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Happy Friday Readers!
Yesterday we sent out an action alert featuring the latest episode of our TV show
Mental Health Now and providing different ways for you to provide help and hope in your community. You can
click here to view the alert and a link to the episode can be found in the column on the left. Throughout this E-News you will find opportunities to engage in awareness activities such as the ribbon campaign and the NAMI Walks taking place throughout the state.
We cannot state strongly enough how important these activities are as they can greatly enhance NAMI's identity as a place for people to find help and find hope through NAMI's specialized education and support programs. Just as important as engaging in these initiatives is letting us know what you are doing.
Please email [email protected] with details and pictures about your work. This way we can feature it in the E-News and the upcoming Spring Newsletter. Showcasing your work will allow other to learn from you and that's the best way we can grow together as an organization. Together, we can create a more mentally healthy New York State but remember...
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NAMI-NYS Participates in HALT Advocacy Day
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Clockwise from top left, member of NAMI-Huntington, Wendy Burch, Matthew Shapiro, Jayette Lansbury and Megan Crowe-Rothstein of the Social Justice Center; replica of solitary confinement cell; Janet Susin, Matthew Shapiro and Jayette Lansbury,; Assemblyman Steve Otis meets with Matthew and Jayette's advocacy team, Jayette and Matthew in front of cell replica; Senator David Carlucci meets with Janet's advocacy team.
On Tuesday, April 12th, NAMI-NYS participated in the advocacy day on behalf of
A4401/S2659-The HALT bill, which would regulate the use of solitary confinement. Solitary and isolated confinement have been deemed a torturous practice by the United Nations, yet New York still uses it at a rate nearly double the national average. This bill would mandate that no one is in solitary for more than 15 days at a time, provide increased oversight of the practice and ensure that people with mental illness and those under the age of 21 are not subjected to solitary.
During the advocacy day NAMI-NYS was represented by Wendy Burch, Matthew Shapiro, Criminal Justice Chair Jayette Lansbury and NAMI Queens/Nassau President Janet Susin. Janet's advocacy team met with Senator David Carlucci, Assemblyman James Skoufis and Jayette and Matthew's team met with Assemblyman Steve Otis and Assemblyman Michael Dendekker. Matthew and Jayette also met with Senator Carlucci and the office of Senate Mental Health Chair Robert Ortt. Along with the advocacy meetings there was also a replica of a solitary prison cell on display in the lobby of the Legislative Office Building.
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Hakeem Rahim Featured in New York City
Mental Health Campaign
NAMI Queens/Nassau member Hakeem Rahim was chosen to be featured as one of the faces of recovery for New York City's "Today I Thrive" mental health awareness campaign. Hakeem appears in the signs featured above as well as a commercial which you can
click here to view. NAMI-NYS is proud that Hakeem has become the face of hope for many people as he demonstrates that recovery from serious mental illness is possible.
Two NAMI-NYS Initiatives to be Honored as
2016 What's Great in Our State
NAMI Mid-Hudson Also Receives the Dutchess County Public Health Partner Award
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Clockwise from top: Katherine Wallace explains the NAMI@Emma initiative to staff at the New York State Office of Mental Health.; NAMI Mid-Hudson's Tina Lee and JoAnn Brown accept the Public Health Partnership Award from Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro and Dutchess County Department of Behavioral and Community Health Commissioner Dr. Henry Kurban: and Tina Lee (left) and Allison Barclay present at SUNY Ulster
Two initiatives led by NAMI-NYS members, the NAMI at Emma Williard Club (NAMI@Emma) and
the
Children's Mental Health Awareness Week of Dutchess County (CMHAWDC) were selected as two of the six 2016 What's Great in Our State honorees.
NAMI@Emma is the first NAMI-NYS sanctioned NAMI club in a high school in New York State. The club led by Katherine Wallace meets weekly at the Emma Willard school in Troy and has participated in the NAMI-NYS Education Conference and Legislative Advocacy Day. For the last ten years, CMHAWDC produces a week of free events focused on children and their mental wellness with an emphasis on early intervention prevention education. The initiative features events, workshops, media, outreach and other awareness raising activities focusing on educating the community concerning children and families that experience a social, behavioral, or emotional challenge. CMHAWDC also celebrates the role of families in recovery. NAMI Mid-Hudson is one of the leaders of the initiative's steering committee.
What's Great in Our State honors people and programs contributing to the awareness of mental health issues in children and adolescents.The event showcasing the six honorees will be taking place on Tuesday, May 3rd from 2:30-4:30 at the Huxley Auditorium at the New York State Museum. It is free to attend and you can click here to register.
This past week has been a busy one for both Katherine Wallace and NAMI Mid-Hudson as they demonstrate why they are being honored. Katherine and NAMI-NYS Executive Director Wendy Burch met with NYS Office of Mental Health Commissioner Ann Marie Sullivan and other high level staff to detail the work being conducted by NAMI@Emma and how we hope to replicate the program to high schools throughout the state. This week NAMI Mid-Hudson's Tina Lee and Young Adult leader Alison Barclay presented at SUNY Ulster about the importance of NAMI on Campus and mental health awareness in colleges and universities. A few weeks ago we informed you that NAMI Mid-Hudson was selected to receive the 2016 Dutchess County Public Health Partner award. They were presented with the award earlier this week and you can click here to read about that.
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Breaking the Silence Being Used at a School
in Jamaica
In other exciting news on the children's mental health front,
Breaking the Silence, the lesson plans developed by NAMI Queens/Nassau to teach students about mental illness, is now being used by a school in the country of Jamaica. Poverty is a major issue on the island and many students suffer trauma and other mental health issues. Introducing the Breaking the Silence to six-graders has allowed them to address these issues.
NAMI-NYS Announces 2016 A Brighter Day
Fundraising and Awareness Event
On April 29th, NAMI-NYS will be holding our annual A Brighter Day event at Glennpeter Jewelers Diamond Centre in Albany. The event is free to attend and there will be complimentary food. Attendees will be able to support NAMI-NYS by purchasing raffle tickets and all bar sales will be donated to NAMI-NYS. The event will also feature presentations by people explaining how NAMI-NYS has helped them and entertain includes music by the Grassroots Rebels.
NAMI-NYS wishes to thank Bob and Evelyn Keplinger for once again sponsoring the event,
Glennpeter Jewelers Diamond Centre for hosting and all the businesses that donated to the raffle.
May is Approaching:
Have You Started Your Ribbon Campaign Yet?
Partner with Local Governments, Businesses and Schools
NAMI Queens/Nassau is in Full Swing!
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and as we have discussed the past few weeks NAMI-NYS is launching our statewide Ribbon Awareness campaign. The campaign is designed to raise awareness of mental illness and mental health issues as well as demonstrate how NAMI is a resource for support and education and a place for people to find help and find hope. Engaging in the ribbon campaign will also help you grow your affiliate's identity in your community by providing you an avenue to establish or strengthen a relationship with your local governments and businesses.
NAMI Queens/Nassau is already hard at work promoting the campaign and their upcoming NAMI Walks.
Members David Sills, Ellen Ritz, Carol Ann Viccora, and Larry Kenny had an information table at Broadway Mall in Hicksville promoting the ribbon campaign. They are also planning to have such tables at other shopping centers in Queens and Nassau County. They have worked with the
Towns of Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay, all of which will issue proclamations in May declaring Mental Health Awareness Month. The towns also plan to hang ribbons in front of town halls. Nassau University Medical Center will hang a banner on their flag pole. Twenty five Nassau and two Queens' libraries will display ribbons and/or lawn signs. All of these libraries will have brochures displayed.
We encourage all of our affiliates to participate in the campaign. If you haven't already, now is the time to start planning the campaign in your community.
Click here
to view the Ribbon Campaign resource page on our website.
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#Act4MentalHealth
Tell Our Senators to Vote to Enforce
Mental Health Parity
Can't find a psychiatrist covered by your health plan? Tired of jumping through extra hoops to get mental health care compared to other health care?
These are violations of mental health parity law. They occur every day because the law is not being enforced.
S. 2680, the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016, will help. It provides stronger enforcement of the federal parity law.
But, it will only help if it passes.
Tell Senators Schumer and Gilibrand to pass S. 2680 today!!!
The Key To Awareness: May Is Mental Health Month
It's incredibly unfortunate that some people judge and blame those who live with major depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, PTSD, schizophrenia or any other mental illness for the symptoms they experience. Our goal during this important month of awareness is to address these attitudes and ask the questions: How do we change society's thinking about biologically based mood and thought disorders? How do we remove barriers to treatment created by fear and ignorance?
One of NAMI FaithNet's pioneers, Gunnar Christiansen, gives us the key: "Education leads to understanding; understanding leads to empathy; empathy leads to compassionate care."
May The Skunk Whisperer Be With You
Mental Illness advocate Nancy Boucher was invited to speak as part of a NAMI educational session to a new group of about 50 cadets at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. She talked about her family's experience in calling 911 for help with a mental health emergency with her son-specifically what helped and what hindered support. Boucher communicated the critical importance of understanding that aggressive behaviors from those experiencing a mental health emergency are defensive, not offensive. Although aggressive defensive behavior and aggressive offensive behavior may look the same, their source is different, and so is the helpful response that is needed. This article gets its humorous title as Boucher began her talk with a true story about her son Ezra's recent encounter with a skunk-which earned him the nickname of "the skunk whisperer," and it serves as a good metaphor about how to approach a being who may act out defensively.
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NYC Launches Ad Campaign to Get People Talking About Mental Health
New York City has launched a $2 million advertising campaign meant to get people thinking and talking about mental health problems. City first lady Chirlane McCray unveiled the television, print, online and subway and bus ads Monday. They feature people talking about their experiences with bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety and addiction and as we stated above we're proud to have our own Hakeem Rahim featured in the campaign.
Ms. McCray says the campaign aims to "change the mindset around the mind" by showing that mental illness isn't shameful and recovery is possible. She's spearheading a broad city effort to expand access to mental health care and change attitudes about it.
Click here to view a story on this from the NYC ABC affiliate and click here to read the official release on the campaign.
New York State Suicide Prevention Conference Calling for Posters and Presentations
On September 12-13, the Suicide Prevention Center of New York State will be holding their conference "
1700 Too Many" in Albany. As part of the conference a poster session and several breakout sessions are being held to facilitate the communication and exchange of ideas, programs, research and projects among conference attendees.
Innovations in strategy, resource utilization, research and collaboration are happening across the state toward our common goal of preventing suicide. Conference attendees are encouraged to submit a proposal for either a poster or a presentation. Accepted proposals will be asked to create a poster illustrating their project or to create a presentation for one of the breakout sessions. Posters will be on display throughout the conference and a poster session is planned.
ELIGIBILITY
* Must be a project taking place or proposed in New York State.
* Must be consistent with safe messaging guidelines.
* Presenters must register for the Conference
* Those presenting posters must be present during poster session.
* Presenters may be from academic, research, health/mental health care, or community settings.
* Poster sessions cannot be used to advertise products or to display vendor items.
TOPICS FOR POSTERS and PRESENTATIONS
In keeping with this year's conference theme, "1700 too many," preferred proposals describe innovative programming, examine practical problem-solving endeavors, or explain research investigations toward lessening lives lost to suicide in New York State. For example, posters or presentations might examine: leadership development, program evaluation, collaborations and alliances, financial strategies, communication tools or technology, collection and uses of data, or innovations in care.
Dutchess County Police Officers Participate in
Crisis Intervention Training
Police officers participated in week-long volunteer crisis intervention training at the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office. "We started off with basic education about what mental health challenges are [and] what the challenges of people with developmental disabilities are," said Dutchess County Department of Behavioral and Community Health Prevention Services Coordinator Marie Dynes. "I learned a lot about how more importantly how mental illness affects everyone -- friends, family, parents, instead of just the aspect of the person we're going to deal with as a police officer, and you become a little more empathetic about what everyone goes through," said Fishkill Police Officer Bruce White. NAMI Mid-Hudson participated in the training to provide the perspective of individuals with a mental illness and their families.
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Billionaire Pledges $275 Million For Free Mental Health Care For Veterans, Families
A billionaire hedge-fund manager has pledged $275 million to build clinics offering free mental health care to veterans and their families. Steven Cohen, who heads Point72 Asset Management, will build 20 to 25 clinics across the country in the next three to five years, with the first ones opening in July. The initial clinics will be in New York, Dallas, San Antonio and Los Angeles, according to a press release from the Cohen Veterans Network, the nonprofit group overseeing the effort. The clinics promise short wait times and free transportation to appointments. Cohen, whose son, Robert, deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 as a Marine, said in a statement that eliminating stigma was one goal of the clinics. With all the negativity in our news today it's wonderfully refreshing to see something positive for our veterans.
A Day In The Life Of A
Mental Health Emergency Responder
With all the negative press that police have gotten lately, we tend to forget the heroic lengths that many officers go to respond compassionately to people with mental illness in crisis. Click here to read a story that illustrates this point, both heartwarming and tragic.
Celebrities Battles With Mental Illness Spotlight The Role of Communication as
Ruby Rose Shares a Powerful Message About Her Depression and
Why the Media Needs to Leave Jake Lloyd Alone:
We Need Compassion for Mental Illness, Not Snark
The stories of Orange is the New Black star Ruby Rose and Jake Lloyd who appeared in Star Wars the Phantom Menace show how social media and communication play a major role in understanding mental illness.
Have you ever logged into Facebook and clicked through your memories section only to be reminded of a painful experience from years past? That's essentially what happened to actress Ruby Rose this weekend when a fan sent her one of her own tweets from three years ago. Taking the opportunity to share her experience, the actress reposted the 2013 tweet along with a raw, inspiring message about her personal struggles with depression and the progress she's made. Rose opened up about her life at the time of the tweet, revealing she had just left Australia and cancelled several professional commitments to move to Santa Monica for intensive therapy. She wrote an extended message on Instagram.
Jake Lloyd
has been hospitalized
for schizophrenia following a ten-month stint in jail, which occurred after he led South Carolina police on a
high speed car chase
last June. Predictably, a great deal of the reaction from the Internet has ranged from unsympathetic to downright cruel.
Despite living at a time when scientific progress has made it clear that mental illnesses are no less preventable than many physiological illnesses, the stigma surrounding these disorders remains - and it is particularly evident in how we respond to celebrities who have them.
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NIMH Funded Study Finds That Suicide Risk Can be Intercepted in the Emergency Department
A new NIMH funded study from UMass Medical School found that universal suicide risk screening in emergency departments nearly doubled the number of patients who were positively identified as thinking about or having attempted suicide. In the study, suicide risk screenings among 236,791 ED visits over five years rose from 26 to 84 percent, increasing detection of suicide risk from 2.9 to 5.7 percent. Our study is the first to demonstrate that near-universal suicide risk screening can be done in a busy ED during routine care," said lead author Edwin Boudreaux, PhD. "The public health impact could be tremendous, because identification of risk is the first and necessary step
for preventing suicide."
NIH Selects Eric Dishman as Director of the Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program
Eric Dishman has been chosen as Director of the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) Cohort Program. Eric will lead NIH's effort to build the PMI landmark longitudinal research study of one million or more U.S. volunteers to expand our ability to improve health and treat disease through precision medicine. Eric comes to NIH with a deep understanding of the initiative, having played a critical role as a member of the PMI Working Group that deliberated intensively for several months last year to develop the design for this audacious study.
Eric brings a wealth of health innovation experience to the PMI effort - as a social scientist and researcher, entrepreneur and business leader, patient and patient advocate, and policy advocate and thought leader. He has pioneered and co-founded some of the nation's first and largest research/policy programs focused on telehealth, personal health records, independent living technologies for seniors, and behavioral markers for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, and heart disease.
NAMI-NYS's 2015 Education Conference featured a session on NIMH's Research Domain Criteria project which is a part of the PMI project.
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April 15-
Join NAMI Westchester for their next fundraising event "Tune Up" Friend and Fun Raiser at the Risko Music School in Ossining on Friday at 6:30pm. In preperation, we are calling all musicians interested in preforming to contact Ann Dealy via email [email protected]. We hope to see everyone as we raise fun and "tune up" for the walk. The suggested donation for the event is $10. Appetizers will be served.
April 29- Brighter Day Event at Glenn Peter Jewelers Centre, 1544 Central Ave. Albany, NY on Friday April 29, 2016 from 5-8. Join us in Celebrating Mental Illness Awareness. There will be a silent auction, hot and cold buffet, cash bar and cupcake desserts.
M
ay 2
- Join Achieve for a free webinar. Respectful Workplace- Strategies for a Healthy Environment from 1-2 pm. For more information: www.achievecentre.com.
May 3- What's Great in Our State at New York State Library, 222 Madison Ave. Albany, NY 12230 on Tuesday May 3, 2016 from 2-4.
May 5- NAMI Syracuse Children's Conference: Addressing Challenging Behavior in Children & Youth. 9am to 9pm at Rosamond Gifford Zoo, Syracuse, NY. Presenters: Adrienne D. Allen, MD, Children & Youth Services, HPC Outpatient Clinic, Regina Canuso, NYS Council on Children & Families, Coordinator, Hard to Place/Hard to Serve Unit, Bridget Hier, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, School of Psychology, University of Buffalo, and Panel of Family Members sharing what has worked for their child.
May 5- In anticipation of the walk and Mother's Day, NAMI Westchester is "charmed" to announce the date for our annual Alex & Ani event. The event will be held at the Rye Alex & Ani store, 52 Pirchase St., on Thursday, from 3 to 6pm. A percentage of purchases made by phone or in the store will go to NAMI Westchester.
May 7
- The American Foundation For Suicide Prevention presents Hike For Hope at 11am, FDR Park in Yorktown.
May 10&11
- The Association for Community Living will host its 2016 Annual Management Symposium - Critical Information and Strategies for a Changing World (Open to All) on Tuesday, May 10th - Wednesday May 11th at the Saratoga Hilton, Saratoga Springs, NY. Visit http://aclnys.org/aclnys_events/acl-management-symposium-2/ for more information.
May 18-NAMI Queens/Nassau will be sponsoring another FaithNet event this year topic will be: Clergy's Role in Psychiatric Hospitals. Some of the questions that will be answered by them are: How did you come to be a chaplain of an inpatient psychiatric hospital? What do you feel is your most successful approach when dealing with patients that have a mental illness and their families? Can you share a story about a particularly meaningful relationship or impact you had on a psychiatric inpatient? The event will take place at Zucker Hillside Hospital's Sloman Auditorium beginning at 7:30
June 8
- Join NAMI Mid-Hudson for their Annual Fundraising Gala 2016. At The Grandview, 176 Rinaldi Blvd, Poughkeepsie. 5pm to 9pm. To Honor: Andrew O'Grady, Executive Director, Mental Health America Dutchess County and Michael P Hein, Ulster County Executive. With Special Guest Dr. Xavier Amador author of: "I'm Not Sick. I Don't Need Help!". For more information, please visit:
www.namimidhudson.org
October 15-
The American Foundation For Suicide Prevention presents Out Of The Darkness Walk 10am, FDR Park in Yorktown. Harbor Island Park in Mamaroneck. They need volunteers or for more information contact Maria Idoni (914) 610-9156 or [email protected].
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April 18
- NAMI Family-to-Family by NAMI NYC Staten Island. Starts at 7pm and continues for 12 weeks at Fr. Dominic-Espifano Parish Center at Holy Roasry Parish, 85 Jerome Ave., Soluthy Beach, NY. Registration is required. Contact (718) 477-1700 or [email protected].
April 21- Join NAMI Rockland for NAMI Basics. 10am to noon, Rockland Independent Living Centrer.
May 3 - June 7
- NAMI Basics by NAMI of Central Suffolk. 10am to 12:30pm, Tuesdays at the Sagamore Childen's Center in Dix Hills. For more information or to register please contact Beth (631) 697-6097 or [email protected].
May 9-July 18
- NAMI Peer-to-Peer, 6:30 to 8:30pm. At the Patterson room in Samaritan Hospital, Troy, NY. To register call Christine Rickeman at (518) 462-2000 or (518) 506-6484, email [email protected]. Or Gregory Hitchcock (518) 921-4146, email [email protected].
May 14&15
- NAMI Family Support Group training to become a Facilitator. NAMI-NYS. Contact your local affiliate.
May 16
- NAMI Family-to-Family classes by NAMI Greene. Twice a week for 6 weeks on Monday & Thursday nights. Windham Hensonville United Methodist Church, Windham, NY. 6pm to 8pm. To Register: call Jackie at (518) 734-4383.
June 2- NAMI Family-to-Family classes by NAMI Greene. Twice a week for 6 weeks on Monday & Thursday nights. Windham Hensonville United Methodist Church, Windham, NY. 6pm to 8pm. To Register: call Jackie at (518) 734-4383.
June 25&26
- NAMI Family Support Group training to become a Facilitator. NAMI-NYS. Contact your local affiliate.
July 16&17
- In Our Own Voice Training to become a Presenter. NAMI-NYS. Contact your local affiliate.
July 22-24
- NAMI Family-to-Family Training to become a Teacher. NAMI-NYS. Contact your local affiliate.
August 27
- NAMI Ending the Silence training to become a Presenter. St. Vincent's in Westchester.
August 28
- NAMI Parent & Teachers as Allies training to become a Presenter. St. Vincent's in Westchester.
August 30
- Family-to-Family by NAMI AMICO. Tuesdays from 6;30 to 9pm, for 12 continuous weeks. At First Presbyterian Church, 33 Park Place, Goshen, NY 10924. Contact Catha Weiben (845) 551-1777.
October 7-9- NAMI Family-to-Family training to become a Teacher. NAMI-NYS. Contact your local affiliate.
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