A little bird helps Sarah Mann deal with her anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, but it isn’t a talkative parrot or a mockingbird. It’s a virtual avatar on Finch, a self-care app Mann has used at least once a day since…
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About Local Warming: Climate Change in Maryland
“Local warming: Climate change in Maryland” is Local News Network’s attempt to document how climate change is affecting the state. The project is the brainchild of Capital News Service reporter Rachel McCrea, who conceived of the project, compiled the county…
As young Americans struggle with mental health, online support surges — including in Maryland
Adolescents across the country have increasingly suffered from anxiety and depression over the last 10 years, and school officials in Prince George’s County noticed the same trend locally. So when the county’s public school system needed to support its struggling…
To improve youth mental health, these programs start by educating parents
Melat Wondimagegen was not the parent she is today when she first stepped off a plane in February 2019 to start a new life in the United States. As an Ethiopian immigrant and mother of an 11-year-old and a 2-year-old,…
Maryland students aim to prevent school violence with help from Sandy Hook Promise
IJAMSVILLE, Md. — One day before prom, in an advanced placement government classroom at Oakdale High School southeast of Frederick, Maryland, a group of students gathered to film the school’s morning announcement. “Students Against Violence Everywhere, also known as SAVE,…
College students move across state lines — and lose access to therapy as a result
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Denise Takakjy. She is the co-chair of the American Mental Health Counselors Association’s Public Policy and Legislative Committee. The story has been updated with that information. Eli Greene, a senior animal science…
Machine learning — in Maryland and elsewhere — opens new possibilities for suicide prevention
The Reddit thread that caught Philip Resnik’s attention posed a potentially life-saving question. “Formerly suicidal Redditors, what’s something that kept you alive a little while longer and helped you to get through the dark times in your lives?” the post…
Parents often struggle to find help for troubled youngsters — but this Maryland program can help
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Going into her toddler’s annual check-up at Opal Court Pediatrics, Mallory Churchey worried about his behavior. Her youngest child, 3-year-old son Bronnsen, was having unusual tantrums and outbursts. “I just knew it was not normal,” said the…
Schools can screen students for behavioral health issues – but many are reluctant to do so
After Achilles Bardos learned about the internet in the 1990s, he thought to himself, “Why not in psychology?” A school psychology professor, Bardos talked with his colleagues about using the web to quickly collect data on student behavior. A few…
‘Playworks’ reinvents recess as a learning experience
PHILADELPHIA — You won’t find swings, slides or a kickball field outside Rhawnhurst School. Instead, the school’s “playground” is a vast expanse of barren blacktop with just a lone basketball hoop. Yet at this aging two-story elementary school in this…