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Mental Health is Essential to Health

During Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW), October 5-11, NAMI’s Campaign for the Mind of America takes action across the nation to demand a transformed mental health system. Supporting the goals of the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health during MIAW, NAMI recognizes that effective mental health care is essential to the general well being of both individuals and the communities in which they live. Suicide prevention is a key component of this care.

http://www.nami.org/Hometemplate.cfm

ALSO

Oct. 9 is National Depression Screening Day...all day, around the country, there will be facilities offering FREE, confidential depression screenings for adults, adolescents and children.

If you're not feeling yourself, it's a great time to get help.

http://www.mentalhealthsc...ession.htm

There is a locator map so that you can find a facility near you.

I have helped organize some of these events for my area...it's our hope that we can help reduce stigma so that people can get the help they need to live happy and healthy lives.

Thanks, Apples...

wow...surprisingly its during my birthday week...

maybe thats why i am diggin so deep

sag10 said:

You're welcome

Another good thread apples

Thank you, depression should be made more aware to those who dont understand it..

REDFEATHERS said:

Thanks, Red

This is what I do for a living (PR/Marketing for a mental health facility) so, I just thought I'd bring it here to the org

applekisses said:

And so you should apples!

applekisses said:

Yeah. Go get a free depression screening, and then figure out how you're going to pay for counseling and/or meds that your insurance won't cover, and then go and realize that talking to a stranger about your problems doesn't make you feel any better. So then, realize that the current mental health care system is a big, cruel joke, and learn to deal with your problems, up to and including fucked up brain chemistry, on your own. Hopefully before you decide to kill yourself.



Not to say that such awareness isn't very, very important. On the contrary, it's sorely needed. But I think that people who are depressed or have otherwise complicated mental illnesses actually have very few options once saddled with that diagnosis.

tackam said:

So, it's better just to drift through life wondering what's wrong with you? NO person leaves a screening without a list of referrals...AND if they're in as much crisis as you've described, we have a mental health crisis center that is, literally, a few feet away from the screening site and they will be chaperoned to the center. NO person leaves with a diagnosis and NO HELP.

Also, I work for a community clinic that is supported by area hospitals and run by a state university. In most cases the treatment is either paid by medicaid OR the doctors don't charge at all and the medication is provided by pharmacutical companies at no charge to anyone.
I've seen MANY patients come through our facility like zombies and a few months later have jobs and some have even gone to school.
Where do you get your information? Don't you work in a Veterinary clinic?
[This message was edited Mon Oct 6 10:12:59 PDT 2003 by applekisses]

I'm all for screening...

applekisses said:

I'm not trying to say that what you do isn't important. It is. And it sounds like you try to do it right.

Yes, I'm a veterinary nurse. I wasn't claiming to be a professional in the field. I'm speaking from personal experience and the experiences of loved ones. The system fails a lot of people a lot of the time. That's just fact.

But if screening helps some people, that's much better than helping none at all. I'm just saying that there's more to it than simply having awareness, having diagnoses . . .

tackam said:

YES...the next step is getting HELP...I work for a NON-PROFIT COMMUNITY CLINIC IN THE GHETTO OF DOWNTOWN DETROIT. Do you think we're making the big bucks in insurance premiums? NO. But, do we find a way to help a lot of people? YES.
We've got a methadone clinic next door...and in our clinic see children, adolecents and adults with all sorts of problems, including treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Most of our revenue to keep our programs running (there is NO profit) comes from community/state/federal grants so that people can come get help FOR FREE.
Hell, we even have a toll-free triage number for people to call if they need it.
We have caring, professional clinicians (some specialists in their fields) that go ABOVE and beyond their duties to help people get well.
One of our docs used some of his grant money to pay for a year's tuition for a schizophrenic patient who was doing so well he was able to get back to school.
Also, do you think we'd just screen people for an illness and then offer them no help?
Hell no. People get help if they can pay for it or not. I've known MANY clinicians who work on a sliding scale or who treat people for free.
They are out there.

tackam said:

This is RIGHT ON. Everyone who has a concern about their mental health should read The Diet Cure.

www.dietcure.com

http://www.amazon.com/exe...23-0670404

More and more I'm realizing that depression and anxiety have more roots in what I eat and how unbalanced my hormones are.

Muy Importante.

Edit:

Of course if a person has something really severe it's going to take more than diet to fix it up. I think medication should be your last resort.
[This message was edited Mon Oct 6 10:40:12 PDT 2003 by VinaBlue]

VinaBlue said:

Yes, diet can have a big impact on mood and emotional health. But when someone is bi-polar and experiencing mania/psychosis and thinks their 1-year-old daughter is Jesus Christ (true story) I don't think that elimiating sugar from their diet will help.
(Although it's a good idea )
[This message was edited Mon Oct 6 10:40:50 PDT 2003 by applekisses]

applekisses said:

Yeah I edited my post after thinking about MAJOR cases.

It amazes me how much of a difference eliminating sugar and caffeine makes in my life. It just bugs me when people who don't need to be on medication get on it. Each individual case is different. I've always wondered if I needed medication...

VinaBlue said:

Oh, it TOTALLY makes a difference! My dad always said that sugar drives people insane. I really think he was right.
And, there ARE a lot of people out there who are on meds who don't need to be...but they could benefit from counseling. Working where I do, I see extreme cases and people who are actually mentally ill. They are the ones who actually need meds and who suffer the most from stigma.

applekisses said:

Yeah, sounds like there are great people doing great work. Kudos for that. Not everybody has easy/obvious access to that, and mentally ill people are perhaps not the best prepared to go looking. Many are not taken seriously.

Good for you for being part of the solution. Wish there were more of ya.

(Now, psychiatry, as a profession. . .'nother issue. . .hard to tell the science from the crap, imho. . .different thread.)

tackam said:

Hence, the reason for the screenings.

applekisses said:

I mean after diagnosis.

If you're telling me that things are vastly better than I believe them to be, I'll defer to your expertise.

tackam said:

They actually are. Sounds like you've gotten the runaround or met some really shitty clinicians.
It has been my experience that most clinicians are willing to work with someone on a sliding fee scale or if they couldn't, they're willing to refer them to someone who can.

i fully support becoming aware of the mental health of orgers before interacting with them in any way whatsoever.

AaronMaximus said:

I think WE should do screenings...