NEWSLETTER May 2012 P.O. BOX 1364 Chico, CA 95927 www.namibutteco.com

MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH MONTH ______

NAMI Butte County NAMI BUTTE COUNTY WALK SUPPORT GROUPS GENERAL MEETING 2012 AGENDA: Thank you to all who came out NAMI BUTTE COUNTY’S 1. Voting for officers: and walked with us on Saturday, Family & Friends Support Group President, Vice- April 21 st . Thank you to the many First Tuesday ea. Month 6:30pm President, Secretary & wonderful volunteers who helped Congregational Church Treasurer 1190 E 1 st Ave., Chico 2. MOVIE NIGHT: set-up, clean-up and run the Walk and create a fun, friendly and Info: Nancy at 895-8933 or “Canvas”, When [email protected] Mary’s mental illness meaningful day. Thanks to the sponsors, the organizations who puts herself and her BUTTE COUNTY family in jeopardy, had informational booths and to those who provided music! Behavioral Health her husband and son Depression/Bipolar Support Group The support enables us to helplessly watch as Every Thursday: 2:30 p.m. continue our local programs she is torn from her Dual Diagnosis family by the police. of education, support and Every Friday: 11:00 a.m. Forced to raise a boy advocacy for people with The Iversen Center on his own & cope mental illness and their 109 Parmac, Suite 2, Chico with his wife’s families. 879-3311 schizophrenia, father (The Iversen Wellness & Recovery Center and Med Clinic offers a & son learn whit it is to be truly a family. wide variety of activities including STARTING OVER STRONG arts & crafts, writing groups, as DATE: Thur. May 17 th well as many support groups. Pick TIME : 6:30 p.m. “Empowering people to advocate, up their calendar at 109 Parmac, Ste. 2 or call 879-3311. The Med PLACE: Butte County Library access, and achieve social and Clinic Phone Line is 879-3974) 1108 Sherman Ave., Chico economic justice." (Corner of East First Ave and “Starting Over Strong (SOS) is DEPRESSION BIPOLAR Sherman Ave) a faith-based nonprofit SUPPORT ALLIANCE INFO? CALL Cathy: 228-7100 organization based in Butte and Every Tuesday: 6pm to 8pm OR e -mail: Glenn counties that works to help First Christian Church [email protected] those who have served time in jail 295 E. Washington, Rm. 6, Chico We are open to the public or prison transition back into For more information, Everyone is welcome society, particularly when it comes rd Call Ken (530) 566-4380 Meetings are held 3 Thur. each month to finding employment. In PARADISE: The Wellness and addition to working with Recovery Center (WRC) is individuals with felonies and/or IN THIS ISSUE consumer driven and emphasize misdemeanors on their record, recovery oriented activities including SOS also helps people who are NAMI WALK 2012 having trouble finding peer support, socialization STARTING OVER STRONG employment because of an arrest opportunities, life skill groups, SUPPORT GROUPS that did not result in a conviction. reintegration into the community, MIOCR ACT employment services, and medication ANOSOGNOSIA Sharon Darsey support. This centers is open to all PERSONALLY SPEAKING [email protected] community members. PTSD P.O. Box 2104 The Hub HEALTH INSURANCE Willows, CA 95988 805 Cedar Street, Paradise, CA 95969 DSM CHANGES (530) 877-5845 BOOK CORNER www.startingoverstrong.com Monday-Friday 8 am - 5 pm

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MIOTCRA reauthorized the MIOTCRA Upon this outset of the 62nd program for an additional five observance of Mental Health Support the Mentally Ill years. The reauthorization bill Awareness Month, the Treatment Offender Treatment and Crime expanded training for law Advocacy Center introduces a new, enforcement to identify and Reduction Act four-minute video containing respond appropriately to Please add your organization to dramatic footage illustrating the individuals with mental illnesses; it the national sign-on letter in condition that renders millions of also supported the development support of funding for the Mentally people unable to choose treatment of law enforcement receiving Ill Offender Treatment and Crime because they don’t believe they are centers for assessing individuals Reduction Act (MIOTCRA) in FY sick. in custody for mental health and 2013. substance abuse treatment "Anosognosia" is narrated by Dr. E. needs, as an alternative to jail Congress is currently working on booking . Fuller Torrey and contains startling appropriations bills that will clips of Russell Weston being determine funding for MIOTCRA interviewed after his arrest for the in fiscal year 2013. As this work ANOSOGNOSIA 1998 shooting deaths of two U.S. progresses, the field must send a Capitol police officers. Weston IN MENTAL HEALTH strong message to Congress believed he was defending the MONTH: A CALL FOR about the importance of this world from cannibals; he did not AWARENESS OF program for people with mental believe he suffered a mental illness. UNAWARENESS illness involved with the justice Weston has never been tried and system, their families and remains hospitalized with paranoid May is Mental Health Month, communities. A letter in support of schizophrenia. MIOTCRA is now circulating. Sign alternately called Mental Health your organization on today and Awareness Month, an observance For more information about lack of forward the letter to others in that’s been around since 1949 to awareness into illness, see your community. “raise awareness of mental health the recently updated backgrounder, conditions and mental wellness for "Anosognosia: A cause of violent WHAT YOU CAN DO all.” behavior in individuals with severe psychiatric disorders," by Dr. 1. Contact Jay Nelson at the The “mental health awareness” we Torrey and visit our anosognosia Council of State Governments are promoting during this page . Justice Center at commemorative month is the one [email protected] to add your that’s tragically missing in people organization to the letter. (Impaired awareness of illness with severe mental illness: (anosognosia) is the single largest awareness of their own mental 2. Share this information with reason why individuals with others in your state and illness. schizophrenia and bipolar disorder do community and enlist them to do not take their medications. It is caused the same A neurological syndrome called by damage to specific parts of the BACKGROUND “anosognosia ,” this "lack of insight" brain, especially the right hemisphere. MIOTCRA was signed into law in affects an estimated 50 percent of It affects approximately 50 percent of individuals with schizophrenia and 40 2004 to improve access to individuals with schizophrenia and percent of individuals with bipolar treatment for people with mental 40 percent of those with bipolar disorder. It is the single most disorder. When taking medications, illnesses involved in the criminal awareness of illness improves in some justice system. The bill received common reason people with severe patients.) unanimous, bipartisan support in mental illnesses don’t take the both chambers of Congress and is medications that would stabilize www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org supported by a broad spectrum of them and a compelling reason that leaders representing the diverse court-ordered interventions fields of law enforcement, like assisted outpatient corrections, the courts and mental treatment (AOT) are necessary to health. In 2008, Congress save lives. 2

PERSONALLY SPEAKING sobbing, she escaped in a panic. support this vital legislation. I ask Arrested again I was thrown into you, plead with you, to support jail. Booked for assault on a Laura's Law in order to prevent 'I Am a Victim of a Failed cohabitant. I manically roamed any further tragedies. System' - personally speaking the cell. Commanded once again, I tore my clothes in a deranged Sincerely, (April 27, 2012) state, drank copious amounts of RENY water trying to cleanse myself, Dear Assemblymember: hoping to liquify to escape this *************** nightmare. Enter the guards and I, Reny, am a victim of a failed police. They proceeded to Taze (NOTE: The foregoing letter was health care/judicial system that me eight times and pepper spray submitted to California Assembly has rendered me a life sentence in me. Crying inside and outside I members in support of AB 1569, which would extend the state's a wheelchair. After two brief was thrown into a thinly rubber assisted outpatient treatment [AOT] encounters with the law, it was coated "safety" cell. Delusional, I law known as Laura's Law until the third encounter that sealed crashed my head against the wall, 2017. For more information, visit my fate. rendering me a C5/6 quadriplegic. Laying in agony, I our Laura's Law page .) First encounter, I was driving pleaded for help for www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org erratically to my parent’s house. I approximately 10 hours. was arrested. Second encounter, *************** my undiagnosed paranoid Up until then I was your typical schizophrenia commanded me to American, working to pay the UPDATE: May 5 th cleanse my body by setting it rent, going to college, girlfriend and a one-time homecoming king. From Carla Jacobs, Randall Hagar, afire. Arrested again, I was 5150 Chuck Sosebee & Mark Gale: only to be let go after a 10-hour Now in the eyes of many, the stay which should have been a judicial system, another criminal. mandatory 72-hour hold. The Assembly overwhelmingly Like many mentally ill people, I voted in favor of extending Laura's Released with roaring voices in have fallen victim to the Law (65 to 3) until 2017. my head, I was arrested for the "revolving door" that is our The assisted outpatient treatment third and final time. On January 6, judicial system. Incarceration and law that AB 1569 seeks to extend is 2007, I was commanded to homelessness seem to be the only answer for the mentally ill, named after Laura Wilcox, who was sacrifice my girlfriend. Armed killed by Scott Thorpe, a man with causing a financial strain to an with a paring knife, I latched onto untreated schizophrenia. her and dragged the knife across aleady teetering economy. A her throat. Luckily the knife supervised and mandated The bill has now moved over to the caused no significant injury. outpatient program for the Senate. We need your help once Roaring voices in my head mentally ill is a money-saving again. Please reach out to your commanded me to strangle my option. Nevada County estimates senators and urge them to support girlfriend three times. Confused $1.81 saved for every $1 invested. the bill. We will alert you to the times and dates of upcoming by my actions, I resuscitated her It just makes "cents"! hearings. back to life. California Assembly Bill 1569 is a vital piece of legislation to our To learn more about Assembly Bill I then found myself sobbing on 1569, please see " California Must moving forward as a leading state the love seat nestled in my Extend Laura's Law ." parents' modest rural home in the of our great nation. This bill is country side. No one to hear her "preventable health care" for cries for help, I wrestled with my people with severe mental illness inner demons of terror. As I sat who cannot consciously access the help they need. Please 3

PTSD HEALTH INSURANCE that group coverage extend to dependent children up to 26 Health Insurance for Your Kids years old, and expands parity Understanding Posttraumatic By Jim Lugannani coverage for mental health. In Stress Disorder and Recovery Did you know you have many addition, the California choices for health insurance for Legislature has mandated (AB NAMI's 14-page brochure on your children, regardless of pre- 2244) that private insurers posttraumatic stress disorder existing conditions? provide kids-only coverage with (PTSD), its treatment and open enrollments (i.e. no pre- recovery. Which program is right? Generally speaking, it depends on existing conditions). The topics include: family income. And you may be Need more help? Call the surprised how much California Uninsured Helpline What is Trauma? income you can earn to qualify for 800-234-1317 or Risk Factors for Developing PTSD some kind of assistance: http://finder.healthcare.gov . Prior History of Trauma Medi-Cal: Pays for medical Denied coverage? Call California’s How Trauma Becomes PTSD services for children and adults DMHC Help Center 888-466- Patterns of Trauma Response with limited income. www.medi- 2219. The Neurobiology of PTSD cal.ca.gov James Lugannani is a Financial Hypoarousal and Hyperarousal Advisor at UBS Financial Services and Healthy Families: Low cost a Board Member of NAMI Contra Diagnosing PTSD health, dental and vision coverage Costa. He can be reached at 415-954- PTSD and Co-Occurring Disorders for children and teens whose 5956 or [email protected] PTSD and Suicide family income does not qualify for DSM CHANGES Combat Veterans and Trauma free Medi-Cal. Culture and PTSD www.healthyfamilies.ca.gov Trauma during Childhood MRMIP: Provides subsidized Women and PTSD (Editor’s note: The following are group health coverage for Sexual Assault and PTSD excerpts from an article by Julie Trauma and the Mental Health Californians unable to obtain Steenhuysen – the full article is System coverage because of preexisting available at: Family Impact of PTSD conditions. Premiums are higher http://www.reuters.com/article/201 2/05/09/us-usa-psychiatry-manual- Recovery and Coping than other programs; it may be idUSBRE8481BN20120509 Psychological First Aid helpful for children no longer

Psychotherapy covered on a parent’s plan. (Reuters) - Two proposed Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) www.mrmib.ca.gov Eye Movement Desensitization PCIP: A new high risk pool for psychiatric diagnoses failed to Reprocess (EMDR) medically uninsurable people who make the last round of cuts in Group Therapy have been without coverage for the laborious process of revising Service Dogs more than six months. the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -- Medications www.pcip.ca.gov an exhaustive catalog of Access for Infants and Mothers symptoms used by doctors to This brochure is available at (AIM): A helping hand to cover diagnose psychiatric illness. www.nami.org the costs of pregnancy, even if you have private insurance. Gone from the latest revision are

www.aim.ca.gov "attenuated psychosis syndrome," Private Coverage: The intended to help identify individuals at risk of full-blown Affordable Care Act requires psychosis, and "mixed anxiety depressive disorder", a blend of 4 anxiety and depression symptoms. "This also happened the last time bipolar episodes. From the Both performed badly on field tests when they did DSM-4," he said, but more than five hundred and in public comments gathered that was nearly 20 years ago. "You questions and answers, you'll by the group in its march toward can keep waiting but at certain learn: the May 2013 publication deadline. point you have to fish or cut bait and actually come out with a new Both have been tucked into Section - what to expect when edition. That is what is happening III of the manual -- the place pursuing a diagnosis now," he said. reserved for ideas that do not yet - how to choose the right have enough evidence to make the Comments to the manual can be doctor or specialist cut as a full-blown diagnosis. submitted at www.DSM5.org - how to get the disorder under control BOOK CORNER What has survived, despite fierce - what treatments and public outcry, is a change in the medication protocols are best diagnosis of autism, which for you eliminates the milder diagnosis of - how to reduce stress to Asperger syndrome in favor of the prevent manic and depressive umbrella diagnosis of autism episodes spectrum disorder. - what family members and But that, too, could still be altered friends can do to support before the final manual is you, and more published, the group says. The The Bipolar Handbook: Real-Life APA opened the final comment Questions with Up-to-Date Dr. Burgess also addresses period for its fifth diagnostic Answers unique lifestyle concerns manual known as DSM-V on May Wes Burgess (Author) facing bipolar individuals. 2, and it will accumulate comments Special chapters on practical through June 15. For Dr. Wes Burgess, the strategies for career success, Dr. David Kupfer, who chairs the diagnosis of bipolar disorder building healthy DSM-5 Task Force, said in a means hope-hope for the relationships, issues that statement that the changes reflect estimated ten million people specifically affect bipolar the latest research and input from who will develop the disorder women, and coping the public. during their lifetimes, and techniques for families and hope for the families and friends further explore the Dr. Emil Coccaro, chairman of the friends of people who suffer impact of the disorder on Department of Psychiatry and from it. Drawing upon the daily life. Behavioral Neuroscience at the real questions asked by University of Chicago Medicine, patients and families during The Bipolar Handbook 's said typically changes in the DSM his nearly twenty years as a easy-to-access format and occur because of new data. bipolar specialist, The full chapter of resources, as Coccaro, who is contributing to the Bipolar Handbook well as diagnostic criteria new section in the DSM-5 on comprehensively tackles from the American Intermittent Explosive Disorder, every area of the disorder, Psychiatric Association and said there is no question that many from its causes to medical the National Institute for people aren't convinced that some treatment and Mental Health, make this a of the diagnoses need to be psychotherapy, to strategies versatile guide-perfect for changed, or that there need to be for creating a healthy quick reference and in-depth new ones added. lifestyle, to the prevention of, discovery. coping with, and treatment of

For more information about this newsletter and to submit articles please contact: Colleen Phipps, Newsletter Editor 530-894-8551 / [email protected]

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Mail to: NAMI Butte County, P.O. BOX 1364 Chico, CA 95927 As a Butte County member you become part of NAMI at the national, state, and local levels. Illness of Concern: ______Optional -Relationship to consumer: œPA (parent of adult) œPC (parent of child) œAC (adult child) œC (consumer) œF (friend) œP (professional) œS (sibling) œM (spouse) Optional -Ethnicity : œA (Asian/Pacific Islander) œAA (African American) œH (Hispanic/Latino) œNA (Native American) œW (White/Caucasian) œO (Other) Optional -Decade of Birth: œ1920 œ1930 œ1940 œ1950 œ1960 œ1970 œ1980 œ1990 05/01/12

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