NAMI Community Partner Walk Events!

AFSP: Out of the Darkness walk. Click HERE to register and for more information.

USARA: Utah Recovery Day events across the state. Click HERE for more information.

Utah County HOPE Task Force's 8th Annual Suicide Prevention Walk. For more information contact: Amanda Shields 801-616-9137 or Cathy Bledsoe 801-374-4802

Week in Review: August 13-17

SOOO many good articles and information to share! Here is the week in review.

We kicked off our NAMIWalks event on Thursday August 16th at the DoubleTree Suites. Make sure to get registered! Head to the Walk website now! 

Science updates from the National Institute on Mental Health

'Perfect Chaos': Mom and Daughter's Bipolar Battle

Rabbi Speaks to Mental Illness in the Jewish Community

Review of Documentary: "Of Two Minds"

NFL Star Herschel Walker at Lejeune to Help End Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness

Join TWLOHA for National Suicide Prevention Week

Speaking Out: A Cheesy Stigma Story

NAMIWalks: Lights, Camera... Activism 

Grim Record: Soldier Suicides Reach New High

Extreme Heat Can Affect Medicines

Week in Review: August 6-10

Here is this week's "Week in Review." These are articles, information and updates too good not to share, (and too good not to share multiple times!) Click on the links to learn more. Have you found something worth sharing?! Let us know. E-mail maryb@namiut.org with any stories, articles or information about mental health that you think is worth sharing.

Michael Angelakos, lead singer of Passion Pit: Photo credit: Rolling Stone

Passion Pit Lead Singer on Battling Mental Illness from Rolling Stone Magazine

Finding Your Own Way: Learning to Live with Bipolar Disorder

Navy Video Contest on Suicide Prevention

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Being Treated for Depression

Affordable Care Act Has Benefits for People With Psychiatric Illness

Correlation Between Mental Illness and Obesity

New Content on ECT

The Proposed DSM-5 Alterations and Altercations

Letter from a Grateful Parent

Week in Review- July 30-August 3

This week I have found a number of articles that I wanted to share. Re-Tweeting them or posting them all to Facebook didn't seem to be sufficient (as there were tons I wanted to share!) So it's Friday and I thought I would institute a new section on our blog.

Every Friday we will share articles, stories and interesting news that didn't make it on to our Facebook or Twitter (or did and were too important or cool not to share multiple times!)

So here is your Week in Review: 

The Science Behind Yoga

Dogs, A Medicine for Mental Health Problems?

Mental Health Care gets my Vote

Olympian, Amanda Beard's Memoir: In the Water They Can't See You Cry

Out of the Darkness Walk: September 15th at Sugarhouse Park

Rep. Jackson Reveals Treatment for Depression

The Interplay of Stigma, Culture and Disease

NAMI Utah Open House: Video of Speeches: Listen to our amazing speakers from the Open House share their courageous stories!

Do you have articles, links, resources, or topics you'd like to see covered? Send us a note in the comment section or e-mail Mary: maryb@namiut.org

Supreme Court Ruling Huge for Mental Health Care

The Supreme Court ruled on June 28 to uphold the majority of the federal health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including important protections for people with mental illnesses. Thanks to the ruling, Utah will be able to continue moving forward to establish a health insurance exchange, which under the law, must include coverage for mental health care and must adhere to the mental health parity law. People buying health insurance in these exchanges may qualify for premium subsidies or financial help to ensure they can afford the coverage they need.

Utah will also be able to go ahead with plans to expand to Medicaid to cover all who have annual incomes up to 138 percent of federal poverty guidelines ($15,400) and who are not certified as disabled. Many of the people who will benefit from this change, which takes effect in 2014, live with a mental illness but are not considered 'disabled' and this is an important move to ensure they can access the treatment and services they need.

The court's decision will mean that children and young adults can remain on their parent’s health insurance plans until age 26 as well. This is typically the largest group of people who are without insurance and an age when people often experience their first psychotic episode.  New plans will also have to offer preventive services, such as mental health screenings, at no cost to the individual.  The court’s ruling will ensure people will be able to access the screening and treatment they need, when they need it.  The court also upheld a provision barring insurance companies from denying people coverage because they have a pre-existing condition, including a mental illness. This means that people will no longer be unable to obtain health insurance simply because they live with a mental illness nor will they be able to be charged much higher premiums based on their health status. The ruling is a huge victory for the mental health community and NAMI Utah applauds the Supreme Court for upholding these important provisions of the health reform law. For a detailed analysis of the implications of the decision, visit SCOTUSBlog.
For additional reading on the ACA and mental health care in Utah click HERE.

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Scrabble, Songs, and Sandwiches

Today [June 7, 2012] I visited NAMI's Social Group, which used to be called Soup Group, until we quit serving soup and started serving sandwiches, but Sandwich Group didn’t have quite the same ring to it. We recently had to move our office and with the change we decided to hold the group elsewhere while we transition. Jackie, T.J. and Rick have been running Social Group at the North Valley Mental Health facility since our move. Since then, I have had limited interaction with those individuals who benefit from the services NAMI provides. I have been so busy in my own world, the move, our recent Open House, other daily tasks, not to mention everything outside of work! So I have been looking forward to attending Social Group and talking with some of the folks who attend.

 

Recently the number of participants in social group has grown. Between 30 and 40 people have been coming consistently for a few months now. I want to share with you some of the great things I saw from our participants.

*I have changed the names of some of the individuals I spoke with for confidentiality purposes.

Jackie and I arrived at the basement of North Valley around 11:25 a.m. and while group doesn’t start until 11:30 a.m., people were already in line for their sandwich. Jackie introduced me to everyone and while I thought they might be a little skeptical that I was there to “write about them”, I was wrong! Everyone was immediately friendly and welcoming. One man, John, quickly pulled out the Scrabble board and challenged me to a game. I love Scrabble and can never turn down a game, so I was more than happy to comply!

I let John finish his sandwich while I set up the game, and his large bites indicated this might have been his first meal of the day. Jackie told me on the way over that many participants were part of the mental health court system. Social Group is one of the only places they can go for a meal, a welcoming smile, and interactions with people who “get it.” People who have been through similar situations and know what it feels like to go through the “system.”

John and I started our game. We went on a few rounds, before he had to go take his meds. So we took a short break and I went to talk to another gentleman, Leo, who was Native American. Jackie has told him she used to work for the Indian Health Service and he brought some items to share including small figurines that he had carved himself, some corn pollen, and a pipe. He went through each of the items showing me his handy work. The small figurines were intricately carved with various stone and he explained each one to me. I marveled at his handy work!

John came back and we got back in the game. John seemed to be experiencing fixed delusions as his conversation got a little hard to follow. When I asked Jackie later what his diagnosis was she said she didn’t know. She told me that she never asks what someone’s diagnosis is because it doesn’t affect her interaction or relationship with them. “I see them first as people; I don’t see them as their illness,” she explains to me, “They are welcomed in as people just as I would welcome anyone into any social circle of mine.” I couldn’t agree more.

Most of the time we were playing, the gentleman to my right was strumming his mandolin. It was the perfect background noise, and his tunes were amazing. He told me that he had only been playing for a couple of years; he had taken lessons previously but for the most part he was teaching himself. Although he was a little slow in his conversation, he was extremely intelligent, explaining some of the notes for me as I watched in awe.

John kicked my butt in Scrabble, although I did hold my own for a while there. We ended our game as people were slowly filtering out; moving on to the next appointment or meeting. These folks are some of the coolest people I’ve had the opportunity to interact with in quite some time. They come to this group to exercise their social skills and be with people who understand them and don’t ask questions. They get a nice meal of sandwiches purchased from Valley Catering Services and amazing desserts generously donated by Russ Juillerat of World's Finest Chocolate. They know that the group will be there for them. Jackie, T.J. and Rick are on hand to answer any questions that may come up and resources are distributed to the participants. (This week Jackie handed out discounted prescription cards.)

I can’t stress the importance of this group enough. On average 20 individuals who attend social group are in the mental health court system. The mental health court system is designed to help prevent them from re-offending.  Fostering healthy relationships is an important part of preventing relapses.  The Social Group provides an opportunity for everyone to interact in an environment that’s safe and welcoming.

I had an amazing experience at Social Group. I want the community and our supporters to know about this program and to give them a renewed desire to advocate on behalf of those living with a mental illness, because as Jackie said, we're all people, first and foremost.

Annual Advocacy Day for Children and Adolescents

On May 11th, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) hosted more than 200 child and adolescent psychiatrists and family members affected by mental illness for its annual Advocacy Day in Washington, DC. The event brought together physicians, parents of children with mental illness, and youth advocates to promote children’s mental health issues on Capitol Hill.

Wendy Fayles, NAMI Utah Programs Director, took part in the event, meeting with the staff from the offices of Senator Orrin Hatch, Senator Mike Lee, Representative Jim Matheson and Representative Jason Chaffetz to address issues related to access to child mental health services, the shortage of child mental health specialists in our community, and funding for children’s mental health programs.

“The thing that impacted me the most,” Wendy noted, “was the map showing the shortages of child and adolescent psychiatrists in Utah (map). I have talked to a number of parents whose children are on waiting lists several months long to see a psychiatrist. After looking at the map, I understand why. One of the things we asked our legislators to do was support funding for pediatric mental health loan repayment in this year’s appropriations, which would encourage more physicians to choose child psychiatry—a specialty that requires an extra two years of training and as much as $150k in additional student loan debt.”

To learn more about mental health statistics affecting Utah’s youth, click on the attached link.

Open Your Mind, Open Your Heart

On Thursday May 17, 2012 NAMI Utah will host an Open House fundraiser. The event will feature a silent auction, food, music, and an official ribbon-cutting ceremony with honored guests Ann Cannon, Julie de Azevedo Hanks, and members of the Salt Lake Police Department with NAMI Executive Director, Rebecca Glathar.

Join us as we celebrate help, hope and healing and open minds to recovery and resiliency. With live music from world-renown classical guitarist, Michael Lucarelli, guest speakers including Olympic snowboarder Graham Watanabe and critically acclaimed blogger Heather Armstrong, food and beverage from Culinary Crafts and Tin Angel Café, desserts from Ye Olde Cupcake Shoppe, a silent auction, and fabulous art donated by professional artists across the state of Utah, this will be an evening you won’t want to miss!

We have some great pieces of art already coming in to our office for the art auction! Check them out and be sure to bid on May 17th!

Morag Totten

Preston Wood

Cat Palmer

Jane Wright

NAMI Utah Says Good Bye and Good Luck to Staff Member, Liz Felt

One of NAMI Utah’s amazing mental health champions and mentors, Liz Felt, is leaving us for a new position with UNI’s Mobile Crisis Team.

Liz first became involved with NAMI when she was asked by a friend to speak to her Family-to-Family class about her experience with mental illness. Liz fell in love with the support and empathy the class members provided for each other and their family members. She took BRIDGES, loved it, and began volunteering by teaching BRIDGES in the Salt Lake County Jail. Liz was soon hired by NAMI Utah as a Consumer Mentor and held that position for six years! She co-facilitated the Utah Mental Heath Recovery Network (our consumer council), taught in the Salt Lake County Jail, she has overseen the Artists’ Project and supported artists thriving in the art community, was a huge advocate and supporter of NAMI (and still will be I'm sure!!) and served as a mentor on Valley Mental Health’s Jail Diversion Outreach Team.

While we will surely miss her here at NAMI, we know that Liz will continue to do fantastic work as part of the crisis team at UNI. We couldn’t be more excited for her new position, or sadder that she will no longer grace our office with her wonderful energy and positive attitude! We love you Liz!!

Valley Mental Health Expands Services

 Release from Valley Mental Health:

SALT LAKE CITY, Mar. 13, 2012 – Valley Mental Health, Inc., a private, non-profit organization providing and promoting accessible, quality behavioral and physical health care, has expanded its service offerings by launching assertive community-based outreach teams. Serving adults and children, these teams bring mental health and substance abuse services directly to people in need – no matter where they are.

“Assertive, community-based outreach teams are a return to Valley’s past, as well as an example of how we will grow in the future,” said Gary Larcenaire, president and CEO of Valley Mental Health. “These teams allow us to meet the needs of the people we are entrusted to serve in their own communities.”

With the client as the center of the team, the adult Assertive Outreach Team is designed to promote clients’ growth and recovery, while enhancing their personal, family and community life. Together the clients and team work to reduce barriers, facilitate access, and increase the knowledge and skills necessary to obtain individual desired outcomes and aspirations.

The children’s i-WRAP Team (intensive wrap-around services) strives to reduce the frequency and duration of acute and long-term hospitalizations, residential placements and higher levels of care, while improving the quality of life of children and their families.

Based in the community, the teams consist of medical staff, social workers, therapists, case managers, family advocates and peer specialists. They will use assessments, questionnaires, surveys and other quantifiable methods to measure outcomes.

About Valley Mental Health

Valley Mental Health is a not-for-profit organization that serves Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties. Since 1987, we have provided comprehensive treatment and services for people of all ages who are experiencing serious mental illnesses, substance use disorders and behavior problems. We believe people are best served in the least restrictive setting where care is tailored to the individual's needs, with families and community partners playing an important role in a person's recovery.  For more information please see www.vmh.com.