alliance for mental illness - nami nami cobb leadership team · social media during a crisis...
TRANSCRIPT
NAMI COBB
Welcome to our family of National Alliance for Mental Illness - NAMI Cobb!
Our group works to be a wealth of information to you the consumer, the family member, the friends and relatives of those dealing with day to day issues of living with a Mental Illness.
NAMI Cobb Leadership Team
President -- Neill Blake 770-427-5353 [email protected]
1st Vice-President/Website Chair – Tim Link [email protected]
2nd Vice-President/Communication Chair Greg Ausham [email protected]
Secretary - Ashley Burton
[email protected] Treasurer and Parliamentarian– Paul Wiser [email protected] Member At Large/Newsletter Editor/CIT –
John Avery [email protected]
Member At Large/Education Chair: Pam Burton [email protected]
Member at Large/Hospitality Chair:
Nancy Spetnagel
Member At Large/Advocacy Chair: Sylvia Oliphant [email protected] Membership Chair: Robert Gray [email protected]
Fundraising Chair: Reina Pantaleon [email protected]
I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E
1 NAMI Cobb Education Meeting
2 President’s Letter
3 Family to Family / Next to Normal / NAMI Cobb Activities
6 TRAUMA-INFORMED PRIMARY CARE INITIATIVE
7 Social Media During a Crisis
8 Stop Locking Up People With Mental Illnesses
9 Depression
12 Meeting and Membership Information
Newsletter Date Volume 1 Issue 1 January 2016 FRESH START
Join us for a TED TALK video, volunteer opportunities
and social networking!
EVENT Name: January Education/ Pizza social
DATE of Event: Thursday, January 21, 2016
TIME: 7:00PM – 9:00PM
WHERE: The Cathedral of Turner Chapel
492 North Marietta Parkway NE Rm 187 Marietta 30060
http://www.turnerchapelame.org/index.php/about/locationandtimes
Parking is plentiful and there is a lift at the base of the parking lot stairs to make the building easily accessible through the main entrance.
Monday January 18, 2016 is a Holiday and the Church will be CLOSED.
NO Support Group Meetings
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President’s Letter 2016 is shaping up to be an exciting one for NAMI Cobb! We are excited to announce that our new location for the monthly Education Meeting is Room 187 of Turner Chapel located at 492 Marietta Parkway in Marietta, GA 30060! This monthly meeting features a Speaker Series with presentations on a variety of mental health topics and resources. It is free and open to the public and is held on the third Thursday of each month except July and December. Turner Chapel is a beautiful new church located at the corner of Fairground Street and the North 120 Loop not far from the Marietta Square. There is plenty of parking and a wheelchair accessible lift is located at the concrete stairs in the parking lot to allow for easy access. By popular request, we are adjusting our meeting times slightly to allow the option of getting out a little earlier. We will begin at 7:00 p.m. with registration and announcements. The speaker will finish by 8:30 p.m. and afterwards, folks can hang around until 9:00 p.m. for fellowship. So come help us celebrate a new year and a new location with a pizza party beginning at 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 21, 2016 at Turner Chapel. We have planned what we hope will be a fun and informative gathering of NAMI Cobb members and the community for our January meeting. All are welcome – current members, former members, potential members and visitors. Special guests will include members of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, our newest NAMI partners. Door prizes, a festive atmosphere and information about NAMI Cobb’s volunteer activities will be shared. Our program will be a TED talk on mental illness followed by discussion. Please come! For three weekends beginning February 20th, the Elm Street Theatre in Woodstock is presenting the musical, Next to Normal, which is described as “an unflinching look at a suburban family struggling with the effects of mental illness set to an energetic pop/rock score.” NAMI members have been asked to attend talk-back sessions after each performance to help answer questions about mental illness. Please email me if you would be willing to participate in one of these sessions. Tickets are $12 in advance and as a community partner for this event, NAMI GA will receive $3 for each ticket sold. It would be fun to go as a group! Bill and I plan to go on Feb. 27th. Other upcoming events include a Family-to-Family class beginning Feb. 23, NAMI Cobb’s new Ending the Silence (ETS) team presenting programs for the youth group and for parents at Turner Chapel on February 20th and another mental health Crisis Intervention Team training for local law enforcement officers during the week of February 8th. The NAMI National Convention will be held in Denver at the Downtown Sheraton Hotel on July 6-9th this year. The focus is on research and clinical practices to advance and sustain recovery as well as advocacy to change our nation’s mental health system. Details are at www.nami.org under the Get Involved section. The lowest registration fees apply through January 31st. Several members of the NAMI Cobb Leadership Team plan to attend. We would love for you to join us!
Neill Blake [email protected]
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Find help. Find hope.
NAMI FAMILY-TO-FAMILY EDUCATION PROGRAM
FREE for adult Caregivers (family members, partners, & friends) of individuals who are living with serious mental illnesses such as:
Major Depression Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder
Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression) Schizophrenia & Schizoaffective Disorder
Panic Disorder & Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Co-occurring Brain Disorders & Addictive Disorders
NAMI Family-to-Family consists of 12 weekly classes that are taught by trained NAMI Caregiver volunteers. The course is free-of-charge is designed to help adult Caregivers understand & support individuals who live with serious mental illness. Through the course, Caregivers will also develop ways to maintain their own well-being. Over 300,000 Caregivers in the U.S., Canada, Italy, Puerto Rico, & Mexico have completed this course. We think you’ll be pleased by how much assistance this program offers.
Class begins on Tuesday, Feb 23, 2016 and run for 11 consecutive Tuesdays from 6:30-9:00 pm
First Presbyterian Church 189 Church Street
Marietta 30060
*Register by contacting Instructors:
David Mc Daniel Mrs. Neill Blake
770-757-7511 770-757-0151
[email protected] [email protected]
This NAMI Family-to-Family Program is sponsored by NAMI Georgia. It is funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb & Otsuka America Pharmaceutical
Please visit NAMI; www.nami.org for a complete list of NAMI courses &resources.
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
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Elm Street Theatre in Woodstock presents Next to Normal, A Feel Everything Musical
Feb 19-Mar 6 Fri/Sat at 7:30pm and Sun at 2:00pm
Music by Tom Kitt Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey
Directed by Shelly McCook
Next To Normal is an unflinching look at a suburban family struggling with the effects of mental illness. Winner of three 2009 TONY Awards including Best Musical Score, and winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, Next To Normal was also chosen as “one of the year’s ten best shows” by critics around the country, including The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone and The New York Times. Dad’s an architect, Mom rushes to pack lunches and pour cereal, and their daughter and son are bright, wise-cracking teens, making them appear to be a typical American family. And yet their lives are anything but normal, because the mother has been battling manic depression for 16 years. Next To Normal takes audiences into the minds and hearts of each character, presenting their family’s story with love, sympathy and heart. This deeply moving piece of theatre in infused with an energetic pop/rock score by Brian Yorkey. Next To Normal is an emotional powerhouse that addresses such issues as grieving a loss, ethics in modern psychiatry, and suburban life in today’s world. “…Heart melting…sentsitively crafted show…something inadvertantly powerful in the music and story, which have been meticulously woven together by the songwriting team of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey…beautiful songs that get to the heart of this deceptively complex story–and simply get to the heart.”– Washington Post
Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door for adults
This Show is considered PG-13 Located at City Center Auditorium
8534 Main St. Woodstock, GA 30188 Call 678.494.4251 or click here. For more information visit www.elmstreetarts.org Seats available for all performances. Show run time: ~ 2hrs with intermission
Presenting Partner / Community Partner:
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NAMI Cobb Activities
WHERE:
http://www.turnerchapelame.org/index.php/about/locationandtimes
Driving Directions
Take I-75 to Exit #265 (toward Cobb Parkway). Go North on North Marietta Parkway and drive 1.5 mile. Turn
left on Fairground Street NE. The Cathedral of Turner Chapel is on the right.
Monday January 18, 2016 is a Holiday and the Church will be CLOSED. NO Support Group Meetings
NAMI Connections Weekly Support Group
Our NAMI Connections Support Group for persons with a mental health diagnosis continues to meet every Monday from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in Room 231 at First Presbyterian Church located at 189 Church Street in Marietta. We have a good core group of people who are committed to living in wellness - please come join this drop-in group any Monday or every Monday! Contact Ashley Burton at 404-936-3887 for more information.
Family Care & Share Weekly Support Group Our Family Care and Share Support Group is a drop-in group for family members and caregivers for someone with a
mental health diagnosis. The group meets every Monday from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in Room 232 at First Presbyterian Church, 189 Church St in Marietta. If your family member is in crisis, come any or every Monday to receive support from others.
And if your family member is doing well, please come to give your support and share your experiences with others! Contact Greg Ausham at 330-801-0328, Susie Allen at 770-565-4335 or Sylvia Oliphant 678-471-5907 for more
information.
************************************************************************************************************************************* NAMI South Cobb will be doing an activity called “Attitude of Gratitude.”
We will be decorating mason jars for our gratitude bank. Inside the jar we suggest that you add a note each day of the things you are grateful for
Or something you have achieved for the day. The hope is that you can be reminded of the positive things in your life of how far you’ve come.
Carla Mc Daniel will assist in the program. We will have embellishments to decorate the jars.
Looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday, January 26th!
NAMI South Cobb meets from 7-8:30 pm at Macland Presbyterian Church, Fellowship Hall in the bottom of the Family Life Center,
3615 Macland Rd. (Hwy 360) in Powder Springs. Parking is in the rear & the back at the entrance to the Fellowship Hall.
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TRAUMA-INFORMED PRIMARY CARE INITIATIVE
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Social Media During a Crisis 11/18/2015
In the hours following the death of Robin Williams last summer, the actor’s fans had an immediate outlet for sharing their
grief.
Millions of people took to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram — expressing their condolences and, in some cases,
spreading misinformation about suicide and mental health. The interest was so intense that “Robin Williams” was the top
trending search on Google in 2014 — even exceeding the activity surrounding the Ebola breakout.
In the past, people would gather around their TV sets during such events. Today, they are instantly connected through
their phones and computers — able to discuss and share information at lightning speed.
For behavioral health organizations like SAMHSA, this change has shifted the way in which it must respond to big news
events and disasters.
“We basically have to be ready 24-7,” says CDR Jamie Seligman, a public health adviser for SAMHSA, who works with
the organization’s social media and communications team during disasters and other fast-moving events. “You don’t
know when a traumatic event will happen, but we want to be ready to do our best to communicate quickly and clearly
whenever something happens.”
In order to make this happen, SAMHSA has a rapid-response team that monitors the news and social media and is ready
to spring into action.
In the case of Robin Williams, that meant paying close attention to conversations about his death by suicide and quickly
releasing a statement about what people should do if they are having suicidal thoughts or if they feared for the health of a
loved one or friend.
“It was very short and to the point,” SAMHSA public health adviser Kaitlin Abell says of the statement. “We didn’t
mention Mr. Williams initially because we didn’t want to seem opportunistic. The topic of the moment was suicide and
we wanted people to know where to go for help and what to do.”
Ms. Abell says SAMHSA’s approach was to consider carefully what message to share while also moving quickly to
ensure that the information was timely and useful.
That’s also how SAMHSA approaches other situations — from natural disasters, to mass-shootings, to protests.
The same approach may also be used for events directly related to behavioral health, such as the recent Supreme Court
decisions about the Affordable Care Act and marriage equality.
“It wasn’t directly about behavioral health, but the Supreme Court decision was an opportunity to say that being
supportive of an LGBT family member or friend has a positive impact on their behavioral health,” Ms. Abell says.
In each case, SAMHSA must address an array of challenges. For example, networks make it easy for ill-informed or
malicious people to spread messages that incite fear and the public’s thirst for information means that it is often difficult
to keep up with the volume of messages and conversations.
This was especially true last fall, when news of the first confirmed case of Ebola in the United States triggered a massive
spike in social media activity as reports drove public concern about the disease becoming an epidemic. On Sept. 30, 2014,
mentions of Ebola on Twitter leaped from about 100 per minute to more than 6,000.
The swarm of social media activity spotlighted what can happen when public fear takes over during a crisis, as people
were quickly spreading misinformation. Much of the misinformation regarded how the disease was transmitted and
spread. But a number of people were also using social networks to spread alarming rumors that the government was
putting Ebola into common vaccines.
As it did in the aftermath of Robin Williams’ death, SAMHSA’s team took a calm approach and focused on helpful
messages to inform the public and arm them with information. SAMHSA worked closely with the CDC to monitor key
hashtags related to the topic and carefully gather and vet information to share with the public through tip sheets about
behavioral health issues related to the disease.
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The tip sheets — which covered topics such as Talking to Children: Tips for Caregivers, Parents, and Teachers During
Infectious Disease Outbreaks — were shared through social media and were used as talking points for posts on Twitter
and Facebook.
“We were the only agency to produce tip sheets from a behavioral health perspective about Ebola,” CDR Seligman says.
“I was really proud that we were able to share that information.”
The CDC, meanwhile, shared factual information about Ebola by posting messages using the hashtag #EbolaFact, hosting
chats and question-answer sessions about the disease on Twitter and Facebook, and writing op-eds and blogs that shared
more in-depth information about the disease. SAMHSA coordinated with CDC to help address behavioral health
questions.
CDR Seligman says this coordinated approach across federal agencies shows how the government is working actively to
answer questions, correct misinformation, and provide the public with timely information during times of crisis.
SAMHSA, the CDC, and other agencies quickly deploy cross-functional teams that collaborate to ensure that they are
following the right conversations and sharing factual information.
The agencies have also created standard hashtags to help people share and monitor information during natural disasters —
such as #311US for power outages and #911US for emergency response.
And they have a library of information at their fingertips that they can customize depending on the specific details of each
event.
“We try to use existing resources from our library that we can update and customize,” CDR Seligman says. “In some
situations, we can have resources available within minutes. We believe that more information is better than no
information, so we try to provide as much useful information as possible, regardless of the event.”
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Stop Locking Up People With Mental Illnesses
Linda Rosenberg n President and CEO, National Council for Behavioral Health
Posted: 12/10/2015 9:58 am EST Updated: 12/10/2015 1:59 pm EST
It's no secret that our nation's jails and prisons house individuals charged with or convicted of crimes. What most Americans don't know is that more Americans with a mental illness or addiction reside in jail and prison than in health care institutions.
Sixty-five percent of inmates meet the criteria for a substance abuse disorder (a rate seven times higher than the general population) and more than half have a mental health problem. Many are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses related to their condition, such as public disturbance or possession of substances. Once imprisoned, inmates with mental illness or addiction often become trapped in a revolving door of arrest, release, poverty, deterioration of health, and re-arrest.
Meanwhile, public safety officials are frequently the first responders in behavioral health emergencies, despite the fact that many officers lack training to handle an individual with a serious behavioral health condition. Being the first line of response to health crises takes officers away from their other duties maintaining community safety and puts them in the role of de facto health providers. The same is true for judges, prosecutors, public defenders, corrections officers, and other public employees involved throughout a person's journey from arrest to incarceration.
Health providers who can offer a range of prevention and treatment to improve health and reduce recidivism better serve nonviolent offenders living with mental illness or addiction in their communities. Intensive interventions such as assertive community treatment, residential substance use care, comprehensive case management, medication-assisted treatment, and others can help keep offenders healthy and out of trouble. Unfortunately, in far too many communities, available funding is inadequate to meet these needs. After generations of sustained funding cuts in basic services, our nation's community-based mental health and
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addiction treatment providers are stretched beyond their capacity; many have been forced to close programs or limit who can be served.
A new demonstration program, the Excellence in Mental Health Act, will provide a much-needed infusion of funding into addiction and mental health care, expanding treatment capacity and alleviating the burden on the nation's criminal justice system. The Excellence Act is an 8-state, 2-year demonstration program that establishes criteria for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) designed to provide comprehensive services and supports to people living with serious mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders. It also provides enhanced reimbursement and other resources to these clinics, allowing them to serve more people and better meet community needs. This demonstration program helps reduce the pressure on the criminal justice system by:
• Ensuring access to acute care, including addiction treatment: The Excellence Act requires certified clinics to ensure patients have access to inpatient psychiatric facilities and substance use detoxification, post-detoxification step-down services, and residential programs. They must also maintain strong relationships and coordinate care with these acute care providers, facilitating transitions from one setting of care to another and ensuring patients do not fall through the cracks and disengage with treatment.
• Increasing the availability of crisis care: The Excellence Act requires participating providers to offer 24- hour crisis services, including mobile crisis care, allowing individuals experiencing a behavioral health emergency to get the professional care they need, and providing public safety with an intervention that does not involve incarceration or pulling officials away from their other duties.
• Coordinating and improving care: Participating providers must establish and maintain partnerships with juvenile and criminal justice agencies, emergency rooms and other facilities as part of their requirement to coordinate care across settings and providers.
• Expanding access to care for the seriously ill: The demonstration program infuses over $1 billion into the community behavioral health safety net, giving clinics the funds they need to serve more people at all stages of care: from prevention to early treatment, crisis intervention, chronic care management, and more. By improving individuals' access to timely, comprehensive care, this program can improve patients' health while reducing the number of behavioral health-related calls public safety officials receive.
It's time for behavioral health systems and correctional systems to join forces as partners to help change this. At a December 8 symposium in Washington, D.C., recognized thought leaders in community mental health, health policy, and criminal justice convened to discuss opportunities the Excellence Act demonstration offers for our nation's correctional system. Senator Debbie Stabenow, who co-authored the Excellence in Mental Health Act, attended the symposium. She authored the law along with Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Representatives Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ). The panelists agreed that behavioral health reforms can prevent inmates from ending up in jail in the first place--and can keep them from falling through the cracks when they return to their communities upon release.
Twenty-four states have received federal funding to embark on a one-year planning process to implement the Excellence in Mental Health Act. Yet, only eight of those 24 states will ultimately be offered a chance to participate in the demonstration. We're calling on Congress to expand the Excellence Act demonstration to all 24 states so they can offer the full range of necessary behavioral health services. Let's support behavioral health care for those with mental illness and addictions in our communities--before they're put in jail.
Follow Linda Rosenberg on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nationalcouncil
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Depression
Observational studies have found as many as 30% of patients hospitalized for depression are deficient in vitamin B12 (61). A cross-sectional studyof 700 community-living, physically disabled women over the age of 65 found that vitamin B12-deficient women were twice as likely to be severely depressed as non-deficient women (62). A population-based study in 3,884 elderly men and women with depressive disorders found that those with vitamin B12 deficiency were almost 70% more likely to experience depression than those with normal vitamin B12 status (63). The reasons for the relationship between vitamin B12 deficiency and depression are not clear but may involve a shortage in S-adenosylmethionine (SAM). SAM is a methyl group donor for numerous methylation reactions in the brain, including those involved in the metabolism of neurotransmitters whose deficiency has been related to depression (64). Severe vitamin B12 deficiency in a mouse model showed dramatic alterations in the level of DNAmethylation in the brain, which might lead to neurologic impairments (65). This hypothesis is supported by several studies that have shown supplementation with SAM improves depressive symptoms (66-69).
Increased homocysteine level is another nonspecific biomarker of vitamin B12 deficiency that has been linked to depressive symptoms in the elderly (70). However, in a recent cross-sectional study conducted in 1,677 older individuals, higher vitamin B12 plasma levels, but not changes in homocysteine concentrations, were correlated with a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms (71). Few studies have examined the relationship of vitamin B12 status, homocysteine levels, and the development of depression over time. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, intervention studywith over 900 older participants experiencing psychological distress, daily supplementation with folic acid (400 μg) and vitamin B12 (100 μg) for two years did not reduce the occurrence of symptoms of depression despite significantly improving blood folate, vitamin B12, and homocysteine levels compared to placebo (72). However, in a long-term randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study among sufferers of cerebrovascular accidents at high risk of depression, daily supplementation with 2 mg of folic acid, 25 mg of vitamin B6, and 500 μg vitamin B12 significantly lowered the risk of major depressive episodes during a seven-year follow-up period compared to placebo (73). Although it cannot yet be determined whether vitamin B12 deficiency plays a causal role in depression, it may be beneficial to screen for vitamin B12 deficiency in older individuals as part of a medical evaluation for depression.
Jane Higdon, Ph.D
Oregon State University
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Thank you so much for your interest in joining NAMI Cobb Affiliate! Please complete the form below, and mail this with your check made out to
NAMI Cobb. (If you wish to pay by credit card, go to www. nami.org and click on “Become a Member”. You will start receiving our monthly
electronic newsletter within the month. You are also invited to attend our monthly education and support meetings at St. James Episcopal Church in
Marietta, 161 Church St. NE, on the third Thursday of each month at 7:30pm (there is a time to look at resources and brochures at 7pm). You are not
alone. Come join us.
NAMI Cobb January 2016
P.O. Box 999
Kennesaw, GA 30156
TO:
Yes, I would like to join NAMI Cobb of Georgia! Date:____________________
New
Renewal
$3 Financial Hardship Membership (Please note there has been a slight increase in membership fees nationally).
___________Donation (I would like to give an additional donation
to support NAMI-Cobb programming and outreach) Name(s):______________________________________
Address:______________________________________
_______________________________________
Phone: _______________________________________
Email: _______________________________________
I am interested in volunteering. My skill is ________________________.
Monday January 18, 2016 is a Holiday and the Church will be CLOSED.
NO Support Group Meetings
Family Care and Share Support Group
For families of those with a mental illness
1st Presbyterian Church
189 Church St
Marietta, GA
MONDAYS Time: 7-8:30 PM
Susie Allen 770-565-4335
Greg Ausham 330-801-0328
Sylvia Oliphant 678-471-5907
Monthly NAMI Cobb General Meeting
NEW MEETING LOCATION
Turner Chapel Rm# 187 492 North Marietta Parkway NE
Marietta 30060
Meetings resume on
January 21, 2016
7:00 PM Networking/Social
7:30 PM Program
**Please mail this form along with your check to:
NAMI Cobb, P.O. Box 999 Kennesaw, GA 30156
Thank you for your membership!