Mental health and addiction issues touch all of us.
This year, one in four Americans will experience a diagnosable mental illness -- disorders including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and addiction.
Unfortunately, only one in three of these people will seek the treatment and support they need, jeopardizing their physical health and quality of life.
May is Mental Health Month, a special annual commemoration that began
more than 60 years ago to raise awareness of mental health conditions
and mental wellness for all. It is an ideal time for us to reflect on how far we have come since the first Mental Health Month was celebrated and look toward the future.
Without a doubt, mental health care has changed dramatically in the last six decades. Where a mental health disorder was once a hopeless situation -- a source of shame that meant institutionalization -- people today have access to effective treatments and programs that allow them to get their lives back.
We have unprecedented tools to diagnose and treat even severe mental illnesses. Socially, we have come a long way as well. Legislators are more aware of how mental illness affects our communities, and the vital need for strong funding and infrastructure in mental health care.
More and more, we are seeing public figures coming forward to discuss their personal and familial battles with many mental health and addiction disorders. These stories inspire hope and promote early intervention and treatment.
We've advanced mental health care significantly, but we still have work to do to see that those who need help and support receive it. Data shows that mental health conditions are responsible for more disability than chronic diseases like arthritis and diabetes.
Two-thirds of all visits to family physicians are due to stress-related symptoms. High levels of stress have been found to predict heart
disease, the world's leading cause of death, more often than high cholesterol, cigarette smoking or obesity.
People with depression are more likely to develop diabetes than those without symptoms of depression. Serious mental illnesses can shorten a person's lifespan by up to 25 years.
With these staggering statistics in mind, we have to ask: Why do two-thirds of those in need of mental health support and treatment never seek help? We would never leave a broken limb unattended or allow a loved one to suffer with unmanaged diabetes. What is keeping us from treating our mental health in the same way that we treat our physical health?
The answers to these questions are rooted in our attitudes about mental health. Many in our society cling to long-held beliefs that mental health and addiction disorders are a result of socioeconomic status, character flaws, bad parenting, growing up or growing older. Others mistakenly believe that those who have mental health and addiction disorders can never recover.
We can correct these misperceptions.
This community has been a wonderful supporter of mental health providers and many residents have been advocates for their friends and family members who are working toward recovery in their lives. Let's take the opportunity that Mental Health Month provides to talk openly and honestly about mental health. Together, we can close the gap between those who need care and those who receive it.
Article by Suzanne Koesel is CEO of Centerstone of Indiana. She may be reached at suzanne.koesel@centerstone.org. The Centerstone crisis line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at (800) 344-8802 for anyone seeking help.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Never Going Back: Memories of A Suicide Attempt by Amy Kiel
It’s a bit daunting to say the word “never”, especially when we are referring to depression. Depression has an element of surprise and the benefit of disguise in it’s arsenal, but there is a part of me that believes I never have to go back, that I never will experience the darkest depths of depression ever again.
My Most Trying Times With Depression
I look back on some of my most trying times with depression now and I see that I have come so far. Even though I still struggle with the daily challenges of living with chronic depression, the worst of times from my memory are behind me. It was almost 5 years ago that I lay in bed one summer day crying and tormented by my mental pain and anguish, struggling with the decision of whether or not to take my own life.
I had been recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia and the physical pain I was in daily was intense. I had become a person that I never wanted to be. I felt completely useless to my family, my friends and to the world. I believed in my mind that day that the world would be better served without me in it. Even though I believed this to be true, I was still scared and a bit uncertain. So, in my bed, in my own quiet world, my family in the living room beyond, I grappled with spiritual beliefs and weighed the pros and cons. As the pain in my mind became too great I picked up my prescription bottle and began swallowing pills. One pill at a time with a sip of water. I counted each one. I took them deliberately and a bit slowly. I wrote a letter to my family. I apologized for leaving them, but reassured them that life would be better without me.
My Saving Grace From Suicide
I swallowed the thirteenth pill and shortly after my daughter came into my room. She was seven years old at the time. She asked me what was wrong and I asked her if she could get me more water, I had just run out. Her appearance in my room perhaps saved me or perhaps I saved myself because of her appearance. I somehow realized, upon seeing her, that I had to stop taking those pills. She was, before that day, an angel to me and she has been one ever since. I asked my little girl to get my husband. When he came to the room I handed him the letter, I did not know what to say. He read the letter and looked at me, saw the pill bottle and went to call my mother who lived close by. Someone called 911.
The experience from there only became more chaotic. I can barely stand to think of it for it makes my stomach turn so much. The dark black color of the charcoal, the tube in my nose and throat, it was unwelcome and yet necessary to avoid any damage to my body from the pills I had swallowed.
The psychiatric unit I was taken to was cold. The bathroom tiles were icy and hard. I was crumpled on the floor, ill from the charcoal, now vomiting and cramping. It was an experience I will never forget and pray no one ever has to experience. I cried and moaned. No one heard me. The next day I awoke, alive and well, but very grumpy. I was definitely not happy to be there. I wanted to go home. I wanted the nightmare to be over. I just wanted the pain to stop.
No Vacancy for Suicide
Five years later, I am here tell you, that I will never go back to that emotional place again. I may struggle with severe depression in my lifetime, as depression seems quite fond of me. It is honestly difficult to say “never”, but I know in my heart that I will not allow myself to get that low again before I seek help and let someone know that I am thinking suicidal thoughts. It is not an option to consider. It has been wiped from any list I might have of solutions to despair. It has been a remarkable road to here and while I cannot say that I have all the power over depression, I can say that there is no room for it here. When it comes to suicidal thoughts, there is simply no vacancy.
If you or someone you care about is in crisis, please visit Visit the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or call 800-273-TALK. There is help available.
My Most Trying Times With Depression
I look back on some of my most trying times with depression now and I see that I have come so far. Even though I still struggle with the daily challenges of living with chronic depression, the worst of times from my memory are behind me. It was almost 5 years ago that I lay in bed one summer day crying and tormented by my mental pain and anguish, struggling with the decision of whether or not to take my own life.
I had been recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia and the physical pain I was in daily was intense. I had become a person that I never wanted to be. I felt completely useless to my family, my friends and to the world. I believed in my mind that day that the world would be better served without me in it. Even though I believed this to be true, I was still scared and a bit uncertain. So, in my bed, in my own quiet world, my family in the living room beyond, I grappled with spiritual beliefs and weighed the pros and cons. As the pain in my mind became too great I picked up my prescription bottle and began swallowing pills. One pill at a time with a sip of water. I counted each one. I took them deliberately and a bit slowly. I wrote a letter to my family. I apologized for leaving them, but reassured them that life would be better without me.
My Saving Grace From Suicide
I swallowed the thirteenth pill and shortly after my daughter came into my room. She was seven years old at the time. She asked me what was wrong and I asked her if she could get me more water, I had just run out. Her appearance in my room perhaps saved me or perhaps I saved myself because of her appearance. I somehow realized, upon seeing her, that I had to stop taking those pills. She was, before that day, an angel to me and she has been one ever since. I asked my little girl to get my husband. When he came to the room I handed him the letter, I did not know what to say. He read the letter and looked at me, saw the pill bottle and went to call my mother who lived close by. Someone called 911.
The experience from there only became more chaotic. I can barely stand to think of it for it makes my stomach turn so much. The dark black color of the charcoal, the tube in my nose and throat, it was unwelcome and yet necessary to avoid any damage to my body from the pills I had swallowed.
The psychiatric unit I was taken to was cold. The bathroom tiles were icy and hard. I was crumpled on the floor, ill from the charcoal, now vomiting and cramping. It was an experience I will never forget and pray no one ever has to experience. I cried and moaned. No one heard me. The next day I awoke, alive and well, but very grumpy. I was definitely not happy to be there. I wanted to go home. I wanted the nightmare to be over. I just wanted the pain to stop.
No Vacancy for Suicide
Five years later, I am here tell you, that I will never go back to that emotional place again. I may struggle with severe depression in my lifetime, as depression seems quite fond of me. It is honestly difficult to say “never”, but I know in my heart that I will not allow myself to get that low again before I seek help and let someone know that I am thinking suicidal thoughts. It is not an option to consider. It has been wiped from any list I might have of solutions to despair. It has been a remarkable road to here and while I cannot say that I have all the power over depression, I can say that there is no room for it here. When it comes to suicidal thoughts, there is simply no vacancy.
If you or someone you care about is in crisis, please visit Visit the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or call 800-273-TALK. There is help available.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Kennedy Launches Initiative to Promote Brain Research
APA has joined an impressive list of government officials, mental health advocacy groups and experts, scientists, and clinicians to launch former Congressman Patrick Kennedy's campaign to support the development of effective new treatments for neurological and mental disorders and dramatically increase funding for and coordination of brain research.
The American Psychiatric Foundation has stepped up with a $50,000 grant to support the conference that will launch the campaign, known as “The Next Frontier: One Mind for the Brain.” The conference will be hosted by the Massachusetts General Hospital Starr Center from May 23 to 25. Co-chairs Kennedy and Garen Staglin are referring to the Next Frontier campaign as a “moonshot to the mind,” and its goal is to map what Kennedy calls the “inner space of the mind” within the next decade…
During 16 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Kennedy wrote and co-sponsored dozens of bills on issues related to mental illness and improving the lives of people with psychiatric disorders. Also, he used his position and profile to raise understanding of these disorders, including speaking openly about his own battles with mental illness and those of his family.
The American Psychiatric Foundation has stepped up with a $50,000 grant to support the conference that will launch the campaign, known as “The Next Frontier: One Mind for the Brain.” The conference will be hosted by the Massachusetts General Hospital Starr Center from May 23 to 25. Co-chairs Kennedy and Garen Staglin are referring to the Next Frontier campaign as a “moonshot to the mind,” and its goal is to map what Kennedy calls the “inner space of the mind” within the next decade…
During 16 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Kennedy wrote and co-sponsored dozens of bills on issues related to mental illness and improving the lives of people with psychiatric disorders. Also, he used his position and profile to raise understanding of these disorders, including speaking openly about his own battles with mental illness and those of his family.
Read the full article by Richard Faust at Psychiatry Online
and learn more about The Next Frontier at Moonshot.org.
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