Ellen Barry
@ellenbarry.bsky.social
mental health reporter, former Moscow, Delhi, London, now at home in New England. reach out w ideas: [email protected]
This piece about a man who overcame midlife despair by becoming a typewriter repairman is -- I don't know how to describe it except as chicken soup for the soul. The sounds of these machines are strangely comforting.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How to Fix a Typewriter and Your Life
This is the story of how a man traded steady, grinding corporate security for a dying craft and, in the process, found his soul.
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:17 PM
This piece about a man who overcame midlife despair by becoming a typewriter repairman is -- I don't know how to describe it except as chicken soup for the soul. The sounds of these machines are strangely comforting.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
A lot of news yesterday, but this @JasonDeParle scoop deserves your attention: The administration plans to slash support for long-term housing programs by two thirds, shifting funding stream to 2-year sobriety & treatment programs.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...
Trump Administration Expected to Drastically Cut Housing Grants
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:54 PM
A lot of news yesterday, but this @JasonDeParle scoop deserves your attention: The administration plans to slash support for long-term housing programs by two thirds, shifting funding stream to 2-year sobriety & treatment programs.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...
Reposted by Ellen Barry
This is far worse than anyone expected.
Trump's HUD plan would cut *two-thirds* of permanent housing and push as many as 170,000 formerly homeless people back onto the street—redirecting funds to work mandates, forced treatment, and encampment sweeps.
All as mass internment camps are being built.
Trump's HUD plan would cut *two-thirds* of permanent housing and push as many as 170,000 formerly homeless people back onto the street—redirecting funds to work mandates, forced treatment, and encampment sweeps.
All as mass internment camps are being built.
Trump Administration to Drastically Cut Housing Grants
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:21 AM
This is far worse than anyone expected.
Trump's HUD plan would cut *two-thirds* of permanent housing and push as many as 170,000 formerly homeless people back onto the street—redirecting funds to work mandates, forced treatment, and encampment sweeps.
All as mass internment camps are being built.
Trump's HUD plan would cut *two-thirds* of permanent housing and push as many as 170,000 formerly homeless people back onto the street—redirecting funds to work mandates, forced treatment, and encampment sweeps.
All as mass internment camps are being built.
At the peak of his career, a bullfighter unclips his pigtail. Heart-stopping, from @jasondhorowitz
“I’ve decided to stop before I fall.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/w...
“I’ve decided to stop before I fall.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/w...
Blood and Tears as Spain’s Troubled Bullfighting Star Hangs Up His Cape
www.nytimes.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:26 PM
At the peak of his career, a bullfighter unclips his pigtail. Heart-stopping, from @jasondhorowitz
“I’ve decided to stop before I fall.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/w...
“I’ve decided to stop before I fall.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/w...
Reposted by Ellen Barry
exceptional reporting from @ellenbarry.bsky.social + Jason DeParle on the new homeless policy shifts in Salt Lake City — which the Cicero Institute casts as “a harbinger of the future.”
gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/u...
gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/u...
October 29, 2025 at 11:43 AM
exceptional reporting from @ellenbarry.bsky.social + Jason DeParle on the new homeless policy shifts in Salt Lake City — which the Cicero Institute casts as “a harbinger of the future.”
gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/u...
gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/u...
Extraordinary reporting from Emily Baumgaertner Nunn on the malignant criminal network that turns girls in foster care into prostitutes on L.A.'s Figueroa Street -- and why the police can't stop it. Everyone should read this.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/m...
Can Anyone Rescue the Trafficked Girls of L.A.’s Figueroa Street?
www.nytimes.com
October 27, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Extraordinary reporting from Emily Baumgaertner Nunn on the malignant criminal network that turns girls in foster care into prostitutes on L.A.'s Figueroa Street -- and why the police can't stop it. Everyone should read this.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/m...
Reposted by Ellen Barry
R.I.P. ICON D’Angelo 🙏🏾🕊️
October 14, 2025 at 4:19 PM
R.I.P. ICON D’Angelo 🙏🏾🕊️
Reposted by Ellen Barry
A Labor Day reminder: today there isn't a single city, metro area, or state in the U.S. where a full-time minimum-wage worker can afford a modest 2-bedroom apartment.
Millions of people with jobs—even multiple jobs—aren't safe from homelessness in this country.
Millions of people with jobs—even multiple jobs—aren't safe from homelessness in this country.
Opinion | America Is Pushing Its Workers Into Homelessness
www.nytimes.com
September 1, 2025 at 11:54 AM
A Labor Day reminder: today there isn't a single city, metro area, or state in the U.S. where a full-time minimum-wage worker can afford a modest 2-bedroom apartment.
Millions of people with jobs—even multiple jobs—aren't safe from homelessness in this country.
Millions of people with jobs—even multiple jobs—aren't safe from homelessness in this country.
Reposted by Ellen Barry
It’s painful to lose a therapist, but it’s made better when the therapist has made plans for such circumstances, as I learned when my own therapist handled it all with candor and grace. Thanks to @ellenbarry.bsky.social at @nytimes.com for writing this important piece and for including me.
July 24, 2025 at 11:11 PM
It’s painful to lose a therapist, but it’s made better when the therapist has made plans for such circumstances, as I learned when my own therapist handled it all with candor and grace. Thanks to @ellenbarry.bsky.social at @nytimes.com for writing this important piece and for including me.
Attention all Boston-area Punjabi princesses, book club aunties, Khan Market influence peddlers and B-list maharajas. A week from today, I am interviewing the indiscreet, irrepressible @AatishTaseer at Porter Square Books about his haunting new memoir. Come with questions.
July 22, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Attention all Boston-area Punjabi princesses, book club aunties, Khan Market influence peddlers and B-list maharajas. A week from today, I am interviewing the indiscreet, irrepressible @AatishTaseer at Porter Square Books about his haunting new memoir. Come with questions.
An FDA expert panel on the use of SSRIs in pregnancy featured prominent, longtime critics of psychiatric medication, suggesting the agency may be moving toward a "black box" warning for pregnant women taking antidepressants.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/h...
F.D.A. Panel Debates ‘Black Box’ Warning for Antidepressants in Pregnancy
www.nytimes.com
July 22, 2025 at 1:25 PM
An FDA expert panel on the use of SSRIs in pregnancy featured prominent, longtime critics of psychiatric medication, suggesting the agency may be moving toward a "black box" warning for pregnant women taking antidepressants.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/h...
Brilliant @antontroian dispatch from Dubai, which has replaced London and Palm Beach as redoubt for the Russian elite. Manages to show how, and why, powerful Russians have stuck with Putin as he led their country into fratricidal war. (Read to the end.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/w...
Want to Understand Russia? Visit Dubai.
www.nytimes.com
July 11, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Brilliant @antontroian dispatch from Dubai, which has replaced London and Palm Beach as redoubt for the Russian elite. Manages to show how, and why, powerful Russians have stuck with Putin as he led their country into fratricidal war. (Read to the end.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/w...
A study published today in JAMA Psychiatry finds withdrawal from SSRIs is mild & transient, which authors hope will reassure patients.
However, the new finding is unlikely to resolve debate about SSRI withdrawal, which is hampered by a lack of long-term trials.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/h...
However, the new finding is unlikely to resolve debate about SSRI withdrawal, which is hampered by a lack of long-term trials.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/h...
New Research Questions Severity of Withdrawal From Antidepressants
www.nytimes.com
July 9, 2025 at 3:44 PM
A study published today in JAMA Psychiatry finds withdrawal from SSRIs is mild & transient, which authors hope will reassure patients.
However, the new finding is unlikely to resolve debate about SSRI withdrawal, which is hampered by a lack of long-term trials.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/h...
However, the new finding is unlikely to resolve debate about SSRI withdrawal, which is hampered by a lack of long-term trials.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/h...
Reposted by Ellen Barry
An astonishing figure in this piece:
Last year, the U.S. budgeted $12.8B for new affordable housing.
This country is now poised to spend $45B on immigrant detention centers.
That's nearly *four times* as much on cages as on homes—in the middle of a devastating housing and homelessness crisis.
Last year, the U.S. budgeted $12.8B for new affordable housing.
This country is now poised to spend $45B on immigrant detention centers.
That's nearly *four times* as much on cages as on homes—in the middle of a devastating housing and homelessness crisis.
Are We About to Have Labor Camps in the United States of America?
If you think that’s far-fetched, then you really haven’t been paying attention to what the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have been up to lately.
newrepublic.com
July 7, 2025 at 1:31 PM
An astonishing figure in this piece:
Last year, the U.S. budgeted $12.8B for new affordable housing.
This country is now poised to spend $45B on immigrant detention centers.
That's nearly *four times* as much on cages as on homes—in the middle of a devastating housing and homelessness crisis.
Last year, the U.S. budgeted $12.8B for new affordable housing.
This country is now poised to spend $45B on immigrant detention centers.
That's nearly *four times* as much on cages as on homes—in the middle of a devastating housing and homelessness crisis.
A grand jury indicted researcher Kseniia Petrova on smuggling charges today. The case arose Feb 16, when she flew into Logan Airport carrying samples of frog embryos for use in a lab at Harvard.
If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/s...
If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/s...
Grand Jury Indicts Russian Scientist on Smuggling Charges
www.nytimes.com
June 26, 2025 at 12:51 AM
A grand jury indicted researcher Kseniia Petrova on smuggling charges today. The case arose Feb 16, when she flew into Logan Airport carrying samples of frog embryos for use in a lab at Harvard.
If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/s...
If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/s...
Reposted by Ellen Barry
This was supposed to be a breakthrough year in the 44-year-long struggle against H.I.V.
It's turned into something very different.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/h...
It's turned into something very different.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/h...
Promise of Victory Over H.I.V. Fades as U.S. Withdraws Support
www.nytimes.com
June 25, 2025 at 7:33 PM
This was supposed to be a breakthrough year in the 44-year-long struggle against H.I.V.
It's turned into something very different.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/h...
It's turned into something very different.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/h...
Reposted by Ellen Barry
Since May:
Federal district courts have ruled against Trump admin 94% of the time.
Supreme Court has sided with the Trump admin 94% of the time.
A judiciary at war with itself.
Federal district courts have ruled against Trump admin 94% of the time.
Supreme Court has sided with the Trump admin 94% of the time.
A judiciary at war with itself.
June 25, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Since May:
Federal district courts have ruled against Trump admin 94% of the time.
Supreme Court has sided with the Trump admin 94% of the time.
A judiciary at war with itself.
Federal district courts have ruled against Trump admin 94% of the time.
Supreme Court has sided with the Trump admin 94% of the time.
A judiciary at war with itself.
Stunning multimedia road trip through Syria from @NYTBen & @dguttenfelder takes you through one shattered place after another, stopping for scenes of bitterness & amnesia & grace.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Photos: A Road Trip Through Syria After the Fall of Bashar al-Assad
After decades of dictatorship and 13 years of civil war, can Syria put itself back together? Our journalists traveled the length of the country to explore its hopes and its challenges.
www.nytimes.com
June 24, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Stunning multimedia road trip through Syria from @NYTBen & @dguttenfelder takes you through one shattered place after another, stopping for scenes of bitterness & amnesia & grace.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
It was a real pleasure talking with @awaisaftab.bsky.social, one of the sharpest observers out there, about covering mental health for the NYT.
Journalism, Psychiatry, and Public Trust: Q&A with Ellen Barry ( @ellenbarry.bsky.social ) , a reporter covering mental health for the New York Times ( @nytimes.com )
“I want to show the readers the human stakes...”
www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/journalism...
“I want to show the readers the human stakes...”
www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/journalism...
Journalism, Psychiatry, and Public Trust: Q&A with Ellen Barry
Ellen Barry is a reporter covering mental health for the New York Times.
www.psychiatrymargins.com
June 21, 2025 at 2:11 PM
It was a real pleasure talking with @awaisaftab.bsky.social, one of the sharpest observers out there, about covering mental health for the NYT.
A large, longitudinal study of children's use of screens found that higher screen time did not predict suicidal behavior four years later. The children at highest risk, the researchers found, were the ones who said they were "addicted" to their devices.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/h...
Real Risk to Youth Mental Health Is ‘Addictive Use,’ Not Screen Time Alone, Study Finds
www.nytimes.com
June 18, 2025 at 3:44 PM
A large, longitudinal study of children's use of screens found that higher screen time did not predict suicidal behavior four years later. The children at highest risk, the researchers found, were the ones who said they were "addicted" to their devices.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/h...
Reposted by Ellen Barry
Breaking: The Trevor Project received a stop-work order last night on its contract with the national 988 suicide prevention hotline. The Trump administration is eliminating the option for LGBTQ callers to the hotline to press 3 and connect with someone who specializes in LGBTQ mental health.
June 18, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Breaking: The Trevor Project received a stop-work order last night on its contract with the national 988 suicide prevention hotline. The Trump administration is eliminating the option for LGBTQ callers to the hotline to press 3 and connect with someone who specializes in LGBTQ mental health.
"Do not contradict the president."
Musk and his team systematically built a false narrative of widespread fraud at Social Security to justify gaining access to data on millions of Americans, a NYT investigation found.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/u...
Musk and his team systematically built a false narrative of widespread fraud at Social Security to justify gaining access to data on millions of Americans, a NYT investigation found.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/u...
The Bureaucrat and the Billionaire: Inside DOGE’s Chaotic Takeover of Social Security
www.nytimes.com
June 16, 2025 at 2:12 PM
"Do not contradict the president."
Musk and his team systematically built a false narrative of widespread fraud at Social Security to justify gaining access to data on millions of Americans, a NYT investigation found.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/u...
Musk and his team systematically built a false narrative of widespread fraud at Social Security to justify gaining access to data on millions of Americans, a NYT investigation found.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/u...
"If I went to the top of the 19 story building I’m in, and I believed with every ounce of my soul that I could jump off it and fly, would I?” Mr. Torres asked.
ChatGPT replied that, if Mr. Torres “truly, wholly believed you could fly? Then yes. You would not fall."
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...
ChatGPT replied that, if Mr. Torres “truly, wholly believed you could fly? Then yes. You would not fall."
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...
They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.
www.nytimes.com
June 13, 2025 at 5:00 PM
"If I went to the top of the 19 story building I’m in, and I believed with every ounce of my soul that I could jump off it and fly, would I?” Mr. Torres asked.
ChatGPT replied that, if Mr. Torres “truly, wholly believed you could fly? Then yes. You would not fall."
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...
ChatGPT replied that, if Mr. Torres “truly, wholly believed you could fly? Then yes. You would not fall."
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...
20 years ago, when U.C.L.A. psychologist @laugeson first proposed an evidence-based curriculum to help autistic adults find romance, "everyone was a little bit afraid of it.”
Comments are open on our piece about neuro-spicy dating boot camp 🩷
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/h...
Comments are open on our piece about neuro-spicy dating boot camp 🩷
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/h...
The Real-Life Dating Boot Camp That Inspired ‘Love on the Spectrum’
www.nytimes.com
June 12, 2025 at 9:10 PM
20 years ago, when U.C.L.A. psychologist @laugeson first proposed an evidence-based curriculum to help autistic adults find romance, "everyone was a little bit afraid of it.”
Comments are open on our piece about neuro-spicy dating boot camp 🩷
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/h...
Comments are open on our piece about neuro-spicy dating boot camp 🩷
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/h...