Tag Archives: Mental disorder

NAMI South Bay Clergy Breakfast

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In an effort to reach out to clergy of all denominations, NAMI South Bay is hosting a Clergy Breakfast on Saturday, October 10, 2015. At the breakfast, participating clergy can learn about NAMI South Bay, and NAMI South Bay hopes to learn how to assist clergy in dealing with mental illness issues.

If there is a member of the clergy you would like invited, and if you have not done so already, please contact Sandy Villano at (310) 436-9300 or Paul Stansbury at pstans5@aol.com to provide contact information.

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Clergy Outreach Coming Soon

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Often, families recognizing the first unusual behaviors in their loved one seek the counsel of their clergy. They might fear the ill loved one is using illegal drugs, be unduly streed at school or work, or suffering other harmful influences. Typically the family doesn’t know at the outset what is wrong, but they need help. So they consult their Pastor, Priest, Rabbi or Imam.

NAMI believes that reliable mental-illness eduction will help clergy direct families to NAMI and its education and support. NAMI South Bay will be providing a “Menta lHealth First Aid” training for the clergy in October 2015. Please call Paul Stansbury at area code 310, number 892-8046, with your clergy’s contact information so NAMI South Bay can extend an invitation to the training.

NAMI California Action Alert

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AB 1300 (Ridley-Thomas) would harm individuals and families impacted by serious mental illness because it:

  • Reduces the amount of time an individual may be held under WIC Sec. 5150 by starting the 72 hour time period when law enforcement or another first responder initiates a hold in the field, rather than when individual is assessed by a medical professional.
  • Allows hospitals to discharge an individual on a 5150 hold with no assessment or treatment, simply because the application for a hold was not completed and presented to the hospital by the law enforcement officer.
  • Establishes a standard of “gross negligence” in order to hold a hospital or doctor liable for the consequences of a decision to provide or not provide treatment, or the type of treatment provided, making it nearly impossible for a family or individual to have any recourse for harm that may occur.

AB 1300 does not establish any additional services, beds, or funds for crisis stabilization or inpatient psychiatric care. At a time when hospitals have chosen to decrease inpatient psychiatric

Family in Palm

capacity significantly, NAMI California is opposed to this legislation that would leave many of our loved ones with no place to turn in an emergency.

Please call your Assemblymember today and urge a “no” vote on AB 1300. Find your Assemblymember here:http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/.

Let him/her know that you are a NAMI California member and you are opposed to AB 1300.

After you call, please send an email to advocacy@namica.org and let us know who you called and how your call went. Every call makes a difference!

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Psychosis Does Not Foreshadow Violence

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FROM Psychiatric News Alert: Contrary to the common belief that mental illness is associated with violence, hallucinations and delusions associated with psychiatric disorders seldom foreshadow acts of aggression, according to findings published in Clinical Psychological Science.

The study examined data from the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study (a project that tracked the prevalence of community violence in a sample of more than 1,100 men and women during the year following their discharge from acute psychiatric facilities) to identify former inpatients with two or more violent incidents, and included interviews with the former inpatients, family members and friends to assess the factors that preceded violent acts. The authors concluded that psychosis immediately preceded 12% of violent incidents following the release from psychiatric facilities. Said study author Jennifer Skeem, a clinical psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, in a press release:

“High-profile mass shootings capture public attention and increase vigilance of people with mental illness. These findings suggest that psychosis sometimes foreshadows violence for a fraction of high-risk individuals, but violence prevention efforts should also target factors like anger and social deviance.”

For more on violence and mental illness, see the Psychiatric Newsarticle “Capitol Hill Gets Straight Story on Gun Violence, Mental Illness.” Also, see a related article in Psychiatric Services, “Applicability of the Risk-Need-Responsivity Model to Persons With Mental Illness Involved in the Criminal Justice System.”

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Students Are Invited to Submit their Films to Help Others and Win Prizes!

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Students throughout California are invited to Direct Change by submitting 60-second films in two categories: “Suicide Prevention” and “Ending the Silence about Mental Illness”. The winning teams and their associated schools will win prizes, receive mental health or suicide prevention programs for their schools, get to participate in a meeting with state legislators on these topics, and attend the award ceremony at the end of the 2014-15 school year. Visit the campaign website for contest rules and information: www.directingchange.org .

Submission Deadlines: February 1, 2015.

Want to stay updated with all things Directing Change?  Subscribe to The Advocate: Directing Change Newsletter! The Newsletter features updates about Directing Change and monthly educational films about topics on mental health and suicide prevention.

DVDs of the 2014 finalists and promotional flyers are available upon request.  Please contact Lauren Hee at lauren@namica.org or 916-567-0163.

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Each Mind Matters 7th International “Together Against Stigma” Conference Feb. 17-20 in San Francisco

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The 7th International “Together Against Stigma” Conference will be held February 17-20, 2015 in San Francisco. This conference will be the first to be hosted in the United States and underscores the fact that stigma of mental health challenges is not exclusive to any one country or culture: it is pervasive, encountered at all levels of society, institutions, among families and within the healthcare profession itself.

Follow this LINK for more information:

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60 Minutes Segment on Mental Health Parity

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This past Sunday 60 Minutes aired a segment on how many people are denied treatment for their mental health issues.  It’s important to know that your rights with mental health parity allow for coverage for mental health issues.

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When insurance companies deny the mentally ill the treatment their doctors prescribe, seriously ill people are often discharged, and can be a danger to themselves or others

You can read the full script and/or view the segment at 60 Minute’s site here. It is the very first segment of the show.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mental-illness-health-care-insurance-60-minutes/

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