Tag Archive for: Mental Health

Making The 2018 Mid-Term Elections About Mental Health

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Throughout NAMI’s history, mental health advocates have shaped laws, increased funding and promoted research to address the inequalities and injustices facing people with mental illness in our country. In the last two years alone, NAMI advocates sent hundreds of thousands of emails to Capitol Hill and made countless phone calls and visits to their representatives in nationwide efforts to pass mental health reform (the 21st Century Cures Act) and to stop dangerous health reform proposals that would have hurt people with mental illness.

We’ve made progress, but we still have further to go. NAMI’s members have an opportunity in the 2018 mid-term elections to vote more mental health champions into office. From district attorneys to county officials to governors to members of Congress, every elected official plays a role in determining what services and supports are available to people with mental illness—and there’s never been a better time to cultivate mental health champions.

NAMI members are instrumental in helping raise policymakers’ and candidates’ awareness of mental health issues by sharing stories that help make those issues real. The goal in talking with candidates is not to convert them—it’s to converse with them. As a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, NAMI seeks only to educate politicians. This is how we develop trusting, invaluable relationships on both sides of the aisle, rather than being just another special interest group.

When speaking with a candidate, share a fact or two and let the person know how important mental health care is to you. Asking open-ended questions gives candidates a great opportunity to reveal their thoughts and share their visions for improving mental health care. Here are some policy positions that might help you identify whether a candidate is a mental health champion.

What Policies Should A Mental Health Champion Support?

1. Increasing The Availability Of Mental Health Services And Supports

Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experiences a mental health condition, yet more than 60% of those adults go without treatment. We need more access to quality mental health services and supports, especially for underserved groups like our nation’s veterans and people living in rural and frontier areas.

How do you know if a candidate is committed to increasing the availability of mental health services and supports? Ask them how they would improve mental health care. A mental health champion would invest in:

• Expanding access to mental health care, including for veterans and people living in rural and frontier areas;

• Supporting health insurance protections that cover mental health care at the same level as other health care;

• Ensuring Medicaid coverage for people with mental illness based on income to make sure people can afford the care they need;

• Increasing supported housing programs that offer stable, safe and affordable housing for people with mental illness; and

• Growing supported employment programs that help people with mental illness get training, search for jobs and be successful in the workplace.

2. Promoting Early Intervention For Mental Illness

Approximately half of all mental health conditions begin by age 14, and 75% begin by age 24. Every young person who experiences a mental illness deserves to realize the promise of hope and recovery. And the quicker a young person gets quality services and supports, such as first episode psychosis (FEP) programs, the better their recovery outcomes.

Ask candidates how they would increase early intervention for mental health conditions. A mental health champion would support:

• Increasing FEP programs, which provide recovery-focused therapy, medication management, supported education and employment, family support and education, case management and peer support;

• Promoting school-linked mental health services for youth, which bring mental health professionals into schools to provide mental health care to students; and

• Integrating mental health care into primary care settings to increase early identification and treatment of mental health conditions.

3. Ending The Jailing Of People With Mental Illness

About 2 million Americans living with mental illness are jailed each year—mostly for non-violent offenses. Unfortunately, a person experiencing a mental health crisis is often more likely to land in jail than in a hospital. Mental illness should not be treated like a crime. Instead, people with mental illness who are in crisis should be diverted into effective treatment options.

Ask candidates how they would address the jailing of people with mental illness. A mental health champion would support:

• Expanding Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT), a community policing model that helps law enforcement divert people to mental health treatment instead of jail;

• Ensuring that mobile crisis response teams can intervene and effectively de-escalate mental health crises; and

• Increasing Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams that provide intensive, wraparound treatment and support to people with serious mental illness.

When candidates hear from NAMI members about the importance of mental health care, they listen. We need more elected officials like this who understand and support mental health issues—officials who are committed to funding the services and supports people with mental illness need to be safe, stable and on a path toward recovery. You can do your part by engaging in a dialogue with candidates and voting for people who will become tomorrow’s mental health champions.

Overcoming Stigma

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I was sitting alone in the hallway of the Carter Center conference area in Atlanta during the 2012 Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy. I had just finished being a panelist and talking about how employment and education helped me overcome the stigma associated with my depression. The conference was still in session, so I had the hallway to myself. I sat quietly, reflecting on the fact that I had been invited to speak here as both a clinician working in community mental health and a person living with depression.

Two scenes flashed through my mind highlighting two very different points in my life: getting offered a job as a therapist at the mental health center where I completed my internship for my Master’s in social work, and sitting in a psych ward on the eve of my 18thbirthday, wondering if I would graduate from high school.

Persevering Through Depression

It took many years of perseverance for me to become that professional sitting on a panel at a national conference. Though I managed to graduate from high school, I dropped out of college at 19 as my depression worsened. I was unemployed, and my only income was Social Security disability. Years of failed depression treatments included medication and talk therapy.

I spent most of my time alone doing what I refer to as “stewing in my own depressive juices.” This lasted for 10 years. During that time, I was challenged by the symptoms of mental illness— insomnia, loss of appetite, lack of concentration, suicidal thoughts. After a decade of being unemployed and living on Social Security, I decided that for my own survival, I had to return to school and complete my social work degree. Of course, my depression was against this:

“You can’t go back to school; you will fail.”

“You won’t be able to concentrate enough to complete your assignments.”

“You’re too stupid to get a college degree.”

Somehow, I decided to talk back to these negative thoughts. My response was simple: “I’m just going to do the best I can.”

And I did. I got myself back to school and finished my degree in social work. Around that time, I also tried a different treatment for my depression, and it worked. Things got easier.

Today, I feel incredibly lucky to say that I am doing exactly what I want to be doing. But really, luck had little to do with it. Besides my symptoms of depression, I faced an additional barrier to school, employment and inclusion in general: unhelpful attitudes from well intentionedhealth professionals—in other words, stigma.

Learning To Reject Stigma

One mental health professional once told me, “Maybe you’re not getting better because you’re not trying hard enough.” Another warned me, “You might not be ready to go back to school full time. Shouldn’t you just take one class and see how that goes?” A psychiatrist decided, without asking for my opinion, that I should be sent to live in a group home for people with mental illness. (That did not happen, and that treatment relationship ended that day.)

These scenarios were fueled by the stigma associated with mental illness—stigma that ultimately serves to limit and exclude rather than encourage and include. Had I listened to those professionals, I might never have returned to school or entered the workforce.

So how did I overcome the stigma that I faced? I rejected it. Rejecting—or overcoming—stigma, whether it be self-stigma, public stigma or structural stigma, is one of the keys for those of us living with mental illness. This is not an easy task, to be sure, but it is becoming more possible and a bit easier as more and more of us of speak out about our mental health conditions.

 

After working as a therapist and witnessing the negative effects of stigma on clients and their family members, I decided to develop a stigma-reduction training curriculum called “Overcoming Stigma.” I spent several months reading every scientific article I could find about stigma research. Most of it simply documented that stigma exists (in hospitals, in psychiatry, in substanceusetreatment centers, in pharmacies, universities, employment, housing, etc.) and that levels of stigma have not changed over the last decade.

According to many studies, effectively reducing stigma pointed to one intervention: contact with someone successfully managing a mental illness. One shining example of this is NAMI’s In Our Own Voice (IOOV) program. People with mental health conditions share their powerful personal stories in this free 60- or 90-minute presentation. I decided to integrate elements of IOOV into the beginning of my trainings by briefly disclosing my own depression and giving a few examples of my experiences with stigma. The rest of the training includes a description of the seven most common types of stigma experienced by people with mental illness and substance-use disorders, research about the effects of these stigmas, ways to reduce stigma, and the clinical and agency assessment tools I developed.

I have presented Overcoming Stigma trainings in many different health care settings, and the curriculum continues to evolve, always guided by the latest stigma research. Recent research shows that stigma training needs to be ongoing instead of a one-time thing and, it likely needs to address many stigmas all at once.

My trainings get everyone involved in the discussion; I like to ask for anecdotes from attendees. Here are some real-life examples of stigma shared by health care professionals who have attended my trainings over the past several years:

• A cardiac surgeon said he would not do surgery on a person with schizophrenia because he didn’t think the person would be able to do the required follow-up care.

• A therapist shared that as a Ph.D. student, he was told he would lose his scholarship if he left for “depression” treatment but could keep it if he left for “medical” treatment.

• A mother puts off making an appointment for her daughter to see a therapist despite her daughter experiencing severe symptoms of anxiety because she doesn’t want her daughter to be labeled as “crazy.”

• A physician attendee said it was well known in her neighborhood that her son had been hospitalized with bipolar disorder and no one acknowledged this fact (much less offered any type of support).

• A mental health clinician working in an emergency room said doctors and nurses often referred to patients in the ER with mental illness as “her patients,” rather than “our patients.”

If I do my job well, attendees leave with the understanding that we all have a role to play in reducing these harmful kinds of stigma. Personally, I still experience stigma, but I am no longer limited by it. I sometimes even chuckle when I hear someone say something particularly stigmatizing because I immediately think, “Well, that’s going to be part of my next training.” That’s not to say it isn’t still discouraging to see or hear things that continue to perpetuate stigma, but for me, there is a feeling of freedom and power in being able to turn a potential lost opportunity into one that is gained.

 

Gretchen Grappone, LICSW is a trainer and consultant with Atlas Research in Washington, D.C. Her work includes projects with VA medical centers, community mental health centers and other health care settings around the country. She lives in New York City.

https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/October-2018/Overcoming-Stigma

Shutting Down Five Misconceptions About Depression

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When I first started opening up about my struggle with depression, I was fortunately met with a lot of support from friends and family. However, there were certain reactions that brought to my attention just how deep the misconceptions are about mental illness.

I found myself defending my experience and struggle to the people I loved. Even though they meant well, their misconceptions of mental illness ended up having a negative impact on my recovery and made me feel more alone and misunderstood. And that is not an uncommon experience.

When I was struggling, it was easy for simple misinformation to work its way into my brain and make me doubt myself. But now that I am further along into my recovery, I can recognize stigma for what it is and shut it down. So, here are the most common unhelpful responses I’ve received about my depression, and why they are nothing more than misconceptions.

  1. “But you have such a great life!”

This is by far the most common reaction I receive when I tell people I have depression. And it stems from the belief that depression is an external condition—if you have a sad life, then you will be sad. What hurt the most about this statement was that I knew I had a nice life. And the fact that I could still experience depression, even when so many people were worse off, just made me feel ashamed and ungrateful. And while it’s true that traumatic events can contribute to the onset of depression, so can your genetics and brain chemistry. So, someone who may seem to have a “perfect” life can still develop a mental illness.

  1. “Are you sure?”

While this one may seem harmless, here’s why it’s not: No, I’m not sure. I used to wake up every day scared that I was faking my mental illness. I told myself I was sad, but it wasn’t “bad enough” to be considered depression. I was months into therapy, on medication, working with multiple doctors, and I still didn’t think it was enough validation. So being asked if I was completely sure I was struggling from mental illness just poked at the fact that after all I had been through—all the therapy sessions, medication trials, self-harm relapses and diagnoses—there was still a voice in the back of my mind telling me I was faking it.

  1. “Have you tried yoga?”

The amount of people I talked to who suggested I do yoga, go gluten free, or try yet another health or self-care tip is alarming. Especially because these people were not suggesting diets and exercises as a side dish to a main course of cognitive behavioral therapy and antidepressants—they were suggesting them as the full meal. I had people tell me that I shouldn’t take medication because it might “change my personality” (spoiler alert: I wanted it to! Depression had become my only personality trait!), and instead, I should just stick to cycling and/or going vegan. This response completely undermines the reality and severity of mental illness. Because, yes, there are plenty of activities or hobbies that can help someone through recovery (for me it was writing), but depression is an illness and deserves to be treated as such. No amount of yoga is going to completely cure a clinical illness.

  1. “Oh, I don’t believe in mental illness.”

This one’s simple. Some people think the earth is flat. That doesn’t change the fact that the earth is, surprisingly, very round. And you not believing in depression doesn’t change the fact that I have it. Next.

  1. “But you don’t seem depressed to me!”

I’ve had a lot of people tell me I don’t “look” or “seem” depressed to them. A big misconception surrounding depression is that it’s for attention, which means people suffering would have to be very open and vocal about their struggles for others to notice it and give them that attention. But, often it’s exactly the opposite. I hid my mental illness from everyone I knew. I put on a smile, laughed at jokes, did my homework and hid my scars because I was scared and ashamed of what people would think of me. And it’s not uncommon for people struggling with depression to hide behind a mask of happiness. So it doesn’t matter whether or not someone “seems” depressed—they may still be suffering.

I know from personal experience that opening up to someone about having mental illness can be extremely difficult and scary. And if people overcome that fear only to have their struggle questioned and invalidated, eventually they’re going to stop being open. If someone opens up about their mental illness, they are looking for hope and support. And they deserve it. In many cases, they need it. I know I did. And often, the widespread misconceptions surrounding depression prevented me from getting the support I needed. So, I think it’s about time we stop asking people with depression if they’ve tried yoga. Because I have tried yoga. And I’ve found that my therapy sessions work a whole lot better.

 

Caroline Kaufman is the author of LIGHT FILTERS IN: Poems (HarperCollins). Known as @poeticpoison on Instagram (202k followers), she writes about giving up too much of yourself to someone else, not fitting in, endlessly Googling “how to be happy,” and ultimately figuring out who you are. She grew up in Westchester County, NY and will return to Harvard University this Fall for her sophomore year. In the future, she hopes to attend medical school and continue growing as a writer.

How To Have A Healthy Relationship With Social Media

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Social media has allowed society to become more connected than ever. Over three billion people around the world use social media to engage with others, access the news and share information. In the U.S. alone, seven out of ten people are active social media users.

Some would argue that social media is inherently bad for our health. Recent research explores the negative implications of social media, including sleep issues, an overall increase in stress and a rise in mental health conditions and addiction to technology. There are also concerns about cyberbullying and youth and teen safety online. Fortunately, tech companies are proactively addressing these types of concerns. For example, the recently released Parent’s Guide to Instagram helps parents who are “raising the first generation of digital natives, for whom the online world is just as important as the offline world.”

On the other hand, there are many benefits to social media. Young people today consider social media as platforms for sharing their voice and finding a community of like-minded peers. And users of all generations understand that with social media, you can celebrate milestones or reconnect with old friends and relatives.

Regardless of what type of impact we believe these digital platforms can have on us, we must be intentional in how we use social media. For example, as NAMI’s social media manager, I use social media as a tool to spread mental health awareness. Through my experience, I’ve learned several tips and tricks for having a healthy relationship with social media. Here are some you might find helpful.

Unfollow Unhealthy Accounts

It’s important to remember that, often, the images and stories on social media aren’t reflective of real life. Whether you follow friends, influencers, businesses or organizations, social media feeds are filled with carefully crafted, curated posts. Consider the following: Does your feed leave you feeling overwhelmed or less-than? Do you constantly compare your experiences with others? If yes—and you notice an overall decrease in your happiness, self-esteem and life satisfaction, it’s time to make a change. Put an end to the negativity by reviewing the accounts you follow—unfollow, block or delete accounts that don’t bring positivity, motivation or inspiration into your life.

Support And Connect With Others

There are many people you can connect with through social media, even if they’re on the other side of the planet. And that’s a good thing. However, if the interactions you’re having leave you feeling isolated or upset, you should reevaluate why you use social media. Do you want to engage with others who share your interests? If so, search for digital communities of people who you have something in common with. From there, you can be more selective with who you connect and engage with.

Take Note Of What You Share

These days, it can be challenging to determine reputable sources of news and information. That’s why it’s important to play a conscious role before sharing something you see online with your friends or followers. Think about whether the content—be it an article or video—is helpful or harmful to others. Also consider if it truly provides knowledge worth sharing. If it doesn’t contribute something positive to the digital world, it may not be worth sharing on your social media account.

Reduce Your Screen Time

Smartphones are quite everywhere these days. In any public setting, you’ve likely noticed others with their eyes glued to their phones. In fact, recent studies reveal that people spend an average of over two hours a day on social media. If you’re concerned you may be spending too much time social media, try adopting healthier habits. Start by tracking the time you spend on social media; if you’re on Facebook or Instagram, look out for the new tool that helps users manage time spent on their accounts. When you limit your screen time, you’re creating more time for enriching, real-world experiences.

Take A Break

Completely stepping back from social media can be hard, but it’s a good way to help you reconnect to reality. Log out from your accounts for a full day, a week or even a month. Have a friend change your password so you don’t feel tempted to log back in to your account. Then, take notice of how you spend your time. Perhaps you rediscover an old hobby or sport. Or maybe you’re able to schedule more quality time for your family or friends. Either way, it’s more exciting to live life as it’s happening, as opposed to “living” through a screen.

Rather than thinking of social media as something that only hurts our health, we should reevaluate when and how we use our accounts. Social media platforms can be used for good—it all depends on whether you choose to use it for good.

 

Ryann Tanap is manager of social media and digital assets at NAMI. 

https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/September-2018-(1)/How-to-Have-a-Healthy-Relationship-with-Social-Med

5 Common Myths About Suicide Debunked

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Suicide affects all people. Within the past year, about 41,000 individuals died by suicide, 1.3 million adults have attempted suicide, 2.7 million adults have had a plan to attempt suicide and 9.3 million adults have had suicidal thoughts.

Unfortunately, our society often paints suicide the way they would a prison sentence—a permanent situation that brands an individual. However, suicidal ideation is not a brand or a label, it is a sign that an individual is suffering deeply and must seek treatment. And it is falsehoods like these that can prevent people from getting the help they need to get better.

Debunking the common myths associated with suicide can help society realize the importance of helping others seek treatment and show individuals the importance of addressing their mental health challenges.

Here are some of the most common myths and facts about suicide.

Myth: Suicide only affects individuals with a mental health condition.

Fact: Many individuals with mental illness are not affected by suicidal thoughts and not all people who attempt or die by suicide have mental illness. Relationship problems and other life stressors such as criminal/legal matters, persecution, eviction/loss of home, death of a loved one, a devastating or debilitating illness, trauma, sexual abuse, rejection, and recent or impending crises are also associated with suicidal thoughts and attempts.

Myth: Once an individual is suicidal, he or she will always remain suicidal.

Fact: Active suicidal ideation is often short-term and situation-specific. Studies have shown that approximately 54% of individuals who have died by suicide did not have a diagnosable mental health disorder. And for those with mental illness, the proper treatment can help to reduce symptoms.

The act of suicide is often an attempt to control deep, painful emotions and thoughts an individual is experiencing. Once these thoughts dissipate, so will the suicidal ideation. While suicidal thoughts can return, they are not permanent. An individual with suicidal thoughts and attempts can live a long, successful life.

Myth: Most suicides happen suddenly without warning.

Fact: Warning signs—verbally or behaviorally—precede most suicides. Therefore, it’s important to learn and understand the warnings signs associated with suicide. Many individuals who are suicidal may only show warning signs to those closest to them. These loved ones may not recognize what’s going on, which is how it may seem like the suicide was sudden or without warning.

Myth: People who die by suicide are selfish and take the easy way out.

Fact: Typically, people do not die by suicide because they do not want to live—people die by suicide because they want to end their suffering. These individuals are suffering so deeply that they feel helpless and hopeless. Individuals who experience suicidal ideations do not do so by choice. They are not simply, “thinking of themselves,” but rather they are going through a very serious mental health symptom due to either mental illness or a difficult life situation.

Myth: Talking about suicide will lead to and encourage suicide.

Fact: There is a widespread stigma associated with suicide and as a result, many people are afraid to speak about it. Talking about suicide not only reduces the stigma, but also allows individuals to seek help, rethink their opinions and share their story with others. We all need to talk more about suicide.

Debunking these common myths about suicide can hopefully allow individuals to look at suicide from a different angle—one of understanding and compassion for an individual who is internally struggling. Maybe they are struggling with a mental illness or maybe they are under extreme pressure and do not have healthy coping skills or a strong support system.

As a society, we should not be afraid to speak up about suicide, to speak up about mental illness or to seek out treatment for an individual who is in need. Eliminating the stigma starts by understanding why suicide occurs and advocating for mental health awareness within our communities. There are suicide hotlines, mental health support groups, online community resources and many mental health professionals who can help any individual who is struggling with unhealthy thoughts and emotions.

 

Kristen Fuller M.D. is a family medicine physician with a passion for mental health. She spends her days writing content for a well-known mental health and eating disorder treatment facility, treating patients in the Emergency Room and managing an outdoor women’s blog. To read more of Dr. Fuller’s work visit her Psychology Today blog and her outdoor blog, GoldenStateofMinds.

Spreading Hope Through Peer Support

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What does it mean to be a peer support specialist?

To me, it means providing a voice for people when they struggle in finding their own. It means advocating for people, encouraging their recoveries and even sometimes standing in courtrooms as a show of support. And it often means educating community members and outside providers about First Episode Psychosis (FEP) programs like the Early Assessment and Support Alliance (EASA)—a program where I transformed from a participant to a peer support specialist.

For many, psychosis is a scary experience, and it can be easy to lose hope. When I received my diagnosis, I felt like all hope was lost. I thought my life was over. I thought I was doomed to serve a life sentence, confined to the four walls that enclosed my bedroom in my mother’s basement. That’s a tough pill to swallow at 20 years old. Due to my fear and paranoia, I often found it difficult to leave not only my house, but even my room. I felt completely alone, hurtling in a downward spiral of despair.

This is typical for a person whose experiencing psychosis—to withdraw from those around them. For that reason, psychosis breeds isolation and loneliness. But what made a huge impact for me during this period of isolation was being able to talk with others who understood what I was experiencing. What I needed at that time is exactly what I work to provide for people now: messages of hope. At its core, I view peer support as the strategic use of telling one’s own lived experience as a tool to work with others through their experience.

What Does A Peer Support Specialist Do?

As a peer support specialist, I can meet people where they are comfortable. If they decide they don’t want to meet in the office, I can travel to them. I’ve met people all throughout my community. Often, we even interact via text message to coordinate meetings or just be in contact. Everyone engages in their own way, and I work hard to build rapport and trust with participants and their families.

As a peer support specialist, I work with program participants to help reduce their social isolation. We may look at a participant’s hobbies and interests and use those passions to help reconnect them to their community. The social support that can be gained through hobbies is an important coping strategy for those experiencing psychosis. I work with participants to create organic social supports, so when they move on from our program they have a natural support system in place.

As a peer support specialist, I act as a model for recovery. In the past year, I met a psychiatrist who didn’t even know recovery from psychosis was possible. After sharing my journey with him and combating the idea that a diagnosis is the end-all for patients, it’s my hope that he has changed his message to the patients he works with, potentially creating a dramatic difference in their recovery process.

As a peer support specialist, I work to help people to see diagnoses for what they are: words. A diagnosis is not a definition. See, a word by itself doesn’t have power—it’s merely a series of letters mashed together. The negative connotations associated with the words “psychosis” and “schizophrenia” are learned, taught to us through sources such as the media. And it’s all too easy to take what the media tells us about these diagnoses and use that information to form beliefs about yourself—but a diagnosis says nothing more about you than the color of your hair. What defines each person is theirs to create and own.

As a peer support specialist, I work with people who need me to hold onto their hope for them until they’re ready to hold it for themselves, just as I once needed.

An Important Conversation With My Mom

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July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, and I wanted to take this opportunity to explore a particularly difficult season in my life: the years my mom served time.

As a quick background, my mom has always been as much of a friend as a mother, and before this period we spoke every day. The years she spent incarcerated were intensified by my severe depression and overeating disorder, but we’ve never fully talked about how they impacted one another. I thought now would be the right time to have that conversation:

DeWanda: Let’s start with logistics because my memory is the worst. What were the dates of your incarceration?

Mom: I was sentenced on July 2, 2008 and went straight to first Howard County Detention Center. I was transferred to the MCIW (MD Correctional Institute for Women) on July 20 and was there until April 20, 2010.

D: It felt so much longer in my head. Do you remember your first day? How did you feel?

M: The very first day was when I went to court for the sentencing. I was told that I needed to be prepared that they might not allow me to return home that day. The lawyer was right because I was told I was being given seven years out of a 15-year maximum. At that moment, I was silent, I felt numb, nauseated and like I was going to faint. They took me out of the courtroom in handcuffs after the judge spoke and to a cold room with cement floors, a single steel commode and a sink. There was also a cot. I felt dizzy and like I had just lost a loved one to death so I lied on the cot in the fetal position, pulled a blanket over me and immediately cried myself to sleep.

D: I can’t believe I never asked you that before. I think I must have been somewhere doing the same. I was in-between living situations then, couch-hopping with my friends, but I never felt more alone in my life.What would you say was your main coping mechanism during your time at MCIM? I mentioned mine was food. (Spoiler alert: It did not make me feel better.)

M: My coping mechanism became an obsession with reading lots of books. I would isolate myself during times when I could’ve been out mingling and talking to other people in the recreation area. I instead would hide in my room and read. I read and slept all the time. The other ways to cope was that I volunteered to clean up the entire tier of our living quarters as many nights as I possibly could. I cleaned the hallways, the main area and the shower stalls. I was constantly cleaning my cell (which all my cellmates loved). That went on until one day I finally decided to volunteer to help in the Chaplains office in which I ended up directing the choir, teaching people how to sing properly in a choir and helping to teach the new believers classes.

I basically spent the first month feeling sorry for myself and tried to do nothing but sit there and read. When I got over that phase I substituted it with being constantly busy so I’d be too tired to do anything but sleep when I did lay down. It also made the time go so much faster being busy.

D: So, it seems safe to say that faith played a significant part of how you spent your time. Me too, I was attending Redeemer then, and praying with my Bible study group about everything. I also worked on that play, “In the Continuum” down in North Carolina. My character, Abigail, was a woman of great faith too. It was the first time you had ever missed a performance. What else do you feel like you missed out on during your time?

M: I was worried about you because I didn’t know if you had jobs enough to have sufficient income. I didn’t really feel like I was missing anything because life {outside} had become so hectic and stressful that I just needed to lay down somewhere. It probably helped me to get to the point where I don’t have to go places as much as I used to.

D: You’ve always been the glass-half-full type. Yeah, I was miraculously fine. I remember coming to get you for Great-Grandma’s funeral and making sure they released you. That was a little light in the midst of things. I still feel bad about getting married while you were away, but I guess I thought you wouldn’t want me to stop living.

M: I was in no way offended about you getting married cause look at what a great husband you got. We ain’t want Alano to get away.

D: You’re too funny! This conversation is good. I’m over here crying.

M: Don’t cry! It’s over now and I actually got to help others which also helped me get through it. I saw other people who had to be on depression medication all the time while I was there. I have never been diagnosed as depressed but I supposed OCD is a problem.

D: Statistics regarding incarcerated women and mental health are pretty staggering.

M: Oh, wow!

D: OCD is definitely a thing—under-eating makes people feel like they’re in control, even if the food is gross.

M: I never really knew what that was; I just know I have to do something when I’m stressed.

D: Any lasting thoughts you’d like to leave with the NAMI community?

M: Yes. Get up every day and write a list of all the good things and blessings that you have. It helps to create a more positive mood for the rest of the day. The more we focus on the good things and also remember that someone else may have a harder time than we are experiencing, it keeps it all in perspective. Also, don’t be afraid to tell others how you are really feeling the next time someone asks, “How are you?” It makes all the difference in the world if you have someone who you know genuinely cares. Try to be that person for someone else and see what a difference it will make in your life.

 

DeWanda Wise is an actress whose work includes roles on Fox event series, Shots Fired, and the critically acclaimed series, Underground. She resides in California with her husband and the best cat in the world, Rascal.

https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/July-2017/An-Important-Conversation-with-My-Mom

Everyone Deserves Adequate Mental Health Care

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As a caretaker and advocate for my mom, it’s been daunting navigating both the cultural barriers in my Latino community and trying to access mental health services. Thus far, these challenges have proven too difficult to surmount in getting my mother adequate treatment for schizoaffective disorder.

Years before my mother got an official diagnosis, we viewed her “locura” (craziness) as just part of her personality. In hindsight, it was clear there were times when my mom was harboring extreme delusions and experiencing bouts of mania. At the time, though, it was our pride that probably led us to downplay my mom’s problems.

Pride is a common problem among Latino families—we don’t like people seeing our weaknesses. We don’t want to admit we even have any. Many of us also come from working class or impoverished backgrounds, which instills in us a deep-seated perseverance—an attitude encapsulated by the slogan “¡si se puede!”

Latino families are also very private, as problems are settled within the immediate family. This extends even to family gatherings. During these events, I would try to help my mom socially navigate, in the hopes of concealing any irrational behavior. But attending extended family functions began to occur less frequently as my mom’s mental health deteriorated.

She started to accuse the family of working for the FBI to spy on her and my dad of trying to kill her by putting poison in her food and drink. She’d wake up in the middle of the night and insist she heard people trying to get inside the house to kill her. Suggesting she see a psychiatrist made my mom angry and hostile, and everyone else miserable.

About three or four years into my mom showing symptoms, I began to take a more direct role in trying to get help and treatment for her. By then, my parents were divorced, but still living together. My mom was unemployed and uninsured, and her psychosis was constant. She had nowhere else to go and my dad was reluctant to kick his high school sweetheart out of the house.

Lack of health insurance was a significant barrier for us when I first tried to get her help. This is a problem experienced by too many Latinos. Additionally, my mom didn’t have an official diagnosis (which is proof of a disability) that we could use to apply for Medicaid.

I decided to move my mom in with me in San Francisco. The city was in its early years of offering health care services to impoverished, uninsured residents. I enrolled my mom, and we began accessing community medical and mental health services.

Fast forward nine years later. Despite my best efforts, my mom still remains untreated. In that time, my mom has been released from hospitals against my wishes and has developed various serious medical issues. Trying to access outpatient services, whether community centers or county services, has proven to be entirely useless. In one case, it was hard to even get in the door when we tried to access a county mental health program. My mom was denied services (“found not eligible”) because she didn’t admit to having a mental illness during her initial interview/evaluation. It took pressure and advocacy on my part to finally get her enrolled.

There are gross inadequacies and structural problems in the mental health system. More and better family education and outreach are essential in order to mitigate the cultural barriers that play a part in impeding Latino families from realizing and accepting they need help. Training and employing more culturally responsive and competent mental health staff and psychiatrists, and expanding community mental health centers/clinics are also important.

For example, the Latino mental health center we used in San Francisco was a blessing in helping us finally get an official diagnosis for my mom. With his cultural competence and skill, the psychiatrist my mom saw was able to build trust and a rapport with my mom relatively quickly, despite her deep reluctance in seeing him.

I will advocate for treatment centers like these for the rest of my life. My mom, my family and my community deserve quality care.

 

Mike was born in Fresno, CA, the grandchild of Mexican immigrants. He has been teaching at a community college in the Bay Area for ten years and is a caregiver for his mom who is diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder. Read his blog here.

https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/July-2018/Everyone-Deserves-Adequate-Mental-Health-Care

Getting Involved With Minority Mental Health

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Mental health conditions do not discriminate based on race, color, gender or identity. Anyone can experience the challenges of mental illness regardless of their background. However, culture, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation can make access to mental health treatment much more difficult.

America’s entire mental health system needs improvement, including when it comes to serving marginalized communities. When trying to access treatment, these communities have to contend with:

  • Language barriers
  • A culturally insensitive system
  • Racism, bias and discrimination in treatment settings
  • Lower quality care
  • Lower chance of health care coverage
  • Stigma from several angles (for being a minority and for having mental illness)

These are all in addition to the usual road blocks. Many cultures also view mental health treatment as a luxury, considering symptoms a “phase” that will eventually pass. These harmful perceptions of mental illness can further isolate individuals who desperately need help.

We can all help ignite change against these disparities and fight stigma this Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. It simply starts with learning more about mental health and informing your community.

Consider Giving A Presentation

Starting conversations about mental health in your community may feel intimidating—especially if your community views mental illness as a personal fault or weakness. But the more we talk about mental illness, the more normalized it will become. And NAMI is here to help!

Consider giving NAMI presentations to your community, like Sharing Hope for the African American community and Compartiendo Esperanza for the Hispanic and Latino communities. These presentations go over the signs and symptoms of mental health conditions as well as how and where to find help. If neither of these presentations fit your background, feel free to use them as models to create your own presentation tailored to your community’s needs.

Emphasize Treatment

Make sure to stress the importance of a culturally competent provider. These mental health professionals integrate your beliefs and values into treatment. To find a provider that does this, you may have to do a significant amount of research. In addition to searching online, you can also ask trusted friends and family for recommendations or ask for referrals from cultural organizations in your community (like your local AKA Chapter).

In your first session, make sure to ask any questions you may have about the professional’s cultural competence. For example:

  • Do you have any experience treating someone from my background?
  • Have you had any cultural competence training?
  • How would you include aspects of my identity into my care?

Be confident when disclosing relevant information about your beliefs, culture, sexual orientation and/or gender identity that could potentially affect your care. Your provider will play a vital role in your treatment, so make sure you feel comfortable and can communicate well with them before committing to them. Remember: If you feel like your provider doesn’t understand you, it’s okay to leave. Cultural competency is very beneficial to effective treatment. It might take a bit of effort to find the right fit, but recovery is worth it.

Share Your Story

When a person experiences symptoms of mental illness, one of the most helpful and comforting feelings is knowing that they’re not alone. It can be incredibly reassuring to know in this moment right now, someone else is going through similar struggles as you are—regardless of where they are, who they are, or how they identify.

If you’re ever feeling isolated or that your community doesn’t understand mental illness, explore story-sharing platforms like Ok2Talkand You Are Not Alone. On these platforms, everyday people write about their deepest struggles with mental illness and their hopes for recovery. If you feel comfortable, post your thoughts and feelings about or experiences with mental illness—it’s rewarding to know you are helping others feel less isolated.

Minority Mental Health Awareness Month is an opportunity to raise awareness and stop stigma in diverse communities. It’s time to improve the harsh realities minority communities face when it comes to mental illness treatment. In fact, it’s long overdue.

By Laura Greenstein

https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/July-2018/Getting-Involved-with-Minority-Mental-Health

Opioids And Substance Abuse: What Can We Do?

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Opioids and other substances that alter how we feel, think and act have overtaken our culture, and have been declared a public health epidemic. We are losing our loved ones, friends, co-workers and neighbors to these substances. But we have yet to implement the solutions that will beat back this epidemic, as we have so many others, like HIV/AIDS, polio, smallpox and tobacco.

Substance use and abuse—of opioids, heroin, cannabis, stimulants, alcohol, etc.—is universal and the casualties of drug addiction affect all classes, races and regions of the U.S. These substances are too frequently used as an answer to pain, mental and physical, and have become a cure-all for people who’ve fallen on hard times. That’s why so many people use them and that’s why so many people become addicted.

Substance use disorders commonly co-occur with mental health conditions, especially serious mental illness like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, eating disorders, PTSD and other forms of trauma. People with mental illnesses often turn to drugs and alcohol to quiet their symptoms, and drugs and alcohol can adversely affect our nervous system and increase risk for mental illness.

The Solution

We are failing with this epidemic because of this country’s dogged attachment to policies and programs that have never worked for addiction. Vast sums of money continue to be wasted on campaigns of drug control and on public messages, especially for youth, that rely on scare tactics. We can and must do better. We can beat this epidemic with three public health approaches.

  1. Prevention. This includes school-based programs that provide youth with decision-making skills and methods of controlling their moods and impulses. One proven program is called the Life Skills Training. Prevention also extends to the family, such as “positive parenting,” or actively modeling and teaching children about positive behaviors. Big Brother/Big Sister programs—where an older youth of the same background takes on a younger, high-risk child—is also highly protective. These prevention programs work, and we have hardly started to apply them.
  1. Screening. Early identification of a problem means early intervention, before the substance use disorder becomes more firmly rooted. We have good screening instruments, (such as the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test), and need to make them standard practice in schools, pediatric and family medicine offices.
  1. Treatment. Families and people affected by addiction should advocate for the strong, comprehensive treatment approach they need. Effective treatment means first detecting the presence of a co-occurring mental (or physical) condition and assuring it’s also treated. Treatment for a substance use disorder should then combine:
  • Cognitive therapy that focuses on reducing the triggers of relapse
  • 12-Step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous
  • Family education and support
  • Medications

This public health epidemic that is seizing our country can be beaten. And by following these steps, we save lives, help families and restore communities.

 

Dr. Sederer is a psychiatrist, public health doctor and medical journalist. His new book is The Addiction Solution: Treating Our Dependence on Opioids and Other Drugs(Scribner, 2018). www.askdrlloyd.com.

https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/June-2018/Opioids-and-Substance-Abuse-What-Can-We-Do