Becker’s Behavioral Health

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly favors Stanford (Calif.) University psychiatrist Shebani Sethi, MD, PhD, to lead the National Institute of Mental Health, bypassing a candidate recommended by National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, Science reported…

Researchers have identified evidence supporting a potential subtype of clinical depression, known as “circadian depression,” defined by disrupted sleep-wake patterns and associated with more severe symptoms and poorer responses to commonly prescribed antidepressants, according to a study published Oct. 20…

A patient who comes back to the emergency department repeatedly is often bringing more than a medical problem. Unstable housing, mental health and substance use challenges, food insecurity, unreliable transportation and trouble getting follow-up care can all send individuals back…

Behavioral health leaders are grappling with a workforce paradox: Demand for services continues to grow, yet funding uncertainty and inadequate reimbursement rates are forcing some providers to reduce staff and scale back services.  Here are 14 layoffs to know: 1.…

Universities are investing in the behavioral health workforce by expanding certificates and degree programs amid nationwide shortages. This comes as workforce shortages worsened in 2025 from 2024, according to federal data. As of Dec. 13, 2025, the number of designated mental…

Boston University’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine launched a child and adolescent integrated behavioral healthcare concentration in collaboration with Boston Medical Center’s TEAM UP Scaling and Sustainability Center, according to an Oct. 22 BU Today report. The concentration is…

Federal prosecutors charged four defendants in an alleged substance abuse treatment fraud scheme involving over $1.6 billion in billings to private insurers for sham treatment, the largest case of its kind the Justice Department has ever prosecuted. The case was…

Optum is asking a Baltimore court to throw out Maryland’s $380 million fraud lawsuit over a failed Medicaid behavioral health claims system, calling the state’s allegations “a story that it knows is untrue.” In its Oct. 19 motion to dismiss,…