SIGN ME UP!! For the NAMI BROWARD WALK 2013 on Saturday, November 9th at Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek.
Every journey begins with that first step! As NAMIWalks celebrates our first walk to be held in South Florida, we are proud to be the largest and most successful mental illness awareness event in America! Through NAMIWalks’ public, active display of support for people affected by mental illness, we are changing our American communities and ensuring that help and hope are available for those in need.
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Study finds 8.3% suffer for half of any given month
By Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times
As of Sunday, May 19, 2013
WASHINGTON — Go to a busy street in your community and count the next 25 adolescents who walk, bike, skateboard, stroll or saunter past. Odds are that two (8.3 percent to be exact) would own up to having experienced 14 or more days in the last month that he or she considered "mentally unhealthy," according to a comprehensive report on the mental health of American youth issued last week.
Between 2005 and 2010, roughly 2 million American adolescents between 12 and 17 acknowledged that for more than half of the previous month, they routinely felt sad, angry, disconnected, stressed out, unloved or willing to hurt themselves — or others.
These distressed kids would be most likely to come from a household living above the federal poverty line — but not by much (from a household of three, for instance, with income between $20,000 and $40,000 a year). But those living in poverty or even relative affluence were only a little less likely to report they experienced persistent mental distress.
It should come as no surprise, then, that in 2010, suicide was the second-leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 12 and 17.
The burden of mental illness among American children is high, according to a compendium of statistics and data pulled together and released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It combines results from nine separate federal data-collection efforts that measure a range of populations in health status, health-related behaviors and demographic factors. In any given year, between 13 percent and 20 percent of American children from ages 3 to 17 experience a mental disorder — a prevalence rate that’s on the rise since 1994.
The experts acknowledge that rising rates of childhood mental illness may reflect more widespread awareness of conditions such as attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, and depression — to name two of the most common mental afflictions — and with that, a greater likelihood they will be diagnosed.
But some researchers believe the rise in childhood mental illness may, in part, reflect changed "environmental factors" in children’s lives — not just industrial pollutants but changes in the social environments of their schools and families, the technologies they use, the foods they eat. The rise of autism spectrum disorders has been linked to prenatal exposure to car exhaust, but also to the trend of later parenting. ADHD has been linked to maternal smoking, but some also think the rise in diagnoses can be attributed in part to larger classrooms, increased pressure to boost test scores and reduced tolerance for disruption.
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NOTE: See also today’s lengthier Sun Sentinel article on page 8A – NAMI Broward is very appreciative of the local’s paper increased coverage of our mental health issues and the need to address them within South Florida –
Glenn Close’s family sheds light on mental illness stigma
A new PSA by Bring Change 2 Mind offers a surprising twist on the way people look at mental illness. Bring Change 2 Mind is a national campaign founded by Glenn Close
(Photo: Dan Steinberg, Invision/AP)
· One in four people are affected with mental illness
· Mental health care is not on parity with physical health care
· Glenn Close’s sister Jessie is bipolar; Her nephew Calen is schizoaffective
Calen Pick has schizoaffective disorder, a combination of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He was 15 when he realized something was wrong, 16 when he checked himself into a lockdown mental health facility, 18 when he got out and 28 when his sanity touched down on solid ground.
Now 31, Calen got married last year and, along with his mother, Jessie Close, who is bipolar, and his aunt, six-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close, is working toward ending stigma and discrimination of the mentally ill through the foundation BringChange2Mind, which Glenn founded in 2009.
"The most powerful way to change someone’s view is to meet them," says Glenn. "People who do come out and talk about mental illness, that’s when healing can really begin. You can lead a productive life."
Jessie and Calen, who are both easily unsettled by loud noises and large crowds, took the issue of stigma front and center, literally. In 2010, with Calen wearing a T-shirt with "Schizo" printed on it and his mother wearing one that said "Bipolar," they walked into Grand Central Station in New York City and stood there to film a PSA directed by Ron Howard.
"It was scary. People just stared at us," says Calen. "But I think of myself as an intact soul, so for me to put myself out there like that, I hope initiates more people to talk about it. Just talking about mental illness would do it a great service."
Their effort seems to have paid off: that PSA, which also features John Mayer’s Say, has aired in 800 million households.
According to BringChange2Mind, one in four families is affected by mental illness. When Jessie started showing signs in her early twenties, bipolar disorder was largely unknown. "At that time, it was really common to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. Then I was given my first treatment in my late forties and finally, the correct diagnosis — and medication — when I was 51," Jessie says. "I’ll be 60 in July and I grieved for those lost years. There were careers I couldn’t handle because of it. I wish I was able to get help earlier."
In their second PSA, Schizo, which will be out May 21, Calen steps into the spotlight. The PSA plays like a trailer for a horror film, ending with the camera shooting down a dark hallway, a door opening and Calen standing in a kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "I’m sorry to disappoint you," he says in the final scene.
"When he got out of that mental health facility, (Calen) never took off his dark sunglasses, which helped him be around large groups of people. Once Jessie came to visit me in New York City and she had to leave a restaurant we were in because it was too noisy and she went to sit on a stoop to collect herself," says Glenn. "So that (Jessie and Calen) were brave enough to wear those T-shirts, standing in a place as busy and echo-ey as Grand Central Station, is miraculous."
That Calen and Jessie have stepped out from the shadows to share their experiences is a rarity; one that they hope will inspire not just people with mental illness to come forward, but policy makers to start putting laws in place to protect them and to put mental health care on parity with other health care.
"If you change policies, eventually that will affect what people think," says Bernice Pescosolido, an Indiana University professor who focuses on mental health care, stigma and suicide research. "There are two parts to mental literacy, one is knowledge and the other is what to do about it. That’s where we need to make progress. How do we get through the door? Insurance doesn’t address long-term help. And service isn’t available everywhere, especially as you get to more rural areas."
The backbone of Calen’s progress is the support from his family. "If our family had not supported Calen, he would have been caught up in that terrible cycle of jail, street, jail, street," says Glenn. "What do people do when they’re in that cycle? I don’t have a good answer to that."
Schizophrenia is not only the most serious of mental illnesses, but the most stigmatized. "Fear is lodged with people who don’t know someone with mental illness. How you treat someone with cancer or diabetes is more accepting than someone with mental illness," says Pescosolido. "If you can see the entire person, not just the label, and the more people interact, then the more that the attitudes go away. Contact is a powerful predictor of greater tolerance."
For those first brutal years when Calen was psychotic, Jessie, despite also suffering from a serious mental illness, found herself at a loss as to how to handle her son’s erratic behavior. "One afternoon, we were standing in the yard and he said that the TV antenna was put there to keep track of him," she recalls. "When he was overwhelmed, he’d rock, with his forearms tight against his thighs, his hair hanging down."
With a combination of talk therapy, careful medication and the support of his family, Calen pieced together his splintered sanity. "It was scary not knowing where to draw the line; my imagination just didn’t know how to stop," he says. "It was like a free association of everything around me. Everything took a special meaning; it was thoughts building on thoughts and me trying to put reason to them. It was a good 10 years, every hour I was awake, I lived in hell."
As the psychiatric field and policymakers search for a solution, families and patients can find relief through organizations like BringChange2Mind. "I would love BringChange2Mind not have to be anymore, which is when people are talking about mental illness without shame or judgment," says Glenn. "It’s about social inclusion and when people are enlightened then change can happen."
Four people with mental illness fight for recovery and independence
Offers Model for Media Coverage and
Community Discussion During Mental Health Awareness Month
Life on the streets for the poor and homeless is an unforgiving struggle. For those living with mental illness, it is marked by the additional pressures of fear, isolation and misunderstanding.
West 47th Street, the remarkable, award-winning documentary film airing on PBS on Sunday, May 19 on the WORLD Channel, takes its cameras into the heart of the struggle and provides human faces of mental illness.
The national television broadcast comes 10 years after the film first aired on PBS, updated with an interview with producer Bill Lichtenstein. It remains relevant today as President Obama, Congress and state and local governments engage in new debates over mental health policies.
Filmed at Fountain House, the renowned community mental health clubhouse program in New York City, West 47th Street looks at a world of hospitals, group homes, medication regimes, work programs, and personal turmoil and hope that never disappear.
The movie takes place in New York City, but there are many people here in our own community who face the same challenges. It should spark community dialogue not just this weekend but in weeks ahead.
NAMI encourages everyone who cares about individuals, families or friends affected by mental illness to tune in on Sunday. It’s time to learn and find ways to help each other.
Here is your digital edition of the NAMI Advocate. We are offering our readership a digital version of the magazine so you can experience the benefits of this new format. You have your choice of receiving either the digital or print version, or both if you prefer.
We’ll keep you informed on our progress of "going digital" throughout the year. In the meantime, if you want to sign up to get the digital edition as well as your print copy, click here.
If you would like to switch from print to digital, click here.
You have two ways to read your digital edition:
View our enhanced browser-based edition. You can download the PDF from the browser version as well for convenient off-line reading and archiving.
You can download the PDF from the browser as well.
The joke started with the radio show host asking "think you’ve had an awful week?"
The popular morning host of a nationally syndicated show then outlined Titus Young’s summer, which includes the former Detroit Lions’ second-round pick being released by two NFL teams in the span of 10 days, then arrested three times in a week.
Everyone in the studio laughed at Young’s expense. He had become the sports equivalent of popular actress Lindsay Lohan, someone for the nation to mock as we rubber neck their life spiraling out of control.
Yet, nobody found it funny when legendary linebacker Junior Seau, who played for the Chargers, Dolphins and Patriots, committed suicide in 2012 after years of privately battling depression.
That leads me to wonder when exactly will the punch line of Young’s tragic turn in life stop being funny? The nightmarish saga this 23-year old is living through should be a reminder to us all that mental health issues are real, and they can, and often do, impact everyone.
Our family member and friends, our community, and even our favorite sports teams and leagues.
"He needs to put the right people around him and get the right treatment plan," said Pro Bowl receiver Brandon Marshall, who reached out to Young last season after Young was initially diagnosed as bipolar.
Nearly two years ago Marshall openly admitted to the world he was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, and since seeking treatment he’s counseled dozens of people with mental health issues, and that includes a few professional athletes.
Marshall, the Chicago Bears leading receiver, heard about Young’s saga with the Detroit Lions, which sounded too familiar, and wanted to help. But Young wasn’t ready. Marshall knew he needed to be patient.
After all, it took Marshall, who played two seasons for the Dolphins, years, numerous clinicians, and tons of drama to get to the root of his problems.
"Mental health in itself is so stigmatized. It’s a taboo topic and we need more people to talk about it and not make Titus Young, or people like myself a national punch line," Marshall said. "We need to change the dialogue of this discussion."
Richard Young, Titus’ father, told two Detroit newspapers that his son suffers from a mental health disorder and desperately needs help.
Richard said Young had been receiving treatment for months, and was using the antidepressant Seroquel, which is used to treat bipolar disorders and schizophrenia. But the junior Young is apparently in a manic state, which explains why he abandoned Richard at a coffee house and has embarked on a wild escapade that includes Friday’s arrest in California for breaking into the home of Bill Plattos, who told Los Angeles-area media that he was loading a gun and was prepared to shoot the intruder.
Most people with bipolar disorder, or manic depression, are diagnosed in their late teens or early 20s, which just so happens to be the lifespan of a professional athletes best years.
The illness Young is battling, which is also known as manic depression, is characterized by moods that soar so high the person has delusions of grandeur, and so low that they suffer some insomnia. Their state of mind is altered and reality gets lost.
That’s where Young is, lost, while awaiting arraignment in jail. Considering nobody but himself has been harmed or robbed it is clear he needs treatment more than incarceration.
Young has a road ahead of him similar to Barret Robbins, the former Raiders center best remembered for deserting the team on the eve of the Super Bowl 37, and for later going public about his struggles with mental illness.
Robbins was sentenced to serve five years in prison after a life and death run-in with Miami Beach police on January 15, 2005. Robbins was originally charged with three counts of attempted murder after savagely attacking three police officers.
Robbins told the court he suffered from bi-polar disorder which caused him to experience violent mood swings. In the end, the three counts of attempted murder were reduced to a stint in a treatment program and probation.
Young hasn’t harmed anyone yet, but Marshall, and the people who care about him are concerned it might only be a matter of time.
"This isn’t about his career. This is about his life," Marshall said. "That’s not a laughing matter."
Below, a copy of a letter sent by Broward County Judge, Ginger Lerner-Wren to Florida Governor Rick Scott on May 7, 2013, on behalf of expansion of Medicaid. NAMI Broward is appreciative of activities to help bring change for essential funding!
GINGER LERNER-WREN
COUNTY COURT JUDGE
COUNTY COURT CRIMINAL
SEVENTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
BROWARD COUNTY COURTHOUSE
201 S.E. 6th Street
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
(954) 831-7240
Fax (954) 831-6533
May 7, 2013
Office of Governor, Rick Scott
State of Florida, The Capitol
400 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, Florida
Via fax
Re: Urgent Call for Medicaid Expansion Special Session
Dear Governor Scott,
I am writing in accordance with Canon 3, Florida Judicial Canon of Ethics to request your immediate action to call a Special Legislative Session on Medicaid Expansion. My name is Ginger Lerner-Wren, I am a Broward County Criminal Court Judge and the pioneer of the first Mental Health Court in the United States, and former Commissioner, President George W. Bush, New Freedom Commission on Mental Health.
It is well documented that Florida ranks at the bottom of the ladder with regards to mental health treatment and social service funding. Over the past eight years, and certainly since the 2008 financial crash, Florida’s mental health and social service funding has been cut to devastating levels. The shortfalls, have translated directly into more persons with mental illness and substance abuse disorders ending up in our criminal justice systems.
According to The Florida Department of Corrections, 2010 Reentry Advisory Council Report and National Policy Reports, a vast majority of persons in Florida’s jails and prisons have significant public health needs, this includes the following data:
The Florida Department of Children and Families reports 472,996 adults and 122,740 children adolescents are in need of publicly supported substance abuse treatment.
During fiscal year 2006-2007 115,729 adults and 53,024 children/adolescents received treatment, interventions and services through community -based providers.
The numbers represented 24 percent of adults and 43 percent of children/adolescents needing publicly supported services.
The gap is "compounded" when thousands of inmates are factored into this analysis,
In 2007-2008, 82% of inmates in need were released without receiving substance abuse and/or with the financial ability to access treatment in the community.
The prevalence of persons in the criminal justice system with serious mental illness has long been documented, now estimated at 45-56 percent.
In addition, the vast majority of individuals in Florida’s jails and prisons are proportionately more sick, than the general public. Individuals in corrections requiring medical treatment for a broad range of chronic medical problems, including (cancer, cardiac disease, TB, Diabetes, Hypertension, Asthma and HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C).
According to the RAND Corporation’s 2011 report on recidivism, one of the primary keys to successful reentry is the swift access to community based healthcare upon release. Florida’s recidivism rate currently stands as one of the highest in the nation, estimated at 70+ percent of those released from prison cycling back within one to three years.
Each and every day, individuals appear in my courtroom (and courtrooms around the State) who are uninsured, indigent, under-employed or homeless. Individuals returning to the community are over-dependent on expensive and episodic emergency room visits and often end up cycling back into jail/prison often due to new drug offenses or violations of community supervision.
Florida, like all States across the nation, has realized they can no longer sustain the crushing budgetary costs of incarceration. According to The Pew Center, corrections medical costs are the largest and fastest growing sector of corrections budgets. Florida has wisely invested millions of dollars into various evidenced based criminal justice public health oriented diversionary and reentry strategies, such as drug courts, mental health courts, and Second Chance Rehabilitative Programs. Research demonstrates these efforts will not succeed without effective access to public healthcare in the community, including substance abuse, mental health and other primary medical services. (See RAND Report, 2011).
Florida must widen the safety net and create community pathways to healthcare for its citizenry. Law enforcement and related criminal justice strategies to reduce recidivism requires Florida maximize its opportunity to leverage its criminal justice and public health initiatives to achieve its mission and goals to protect and restore lives, families and communities.
As a Judge immersed in the public health needs of Floridians I affirmatively urge you to call a special session on Medicaid Expansion and protect and promote the public health and public safety of all Floridians.
