Visit from Dr. Vickery, mindfulness, and GLAD

We had the great pleasure of hosting Dr. David Vickery this past Monday.  What an honor and privilege it was to hear about the latest scientific research regarding neuroplasticity and neuron regeneration.  One of the biggest discussion topics was about how Mindfulness Meditation practices can help lessen the severity of depression symptoms.  Dr. Vickery talked about how the Benson's Relaxation Techniques have been scientifically shown to greatly benefit those who suffer from Depression.  He left us with a homework assignment to begin implementing GLAD into our daily lives.  http://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/buildingselfesteem/2014/10/do-negative-thoughts-consume-your-mind-try-this-technique/.  Mindfulness can also work for those who have Bipolar disorder too. Dr. William R. Marchand, MD, has published the book "Mindfulness for Bipolar Disorder" which discusses in depth the techniques and benefits of mindfulness.

If you have been diagnosed with a mood disorder and are looking for a support group, we would love to have you.  You can contact us at (731) 215-7200.  We meet every Monday starting at 6:30pm hosted inside The Life Church located off of Hwy. 18 headed towards Boliver.  

Are there alternatives to medicine for depression? How about Skype?

Eldercare Experts Find Skype Can Beat Depression Better Than Meds

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KUT-FM/New America Media, News Feature, Veronica Zaragovia, Posted: Jan 08, 2014

 
Photo: Joe Bachicha, 80, overcomes depression with long walks and reaching out to his three daughters. Other seniors find comfort via Skype. (Veronica Zaragovia, KUT)

AUSTIN, Texas--Almost 3 million people in Texas are between the ages of 65 and 85, according to the office of the state demographer. That number is expected to more than double by the year 2040.
Texas – like the rest of the country – lacks enough geriatric mental health professionals to match the population. So experts are looking at alternatives to help seniors overcome depression -- that includes one approach using technology.

Joe Bachicha, 80, gets food delivered to his home in Austin five days a week by a Meals on Wheels volunteer. Bachicha has three daughters, and he sees them often. But on weekdays, he’s usually on his own at home.

"I just don’t feel like going out. There’s no place to go, really. I don’t do very much except housework and yard work, and that’s about it," he says.

Good Days and Rough Days

Bachich's wife, Margaret, died about eight months ago.

"Luckily we were able to keep her at home, so she died right here in the house," Bachicha says. "My two daughters were with me when she passed away, which was a big, big help."

Since then, he says he has good days. But there are as many rough days.

"When I’m feeling down usually what I do is take the dog for a long walk and that helps me. Helps me get out of my depression," Bachicha says.

Bachicha, unlike most men his age, did see a psychiatrist.

"When I went to see my primary care doctor, when it was time to see him, it was recently that I’d lost my wife. So I was feeling pretty bad. And I broke down there with my primary doctor and that’s when he referred me to the psychiatrist," he says.

The psychiatrist offered medication, but Bachicha refused it. And he hasn’t seen a psychiatrist since.
"I always confer with my daughters about it. I always let them know and they’re very understanding," he says. "I feel more comfortable with my daughters than I do with a doctor."

Experts hope more seniors like Bachicha will find alternatives to medicine.

Professor Namkee Choi teaches at the University of Texas School of Social Work. She’s working on a project about problem-solving therapy for low-income older adults with depression.

"The anti-depressant medications are not that effective with low-income homebound older adults because medications don’t treat psychosocial stressors," Choi says.

Psychosocial stressors include lack of transportation, financial concerns, dealing with many caregivers and also grappling with bereavement. 

Non-Medication Approaches

"Since depression is so disabling as a condition, we have to think about having people do what we have them do with every other chronic condition," says Professor Nancy Wilson, who teaches at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "It's no different than diabetes or heart disease. There needs to be a therapeutic approach to their care."

Wilson is Choi's research partner.

"Older adults prefer non-medication approaches when they’re available, and it’s particularly sad when low-income older adults for whom medication isn’t effective are given that as the treatment and not given the option to do something that would be their preference," Wilson says.

The seniors in their study got psychotherapy through a computer screen at home, using video conferencing technology like Skype.

In the beginning, some doubted the success of this method. 

"They said older adults don’t use technology and it’s not gonna work," Choi recalls. "And when we were talking to our participants, most said I hope I’ll get in-person sessions rather than tele-sessions."
At the end of the six-week study, some still disliked it. But 94 percent of the participants praised the experience.

"This was the best experience. And some people actually cried when they were talking about this actually changed my life and they were so proud," Choi says. 

Choi and Wilson say they’re focused on improving access to psychotherapy because it’s hard for homebound seniors to get to a clinic.

"And also because of the shortage of geriatric mental health providers," Choi says. "There are not enough clinicians who can go around and do in-home, in-person sessions. So if we use tele-health delivery methods, we can serve more older adults with fewer clinicians. And it’s cheaper."

Public health experts are paying attention to this as the Texas population continues to grow and age. 

An Aging State
"If we think about aging in the state, and kind of look at the population, it’s a phenomena that’s largely being driven by the non-Hispanic white population in the state," State Demographer Lloyd Potter says. 

"When I say aging, it’s really talking about the age structure of the population becoming older. So there are relatively fewer younger people," Potter notes.

Joe Bachicha says he tried to learn how to use a computer with little success. But he says his walks with his dog do a lot for him. Choi and Wilson hope more seniors will follow in his footsteps – being more active and talking about their depression.

Veronica Zaragovia wrote and broadcast this story through the MetLife Foundation’s Journalists in Aging Fellows program, organized by The Gerontological Society of America and New America Media. Go to the KUT website to hear her public radio version. 

Borderline Personality Disorder relations with BP

Differentiating Borderline Personality Disorder from Bipolar Disorder

By BERNADETTE GROSJEAN, MD

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and bipolar disorder frequently co-occur (numbers range from 8% to 18%), although they are distinct clinical entities (Paris J et al, Compr Psychiatry2007;48(2):145–154). A proper diagnosis guides the most effective treatment, but you’ve probably faced the difficult challenge of diagnosing these conditions, which share several clinical features.
BPD can be described by four types of psychopathology: affective disturbance, impulsivity, cognitive problems, and intense, unstable relationships. What’s most important—in addition to seeing that your patient meets DSM-IV criteria for BPD—is to establish that patterns of affective instability, impulsivity, and unstable relationships have been consistent over time. Thus, obtaining a detailed history is crucial. Also, the key features we see in BPD, such as dissociation, paranoia, and cognitive problems, are often affected by the patient’s environment and, particularly, his or her relationships. A patient might have a history of rapid and sudden deterioration when relationships change—such as threatening suicide after a breakup or severe mood swings when separated from her family. Generally, the more intense or significant the relationship is, the greater the risk of chronic stress and mood dysregulation.
Many of the same features are seen in patients with bipolar disorder, such as dysphoria, hyperactivity, impulsivity, suicidality, and psychotic symptoms. As a result, borderline patients with this cluster of symptoms are often misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder, possibly because of the effectiveness of psychopharmacological treatments for such symptoms. In fact, a more thorough assessment might show that these patients actually suffer from a personality disorder. In one study, more than one third of those misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder met DSM-IV criteria for BPD (Zimmerman M et al, Compr Psychiatry2010;51(2):99–105).
In BPD, mood changes are generally short-lived, lasting only for a few hours at a time. In contrast, mood changes in bipolar disorder tend to last for days or even weeks or months. Mood shifts in BPD are usually in reaction to an environmental stressor (such as an argument with a loved one or a frustration in the waiting room), whereas mood shifts in bipolar disorder may occur out of the blue. Some clinicians consider BPD an “ultrarapid-cycling” form of bipolar disorder, but there’s little evidence to support this link (Gunderson JG et al, Am J Psychiatry 2006;163(7):1173–1178). Patients with BPD might rapidly cycle through depression, anxiety, and anger, but these mood shifts rarely involve elation; more often, the mood shifts are from feeling upset to feeling just “OK.” Likewise, the anxiety or irritability of BPD should not be mistaken for the mania or hypomania of bipolar disorder, which usually involve expansive or elevated mood.
At a more existential level, patients with BPD—particularly younger patients— often struggle with feelings of emptiness and worthlessness, difficulties with self-image, and fears of abandonment. These are less common in bipolar disorder, where grandiosity and inflated self-esteem are common, especially during mood episodes. And while both conditions may include a history of chaotic relationships, a patient with BPD may describe relationship difficulties as the primary—or sole—source of her/his suffering, while the bipolar patient may see them as an unfortunate consequence of his behavior.
A pattern of self-harm and suicidality often serves as a cue for diagnosing BPD (but are not necessarily required). But both can be seen in bipolar disorder, too. In BPD, suicide threats and attempts may occur along with anger at perceived abandonment and disappointment. Patients often explain these impulses as a way to be relieved of pain, or to “stop their thinking,” more so than to end their lives, per se. Patients with BPD may experience “micropsychotic” phenomena of short duration (lasting hours or at most a few days), including auditory hallucinations, paranoia, and episodes of depersonalization. However, patients generally retain insight, and can acknowledge that “something strange is happening” without strong delusional thought. When psychotic symptoms occur in bipolar disorder, they happen in the context of a mood episode, they tend to last longer, and patients may be unable to reflect on their behavior.

This article originally appeared in The Carlat Psychiatry Report -- an unbiased monthly covering all things psychiatry.
Want more, plus easy CME credit?
Subscribe today!

Accurate diagnosis of BPD and bipolar disorder can be difficult, but it’s essential for proper treatment and optimal outcome. Remission rates in BPD can be as high as 85% in 10 years (Gunderson et al, Arch Gen Psychiatry 2011;68(8):827–837), particularly with effective psychotherapeutic treatments (Zanarini MC, Acta Psychiatr Scand 2009;120(5):373– 377). Unfortunately, such treatment is not always available. Some medications can be used in BPD, such as an SSRI for impulsivity, severe and persistent depression and/or suicidality, or an atypical antipsychotic for recurrent dissociative symptoms or disinhibition. However the only consensus seems to be that medications should be used as adjuncts to psychotherapy (Silk KR, J Psychiatric Practice 2011;17(5):311–319). The long-term use of a mood stabilizer or atypical should be reserved for known cases of bipolar disorder.
TCPR’s VERDICT: Clinicians sometimes think of a BPD diagnosis as pejorative (chronic and untreatable) and may be reluctant to disclose it, but patients and their families often find it helpful to be informed of the diagnosis. Similarly with bipolar disorder, accurate diagnosis often determines prognosis and effective treatment. For the clinician, however, it’s imperative that you make the proper diagnosis in these two often overlapping, but fundamentally quite distinct, conditions in order to optimize your patients’ outcomes.

Your religious life can cause you mental health problems

I enjoy my spiritual life in every respect. To reach the place in my life of living in the liberty I enjoy, I first worked through a lot of "stuff" others taught me about the Creator. That stuff kept getting in my way of living in the natural harmony that I was born with. In fact, we are all born with a natural relationship with the Creator, a relationship of harmony.

Many of my friends enjoy a religious life. Our different paths to God do not get in the way of our friendship. However, I caution anyone seeking a spiritual life in organized religion to use wisdom. For years, I have supported folk in finding a better life as they suffered with mood disorders. Many of them are seeking a place of peace and acceptance with the power they believe gave them life. It is not their belief in a Creator God that causes them pain. It is the judgement they direct at themselves. They feel like they must be spiritual failures for God to punish them with a mental illness.

I came across the following article that brings a very interesting perspective to the situation I just described. In my book, I share my story of learning a new way of understanding God and interpreting Christianity's wisdom book. Since, I began living from the interpretation in my book, my life is one with peace and assurance and a wonderful absence of self judgement.

Peacefulness to you and yours . . .

Religious Trauma Syndrome: How Some Organized Religion Leads to Mental Health Problems

Posted on March 26, 2013

by Valerie Tarico

At age sixteen I began what would be a four year struggle with bulimia.  When the symptoms started, I turned in desperation to adults who knew more than I did about how to stop shameful behavior—my Bible study leader and a visiting youth minister.  “If you ask anything in faith, believing,” they said.  “It will be done.” I knew they were quoting the Word of God. We prayed together, and I went home confident that God had heard my prayers.

But my horrible compulsions didn’t go away. By the fall of my sophomore year in college, I was desperate and depressed enough that I made a suicide attempt. The problem wasn’t just the bulimia.  I was convinced by then that I was a complete spiritual failure. My college counseling department had offered to get me real help (which they later did). But to my mind, at that point, such help couldn’t fix the core problem: I was a failure in the eyes of God. It would be years before I understood that my inability to heal bulimia through the mechanisms offered by biblical Christianity was not a function of my own spiritual deficiency but deficiencies in Evangelical religion itself.

Dr. Marlene Winell is a human development consultant in the San Francisco Area. She is also the daughter of Pentecostal missionaries. This combination has given her work an unusual focus. For the past twenty years she has counseled men and women in recovery from various forms of fundamentalist religion including the Assemblies of God denomination in which she was raised. Winell is the author of Leaving the Fold – A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving their Religion, written during her years of private practice in psychology. Over the years, Winell has provided assistance to clients whose religious experiences were even more damaging than mine. Some of them are people whose psychological symptoms weren’t just exacerbated by their religion, but actually caused by it.

Two years ago, Winell made waves by formally labeling what she calls “Religious Trauma Syndrome” (RTS) and beginning to write and speak on the subject for professional audiences. When the British Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Psychologists published a series of articles on the topic, members of a Christian counseling associationprotested what they called excessive attention to a “relatively niche topic.” Onecommenter said, “A religion, faith or book cannot be abuse but the people interpreting can make anything abusive.”

Is toxic religion simply misinterpretation? What is religious trauma? Why does Winell believe religious trauma merits its own diagnostic label?  I asked her.

Let’s start this interview with the basics. What exactly is religious trauma syndrome?

Winell: Religious trauma syndrome (RTS) is a set of symptoms and characteristics that tend to go together and which are related to harmful experiences with religion. They are the result of two things: immersion in a controlling religion and the secondary impact of leaving a religious group. The RTS label provides a name and description that affected people often recognize immediately. Many other people are surprised by the idea of RTS, because in our culture it is generally assumed that religion is benign or good for you. Just like telling kids about Santa Claus and letting them work out their beliefs later, people see no harm in teaching religion to children.

But in reality, religious teachings and practices sometimes cause serious mental health damage. The public is somewhat familiar with sexual and physical abuse in a religious context. As Journalist Janet Heimlich has documented in, Breaking Their Will, Bible-based religious groups that emphasize patriarchal authority in family structure and use harsh parenting methods can be destructive.

But the problem isn’t just physical and sexual abuse. Emotional and mental treatment in authoritarian religious groups also can be damaging because of 1) toxic teachings like eternal damnation or original sin2) religious practices or mindset, such as punishment, black and white thinking, or sexual guilt, and 3) neglect that prevents a person from having the information or opportunities to develop normally.

Can you give me an example of RTS from your consulting practice?

Winell: I can give you many. One of the symptom clusters is around fear and anxiety. People indoctrinated into fundamentalist Christianity as small children sometimes have memories of being terrified by images of hell and apocalypse before their brains could begin to make sense of such ideas. Some survivors, who I prefer to call “reclaimers,” have flashbacks, panic attacks, or nightmares in adulthood even when they intellectually no longer believe the theology. One client of mine, who during the day functioned well as a professional, struggled with intense fear many nights. She said,

I was afraid I was going to hell. I was afraid I was doing something really wrong. I was completely out of control. I sometimes would wake up in the night and start screaming, thrashing my arms, trying to rid myself of what I was feeling. I’d walk around the house trying to think and calm myself down, in the middle of the night, trying to do some self-talk, but I felt like it was just something that – the fear and anxiety was taking over my life.

Or consider this comment, which refers to a film used by Evangelicals to warn about the horrors of the “end times” for nonbelievers.

 I was taken to see the film “A Thief In The Night”. WOW.  I am in shock to learn that many other people suffered the same traumas I lived with because of this film. A few days or weeks after the film viewing, I came into the house and mom wasn’t there. I stood there screaming in terror. When I stopped screaming, I began making my plan: Who my Christian neighbors were, who’s house to break into to get money and food. I was 12 yrs old and was preparing for Armageddon alone.

In addition to anxiety, RTS can include depression, cognitive difficulties, and problems with social functioning. In fundamentalist Christianity, the individual is considered depraved and in need of salvation. A core message is “You are bad and wrong and deserve to die.” (The wages of sin is death.) This gets taught to millions of children through organizations like Child Evangelism Fellowship and there is a group organized  to oppose their incursion into public schools.  I’ve had clients who remember being distraught when given a vivid bloody image of Jesus paying the ultimate price for their sins. Decades later they sit telling me that they can’t manage to find any self-worth.

After twenty-seven years of trying to live a perfect life, I failed. . . I was ashamed of myself all day long. My mind battling with itself with no relief. . . I always believed everything that I was taught but I thought that I was not approved by God. I thought that basically I, too, would die at Armageddon.

I’ve spent literally years injuring myself, cutting and burning my arms, taking overdoses and starving myself, to punish myself so that God doesn’t have to punish me. It’s taken me years to feel deserving of anything good.

Born-again Christianity and devout Catholicism tell people they are weak and dependent, calling on phrases like “lean not unto your own understanding” or “trust and obey.” People who internalize these messages can suffer from learned helplessness. I’ll give you an example from a client who had little decision-making ability after living his entire life devoted to following the “will of God.” The words here don’t convey the depth of his despair.

I have an awful time making decisions in general. Like I can’t, you know, wake up in the morning, “What am I going to do today? Like I don’t even know where to start. You know all the things I thought I might be doing are gone and I’m not sure I should even try to have a career; essentially I babysit my four-year-old all day.

Authoritarian religious groups are subcultures where conformity is required in order to belong. Thus if you dare to leave the religion, you risk losing your entire support system as well.

I lost all my friends. I lost my close ties to family. Now I’m losing my country. I’ve lost so much because of this malignant religion and I am angry and sad to my very core. . . I have tried hard to make new friends, but I have failed miserably. . . I am very lonely.

Leaving a religion, after total immersion, can cause a complete upheaval of a person’s construction of reality, including the self, other people, life, and the future. People unfamiliar with this situation, including therapists, have trouble appreciating the sheer terror it can create.

My form of religion was very strongly entrenched and anchored deeply in my heart. It is hard to describe how fully my religion informed, infused, and influenced my entire worldview. My first steps out of fundamentalism were profoundly frightening and I had frequent thoughts of suicide. Now I’m way past that but I still haven’t quite found “my place in the universe.

Even for a person who was not so entrenched, leaving one’s religion can be a stressful and significant transition.

Many people seem to walk away from their religion easily, without really looking back. What is different about the clientele you work with?

Winell: Religious groups that are highly controlling, teach fear about the world, and keep members sheltered and ill-equipped to function in society are harder to leave easily. The difficulty seems to be greater if the person was born and raised in the religion rather than joining as an adult convert. This is because they have no frame of reference – no other “self” or way of “being in the world.” A common personality type is a person who is deeply emotional and thoughtful and who tends to throw themselves wholeheartedly into their endeavors. “True believers” who then lose their faith feel more anger and depression and grief than those who simply went to church on Sunday.

Aren’t these just people who would be depressed, anxious, or obsessive anyways?

Winell: Not at all. If my observation is correct, these are people who are intense and involved and caring. They hang on to the religion longer than those who simply “walk away” because they try to make it work even when they have doubts. Sometime this is out of fear, but often it is out of devotion. These are people for whom ethics, integrity and compassion matter a great deal. I find that when they get better and rebuild their lives, they are wonderfully creative and energetic about new things.

In your mind, how is RTS different from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Winell: RTS is a specific set of symptoms and characteristics that are connected with harmful religious experience, not just any trauma. This is crucial to understanding the condition and any kind of self-help or treatment. (More details about this can be found on my Journey Free website and discussed in my talk at the Texas Freethought Convention.)

Another difference is the social context, which is extremely different from other traumas or forms of abuse. When someone is recovering from domestic abuse, for example, other people understand and support the need to leave and recover. They don’t question it as a matter of interpretation, and they don’t send the person back for more. But this is exactly what happens to many former believers who seek counseling. If a provider doesn’t understand the source of the symptoms, he or she may send a client for pastoral counseling, or to AA, or even to another church. One reclaimer expressed her frustration this way:

Include physically-abusive parents who quote “Spare the rod and spoil the child” as literally as you can imagine and you have one fucked-up soul: an unloved, rejected, traumatized toddler in the body of an adult. I’m simply a broken spirit in an empty shell. But wait…That’s not enough!? There’s also the expectation by everyone in society that we victims should celebrate this with our perpetrators every Christmas and Easter!!

Just like disorders such as autism or bulimia, giving RTS a real name has important advantages. People who are suffering find that having a label for their experience helps them feel less alone and guilty. Some have written to me to express their relief:

There’s actually a name for it! I was brainwashed from birth and wasted 25 years of my life serving Him! I’ve since been out of my religion for several years now, but i cannot shake the haunting fear of hell and feel absolutely doomed. I’m now socially inept, unemployable, and the only way i can have sex is to pay for it.

Labeling RTS encourages professionals to study it more carefully, develop treatments, and offer training. Hopefully, we can even work on prevention.

What do you see as the difference between religion that causes trauma and religion that doesn’t?

Winell: Religion causes trauma when it is highly controlling and prevents people from thinking for themselves and trusting their own feelings. Groups that demand obedience and conformity produce fear, not love and growth. With constant judgment of self and others, people become alienated from themselves, each other, and the world. Religion in its worst forms causes separation.

Conversely, groups that connect people and promote self-knowledge and personal growth can be said to be healthy. The book, Healthy Religion, describes these traits. Such groups put high value on respecting differences, and members feel empowered as individuals.  They provide social support, a place for events and rites of passage, exchange of ideas, inspiration, opportunities for service, and connection to social causes. They encourage spiritual practices that promote health like meditation or principles for living like the golden rule. More and more, nontheists are asking how they can create similar spiritual communities without the supernaturalism. An atheist congregation in London launched this year and has received over 200 inquiries from people wanting to replicate their model.

Some people say that terms like “recovery from religion” and “religious trauma syndrome” are just atheist attempts to pathologize religious belief.

Winell: Mental health professionals have enough to do without going out looking for new pathology. I never set out looking for a “niche topic,” and certainly not religious trauma syndrome. I originally wrote a paper for a conference of the American Psychological Association and thought that would be the end of it. Since then, I have tried to move on to other things several times, but this work has simply grown.

In my opinion, we are simply, as a culture, becoming aware of religious trauma.  More and more people are leaving religion, as seen by polls showing that the “religiously unaffiliated” have increased in the last five years from just over 15% to just under 20% of all U.S. adults. It’s no wonder the internet is exploding with websites for former believers from all religions, providing forums for people to support each other. The huge population of people “leaving the fold” includes a subset at risk for RTS, and more people are talking about it and seeking help.  For example, there are thousands of former Mormons, and I was asked to speak about RTS at an Exmormon Foundation conference.  I facilitate an international support group online called Release and Reclaim  which has monthly conference calls. An organization called Recovery from Religion, helps people start self-help meet-up groups

Saying that someone is trying to pathologize authoritarian religion is like saying someone pathologized eating disorders by naming them. Before that, they were healthy? No, before that we weren’t noticing. People were suffering, thought they were alone, and blamed themselves.  Professionals had no awareness or training. This is the situation of RTS today. Authoritarian religion is already pathological, and leaving a high-control group can be traumatic. People are already suffering. They need to be recognized and helped.

—-  Dr. Marlene Winell is a human development consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area and the author of Leaving the Fold – A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving their Religion. More information about Marlene Winell and resources for getting help with RTS may be found at Journey Free.  Valerie Tarico is a psychologist and writer in Seattle, Washington.  She is the author of Trusting Doubt: A Former Evangelical Looks at Old Beliefs in a New Light and Deas and Other Imaginings, and the founder of www.WisdomCommons.org.  Her articles can be found atAwaypoint.Wordpress.com.

My Spiritual work has DBSA as Its Foundation. What is DBSA?

The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)

        is the leading patient-directed national organization focusing on depression and bipolar disorder. The organization fosters an environment of understanding about the impact and management of these life-threatening illnesses by providing up-to-date, scientifically-based tools and information. DBSA supports research to promote more timely diagnosis, develop more effective and tolerable treatments and discover a cure. The organization works to ensure that people living with mood disorders are treated equitably. Assisted by a scientific advisory board comprised of the leading

researchers and clinicians in the field of mood disorders, DBSA has more than 1,000 peer-run support groups across the country. Nearly five million people request and receive information and assistance each year. DBSA’s mission is to improve the lives of people living with mood disorders. For more information about DBSA or depression and bipolar disorder, please visit

www.DBSAlliance.org or call (800) 826-3632.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Send a Christmas Card to the Governor

hopeworkscommunity posted: "The plan as it currently stands is to totally and completely eliminate funding for peer support centers in Tennessee. 45 centers will close and the over 3000 people served a month will be left out in the cold. The post below talks more about the situati"
Respond to this post by replying above this line

New post on Hopeworks Community

Send a Christmas card to Governor Haslam

by hopeworkscommunity

The plan as it currently stands is to totally and completely eliminate funding for peer support centers in Tennessee. 45 centers will close and the over 3000 people served a month will be left out in the cold. The post below talks more about the situation.

What I am asking is two things.

1. Send a christmas card to Gov Haslam. Share your knowledge and experience with peer support with him. Let him know Tennessee deserves and needs what peer support centers add to the mental health system in Tennessee. His address is:

The office of Governor Bill Haslam
1st Floor, State Capitol
Nashville,  TN   37243

His email address is bill.haslam@tn.gov.

2. Share this with at least 3 other people. Ask them to share it with at least 3 other people and so on.

This is the time to act. Let Governor Haslam know what you think. Make your card a Christmas gift to Tennessee.

The death of peer support in Tennessee.

There are 45 peer support centers in Tennessee. Next year if things go as planned there may be none.

The initial recommendation of the commissioner of mental health to the governors request for a 5% decrease in budget was to recommend that 4.5 million dollars be taken from the budget for peer support centers. That would leave 0 for next year.

It makes you just want to shake your head. When I heard I emailed a bunch of people. I thought I had misheard. I knew no one could seriously make such a suggestion. I was wrong.

Peer support centers do two primary things. They save money and they save lives. A lot.

For a few dollars a day per person served peer support centers give a chance at success for people who have never had success. People who have never made it in the community make it. The last figures I saw indicated a 90% decrease in psychiatric hospitalization. The savings from that alone should almost pay for the program. In a time when the jails are filling with the mentally ill how in the world can we shut down one of the most successful community based services we have?? This program defines the notion of “bang for your buck.” How is this in any way a savings?? We lecture our children about thinking before they act and considering the long term consequences of their actions. Shouldnt we expect the same out of ourselves and particularly our political leaders?

But it is more than an economic issue. It is more than a political issue. It is profoundly a moral issue and it is wrong!!!

If it actually sees the light of day it will be the planned abandonment of one of the most vulnerable populations in this state who basically have no where else to turn for this kind of help for a short term financial gain that in the end will cost far more than it saves. In plain terms it will be an act of large cruelty.

I urge you to stand loud and express your opinions. This is an old battle we thought done last year when support for peer support become recurring dollars. Once again we are a political football. Now is the time to end the game.

hopeworkscommunity | November 27, 2013

DBSA Tennessee: Your Support Helped DBSA Impact Two Million Lives

                                                DBSA TENNESSEE

                                                   731-215-7200

State officers and local chapter leaders:

Forwarded email below: Together let's feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in being a part of a vital organization that touches so many lives. Personally, I thank each of you for making a difference in thousands of lives in Tennessee. In 2014, I believe we will touch an even greater number of lives here at home and across our country!

Respectfully,

Steve Brannon, B.A., M.Ed., D.Div.

DBSA Tennessee

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Begin forwarded message:

From: Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance <webmaster@dbsalliance.org>
Date: November 11, 2013 at 10:00:13 AM CST
To: sbrannon@dbsatennessee.org
Subject: Your Support Helped DBSA Impact Two Million Lives
Reply-To: Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance <webmaster@dbsalliance.org>

Tennessee, I'm pleased to share the many ways your gift to DBSA has positively impacted more than two million people as we: Recognize our past success in the DBSA 2012 Annual Impact Report Celebrate current DBSA programming and exciting new partnerships Envision a future in which individuals with mood disorders live in wellness, not illness DBSA 2012 Annual Impact Report 2012 was a pivotal year for DBSA. Not only did we build organizational strength, we improved and expanded our core programming and developed new offerings centered on our three strategic initiatives for 2012: Therapeutic Alliance—Highlighted by Concordance 2012, a dynamic discussion between clinicians and peers about changing the nature of collaborative care to reflect joint partnership Community Engagement—Demonstrated by the inaugural launch of the DBSA +6 Campaign, six months of positive actions to connect to your health and community Innovation—Represented by the launch of WeSearchTogether.org, an online portal that bridges the gap between people living with depression or bipolar disorder and the researchers whose discoveries can improve their lives and futures With your support, DBSA shared information, gave personal support, and provided life-saving tools and hope to more than two million people in 2012. Thank you! Read report and/or learn more about 2012 programs. DBSA 2013 Programs and Partnerships On October 16, DBSA announced exciting news: as of January 2014, The Balanced Mind Foundation (TBMF's) parent-, teen-, and family-focused programming will become part of DBSA's menu of programs and services. This new partnership mirrors the theme of the DBSA 2013 National Conference and much of DBSA's 2013 programming—that we are truly "Stronger Together" both as peers and as organizations with common goals. This focus on collaboration is further highlighted by our: Partnering with Families for Depression Awareness (FFDA) to launch CareForYourMind.org, an online forum for peers and family members to learn from, and share their opinions and experiences with, experts influencing mental health legislation, policy, and regulations Joining forces with the National Council for Behavioral Health (National Council) to bring the peer perspective to Washington D.C. during Hill Day 2013 Collaborating with the International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) on a groundbreaking full day of interactive joint programming during the DBSA 2013 National Conference and the 2013 International Conference on Bipolar Disorders Working with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to train more than 540 Veteran peer specialists in 2013 Teaming up with the International Bipolar Foundation (IBPF) on Say It Forward 2013, an anti-stigma campaign focused on breaking the chains of stigma through education and awareness. With your support, we've opened new doors for peers and families to be heard and supported by government, the mental health system, clinicians, and each other. Thank You! View the DBSA and TBMF announcement video and/or read press release. DBSA in 2014 and Beyond One quiet, but significant, project of the DBSA Board and staff was the development of the DBSA 2013-2017 Strategic Plan, which reflects our new vision of wellness for people living with mood disorders. The plan also reflects a new set of values and establishes tactics to support three strategic directions for DBSA moving forward: Peer Focus Advocacy Organizational Effectiveness Personally, and on behalf of DBSA, I thank you for your support of our past accomplishments, our present success, and our future vision to help individuals living with mood disorders to thrive! I look forward to sharing more about 2014: The Year of Thriving soon! With sincere appreciation, Allen Doederlein President Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) 730 N. Franklin Street, Suite 501 Toll-free: (800) 826-3632 Chicago, Illinois 60654-7225 Fax: (312) 642-7243

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Miss America and Depression

Going Through the Open Space to a New Life

 

My book, The Two Agreements, is not only about my reinterpretation of the New Testament; it is also largely about my own spiritual journey. That is why I have written at length about the “open space”. The open space is a time when your old life is gone (either because it was “taken” or because you consciously shed it), but you have not yet arrived at your new life. This transformative period can be incredibly lonely, painful, and anxiety-ridden; however, it is also an opportunity to challenge old beliefs. The goal is to learn to trust the process. I have gone through several such periods, the longest being the five years when I slowly and agonizingly sloughed off my fundamentalist beliefs and eventually emerged in my new spiritual life.

Without a doubt, the most difficult aspect of an open space is how utterly isolated you feel. When you left your old life, you did not just lose places, things or jobs; you have left people behind as well. Perhaps you have lost your spouse through death or divorce; maybe your friends have stopped calling because they can’t or won’t understand what you are going through. You may have even been separated from your church community. The key to arriving on the other side of the open space is to realize that you are NEVER alone, for you are never disconnected from God. I have often heard in my ministry groups stories of people who, in their darkest hour, felt the presence of an “Unseen Hand”, a force that kept them rooted to their lives. For some, it materialized as love for their children; for others it was a mere whisper, promising better things to come. Then, others saw the new life of someone who “made it through” and got the hope of their own new life. In all cases, it was the life force manifested, and it most likely saved their lives.

It is also imperative for anyone finding himself or herself in an open space to connect with community. Unfortunately, this often easier said than done, especially for those facing mental health challenges. In my interfaith support groups, I have heard hundreds of stories, many from people who were rejected or ignored by their fellow church members. One woman literally ran to her church after an incident in her home had left her fearing for her emotional stability. She was without transportation, and she asked the women in the administrative office if one of them could drive her to a nearby mental health facility. Instead of helping her, the women backed away, as if she was a leper. One even asked if there weren’t services for “people like her”.

I heard another story, from a Deacon at a local church. Twenty years before, his wife had broken her leg. For days, his phone never stopped ringing, with callers offering prayers for a speedy recovery. They showed up at his door, bearing enough food for an army. The reaction was very different, however, when his daughter was hospitalized with a mental health issue. Imagine his sorrow when the phone rang not once; when no one showed up with food for his family.

Open spaces do not only apply to individuals; larger entities and organizations can also face transitional periods that threaten their very existence. An example that immediately comes to mind is the United States, with its uncertain economic future and political divisiveness. Christianity has also been at a stand-still for some time, and arguably, is regressing. People, particularly the young, have been leaving fundamentalist churches in droves. According to Tony Jones, author of The New Christians—Dispatches From the Emergent Frontier, millions of church-goers have left the church, never to return. Many of these folks were raised in the church; but now, disillusioned, they are walking away, not only from the church’s teachings, but, in some cases, belief in God. And, that is indeed a travesty.

Very simply, whether we are talking about an individual, a country, or a religious institution, the questions remain the same: “Now that all hell has broken loose, what are you/we going to do about it?” – for your old life died, gone and never to return. And, something needs to be done. Then, the follow up question is, “How much do you/we love yourself/ourselves?”— for the spiritual lesson is to love one’s self enough to “resurrect” a new life. Only a genuine love will do.

Entering the Silence as a Path to Wellness

For the past eight years, I have lived a life that is satisfying and fulfilling in many ways.  After years of working to find my way through what seemed like a maze, it was like a gift from above to find myself in the land of blue skies. I give credit to the medical professionals, mental health professionals, and medications and natural health remedies.  However, my biggest appreciation goes to the practice of meditation and contemplation.  Yes, these two are different things.  I include both in my spiritual practices that make up my spiritual life.  In the practice of contemplation, I read inspirational materials and quietly think about the things I read. Without a doubt, it is the time I spend in the stillness and silence of meditation that give me the biggest rewards in my whole person – body, mind, heart and spirit.  I found this article in the bp magazine.  Here I offer another consumer’s words about the many benefits to meditation.

“The keen sound of silence”

I had expected that medication alone could treat my bipolar disorder, but it did not and cannot. This is because medication can’t make me build a life, change a behavior, or modify a relationship. This is a column about silence. To me silence is about “quieting the mind”. Silence isn’t about remaining in a soundless environment, but making a trip toward it. Silence is a connector – to myself, to God, to community, to love. It has a therapeutic value. Both within and following silence, I can slow down my responses, resist temptation, navigate around triggering events, and choose new thoughts and behaviors. Silence also has spiritual value – I use it as a form of prayer. I ask the universe to consider me and that I might hear wisdom. Silence is also free, non-prescription, multipurpose, in abundance, and available 24 hours a day. There’s enough for all of us.                                                    Lizzie Simon – writer, producer, and guest lecturer