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
More and more though it is being found that ... feelings [of hurt, anger and resentfulness] negatively impact our health: “There is an enormous physical burden to being hurt and disappointed,” says Karen Swartz, M.D., director of the Mood Disorders Adult Consultation Clinic at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. "Forgiveness, however, calms stress levels, leading to improved health.”

The psychedelic miracle - Rolling Stone
Currently – legally – we're in the midst of a psychedelic renaissance. New York University, the University of New Mexico, the University of Zurich, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Alabama and the University of California-Los Angeles have all partnered with the psilocybin-focused Heffter Research Institute, studying the compound for smoking cessation, alcoholism, terminal-cancer anxiety and cocaine dependence....

February

Hope you’re ready for the next episode - Boulder Weekly (Colorado)
[P] is getting attention for proving very (very) effective in treating notoriously difficult to treat conditions like end-of-life anxiety, chronic depression and addiction. As just one example, in a 2016 study performed by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine ... it was reported that 80 percent of patients showed “large decreases in clinician and self-rated measures of depressed mood and anxiety, along with increases in quality of life, life meaning, and optimism, and decreases in death anxiety.” Six months later the results were sustained without further treatment.  

Could a club drug be the secret to curing PTSD? - Elle
Other psychedelics [besides MDMA] are also yielding promising lab results, including psilocybin (the active ingredient in so-called magic mushrooms), which teams of researchers from Johns Hopkins and New York University found can reduce anxiety and depression in cancer patients.

'River on Fire' explores genius, madness and the poetry of Robert Lowell - NPR and numerous affiliates
Kay Redfield Jamison's new book describes how Lowell's manic-depressive illness influenced his life and work. "His manias tended to lead him into writing a fresh kind of poetry," she says.... She's a professor in mood disorders and psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Senior Nation: The Science of Forgetfulness with Dr. Constantine Lyketsos (video)
Chestertown Spy (Eastern Shore)
On March 8, the Talbot Hospice will be sponsoring a lecture by one of the leading experts in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease at Easton High School. Dr. Lyketsos, from the [Johns] Hopkins department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, will address these issues and the devastating effects of the illness, but also promising new treatments. The Spy traveled to Baltimore to sit down with Lyketsos before the event for a primer on dementia and memory loss.

Why having sex on cocaine can be dangerous - Esquire
Cocaine makes people do risky [stuff], and science has long tracked the increased risk of cocaine users contracting STIs. But the reason was never scientifically clear. A new, government-funded (!) study from Johns Hopkins, however, found that cocaine use not only increases sexual desire, but it makes that sex more dangerous. 

Can all suicides be prevented in an inpatient facility like St. Joe's? – CBC (Canada)
Dr. Geetha Jayaram is quoted.

Kay Redfield Jamison puts Robert Lowell on the couch in a fascinating biography - Washington Post
Jamison contends that “instability and the relentless recurrence of [Lowell's] illness hardened his discipline while mania impelled and stamped his work.” To establish her diagnosis, this distinguished professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and author of the best-selling memoir “An Unquiet Mind” brings to bear everything she can think of.

The Rise of Mood Tracking: How Big Data Can Transform Psychiatry – Reach MD
Dr. Adam Kaplin, founder and inventor of Mood 24/7, discusses the emergence of mood tracking portals and how they can transform mental health care.

Worrying about your grown kids really can keep you up at night - Reuters
[S]ome parents who worry excessively about their adult children might benefit from therapy to improve coping skills or minimize stress, said Dr. Patrick Finan, a researcher in psychiatry and behavioral health at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore who wasn't involved in the study.

Marijuana as medicine? Weed study exploring clinical trials on military veterans with post traumatic stress disorder - International Business Times
Participants will finish 17 outpatient visits to one of the two study location clinics — one in Phoenix, led by Dr. Sue Sisley, and another at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, led by Ryan Vandrey. The team will be tracking measurements of PTSD, PTSD symptoms and safety data to dig for “vital information on marijuana dosing, composition, side effects, and areas of benefit to clinicians and legislators considering marijuana as a potential treatment for PTSD. ”

Cocaine users are more likely to have sexually transmitted diseases – for this reason
The Telegraph (U.K.)
People who regularly use cocaine are more likely to have sexually transmitted diseases than non-users. According to a new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, this may in part be due to a "sexual-impatience" brought on by the drug which increases the likelihood that users will not bother to use condoms. Also reported by: Inverse, Med India

Can LSD treat depression? Microdosing in the mainstream? - WTOP-AM
When routine therapies and medications failed to help Ayelet Waldman overcome intense mood swings and a deep depression, she turned to something that is generally associated with harm, not health: LSD. Waldman heard about microdosing, or taking tiny doses of drugs, thanks to its growing presence in the media. Researchers at Johns Hopkins and New York universities have studied the impact of psychedelic drugs on cancer patients for anxiety.

Marijuana anxiety? Here's what to do if you have a panic attack while high - Mic
Can weed cause panic attacks? "It can," said Ryan Vandrey, who studies the behavioral pharmacology of cannabis use at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in a phone interview. "It happens from direct effects of the drug in the brain and/or direct effects of the drug on body."

January

The potentially dangerous effect cocaine can have on your sex life
Cosmopolitan
A study by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, United States has discovered a correlation between people who use cocaine and the increased risk of catching and spreading STIs.

Is the Mediterranean diet good for kids, too?
CNN
For parents who would like to introduce a Mediterranean diet into their children's daily eating routine, Dr. Carolina Vidal, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, offered a few tips. "Slowly introduce fruits and vegetables, and present them consistently with the other foods they eat.

Yes, it’s possible to have too much caffeine (and these are the caffeine overdose symptoms to look for)
Health
Life-threatening incidents of caffeine overdose are fortunately extremely rare, says Maggie Sweeney, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who studies caffeine. "It would be very difficult to get to a lethal dose of caffeine through consuming coffee," she explains. "[Coffee] sort of has preventive measures because it is difficult to consume that volume of liquid."

Treatment can help turn around opioid abuse (video)
WBAL-TV
"I used Percocet for four or five years. When that became too expensive, I switched to heroin," [Ashley] Stuart said. "I lost my storage, my car, my house and my job." With that loss, Stuart sought help at the Johns Hopkins Broadway Center for Addiction, where she goes for buprenorphine treatments and gets extensive counseling. The center's director, Dr. Kenneth Stoller, said treatment is what this opioid epidemic needs.

FDA clears Lurasidone (Latuda) for schizophrenia in adolescents* (study)
Medscape
"The impact on development and poor prognosis frequently associated with schizophrenia that begins in adolescence underscores the need for treatment that is both well-tolerated and effective," Robert Findling, MD, vice president, psychiatric services and research, Kennedy Krieger Institute, and director of child and adolescent psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, and a study investigator, said in the release. "The availability of Latuda provides healthcare providers with an important new option for helping adolescents with this illness…." added Dr Findling.

Hit the hay: Three reasons why good sleep is crucial for mental health
Cliffside Malibu
One in three American adults don’t get enough sleep. Though Johns Hopkins Medicine reports that as many as ninety percent of North Americans respond to this chronic lack of sleep with a regular dose of caffeine, that little pick-me-up doesn’t cut it.

Magic mushrooms as mental health treatment
U.S. News & World Report
[Sherry] Marcy learned about an ongoing study at Johns Hopkins University using psilocybin for cancer patients with persistent, treatment-resistant depression. Marcy, who had never tried psychedelic drugs recreationally – she didn't disapprove; it just wasn't her thing – experienced her first drug trip as a study volunteer.

Hallucinogens: Future of mental health treatment?
WebMD
Matthew Johnson, PhD, a research psychologist at Johns Hopkins University, says he’d be surprised if hallucinogenic drugs didn’t have a proper medical use “under some constrained, limited circumstances.” “Most powerful substances that we know of, that have powerful effects on the central nervous system, are like any powerful tool,” says Johnson, who has studied how psilocybin affects depression. “They can have dangerous effects, or beneficial effects...."

I didn’t believe I had an eating disorder. But the threat of forced feeding saved my life
Stat
“Those of us who have treated 1,000 plus patients know that we are bad at predicting who will recover and have seen recovery in some of the most severely ill and chronic cases, even in cases who failed multiple treatments,” [Angela Guarda, director of the eating disorders program at Johns Hopkins University] said in an email. “There is much danger in viewing anorexia as a terminal illness. Instilling hope and helping patients find a path to recovery should always be our goal.”

Why psychedelics like magic mushrooms kill the ego and fundamentally transform the brain
Business Insider
On a chilly December morning, [Clark] Martin walked into the facility at Johns Hopkins, where he was greeted by two researchers, including Bill Richards, a psychologist. The three of them [went] over the details of [a] study and what might happen. Martin received a pill and swallowed it with a glass of water. For study purposes, he couldn't know whether it was a placebo or psilocybin, the drug the researchers aimed to study.

How LSD saved one woman’s marriage
New York Times
Researchers at institutions like New York University and Johns Hopkins have yielded promising results administering psilocybin to cancer patients to relieve anxiety, combat obsessive-compulsive disorder and even treat addiction to other drugs.

Researchers are giving religious leaders hallucinogenic drugs to understand mystical experiences
Business Insider
In recent weeks we've heard more and more about the resurgence in psychedelic research, with scientists from Johns Hopkins and New York University talking about how hallucinogenic psilocybin could work "like a surgical intervention for mental illness."

Religious leaders are experimenting with psychedelics for scientific purposes
Esquire
The indescribable high, intense emotions, and intimate sense of self experienced under the influence of magic mushrooms are similar to another kind of trip: a religiously mystical experience. So, as science naturally muses, let's give shrooms to deeply religious people and see what happens. That's how [13 religious leaders] started taking psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, at Johns Hopkins University and New York University.

LSD, yoga, and the therapeutic process of ‘ego dissolution’
New York magazine
A Johns Hopkins study last year found that psilocybin helped people who had been smoking a pack a day for decades quit at double the success rate of the best pharmaceutical treatments. “Our data does indicate that stronger mystical experiences are associated with success,” lead author Matthew Johnson told Science of Us.

Researchers are feeding priests psychedelic drugs in the interest of science
Quartz
[R]esearchers have found consistent overlap between mystical experiences that occur naturally and those that are caused by psilocybin. “All we’re doing is finding conditions that increase the likelihood of these mystical experiences, and we still don’t know their ultimate cause,” says Roland Griffiths, a principal investigator across multiple Johns Hopkins psilocybin trials.