A Mental Health Magazine $8.00 Spring 2018

Marina at Key Largo, Florida Photo by Harriet Rellis

THE COMPASS is an annual publication of New Directions Support Group for people with depression, bipolar disorder and their loved ones. We meet in Abington and Willow Grove, PA. Please view www.newdirectionssupport.org. Contact us at [email protected]. TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editor’s Corner by Ruth Z. Deming ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 2 NAMI on the Parkland High School Shooting ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 3 Pompano Beach, FL, Support Group – Harriet Rellis ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 4 Alternative Views on Help for Depression – Abigail Hughes ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 5 Learning to Say “No” at age 92 – Freda Samuels ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 5 Suicidal Surgeon Appears on Front Page of The Inquirer ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 7 Freedom: A True Story by Regina Makem ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 7 Harm Reduction by Ed Quinn ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 8 Books Saved me by Janet Baker ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 10 Beatriz on Integration ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 12 Barry Bush on Kidney Transplant ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 12 Facebook Addiction by Judy Kroll �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 14 Seen Any Good Movies Lately? Alex Grinberg �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 15 Day Camp to Avoid Addictions by Harriet Rellis ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 16 Nursing Home Volunteer by Larry Kirschner ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 17 Many Causes for Bipolar Disorder by the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program of the University of Michigan �������������������������������������� 18 Cherian Verghese, MD Offers Hope for Treatment-Resistant Depression �������������������������������������������������������� 19 NEWS ROUNDUP TABLE OF CONTENTS Young British Royals Lead Charity to Support Mental Health Promising Device to Counter Panic Attacks Eagles’ Player Triumphs Despite Anxiety Swimmer Michael Phelps discusses Depression and Suicidal Thoughts Best-selling author suffers from lifelong anxiety Apps for Anxiety The Mind Body Connection The Wrong Medicine Anxiety in American Teens Apps to Fight Teen Suicide Alcohol and Antidepressants England Has National System to Manage Mental Health Helpline for UK Musicians Coffee or Tea? Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams The Sleeping Cure The Key Update Offers (partial list): Peers Help Heal Physical Conditions Video Games Help with Hearing Voices Help for Opioid Addictions African-American Oppression Stories Antidepression Use Rising, esp for Women Novel Approach for Philadelphia’s Homeless Pursue the Wonderful ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 30 KALEIDOSCOPE: Our Literary Section �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 31 Linda Barrett; Iris J. Arenson- Fuller; Harriet Rellis; Donna Krause; Ruth Z. Deming; Martha Hunter; Remington Murphy

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 1 EDITOR’S CORNER Carole and Greg Hodges run our Loved Ones’ By Ruth Z. Deming, MGPGP, Group. They meet in “The Library” and shut the Founder/Director doors for privacy. Upon occasion, I send them a postcard telling them what an outstanding job New Directions Support they do! Group for people with Two years ago, we printed out a long depression, bipolar disorder postcard with the words “Yes, I Can” on the and their loved ones, is a holistic front. It’s a great morale booster, especially for group. We honor the whole body. folks who have unaccomplished goals or who When one area suffers – for example, by eating have lingering depressions. unhealthy processed foods and junk – every other That’s where “medication consults” come in. area, including our minds, suffers, too. If you’re not responding to the meds prescribed Today, in early March, 2018, we received a by your own doctor, we recommend getting phone call from “Irene,” whose brother lives with another opinion. What do you have to lose? her in suburban Philadelphia. She was at work After all this is your life. Feeling good, raring to and spoke in hushed tones about her depressed go in the morning, and the ability to love and to brother, “Sam.” She was happy to hear that New play is what life’s all about. Directions would be a good place for Sam to Helen Kirschner and Jonathan Akarman do meet people like himself. “We have men in our a superb job running our Daytime Meetings the group,” I bragged. “We pair people up and second and fourth Thursdays at the Willow Grove encourage them to go out for coffee together or Giant Supermarket. They may draw as many as on nature walks, since spring is on its way.” fourteen people and have their “regulars.” With more snow than we’ve ever had! We’re thinking of starting a WRAP Plan for This year, Valentine’s Day was marked by Mental Health Wellness. Check out Mary Ann tragedy. Yes, another school shooting. Had a Copeland’s website. People work on particular gambler thrown dice and decided Parkland High problems such as making friends, dealing with School in Florida would be next? suicidal thoughts, and eating right. “I know this happens all the time,” said a Speaking of eating right, when Barry Bush was young man on television, “but I never expected on kidney dialysis for five years, he ballooned up it would happen here.” to nearly 200 pounds. Now that his life is his own The young man would be surprised to learn again, he has a wonderful nutritionist, Danielle, that in 2017 alone there have been 345 mass who helps him eat right. shootings. Read his incredible story within these pages. At our last meeting of New Directions, Ed If you’re on lithium for bipolar disorder, be sure Quinn led us in a series of five-minute stretches. to get lab tests twice a year. In the current series Since we meet at 7 pm, we all needed a good “Homeland,” the drug lithium has stopped stretch from the stressors of the day. “Sitting” at working for Carrie. We can relate! a desk is the worst thing you can do. Stand up Christina Fava is the nutritionist at the Willow and stretch every 20 minutes. Grove Giant Supermarket. Call her at 215-784- Join us! We meet the first and third Tuesday 1960. She’ll give you a personal tour around nights at Abington Presbyterian Church. We the store – those fruits and veggies look mighty have a huge room called the Parish Hall. inviting – it costs all of $20, redeemable in the Since I’ve been running ND for 32 years – form of a gift card for $20. gosh, the time has flown by - we need fresh ideas A word about medication. Many people in our to motivate our group and make it even better! group – or who have passed through our group - Ada Moss Fleisher and I work in tandem. What take no meds for bipolar disorder or depression, ever would I do without Ada, with her empathy myself included. and common sense. Her husband, Rich, ain’t so We’re firm believers in the power of bad either! medication! The folks who take no meds did so

Page 2 - The Compass SPRING 2018 with the approval of their psychiatrists, but it’s The details are still unfolding and there are certainly not for everyone. still unanswered questions, but what we do know A major problem about meds is we don’t is that there were warning signs and that the know what the long-term side effects are. When I shooter had received mental health treatment. As went on lithium in 1984, it changed my life for the we continue the national discussion about what better. Despite continuing mood swings, which we can do to prevent further tragedies, we need included psychosis and suicidal depressions, I was to be willing to engage in an honest conversation able to care for my two children and work as a about what allowed this young man to fall through psychotherapist. the cracks, and the broader personal and societal When lithium destroyed my kidneys, my factors that may have fueled his actions. daughter, Sarah Lynn, donated her kidney to me. It is paramount for us to ensure the safety All you need is one working kidney. and wellbeing of our children and youth, and These side effects are one reason that members to remember that 1 in 5 people, potentially of ND partner with their psychiatrists or prescribing hundreds of students in a high school, have or will nurse practitioners to discuss medication. experience a mental illness. We need to be very Studies show that meds and psychotherapy careful that the response to these tragedies by the are the best treatment. media and others does not discourage students Interested in being in a research study? Email from seeking help. Cherian Verghese, MD, at [email protected]. I There are steps we can take now to educate visited his research lab in Norristown, PA and was and intervene early to break down barriers of impressed by the way he talked with prospective understanding, and put an end to the stigma that clients. He didn’t pressure them at all to join often prevents people from getting the help they the study. Read his article in this issue, which so desperately need: demonstrates that if you’re not doing well, there 1. Increase mental health awareness and is always hope. Do not give up! availability of counselors in schools. Students Our 2018 Compass may be our last hard copy. should be encouraged to seek help for Although our printer, Mark Amos, of Hatboro, PA, themselves or a friend. School based mental does a great job, printing costs plus the graphic health has also proven extremely effective in design cost nearly $3,000 last year. engaging students who would not otherwise Let us know your thoughts on the 2018 Compass. seek help. Some states have made significant investments in school based mental health Email me at RuthDeming at Comcast. net. and more needs to be done. Do you believe in random acts of kindness? If 2. Train school staff, administrators, parents so, mail us a donation – large or small – to New and youth, and provide the tools necessary Directions, Box 181, Hatboro, PA 19040. to have conversations about the signs and The stars will rejoice in heaven and so will we! symptoms of mental health conditions and where they can turn to for help. Far too NAMI Statement on the often, when families are most in need, there isn’t a clear pathway to getting help. Parkland School 3. Develop a comprehensive response Shooting program for youth who have demonstrated behavioral issues including involving family Feb. 16, 2018 and mental health providers. Take steps to avoid expelling and suspending students as NAMI is deeply saddened by the tragic school this only exacerbates the situation. shooting that occurred February 14 in Parkland, 4. Increase the ability of the mental health Florida. These tragedies impact our communities– system to be proactive in reaching out to our parents, our children, our school professionals, youth, particularly those with the most our first responders—the mental health of our serious conditions. Young people in distress whole country. will not seek help so there needs to be

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 3 mobile outreach responses that are funded a bit recalcitrant and was put back for the time and easily available. This requires sustained being. The last came out, looked around, and and expanded funding for coverage for then slowly elevated himself and flew away. Now mental health, not cuts. for the recalcitrant one. This time he flew slowly Another part of the conversation that but surely into the air. cannot be ignored is acting on common sense Note: Watch the late Wayne Dyer’s famous approaches to ending gun violence such as gun butterfly story on YouTube. Enter “Wayne Dyer violence prevention restraining orders, which Butterfly Story.” can allow for the removal of guns from people We went back in and the two peer leaders who may pose a risk of violence to themselves introduced themselves and explained that each and others. While the relationship between person in the group should introduce himself, mental illness and gun violence is very low, we state his diagnosis, and give a number from one need reasonable options, including making it to ten, with ten being the worst, as to how he or possible for law enforcement to act on credible she was feeling that day, and then state whether community and family concerns in circumstances or not he wanted to address the group with a where people are at high-risk. particular problem. We all want an end to these horrific acts of Susan began, followed by Craig, the other violence. To achieve this, we need to understand group leader. Around we went, but attention the full picture of what is really driving increased immediately focused on Eva, who burst into tears, violence and take sensible steps. Only then can stating her husband had died three months ago, we find meaningful solutions to protecting our having had a terrible reaction to benzos, and he children and communities. committed suicide. She had an accent, stated that her daughter lived in Tallahassee , the state Just in! The NY Times reports that on March capital. 15 thousands of students, emboldened by a She was there for a few months but felt the growing protest movement over gun violence, need to move away. She felt so alone and had will stand up in their classrooms and walk out of no friends or support in Pompano, but someone their schools in a nationwide demonstration, one had told her about this meeting and she vowed month after a gunman killed 17 people at a high to attend. Mostly we listened to her but also school in Florida. gave her some resources. She left early but said she would return next week. Pompano Beach, Florida, Jim told of a bad reaction to a medication for his depression, having had his dose doubled, Support Group because he was not responding. He felt very By Harriet Rellis uneasy and agitated and finished by saying he had a car accident, rear-ending the car in front of I attended this group for the first time in 2017 him, who then hit the car in front of him. Others and immediately liked it. described the trouble they were having to obtain Last night was my first time in 2018. There disability or with their desire to return to work. were already 12 people there when I came in and And so it went. Each person had his turn to two to three others came in later. Immediately, speak or to pass if he had nothing he deemed the group went outside with Susan – names and important enough to say. situations have been changed - who was to release So it was again, a welcoming group, a group four butterflies that were clinging to a plant. of empathetic strangers with whom I could, if I We were each to make a wish as the butterflies wanted to, share my deepest thoughts. were released. Susan opened the mesh container Harriet Rellis of Warminster, PA, vacations with her and got out the first one. He left her finger and husband, Steve, in Pompano Beach, Florida. An avid flew away, as did the next one. The third was bridge player, she currently is a Bronze Life Master.

Page 4 - The Compass SPRING 2018 My Alternative effectively express and manage my emotions, and therefore learn my triggers that cause my Approach to Depression depression and anxiety. and Anxiety As a result, I can link how these subconscious emotions will impact my current emotional state By Abigail Hughes of Philadelphia and learn to become conscious of the learnt behavior and be better equipped to address Depression can make you feel hopeless. and reprogram my emotions. To make this more Coupled with anxiety, it will leave a person relatable, I always experienced anxiety while diagnosed with these conditions feeling I was in school, especially towards the end of paralyzed and unable to thrive in everyday life. a semester. Eventually this anxiety started to Even though I was diagnosed with depression impact my everyday life. I became extremely and anxiety in my early twenties, I was extremely anxious if I had a great number of tasks to reluctant to take prescription medication. complete in a day, work became hectic or any However, after a series of life altering events, experience that resembled my challenges while my depression started to inhibit my ability to in school. Through NET and talk therapy, I have function from day to day, and as a result, I came gained perspective on the link between hectic to terms that I needed this additional help. situations I experience through college and my Eventually, I found an antidepressant that response to current stressful situations. I am now improved my symptoms of depression, but I was able to identify current hectic situations and be conscious that medication and talk therapy was more effective in my response. not enough. I still had episodes of heavy sadness, It is important to note that each person’s lack of interest in things that I once enjoyed and emotional reality is different. How I may react often felt frustrated with my talk therapy. As a or interpret an experience will be significantly result I started looking for additional help. different to another’s. Therefore, everyone’s I have always been open to non-traditional treatment plan when coping with mental health medicine/practices, and was introduced to the will be a unique and different experience. Being Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) through my proactive in my treatment plan and open to chiropractor. NET is a form of emotional therapy alternative techniques, has had a positive impact with an understanding that the body stores on my mental health challenges. emotions associated with unpleasant memories, For this I am truly grateful. feelings and emotions experienced throughout life. These unresolved negative emotions can unknowingly impact our emotional responses to At Age 92, She’s Learned current stressful and negative events, which may to Say “No” lead to chronic physical and mental symptoms such as depression, anxiety and physical pain. By Freda Samuels Through muscle response testing, NET can access and re-program the subconscious. What wonderful advantages of aging I NET is a unique experience. A typical visit have discovered! Although reaching 92 is not involves the patient either expressing emotions always fun, I’ve found many ways to utilize this they would like to address or the practitioner achievement. Informing testing for emotions that our body may respond Customer Service people to as “weak” through muscle testing. Then, a of my advanced age series of chiropractic adjustments are performed invariably provides me with to target the weak responding emotion. My a kind, helpful friend who experience with NET has had a positive impact on will extend themselves to my depression and anxiety. It has a tremendous provide me with the best influence on my talk therapy sessions. I can more way they know how to Freda and Bernie resolve my issues. Samuels

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 5 My husband, Bernie, also 92, and I seek doing research and writing on my wonderful creative and productive ways to enhance the computers. endurance and independence we require to Our nights are spent together starting with remain in our beloved home. Jeopardy and watching either old movies We are very lucky to be surrounded by on Turner Classic Movies or the wonderful wonderful friends and family who know how assortment of entertainment provided by Netflix. much they are cherished. Of course, as we have aged, more days are Bernie, the great cook, loves to feed people, filled with the usual visits to our many health and we have spent the 28 years of our lives care providers. We have become really high together entertaining, and being entertained, by maintenance! interesting friends from many fields (medicine, Throughout my life, I have been a people education, art, mental health, and human pleaser, and this has paid off handsomely. This services.) characteristic has been a major motivation in my More recently, we have done luncheons, career achievements. I have thoroughly benefited instead of of dinners. Now the frequency of from the ability to say “yes” to assignments luncheons is diminishing due to our changing of all kinds, including those challenging and, energy levels. some, frightening. I have almost always followed We love having lunch or dinner at nice through to meet the goals I have set for myself. restaurants and we’re most grateful to be In 2014, at the age of 88, I authored my 242- remembered by old friends who call and invite page memoir, “My Name Is Fredarose.” us to join them at someplace interesting with In 2017, I started to write my second book. good food. I completed a draft outline of the chapters by Last year, when I found it difficult to pull our subject; wrote a few draft chapters, and began trash cans down our driveway for weekly pick-up, to feel burdened by the demand on my time and we resolved this by inviting our delightful friend, limited energy. My enthusiasm was gone. Patrick, to have dinner with us on Wednesday This was a new experience for me. It took and take out the trash. some time for me to realize that I was no longer After dinner, he beautifully cleans up the willing to place myself under pressure and devote kitchen and will cheerfully take care of things like my time and limited energy to this earlier desire. carrying heavy items; totally enhancing our lives. I had to confront this – I had to do something This “win-win” as Patrick calls it, has worked against my view of myself. I had to say, “No” - out so well that we now enjoy his company and and I did – and I am proud to have accomplished his valuable help on Monday, Wednesday and this late stage of maturity by this decision. Friday. We met Patrick 16 years ago in our local Freda Tevelson Samuels has lived many lives in one. Lower Nike Park, where we enjoyed taking our She was Assistant Director of Temple University Hospital. Among her accomplishments was the development of dogs every day. He is a beautiful person, now 49 the Dialysis Units. She was responsible for influencing the years old, who lives alone in his well-kept nearby bureaucrats in Philadelphia and Washington to allow this home. We appreciate and love him, and consider unit to open. In the early ‘70s duplication of services was him our adopted son. frowned upon to control costs. Bernie and I are most grateful for the pleasant She and her first husband, entertainer Lenny Tevelson, performed in the Pocono Mountain resorts, giving popular days we spend doing the things we love to do. song and dance and comedy routines. As avid readers of the local newspapers, news She and Bernie have an exercise studio in the basement magazines, voluminous literature covering of their large home in Warrington, PA. While exercising, nutrition and health, we are intrigued by the she listens to favorite tunes. daily global events. The two of them enjoy shopping at Costco. Should you be fortunate enough to dine with them, they will give you Bernie enjoys crossword puzzles. I spend foodstuffs to take home: unsalted almonds, jars of olives, many hours creating specialized greeting cards and frozen salmon. for my long list of birthdays and anniversaries,

Page 6 - The Compass SPRING 2018 Suicidal Surgeon where professionals can talk freely about their emotional pain, and cultures that allow doctors to Appears on Front Page pursue work they feel passionate about. of the Inquirer “From the outside, it can look like someone has everything going for them but, if we’re all suffering in our own silence, it’s hard to help Two years ago, Michael Weinstein was each other,” said Weinstein, who is co-chair of depressed, burned out and suicidal. It got so Jefferson’s ethics committee. bad that his doctor ordered him to take a medical Lots of people seem to see his openness as leave. courageous, he said, but he doesn’t. “I find it so He went to a psychiatric hospital outside important to put it out there, and it was natural Baltimore, but did not improve. He was taken, to do so,” he said. literally, kicking and screaming to a locked unit. (Stacey Burling, The Inquirer, March 5, 2018) He learned how it felt to wear a straitjacket and receive electroconvulsive therapy. Later, there REGINA’S STORY was talk therapy and medication. He started practicing mindfulness. His wife’s love sustained My name is Ed Quinn, Regina’s first cousin. I know this story him. He got better and went back to work. to be true. I knew Henry Seybold from my frequent visits and overnights at Regina’s house in the Olney section of His is a sad, hopeful, common-enough story Philadelphia when we were kids. Regina had 4 brothers made extraordinary by two things: Weinstein is a and sisters and we all had fun together. Regina had the trauma surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University below adventure when she was ten years old, and wrote Hospital and his first-person account of his about it when she was 44. It came to my attention only last mental-health struggles and subsequent re-entry week. Apparently, she had a penchant for writing of which I was unaware. Her older sister told me that her school was published last week in the prestigious New teachers asked Regina if she had studied creative writing England Journal of Medicine. on her own, but she hadn’t. Regina died prematurely last It comes at a time when academic medical year at the age of 60 after a long battle with cancer. centers are starting to pay more attention to physician burnout and suicide, but it is still rare FREEDOM: A True Story for a practicing doctor to be so forthcoming about his own problems. By Regina Makem “These are our forbidden topics,” said a Jefferson internist. “These are our family secrets. February 2001 We don’t write about this.” I jumped off my bike, letting it crash to Anthony Mazzarelli, chief physician executive the pavement and raced up the front steps. I at Cooper University Health Care, was also smelled freedom in the air. I wanted to pound impressed. He is especially interested in burnout, on the front door; instead I knocked politely and both because it is associated with medical errors then waited for hours. I was ten years old and and because it may lead doctors to quit at a time not suited to patience. Within seconds, Mrs. when more of them are needed. Seybold, my best friend’s Mom, opened the Mazzarelli hopes that physicians who read door. Henry, I was informed, was not done with Weinstein’s essay will see it’s OK to reach out for his chores. Screaming in my head “not done, help. noooooooooooooooooo, but this was the day, That was Weinstein’s goal. this was ‘the’ day.” I politely asked if I could help. Weinstein, 49, said his willingness to discuss I ran down the stairs to the rec room to help his mental-health problems has opened the door Henry finish cleaning. The rec room was our for other doctors to share their feelings. Doctors haven, where we played “Man from Uncle,” hide are more prone than many other professionals and go seek, and roller-skated under the ping- to commit suicide, with an average of 400 a year pong table, but not today. This was the day I had killing themselves across the United States. He thought about and dreamed of for a long time. hopes that health systems like his will create places This was the day I was enticing us to participate

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 7 in the forbidden. Today was the day…done; We picked the brand from the poster outside finally we were finished Henry’s chores. Our feet because it had a triangle in the filter; it looked banged up the basement stairs. We tore through cool. How typical. I vowed to punch Henry. the house. We yelled goodbye. The front door In my best angelic voice, I politely replied, slammed behind us. We were on our bikes faster “She didn’t tell me, sir. She just said to get a pack than the blink of an eye. We were free. of True.” How fortunate I picked the same name Freedom! The aroma of freedom on my face brand from among the falsehoods rolling off my smelled fragrant, like fresh-cut grass. The feel tongue. My head panicked again. He was going of freedom was pumping quickly in my veins, to call my mother. He was going to ask me my just as quickly as I pumped my bike pedals. We mother’s name and number and then sure as I was raced madly for Flock’s, arriving, finally, at our standing here he was going to call her. My body destination. Out of breath, we slowly dismounted gently glided into survival mode. I stole a glance and parked our bikes, like trusty steeds awaiting at Henry, my extremely silent partner, and gave our return. Henry’s eyes locked with mine. We him a look that said you better get ready to run. were best friends, cohorts, and co-conspirators The sound of cellophane distracted me and I and now, suddenly, I felt we were planning a turned back to see the man slide a pack of True murder. We talked quietly, pointing at this sign or over the counter to me. “If these are wrong, bring that sign, discussing our choices. It was decided them back,” he said. My eyes were riveted on the that I would do the asking, because of that way cigarettes, my coveted prize, and my heart was I had. riveted on my guilt, my reward for lying. With With a glance at each other, we walked the sweetest smile I replied, “Yes sir, thank you.” through the door. The squeal of the hinge, Taking the pack, realizing we were finally going like a fingernail on a chalkboard, sent a shiver to smoke, to do it, be grown-ups, we walked out down my spine. The creak of the wooden floor of the store and suddenly the world was mine. I echoed in my brain. The smell of fresh pretzels had gotten away with murder! and the sweet scent of rows and rows of penny Henry, however, had not. I punched him candy assailed my nostrils. My skin prickled with anyway. anticipation and then the fear set in, settling in my throat. What if I couldn’t talk? What if the store owner knew I was lying? What if he reported me Harm Reduction (HR) to school? What if he called my mother? By Ed Quinn I crept forward, acting so cool and calm on the outside while inside the racehorses were February 16, 2018 straining at the starting gate. Reaching into Sounds heavy, alluring, and pro forma. Who my pocket I pulled out thirty-seven cents and wouldn’t want to reduce harm? I’m all in. What dropped it on the counter. “I need a pack of True kind should we reduce? The Harm Reduction cigarettes for my mom please.” Coalition at harmreduction.org says this: There. I had said the unthinkable. I was Harm reduction is a set of practical committed and now held my breath as time strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative stopped, every second magnified with the consequences associated with drug use. Harm ticking of the deafening clock. The squeak of Reduction is also a movement for social justice the floorboard where Henry, nervous, shifted built on a belief in, and respect for, the rights of his weight resounded in my head. I was sure the people who use drugs. storeowner saw “LIAR” stamped on my forehead, This definition is replete with all manner of as sure as I was that he saw my face go scarlet. subtle implications. Since no other applications The storeowner looked at me, a frown creasing are mentioned, perhaps harm reduction relates his brow. This is it; he was going to call the cops. “Which one?” he asked, “the blue or the green only to drug use; but it doesn’t. ‘Behaviors which pack?” Oh no, the screaming in my head started put health at risk’ is more accurate, but expansive. again. Which one? Which one? How did I know? Sociologists would say that all this starts with the labelling of behaviors by society as deviant.

Page 8 - The Compass SPRING 2018 That can morph into illegality when the they get around to it. You can’t make them government gets involved, rendering the change if they don’t want to, just like when they behavior more dangerous to practice and do want to, you can’t stop them.” difficult, if not impossible to reduce its attendant We are dealing with behavior about which the harm. Clearly, we cannot successfully control actor quickly loses the element of choice. And drug abuse by managing, regulating, proscribing drug use was once called a “victimless crime.” I or decriminalizing it. Why? It’s addictive. haven’t seen that term used lately. It is, however, That is not a profound insight; it is the simple mala prohibita, bad because it is prohibited. It’s truth, obvious to all but the most myopic. Is wrong because those in power say it is; deviance there anyone who wants an illegal drug today extended. who is unable to get it? An insoluble conundrum, The other class of crime, mala in se, is easier its futility is palpable. Maybe what makes HR to deal with. It is wrong in itself. Most sane people attractive is that at least it’s something affirmative agree that we shouldn’t take something that is that we can do. It has gained traction as a not ours. The earliest recorded codification of treatment modality. Organizations have grown ethical behavior is the Code of Hammurabi, a up around it. HR is both sensible and sad. Babylonian King who ruled in 1800 B.C. That’s a Examples of HR: needle exchanges; safe long time ago. injection locations for I.V. drug users; cost- The code said, “If anyone is committing a free and unregulated distribution of condoms. robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to Opiates were outlawed in the United States in death.” That’s fairly unambiguous. Its sentiment 1915 by the Harrison Narcotic Act. One would has prevailed to the present. Same with murder. think this was altruistic legislation enacted for But Hammurabi had an interesting adjunct to the Harm Reduction. It was not. It actually had little prohibition against murder – personal responsibility. to do with what its title insinuates. How effective “If a man brings an accusation against another has it been? man, charging him with murder, but cannot prove Answer – Why are we talking about HR today? it, the accuser shall be put to death.” In 1919, the Volstead Act (18th amendment) was We have tried making the drug user passed, prohibiting the production, distribution responsible for his behavior. Now, with HR, we and consumption of alcohol in the United are trying to save him from his behavior, by States. Harm Reduction? We all know how well “safely” facilitating his behavior. Prohibition worked out. In 1933, the Volstead Act How do we reconcile all this stuff? I have no was repealed by the 21st amendment, ending idea. What I do know is that in this field there is a Prohibition. lot of money and a lot of mismanagement, to put It took 14 short years for us to learn our lesson it lightly. Desperation produces expenditure. HR about the advisability of criminalizing alcohol. may become a legitimate enough methodology Should we have learned the same lesson about to receive some government funding. Perhaps drugs? During the 103 years since the Harrison it already has. Like so many other efforts in the Narcotic Act, we have added many more layers of field of addiction treatment, we cannot truly Prohibition, hence the term controlled substances. determine its efficacy if it is not administered by In Pennsylvania, it’s the Controlled Substance, the letter of its own law. I have more than enough Drug Device and Cosmetic Act of 1972. experience to lack confidence. In the 1950’s, criminologist Edwin Sutherland In the 2017 issue of The Compass, Ed Quinn wrote about said, “When the mores are strong, the laws are the difficulty of giving up drugs and alcohol, which he unnecessary. When the mores are weak, the laws successfully did at an inpatient rehab facility. He and his are ineffective.” Sic loquitur pro se. wife Sharon live in Philadelphia. They frequently drive to Proponents of HR would say it is not Boston to visit their four grandchildren. “Pop-Pop” has capitulation. Andy Warhol said this, “When taught them all to play Scrabble. people are ready to, they change. They never do it before then, and sometimes they die before

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 9 Books Saved Me That was our punishment, so we made sure we behaved so that we would have our special time. By Janet Baker In the 4th and 5th grades girls my age devoured Nancy Drew books. In fact, the best For as long as I can remember, I have always gift to receive for a birthday was a Nancy Drew loved books. My earliest memories in school are book that you hadn’t read yet. We exchanged in the second grade when we ordered books these books amongst ourselves until we had read every few weeks from a scholastic publisher. I them all. Most of the girls I knew wanted to be remember the excitement I felt when the boxes like Nancy Drew because she solved mysteries arrived and when the teacher finally distributed and because she was brave and daring. She was our packages at the end of the day. My package one of my role models during a time when girls was always the largest one. Although my parents and women were often treated like second-class were frugal, they didn’t mind supporting my citizens (although I didn’t really understand what book habit. The books were soft covered and much of that actually meant then). Nancy Drew they didn’t cost that much. Little did I know taught me to be a risk-taker! that this behavior of purchasing, obtaining Other books that were popular when I was or collecting large quantities of books would in elementary school were The Bobbsey Twins, continue throughout my life. Cherry Ames, Trixie Belden and The Boxcar Other memories as a child include trips to the Children. I especially liked this last book because public library with my mother. I remember the it was about a family of orphan brothers and grand steps leading into the building and the sisters who took care of each other by living in feeling I experienced once inside. It was a quiet a boxcar. Their parents had died and they didn’t and sacred place where the librarians enforced want to be separated by being adopted out to the silent code. I remember the endless shelves different families. So, they ran away. This book of books and watching my mother check out taught me survival skills. It also taught me to several at a time. Even though I was very young, challenge authority and to believe in myself. I still had a real sense that whatever happened in Then I had one of the best reading teachers the library was very important. I wanted to know in 8th grade. He read Edgar Allan Poe stories to all the secrets it held. us. He didn’t just read the stories. He altered his I was very fortunate to have had some voice and acted everything out. This class was really excellent, old-fashioned teachers in my pure entertainment. early years at school. These were strict female Books once again became my refuge. teachers who ruled their classroom with an iron Adolescence is often a time of rebellion against fist. (Teachers were permitted to hit us if they parents and other authority and I was no felt it was necessary.) They didn’t tolerate any exception. I suffered the consequences of my nonsense of any kind. They made sure we knew poor choices, but in spite of my problems, I was how to read well. I initially learned how to read still interested in reading and learning. I started by reading Dick and Jane books. “Run Spot run. to ask questions about topics that I hadn’t really See Spot run.” We were drilled and drilled until learned about in school. When I couldn’t get any we finally got it. satisfactory answers, I taught myself by reading Then, in the 3rd and 4th grade we moved books. on to a higher level by really learning how to I learned about many things on my own. I appreciate reading. The most special time during learned about famous women and less well- the school day was when our teacher would known women who made a difference in society. read to us. I remember sitting at my desk and I didn’t have a lot of exposure to successful, just taking it all in. This was a real treat that we independent women in real life. So, I needed to eagerly anticipated. On the rare occasion that turn to books for the answers. It was also around the classroom had misbehaved that day, there this time that I realized that I could not learn wouldn’t be any reading time by the teacher. everything in school that I needed. Because

Page 10 - The Compass SPRING 2018 even though my early teachers taught me how I love giving and receiving books. Not too long to read, I had to teach myself how to think and ago, I received three books from my students at to apply what I had learned. So, I taught myself. the end of the semester. I was not only surprised, I knew that I couldn’t really depend on anyone I was deeply touched because my students had else for what I needed to know. This was a life autographed each book. I don’t think they really lesson that remains with me today. know how important those books are to me. Later, as a young mother busy with adult They remain in a special place on my shelf. responsibilities,I didn’t have much time to Nothing makes me happier than seeing my read. But my love of reading never faded or grandchildren sitting quietly somewhere reading disappeared. When I had time to myself, I read a book or getting a phone call from my grandson as much as possible. asking for my advice about which book he should Reading was my escape from a bad marriage. read because he has to write a paper. It also gave me the courage to take the next steps On occasion, I meet someone who doesn’t to free myself from other oppressive situations. I like to read. When I try to explain the importance needed to make myself into the person I wanted of reading books, they often look back at me to be, not what others tried to create for me. I with a blank and uninterested face. They don’t read many books about different people who seem to understand what I’m talking about and had escaped from negative situations. I learned that’s when I feel inadequate and misunderstood that I too could make an escape and that I too because I can’t always fully explain the importance could become successful, just like the people in of reading and how and why it can make a the books. If they could do it, then so could I! difference in one’s life. They look at reading as a As a single parent, I was employed full-time waste of time or they believe that everything they outside of the home while also attending college need to know can be seen on TV or somewhere part-time in the evening. As an English major, I else. How can I find the right words to convey the was exposed to more authors and topics than I secrets I’ve learned from books? could ever dream of knowing! I was always a fast I wish every parent would start their children reader, but I became an even faster one because off right by exposing them to books. Something papers needed to be written on a regular basis as simple as reading a book can make all the and I needed to move on to the next book on difference in the world. the syllabus. There was no time to waste! The information gained from books really I did succeed in being a college teacher in does give us power. Ignorance keeps us in the English. dark and enslaved. All I know is that books saved Today I am still reading as much as ever. My me. I could have continued down many wrong house is filled with books on almost every subject. paths or stayed stuck in unfulfilling or unhealthy My favorites are memoirs and autobiographies situations. But instead I was able to free myself written by people who have struggled but who before it was too late. My books educated me have made it over the hurdles. Often, however, about many things and opened the doors to a I’ve learned that one doesn’t necessarily get whole new world of possibilities. I’ve discovered over the hurdles, but rather she learns how to many secrets. navigate the hurdles in such a way that they don’t I’m not alone with that assertion. Many become unbearable. Many people, like myself, people know exactly what I mean. are still struggling to a certain degree, and are Janet Baker teaches English at a local community college. still confronted with hurdles on a daily basis. It is She’s been teaching for over 20 years. It was/is her second a process that never truly ends. career and she’s an adjunct professor now. A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 11 First Day Of School or STAYING ALIVE, the Little Shoes That with a little help from Could my friends and family By Beatriz Moisset By Barry Bush

It’s now over 15 months since I was blessed with a new kidney and ended a 5- year sentence on dialysis. Don’t want to dwell on how bad dialysis was for me, I have written about it before and would like to touch on how incredible life is now and the year- plus it took to get to this point. Immediately after the surgery at Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia to install/implant The black and white photo shows a little a functioning kidney on the right front of my girl on her first day of school. She is cuteness abdomen, it becomes all about rehab and meds, personified from the bow on her black hair to the yep more meds. Kidney patients almost always impeccable socks and little Mary-Janes. have blood pressure problems so there’s those One thing seems out of place, the grim meds and a new kidney also comes with anti- determination on her face. Shouldn’t she wear a rejection meds for life which can also cause sunshine smile? diabetes and was the case for me. Even more incongruous are the three big In addition to the aforementioned meds, men in dark business suits and hats surrounding initially you are also put on antifungal and her. Their stark expressions mirror hers. Their antibacterial and an assortment of other pills. badges and arm bands tell us something about Enough to require a consult with the resident them. “U. S. marshals,” reads the photo caption. pharmacist and weekly follow- ups to check on I am sure each one carries a loaded gun under how the kidney is functioning, blood pressure his jacket. and med levels and several other tests. Trips to And so it was that on that November day the hospital were the routine for the year, starting of 1960 a pair of little shoes trail blazed a path 4 times a week for me, then 3, then 2 and so on. towards racial integration. And so it was that Now it is every 3 months and will soon be once a school girl named Ruby Bridges walked into a year. history. At the hospital, I was a mess physically, 274 pounds, a bmi of 38 which means I’m obese and Beatriz Moisset, born in Argentina, came to the U.S. in 1963. She hosts our Beehive Writing Group. now also diabetic. I’ve got a belly full of staples and barely able to sit up in bed let alone stand, but that bag of urine attached to my bed from the tube coming out of my body is a blessing indeed. I’m smiling like I haven’t in quite a while. From my time on dialysis I know that diabetes is the number one reason for kidney failure and I

Page 12 - The Compass SPRING 2018 certainly do not wish to lose this oh- so- precious instead of the bike as it is more of a workout than gift of life in the shape of a bean called a kidney! the bike. So to avert and or minimize the diabetes, serious Today, still going to the gym, every day lifting dietary changes and as much exercise as I can twice a week, many more friends. If for some muster in my condition are called for post haste. reason, I cant get to the gym I use the bike or So serious that I’m assigned a nutritionist/ treadmill at home. Daily exercise and proper dietician and for a couple weeks and a physical diet are the required one- two punch to keep therapist to help along the way. Physical therapist diabetes at bay, don’t want to miss a single day! was indeed helpful, however, it was and still Along with greatly increased activity around is the nutritionist who really inspired me and the house and such that’s pretty much the informed me along the way. She’s very attentive exercise story. The diet gradually changed, too, and very informed and always ready to answer and now consists of lots of veggies, big salads, my multitude of constant questions leading to big portions of cooked veggies, lots of nuts and yet more questions. seeds, berries and other fruit sparingly (due to Danielle was my hold- your- hand helper the sugar content), smaller portions of meat, fish, through the difficult task of returning to health. chicken and so forth. I can and do call her or write to her whenever Oh and cheese is back! It was taboo due a question arises and the answer is provided, to the high phosphorus/calcium content which along with a good dose of encouragement and is not so hot for dialysis patients. The dietary cheeriness. I do know though, that the work is up changes sound simple enough, but if you get to me, so I get to it as soon as I am able. into the nutritional nuts and bolts of it, it gets Some of the milestones along the way: pretty complicated, pretty fast. And of course it After a couple months, I’m much less out of requires motivation and discipline. breath and am able to walk down the hall at the Motivations for me are the fear of possibly hospital without stopping to rest, it’s about this returning to dialysis. This kidney cannot fail time that I am using a recumbent bike provided because of what I’ve put myself, my family and by my good friend Tim Drag. friends through. Enough said, I’m motivated, Around 3 months, I’ve increased from 10 hence must remain disciplined. Oh maybe not to 15 minutes three times a week to about 20 enough said, returning to dialysis scares the hell minutes every day out of me!! And in case you missed that, I don’t Around 4 months, half hour to 40 minutes ever want to be a dialysis patient again. everyday on the bike. So here’s why I tell you all this. I was on 3 Around 5 months using a treadmill too as the oral meds for the diabetes. I don’t need them knees allow. anymore, none of them! Still monitor my blood Around 6 months sugar via finger sticks to be sure. I was on 3 meds joined a gym and added for blood pressure, am now on only 2, one a light weight lifting. Met quarter dose of what I started with, the other a and made a couple good third of what I was on. ole man friends, Frank, BP readings checked everyday at home and Dave and Steve who like docs informed, I’m good. Kidney is good. Last me, are rehabbing from two A1c tests for blood sugar were normal, I’ve the various ills that come lost 102 pounds, can walk pretty much anywhere, upon you if you live long even run, tons more energy, I do things, go places enough, but I am the with my wife, kids and grand kids, catching up on youngest and I let them 5 years of neglect in the garden and the house, know it! bought lots of new clothes since everything I had Around 8 months was too big. adding in a couple days Oh yeah, I smile a whole lot more. My life is a week on the elliptical back. My frame of mind is good, my peace of

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 13 mind is good, it should be, I survived what could sometimes, I can look at “friends” philosophies, have been a death sentence and what was 5 ideas, which I don’t agree with, while still allowing years of basically marking time and feeling pain, me to maintain a safe distance. relying on a machine to live. It also reminds me of each person’s birthday Now I feel oh so grateful, I feel hopeful, I feel so I can wish them a happy one in an instant. energized, I feel alive again, I feel human. That’s As for me, I just LOVE to post. I am posting a pretty big deal for me, my family and friends. two, three, five times a day, whenever the spirit Barry Bush lives in NE Philadelphia with his wife Cynthia, moves me! I definitely have a sinfully, delightful son Luke and stepson Nick. He is retired due to prior health addiction. One of the first things that I do in the issues and is now spending his time in the garden growing morning is check Facebook for any news or cute various fruits, vegetables, herbs, cacti, succulents and sayings and to see what people are up to. If I like assorted other greenery. He has competed successfully a post, and it speaks to me, I can easily share it with his award winning plants for over 30 years, belongs to several horticultural organizations and has served as a on my “wall” or simply hit the “like” button to cacti and succulent judge at the Philadelphia Flower show show that I find it relatable. I learn of people’s and other East Coast cacti and succulent specialty shows triumphs and failures instantaneously. When Michael Jackson died and we were in another Confessions of a country, I learned of his demise through FB! I have close to 400 FB friends/acquaintances Facebook Addict whom I can reach out to at any given moment By Judy Kroll for advice and consolation and vice versa. Which brings me to my next favorite thing - My WALL. On my FB Wall, you will see pictures galore. Pictures of my family, pets, sunsets, places I’ve been, vacations I’ve taken or am currently on, concerts I’ve attended. Videos of my family and myself doing fun things! I share almost every detail of my life, both good and bad on my Wall. When my mother passed away, and also my husband’s mother, we were able to notify hundreds of people in one post of the details. There’s also a check-in feature that lets people know where you are and what you’re doing at any given moment. I wouldn’t dare go any place “Hi, my name is Judy and I’m a Facebook without checking myself and my friends in! At addict!” From the first time I created an account a concert, I’m checked in. Out to dinner, the and started posting on this new social network restaurant I’m eating in and who I am eating with site, roughly 10 years ago, I was hooked! Very is posted! Sitting on the beach on a beautiful much like the cell phone that came before summer’s day, I’m checked in and pictures are it, I don’t know how I ever survived without it! posted! Any thoughts, ideas, jokes, grievances, Despite all of this talk about how social media personal revelations I have, I can post about ruins communication and causes bullying, etc., I, whenever the spirit moves me. Hell you can for the most part, have a loving relationship with even post a live feed of what you are doing while FB and I will tell you why. you are doing it. Facebook has privacy settings Facebook helps me to easily stay in touch so that you can control who sees what you are with friends and people I might have lost contact posting. I have some followers who actually look with over the years. It lets me see pictures of forward to reading/seeing my posts! And as if them, their family, pets and keeps me up to date that wasn’t enough, FB shows you memories of on where they live, what kind of work they do, pictures and events of what you were doing on places that they are going to, or have gone! Also,

Page 14 - The Compass SPRING 2018 this day in prior years. It keeps a record of my choose how much to reveal and to whom and life! It’s an extension of me. how. And they can choose to read it, comment on One of my guiltiest pleasures is checking it, like it, or ignore it or defriend you. As for now, to see if my posts are “liked.” If people feel I enjoy sharing details of my life and thoughts favorably about what I post, they can hit a “like” with over three hundred of my closest FB friends button, and a thumbs up, heart, happy face instantaneously! And I hail Mark Zuckerberg (the emoji pops up to show their approval. I crave inventor of the FB social media site) the same these adulations like some people crave crack! way people hail Thomas Edison! Like I said, There have been actual studies done that I don’t know how I ever lived without it! As a show that getting a “like” on one of your FB matter of fact, I’m going to go check my Wall for posts is the chemical equivalent of getting a “likes” right now. Perhaps I will even post this dopamine rush to your brain, it is so exhilarating! article there! There are also FB groups for EVERYTHING. I Judy Kroll is a freelance writer, wife and mom of a 16- year am in a Bruce Springsteen one called SpringNuts. old son residing in Holland, Bucks County, PA. Feel free to In this group, I have connected with people and “like” her posts on FB! talk Bruce-related topics and with people who “get it.” We are all nuts for Springsteen and share updates about upcoming Bruce-related Seen Any Good Movies events. I’ve made a ton of friends through the Lately? site and some even think of it as their family. They Many of these films are available to rent at your even have a SpringNuts Serenade in Asbury Park local library. Or available for a fee on YouTube. every year to put faces with names! The big problem I have is not with FB, but By Alex Grinberg, Huntingdon Valley, PA with people being reluctant to use it! Some of BEN HUR (1959) – A “buddy” movie between my really close personal friends aren’t on it! So Ben Hur, a Jewish guy, who pursues faith, and all my pictures, thoughts, posts, check-ins, etc. Messala, a Roman commander, who believes in have to be told individually to ten different the power of Rome. Due to their differences in people! Ten people who refuse to embrace this ideologies, they develop tension and uneasiness modern, highly efficient way of communicating! between them. The tension intensifies when Sometimes I think that it takes too much time Messala (played by Stephen Boyd) wants Ben Hur and effort to even keep in touch with anyone (Charlton Heston) to deliver some rebels during who isn’t a member! Just check my wall for G-d’s a Roman parade. Ben Hur’s love interest is Israeli sake and stop making me repeat myself over and actress Haya Harareet, still alive today at 86. over again! Based on the 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale The other big problem, as with all great of the Christ by Lew Wallace. The first Ben Hur love affairs, is the “defriending” and “blocking” film was a silent movie made in 1925. The latest features that FB provides. This can happen when version was made in 2016. you have a falling out and no longer wish to Famous scenes include the chariot race and see details about another person’s life or they Ben Hur rowing the galley slaves. about yours. Or if you strongly disagree with the opinions they post. It’s basically the equivalent of SWEPT AWAY (2002). Madonna plays a beautiful, breaking up with someone, sometimes with no rich, spoiled, foul-mouthed, and arrogant brat explanation. It really stings! (oh no!). Nothing pleases her, not even her For the most part though, I thoroughly enjoy pharmaceutical kingpin husband. He takes her participating in FB. It makes me feel like I’m on a private tour cruise from Greece to Italy. The never alone. Critics would argue that a FB page plot includes a love triangle, the sweep of the doesn’t accurately represent who we really are. waves that causes havoc on the boat, and finally And shouldn’t some things and thoughts remain reaching home and the denial of the affair. Based private? Remember, it’s your/my WALL. You can on a previous film by Lina Wertmuller, 1974.

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 15 DRUG STORE COWBOY (1989). This classic Thomas can be heard squealing in pain. film stars Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, and Heather Finally, Thomas said, “Okay, I’m sorry. I’m Graham. Dillon is the leader of this drug gang, trying.” which robs hospitals and pharmacies of drugs, They did not release information about their their favorite being the opioid, Dilaudid. One crime because he was a white schizophrenic. If hilarious scene shows a priest, saying he suspects he would’ve been black, it would have generated his nurse of stealing his methadone. ratings, which is what their income and salaries THE VERDICT (1982). Has Paul Newman ever are dependent upon. given a bad performance? Nominated for best In Pennsylvania, specifically, the counties of actor, he plays a down-on-his-luck alcoholic Bucks, Montgomery, Dauphin, and Philadelphia, lawyer, who was framed for jury-tampering. He public information is essential in keeping track of discovers that a doctor hadn’t read his notes abuses in the police department. and a woman choked to death because of this. When Kelly Thomas’ father released videos Newman is on trial for malpractice but leading to of his son being beaten to death, there were no the tense verdict, he is acquitted, bringing down more secrets. The settlement – $1 million for the with him the Catholic church who lied rather than mother and $4.9 million for the father, precluded admit their mistake. the police officers fired, from being rehired with the police department. FULLERTON POLICE DEPARTMENT (From Reason-TV-On-Cops on YouTube) STOP USING DRUGS AT A Six police officers from Fullerton Police Dept. in 2011 roughed up Kelly Thomas, a homeless YOUNG AGE man with schizophrenia, living on the streets in By Harriet Rellis California. Finally, the six officers beat him to death. There is social distancing by society toward The Montgomery County Office of Drugs and the mentally ill, even by healthcare professionals. Alcohol has a great opportunity to share. They All police departments stigmatize the mentally ill are offering free prevention programming for as criminals, especially when they are not stable, your Montgomery County summer camp! which is when they are most vulnerable. More 1. We Know BETter - is a skill building importantly, when police officers have a window program that will help students from 4th of opportunity to vent their frustrations and after through 9th grade live lives free of alcohol, all, who is going to care because it was just some tobacco, other drugs and gambling. This “nut” or “insane person” or “looney bird” which program is 6-8 sessions, 45 minutes each. is how the mentally ill are perceived. Skills built are: The biggest disgrace was that Kelly Thomas’s • effective decision making own father was a cop, specifically a sheriff. The • developing resiliency cops involved knew that and could have offered • stepping up for others a courtesy, from one cop to another. Instead of roughing him up and beating him to death, they 2. Too Good for Drugs – is an interactive program could have taken him to an emergency crisis designed to teach students in K-8th grade center or call his father or other family members how to build resilency and how to be socially to defuse or de-escalate the situation. competent and autonomous problem solvers. Instead, they forgot what they learned at the This program is 8-10 sessions, 45 minutes each. police academy and let their emotions overtake Skills built are: them: rage, anger, hate, bitterness. And they • Personal and interpersonal skills to resist had a target. “I’ll show you who’s boss,” they peer pressure thought. Kelly Thomas had not cooperated with • Goal setting them and refused to put his hands behind his • Decision making back to be cuffed. • Bonding with others

Page 16 - The Compass SPRING 2018 If you are interested in learning more, feel Fortunately, as a soloist, I can control the free to email Katie Kucz: [email protected] rhythm and tempo, which means I just slow down or call 610-278-3538. at the harder parts. Can’t do that when you’re Harriet Rellis, a retired nurse, lives in Warminster, PA, where playing with others ...! she is actively involved in education. A nice little vignette about a piece of music can make the song come alive. While His Wife Runs For instance, Cole Porter, as the story goes, was yachting around the Caribbean when he Our Daytime Meeting, heard an interesting rhythm coming from a He’s a Pianist in distant island. He spent time listening to those lovely rhythms, and then wrote the legendary Nursing Homes “Begin the Beguine” which captures the flavor By Larry Kirschner of the islands. There is the occasional “down” moment in “Music is the language of the soul”….a an otherwise upbeat hour of piano playing. One frequent and popular saying in the world that time, a woman was sitting near the piano and was stretches from nursery rhymes to symphonies, singing along. Unfortunately, she was way off key with a lot in between. Indeed, music has the ability and way out of rhythm with the songs. Well…I’m to get the listener and hold on. No matter where just an amateur piano player and I couldn’t focus you are in life, music, if you allow it to become and couldn’t really play with her wiFinally, I just part of you, will carry through all the range of had to stop playing and asked the aides if they human emotions. Whether it’s singing, playing could move her further away so I could continue. an instrument, or just listening, there is a sense It was either she or me! As they started to move of joy that comes with the musical experience. her, she started crying, and became so upset that From an infant’s smile when hearing a lullaby, she had to leave. It was sad, and was one of those to a dying person hearing their favorite song for times in life when a painful action is necessary for the last time, the world of music is with us through the common good. (I think she came back the all periods of life. And once it’s ingrained in our following week and sat in the back.) heads, then songs, or at least the melodies, are Some of the many standards I play include with us throughout life. Autumn Leaves , Stardust, Tammy, Over the I know because I play the piano at nursing Rainbow, It’s a Wonderful World, Besame homes and other types of senior centers, and the Mucho, Impossible Dream, Up the Lazy River, recollection of the old songs is impressive. The Summertime, and As Time Goes By. These, and words are not easily remembered, but the many many other favorites, have easier arrangements smiles in the audience tell me they recognize than the original, and can thus be played by the melodies and sometimes will remember the pianists with various levels of expertise. name of the song. All in all, it’s a rewarding hour for both the I try to play songs from the 30’s to 60’s - piano player and the audience. the time period when today’s seniors would Larry and Helen Kirschner live in Gwynedd Valley, PA. A have had their ears glued to the radio and the videographer, he plans to garden when Mother Nature victrola listening to the sounds of Cole Porter, says she’s ready. Softball season starts in a few weeks. He’s George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, and the been singing in various choruses in the area – they always like. Occasionally I also sing and some others need tenors. Hear him play piano at the Ambler Senior Center, where he volunteers delivering weekly Meals on sing along… I make up a lot of the words as it’s Wheels. How’s their corned beef on rye? challenging to read the music and then also try to read the words! HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 17 Many Causes for depressive or manic episode at age 17. Many had other mental health conditions. Bipolar Disorder The seven phenoclasses, as the team has By the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research dubbed them, include standard measures Program of the University of Michigan doctors already use to diagnose and track the progress of bipolar disorder. In addition, they No single genetic change, chemical include: imbalance, or life event lies at the heart of every • Changes in cognition, which includes case of bipolar disorder, once known as manic thinking, reasoning, and emotion depression, researchers report. processing. “There are many routes to this disease and • Psychological dimensions such as many routes through it…” personality and temperament. Rather, each patient’s experience with bipolar • Measures of behaviors related to substance disorder – which nearly six million Americans have use or abuse—called motivated behaviors. – varies from that of others with the condition. All • Aspects of the person’s life involving family, of their experiences, however, include features intimate relationships and traumas. that fall into seven classes of phenotypes, or • Patterns of sleep and circadian rhythms. observable characteristics. • Measures of how patients’ symptoms The team, from the University of Michigan’s change over time and respond to treatment. Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program Some of the key findings the team made – named after a Detroit automotive pioneer include: who fought bipolar disorder even as he built a • Migraine headaches are 3½ times more successful business - collected and analyzed tens common among people with bipolar of thousands of data points over years about the disorder than those without. Eating genetics, emotions, life experiences, medical disorders, anxiety disorders, and alcohol histories, motivations, diets, temperaments, problems are also more common in those and sleep and thought patterns of over 1,100 with bipolar disorder, as is metabolic research volunteers. syndrome. More than 730 had bipolar disorder, and • More people with bipolar disorder have 277 didn’t. Three-quarters were active research a history of childhood trauma than those participants in the Longitudinal Study of Bipolar without the condition. It is associated with Disorder. changes in self-control and attention. “There are many routes to this disease and • People with bipolar disorder had higher many routes through it,” says Melvin McInnis, levels of saturated fats in their diets, and the lead author of the paper and head of the program research also found associations between based at the University of Michigan Depression levels of certain fat molecules in the blood Center. of patients and their mood or level of “We have found that there are many symptoms. biological mechanisms that drive the disease • Looking at the microbes living in the and many interactive external influences on it. All gastrointestinal tracts of patients and of these elements combine to affect the disease comparison volunteers, the researchers as patients experience it,” McInnis says. found lower levels of a key bacteria type Long-term funding from this program has and less diversity of microbes in patients made it possible to build a massive library of taking antipsychotic medications. data from the Prechter cohort of patients, which • Poor sleep appears to play a key role in is two-thirds female and 79 percent white with bipolar disorder, with links found to severity an average age at enrollment in the study of 38 of depression and mania in female, but years. On average, participants had their first not male, participants with the condition.

Page 18 - The Compass SPRING 2018 Other gender differences emerged in other and behavior like no other condition. What we aspects of the study. can learn in bipolar about all these factors will be • People with bipolar disorder who have directly applicable to monitoring other disorders a strong neurotic tendency in their and personalizing the approach to managing personalities are more likely to have severe them,” he adds. illness, especially among men. Researchers report their findings in a • A range of cognitive abilities — including new paper in the International Journal of memory, executive functioning, and Epidemiology. motor skills —were poorer in participants The Prechter Bipolar Research Program with bipolar disorder than those without, is still recruiting participants for its long-term in general. The study also found a link study and accepting donations from those who between the cognitive abilities of people want to help the research move forward. More who carried a particular genetic trait and information is available at PrechterProgram.org. were taking newer antipsychotic medicines. • Bright midday light eases bipolar depression. Cherian Verghese, Md, • Two genes, called CACNA1 and ANK3, Research Investigator, appear to play a role in susceptibility to developing bipolar disorder. But many Offers Hope For genetic variations have been found to Treatment-Resistant be associated with bipolar risk, and more recent findings have explored the role Depression of having a mix of these variations in the We called Dr. Verghese, who had spoken at our group chances a person will develop bipolar several years ago, to ask him about current meds in the disorder. pipeline. We were surprised to learn how behind the times • Stem cells grown from skin samples taken we were. from participants, and then coaxed to grow into nerve cells called neurons, have Major depression doesn’t always respond to proved useful in studying cellular aspects medication. of bipolar disorder. For instance, neurons The STAR-D study showed that around derived from bipolar patients’ cells were 2/3rds (66%) of persons treated with current more excitable than comparisons —but antidepressant medications do not achieve calmed down when exposed to lithium. remission of their depressive symptoms. Also, the cells show differences in how they Though their depressive symptoms decrease interact and function. in intensity, the fact that they do not go away • Key features of speech patterns predict completely (remission), means that such persons mood states and may be useful outcome are struggling with ongoing, active symptoms of measures to predict the need for depression. As we know, this greatly impacts the intervention to prevent episodes of mania lives of people with depression as well as their or depression. families, and society as a whole. Although bipolar disorder tends to run in The World Health Organization (WHO) states families, the long-term study revealed no one that Depression is the leading cause of disability gene explains it, says McInnis. worldwide. “If there was a gene with a strong effect like The field of research in psychiatry has what we see in breast cancer, for instance, we been working to address this problem, and would have found it,” he explains. there are many exciting new medications in “Bipolar disorder has a lot to teach development, which could provide more rapid humankind about other illnesses because it and comprehensive resolution of depressive covers the breadths of human mood, emotion, symptoms. Below is a recently published article

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 19 from Johns Hopkins University on this subject. appears to alleviate depression. In clinical studies These medications are still in clinical trials and it improved mood within minutes to hours. The are not yet approved for regular clinical use. improved mood lasted over a week. The drug, Resolution of symptoms with medication however, is easily abused due to its dissociative, makes it easier for people to fine tune adjustments sedative and addictive side effects. in their lives through psychotherapy. A structurally related form is currently being We at Keystone Clinical Studies are proud tested with positive results. to be working on clinical trials with Rapastinel, If interested in participating in a clinical trial, a novel intravenous medication for persons with contact Dr. Verghese at inadequately controlled symptoms on current Cherian Verghese, MD antidepressants. Major depressive disorder Medical Director & Principal Investigator (MDD) afflicts more than 250 million people Keystone Clinical Studies, LLC worldwide and is the most common source of Norristown, PA disability for Amiercans. 610-277-8073, ext 203 In addition to counseling there is a veritable email: [email protected] alphabet soup of medications, from amitriptyline www.keystoneclinicalstudies.com to venlafaxine, currently prescribe to treat MDD. Each class of antidepressant acts on an individual or combination of receptors NEWS ROUNDUP and enzymes in order to adjust the levels of Young British Royals Lead Charity neurotransmitters. However, for various reasons, to Support Mental Health the currently available antidepressant drugs are Prince William, his wife, the Duchess of not effective for up to 70 percent of patients. Cambridge, and Prince Harry are leading a In fact, MDD refractory (resistant) to current campaign called “Heads Together” to help end medical therapies is one of the primary reasons stigma around mental illness. Prince Harry, 32, depression is a leading public health issue in recently revealed that he had suffered for years America, which leads to a continued interest in after the 1997 death of his mother, Princess novel pharmaceuticals aimed at better treating Diana, when he was 12 years old. He feels that this disorder. not dealing with the trauma had a serious effect A compound called “rapastinal” is currently on his personal and work life, until he finally got being tested. It acts via a novel mechanism professional help at the urging of his brother, involving the NMDA receptor, better known Prince William. Harry was the first guest on the for its role in memory development and neural podcast “Mad World” in which British journalist, synaptic plasticity, but it has also been shown to Bryony Gordon, who has written about her be a promising target for treating MDD. own struggles with depression and obsessive So far, it’s shown fast and promising results compulsive disorder, interviews people about in a group of patients who had not benefited their mental health. from traditional antidepressants. In a phase II clinical trial, just one dose of rapastinel induced (New York Times, April 18, 2017) reductions in patients’ standardized scores of depression within 24 hours, with the results Promising Device to Counter Panic Attacks lasting up to a week. “Freespira”, a device that combats panic Compared to traditional antidepressants, attacks by teaching patients to breathe differently, which generally take effect over the course of did very well in a study funded by the western four to six weeks, rapastinel was able to achieve Pennsylvania insurer, Highmark. The biofeedback a nearly twofold improvement in patients’ device is based in the theory that most people reported mood within one day, without adverse with panic disorder hyperventilate, which can side effects. trigger physical symptoms that spiral into panic Ketamine is another surprising agent that attacks. After a month of treatment, which also

Page 20 - The Compass SPRING 2018 involved a few therapy sessions, 80 percent of Olympian of all time. He’s won 28 medals in the 50 patients were panic-attack free 12 months swimming, 23 of them gold. But he’s just as later and 93 percent had fewer symptoms. Their human as the rest of us, and he’s experienced total medical costs, including medication bills serious bouts of depression in his life and recently and visits to emergency rooms, were down by revealed to CNN he has contemplated suicide. half. (Though cognitive behavior therapy may In February, 2018, Phelps spoke to CNN’s have success rates similar to Freespira, it is more David Axelrod at the Kennedy Forum, a costly, requiring more therapy sessions, and few behavioral health advocacy group, and opened therapists are trained to offer it effectively.) As up about his experience with depression, anxiety, a result of the positive findings, Highmark plans and suicidal thoughts. to cover the treatment for subscribers in the To be such a successful athlete and make the Allegheny Health Network next year and, in the most of his talent and potential, Phelps had to be future, may cover subscribers elsewhere in the dedicated, intense, and unforgiving of himself. state. Every Olympic Game involved a ramp-up that (Philadelphia Inquirer, November 29, 2017) lasted years, all culminating in a two-week sprint in which any mistake or hesitation could cost a Eagles’ Brandon Brooks medal. When the Olympics were over, Phelps Triumphs Despite Anxiety said he began to feel a big let-down, and it Offensive lineman Brandon Brooks is a started to get more habitual. contributing member of the 2018 Super Bowl “Really, after every Olympics I think I fell into Champion Philadelphia Eagles. Yet little more a major state of depression,” said Phelps. He than a year ago, he missed two games in three noticed a pattern of emotion “that just wasn’t weeks and was hospitalized for a seeming right” at “a certain time during every year,” stomach illness. In years past in Texas, he had around the beginning of October or November, had similar episodes. However, last year he he said. “I would say ’04 was probably the first learned that his symptoms were due to an depression spell I went through.” anxiety disorder. He began taking medication Phelps made headlines after the 2004 and and working with a therapist, which he 2008 Olympics for his non-athletic actions. In continues to do on a weekly basis. He sees the 2004 he was charged with a DUI. In early 2009 professional help as similar to rehab work that a photo of Phelps smoking from a bong went a player would do with a trainer after an injury. public. Those two incidents were warning signs He expects he’ll “always be anxious”; however, for what was to come. After the 2012 Olympics, he has gained a “new perspective” and a new Phelps experienced his worst bout of depression. “mindset” through therapy and has found more The “hardest fall” was after the 2012 joy in football. By “going public” with his anxiety Olympics, said Phelps. “I didn’t want to be in disorder in December, 2016, he hoped to help the sport anymore … I didn’t want to be alive others dealing with anxiety and other mental anymore.” health challenges and to help reduce stigma. He What that “all-time low” looked like was did not miss a single game in the 2017 season, Phelps sitting alone for “three to five days” in his was named to the Pro Bowl team, played with bedroom, not eating, barely sleeping and “just the Eagles in the Super Bowl, and stood proudly not wanting to be alive,” he said. with them in the victory parade. After he was arrested for a second DUI in 2014, Phelps went into rehab at an in-patient (Philadelphia Inquirer, December 29, 2017) treatment center. The goal wasn’t just to get help with his alcohol issues, but with the depression Another Sports Figure, Swimmer Michael and mental issues that had been plaguing him. Phelps, Discusses Bouts of Depression and “I was very good at compartmentalizing Suicidal Thoughts things and stuffing things away that I didn’t want Michael Phelps is the most decorated to talk about...” said Phelps.

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 21 Once Phelps opened up and began to “almost constantly”, especially on smartphones. actually talk about his feelings instead of locking So, using apps for mental-health care in teens them away, things changed. He wondered why makes sense. Katherine Dahlsgaard, lead he didn’t seek help sooner, but he wasn’t ready psychologist at the Anxiety Behaviors clinic at for it. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, agrees that After rehab, Phelps turned everything apps can be an effective tool for treating anxiety around. He went into the 2016 Rio Olympics and depression. She cautions that these tools with a different outlook and a renewed passion should be used as an enhancement to therapy for swimming, something that had been missing with a professional, and not relied upon as a sole from at least one his past Olympic appearances. treatment. She recommends that parents use the He reunited with his girlfriend Nicole, and the Anxiety and Depression Association of America’s couple got married and had a son in 2016. website to find apps that are backed up by some He hopes that publicly talking about his battle research. Some apps allow users to track their with depression and suicide will help others. moods between therapy appointments; others offer feedback and help with monitoring goals Living Well Despite Anxiety a teen has established with a therapist. Some John Green is a 40 year old married father currently popular mass market apps, such as of two and an extremely successful author. His Calm, are based on mindfulness techniques. books have more than 50 million copies in print, (Philadelphia Inquirer, July 9, 2017) including the young adult best-seller, “The Fault in Our Stars,” which was adapted into a film. He The Mind Body Connection and his brother have also built an online video Jane Brody, long-time Personal Health business with 16 educational shows that have columnist for the New York Times, reminded drawn more than two billion views on YouTube. us in a June 27, 2017 article that human beings Yet Green has struggled with severe anxiety are NOT divided into two different organisms: and obsessive compulsive disorder for as long a physical one and an emotional one. Rather, as he can remember. Though he mostly keeps it mind and body are a single construct with two in check with medication and cognitive behavior way communication. Symptoms of anxiety or therapy, he continues to experience periodic depression may be indications of an as-yet episodes. When he recovered from a particularly undiagnosed physical disorder; while physical difficult few months a couple of years ago, he symptoms may stem from a psychological started writing a new novel, narrated by a 16 problem. Because of a long-ago separation year old girl, that provides a window into what of powers within the medical profession, with it’s like to live with the anguish of severe anxiety. psychiatrists focused on the “mental” and other With the release of the book, “Turtles All the doctors on the “physical,” physicians may miss Way Down,” Green is speaking out about his the proper diagnosis. own deeply personal and painful mental health A recent article in Psychiatric Times was issues. He wants to talk without embarrassment meant to alert mental health practitioners to the or shame, feeling that “it’s important for people possibility that some patients seeking treatment to hear from adults who have good fulfilling lives for depression or anxiety may have underlying and manage chronic mental illness as part of medical conditions that must be addressed. There those good fulfilling lives.” was “partial list” of 47 medical illnesses (ranging (New York Times, October 11, 2017) from cardiac arrhythmias to pancreatic cancer) that may first present as anxiety, and another Apps for Anxiety “partial list” of 30 categories of medications that The National Institute of Mental Health may cause anxiety (including antidepressants reports that more than 25 percent of 13-18 year like SSRI’s). olds suffer from an anxiety disorder. At the same One study found that about a quarter of time, a quarter of adolescents say they are on-line patients at an ER because of chest pains were

Page 22 - The Compass SPRING 2018 suffering from panic disorder, not a heart ailment. causing toxicity in her liver. It had been a year Persistent anxiety can cause symptoms like since she had taken Depakote, so she warily dizziness, nausea, diarrhea and frequent urination, agreed, at the urging of her psychiatrist, to try as well as muscle pain, fatigue, headaches and it again. shortness of breath. Anxiety disorders in children This time was different: the side effects were may be expressed as stomachaches or sleep mild and she did well. Then, when she refilled disorders. On the other hand, the Mayo Clinic her prescription, she noticed the pills looked lists several factors suggesting an underlying different. The pharmacist told her that the new medical disorder causing symptoms of anxiety: pills were Depakote D.R.(delayed release), while • None of your relatives has an anxiety the others were Depakote E.R.(extended release); disorder but, he assured her they were interchangeable. • You didn’t have an anxiety disorder as a Within a day of starting the D.R., all the child distressing side effects returned. Though • You developed anxiety seemingly out of the pharmacist had told her that there was no the blue difference – he said both had the same chemical • You don’t avoid certain things or situations makeup – it was clear that for her body, they were because of anxiety not the same. E.R. was better for her; D.R. may Depression, too, can be an early sign of an be better for someone else. Luckily for Jaime, unrecognized underlying medical condition, she noticed the differences in her pills and found such as thyroid disease, heart attack, cancer of the right medication. the lung and pancreas and the adrenal disorder Dr. Richard Brown, an early advocate Cushing’s disease. A neurological disorder like of Depakote, feels psychiatrists, general multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease may first practitioners and pharmacists should be better show up as a psychiatric problem years before educated about the nuances of psychotropic the neurological symptoms become apparent. medications and more aware of individual Due to symptoms of major depression, three responses in their patients. fourths of 30 patients with MS in one study (New York Times, October 1, 2017) experienced a delay in diagnosis. Because making the proper diagnosis can Anxiety in American Adolescents be difficult, Brody recommends that it may be High school administrators across the country up to patients themselves, or their advocates, report more anxious students than ever before. to suggest to their psychiatrist or therapist that While it’s difficult to know if the apparent spike something other than an emotional problem in anxiety is related to increased awareness and may be responsible for psychiatric conditions diagnosis, many feel the increase is real. Anxiety that don’t respond to standard treatments. is the most common mental health disorder (New York Times, June 11, 2017) in the US, affecting nearly one-third of both adolescents and adults. The Wrong Medicine In the last decade, anxiety has overtaken After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder depression as the most common reason college at the age of 16, Jaime Lowe did well on lithium students seek counseling. Hospital admissions for 20 years, until her blood pressure became for suicidal teenagers have doubled in the dangerously high and her kidneys started past ten years. In economically disadvantaged “breaking down.” Depakote, “known to be as communities besieged with poverty or violence, effective as lithium” was prescribed. However, anxiety may be a rational reaction to dangerous by the end of six weeks, she could no longer circumstances. tolerate the extremely distressing physical and Yet privileged teen-agers in affluent emotional side-effects. She then tried Tegretol; communities are among the most emotionally but, after two weeks blood work showed it was distressed. Still, there is considerable overlap

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 23 among teen-agers from different backgrounds, proven effective, mental health professionals with anxiety about school, how friends or worry that people may misuse the apps and they teachers perceive them and about family may fail to detect suicidal ideation. conflicts. Recently, more kids than ever worry Nevertheless, apps are being developed that about terrorism. Research points to hereditary are promising. MY3, a suicide prevention app, genes that predispose children to an anxiety can be useful in reminding children and teens of disorder and overbearing or anxious parenting their “safety plan” in a crisis, especially because which can induce anxiety in kids. it is on their phone, which is always close at Data suggests that the role of smartphones hand. The app Bark is a service which monitors and social media are playing a significant role in children’s social media activity to detect warning the increase in depression and anxiety among signs of cyberbullying, sexting, drug use, and teens. Jean Twenge, professor of psychology depression and then alerts parents. at San Diego State University and the author of Two clinician-researchers at Boston Children’s “iGen”, was at first skeptical of the connection. Hospital are launching a research study of an However, her research confirmed the negative app they’ve developed for teens and parents effects of kids’ obsessive focus on social media. called Crisis Care. The app has a parent mode to Anxious teens themselves agree that “…it’s help adults assist suicidal teens and a teen mode become this thing that we can’t live without but which offers coping strategies based in cognitive that’s making us crazy.” behavioral techniques. Both modes connect Some efforts to protect kids by avoiding what users to emergency resources. The researchers makes them anxious may very well make anxiety caution that the app is not a replacement for in- worse. Schools increasingly are using “504 plans,” person therapy but an added layer of support. which allow for academic accommodations for (Philadelphia Inquirer, July 9, 2017) students with physical or mental disabilities. Though these plans are often necessary and Alcohol and Antidepressants useful, some worry that too many are “avoidance Drug companies, to be cautious, warn those based” and therefore don’t allow the students to taking antidepressants to “avoid alcohol.” develop the skills to handle stress. Though alcohol is itself a depressant, and may Rather than avoid, exposure therapy, a worsen depression, few studies have explored component of cognitive behavior therapy, helps the effects of mixing it with antidepressants. patients to gradually approach and deal with Dr. Richard A. Friedman, director of the anxiety producing situations. Though it has been psychopharmacology clinic at Weill Cornell proved highly effective, few teenagers receive Medicine in NY, notes, “There simply aren’t any it. It’s difficult work for both the patient and good studies of whether there’s a safe amount to therapist, and kids are more likely to be given drink while taking antidepressants, which is why medication than the therapy. Some researchers you have such variable opinions from doctors…” are trying to learn how exposure therapy works One thing we do know is that the risk of alcohol in the brain and others are focused on using abuse and dependence for those with depression virtual-reality-aided exposure therapy. is double the risk of those without depression. (New York Times Magazine, October 15, 2017) For those with bipolar disorder, the risk of an alcohol use disorder is six to seven times higher. Apps to Fight Teen Suicide Dr. Friedman cautioned that some medications As youth suicide rates are soaring – the CDC may be more dangerous than others when reports suicide was the third leading cause of combined with alcohol: Wellbutrin combined death among children 10-14 in 2015 – apps with alcohol can increase the likelihood of a aimed at preventing self-harm among children seizure; the older type of antidepressants known have been hitting the market. Because many as MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) can of these apps have not been developed by be particularly dangerous with alcohol, causing clinicians and/or have not been scientifically blood pressure to skyrocket.

Page 24 - The Compass SPRING 2018 We become more sensitive to the depressant was started by the nonprofit “Help Musicians effects of alcohol as we age, when body U.K.” in order to provide a caring ear to the large chemistry changes and we’re more likely to be proportion of people in the music industry with taking various medications that can interact with mental health problems. alcohol and with one another. More Americans Callers can receive advice and connect with than ever are taking antidepressants – including therapists through the service. Mental health more than one in six people over the age of 60. has been a high profile issue in the industry, with So, what to do? Dr. Friedman suggested notable suicides of Chris Cornell of Soundgarden patients perform an experiment: Try having and Chester Bennington of Linkin Park. The one drink a couple of times a week or less. If no impetus to act and develop the program came problems arise (such as the return of anxiety or after the nonprofit commissioned a study of depression or sleep problems), you can maintain mental health issues in the industry. that level of very moderate drinking. He cautions Results were startling. Of the 2,200 people that side effects might become apparent right surveyed, from aspiring violinists to folk singers, away or could take days or weeks to develop. 71 percent had experienced anxiety or panic, “The bottom line is that anyone taking an and 68.5 percent depression. That compared antidepressant should first speak with a doctor with a nationwide average of 17 percent of those before drinking any alcohol.” 16 and over with anxiety or depression in Britain. (New York Times, December 20, 2016) Other studies have shown similar high numbers, with musicians in Norway three times more likely England Develops a National System of to be in therapy than the general work force. Primary Care for Mental Health The large number of daily calls to the help In 2008, England began “the world’s most line show it is needed, with calls from electronic ambitious effort to treat depression, anxiety musicians, composers and people in music and other common mental illnesses” with the theater dominating so far. Though the helpline establishment of clinics throughout the country is not the total solution, it is a start which should offering talk therapy free of charge. The goal is a be expanded by the rest of the global music system of primary care for mental health for all of industry. Great Britain. Data being collected through the (New York Times, January 27, 2018) program will be valuable in determining which reforms work most effectively. Coffee or Tea? The program has been so successful thus far There are few hours in life more agreeable that it has continued to expand through three Than that hour dedicated to the ceremony governments, both liberal and conservative. Known as afternoon tea. Mental health professionals say that by …Henry James, author reaching so many people, the “Healthy Minds” An article from the 2012 Time magazine program has done a lot to lessen stigma around “Food and Drink” section is making the rounds psychotherapy. The downside is that demand of the Internet. has outstripped access to therapy such that Here are excerpts: there are waiting lists to see a professional. Some Tea is officially awesome for your health. But have created phone therapy and online therapy before loading up, make sure you are drinking software to help meet the need. the “real thing.” (New York Times, July 25, 2017) Real tea is derived from a particular plant (Camellia sinensis) and includes only four A Helpline for UK Musicians varieties: green, black, white, and oolong. In December, 2017, one of the world’s first Anything else (like herbal “tea”) is an infusion of mental health help lines for musicians began a different plant and isn’t technically tea. operating in Great Britain. “Music Minds Matter” Health benefits are plentiful. Researchers attribute tea’s health properties to polyphenols

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 25 (a type of antioxidant) and phytochemicals. opinion writer for the New York Times, wrote a Tea can boost exercise endurance. Scientists fascinating and eye-opening column about how have found that the catechins (antioxidants) in adjusting a patient’s circadian rhythms can be green tea extract increase the body’s ability to a very effective treatment for depression. The burn fat as fuel, which accounts for improved notion that we can manipulate sleep to treat muscle endurance. mental illness has been around for years. It’s Drinking tea could help reduce the risk of been known that sleep deprivation can produce heart attack. Tea might also help protect against a quick and significant improvement in mood cardiovascular and degenerative diseases. of depressed patients; yet it’s not a practical or Antioxidants might help protect against long-term solution. numerous forms of cancers, including breast, However, researchers have developed a colon, colorectal, skin, lung, esophagus, stomach, limited form of sleep deprivation called “wake small intestine, pancreas, liver, ovarian, prostate, therapy” which has shown to have sustained and oral cancers. antidepressant benefits in patients with bipolar Tea is hydrating to the body, despite the disorder and major depression. By manipulating caffeine. Drinking tea may lower the risk of when the patient sleeps, they shift their internal Parkinson’s disease in both men and women. clock to an earlier time, which seems to work by Tea might provide protection from ultraviolet realigning the sleep cycle with other rhythms, rays. We know it’s important to limit exposure like changes in body temperature and hormones to UV rays. Green tea may act as a back-up that are also out of sync with each other in sunscreen. depression. Green tea has been found to improve bone By adding two additional interventions to mineral density and strength. wake therapy – early morning light therapy Tea might be an effective agent in the and sleep phase advance , it becomes even prevention and treatment of neurological more effective. This treatment, called “triple diseases, especially degenerative diseases such chronotherapy”, involves one night of complete as Alzheimer’s. While many factors influence sleep deprivation followed by three nights of brain health, polyphenols in green tea may help phase-advanced sleep and early morning light. A maintain the parts of the brain that regulate number of studies of this treatment have yielded learning and memory. very positive and long-lasting results. All tea drinks are not created equal. The In one study combining chronotherapy with body’s access to the good components in tea medication, depressed patients got better within might be determined by the tea variety, canning 48 hours – much faster than the 4- 6 weeks with and processing, and the way it was brewed. antidepressants alone. Friedman notes that with As always, drink in moderation, whether hot the exception of ketamine, this therapy is the or cold. “most rapid antidepressant treatment that we have. About 60 percent of depressed patients WHY WE SLEEP, Unlocking the Power of Sleep feel markedly better within hours.” There are and Dreams by Matthew Walker, PhD. Offers a no side effects other than some fatigue. So, look at sleep and dreaming that incorporates the why don’t more depressed patients receive this important discoveries of the last two decades therapy? regarding their purpose, addressing their First, because you can’t patent sleep importance in such functions as learning, logical deprivation or light, there is little financial thinking, emotional regulation, and metabolism. incentive to invest in this treatment or research. Read more at Simon and Schuster. Secondly, most doctors don’t know much about chronobiology and there are only a handful of The Sleeping Cure doctors and medical centers where the treatment Richard A. Friedman, professor of psychiatry at is offered. Dr. Friedman himself uses light and Weill Cornell Medical College and a contributing melatonin to help his patients with jet lag and

Page 26 - The Compass SPRING 2018 insomnia and plans to try triple chronotherapy LIVE AND LEARN Launches New Peer Respite for his depressed patients who don’t get better Program Directory with antidepressants. Live & Learn Inc. has just launched its newly (New York times, March 12, 2017) updated PeerRespite.net Program Directory. The Directory contains a listing of individual peer THE FOLLOWING ITEMS ARE FROM THE KEY respites organized by state, with a “profile” of UPDATE, Feb. 2018 of The National Mental each peer respite. The profiles include a picture, Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse map, information about staff training, guest eligibility, and links. Peer respites — operated Peers Can Help Others with Mental Health and staffed by people with psychiatric histories Conditions Manage Their Physical Health, and/or who have experienced trauma and/ Research Shows. or extreme states — are voluntary, short-term A randomized study of 400 individuals with residential programs that provide community- serious mental health conditions and at least one based, non-clinical crisis support. They operate long-term general medical condition has found 24 hours a day in a homelike environment. For that those involved in the Health And Recovery the Directory, click http://www.peerrespite.net/ Peer (HARP) program, a self-management directory/ program for general medical conditions led by certified peer specialists, achieved better results HOW “WIOA” Supports Employment than those in the “business as usual” group. and Training Programs, and How Social According to the study, published online by Enterprises Can Benefit. Psychiatric Services on February 1, 2018, the “The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity HARP program was associated with improved Act (WIOA) is the largest source of federal physical and mental health-related quality of funding for workforce development activities life. This suggests the potential benefits of in the United States,” writes REDFworkshop. more widely disseminating peer-led disease Their learning guide includes information about self-management for people with mental health WIOA’s predecessor, WIA (Workforce Investment conditions. Act of 1998), about WIOA and the changes it implemented, how funding flows from the NEW, FREE ONLINE PLATFORM Helps federal to local level, and how social enterprises Mental Health Advocates Connect with Each can benefit from WIOA funding. To learn more Other. and to download the free guide, click https:// “ICI Connect is a simple, free online platform redfworkshop.org/learn/wioa. that is designed to help people who are asking questions or thinking critically about the mental “VIDEO GAME” Helps People with Auditory health system find and connect with each other Hallucinations Control Their Voices in person,” according to the ICI Connect web A small study by British researchers has found page. “After creating basic profiles, members that people who hear voices can learn to control can search by location and/or interest for other the voices by practicing with a “video game.” members who live nearby in order to connect, The researchers asked the dozen participants to share information, spark new friendships or use an MRI scanner to monitor and control the collaborations, provide mutual support or activity in the part of the brain that is responsible advocacy, organize public learning events or for auditory hallucinations, while devising groups, set up crisis networks, or begin to techniques to move a cartoon rocket, floating in build grassroots community alternatives to the the sky, and back down to earth. mental health system.” For more info, click on “If they were reducing brain activity in this TheInnerCompass.org. brain region, then the rocket would move down with it,” said one researcher. Almost every one of the participants was able to devise techniques

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 27 to control the rocket—and were subsequently ANTIDEPRESSANT USE RISING, especially in able to use the same techniques to control their women voices. Megan Brooks for Medscape.com Although the research is still in its early stages, “…the potential of a non-medical intervention August 15, 2017 to manage verbal hallucinations will offer hope to many,” said a spokesperson. For info about Antidepressant use in the United States has Avatar Therapy, click http://www.avatartherapy. soared nearly 65% over the past 15 years, from co.uk/ about 8% in 1999-2002 to 13% in 2011-2014, according to new data from the National Center “DECISIONS IN RECOVERY” Website and for Health Statistics (NCHS), part of the Centers Handbook Aim to Help People with Opioid for Disease Control and Prevention. Use Issues. For the period 2011-2014, women were “Are you finding it difficult to stop using?” a about twice as likely as men to report past-month SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health antidepressant medication use (16.5% vs 8.6%), Services Administration) - website asks. “If you’ve writes Laura A. Pratt, PhD, of the NCHS Office of thought about cutting down or stopping, this site Analysis and Epidemiology, and colleagues in a can help. If you are using narcotics, prescription data brief published online August 15, 2017. pain medications, heroin, or any other opioid Overall, antidepressant use increased with drug, this site has information about some of age, from 3.4% among people aged 12 to 19 your treatment options and ways to locate a years to 19.1% among those aged 60 years and provider who can help. older. Increased use with age occurred in both You can also watch videos of people in men and women. recovery. Non-Hispanic whites were five times more SAMHSA also offers a free, 68-page handbook likely than non-Hispanic Asians to have taken called “Decisions in Recovery.” antidepressant medication in the past month For the websites enter SAMHSA in your (16.5% vs 3.3%) and were three times more likely search engine. than Hispanic (5.0%) and non-Hispanic black (5.6%) individuals. IN OUR OWN VOICE - African-American Females in every race and Hispanic-origin Stories of Oppression, Survival and Recovery group were far more likely than males of the in Mental Health Systems same race and Hispanic-origin group to report “These stories of Oppression, Survival antidepressant medication use. and Recovery In Mental Health Systems is a For the period 2011-2014, 68.0% of revolutionary act of self-love and a demand antidepressant users had been taking the for visibility for African-American psychiatric medication for 2 years or longer; 21.4% of survivors,” writes author, Vanessa Jackson. males and 27.2% of females reported taking “As we listen to the voices of the men antidepressant medication for 10 years or longer. and women who shared their stories we will There were no statistically significant differences hear the profound pain caused by mentalism between males and females in the length of and discrimination in our most important antidepressant use. relationships, including our relationships with The findings are based on an analysis of mental health providers. data from 14,034 individuals aged 12 years and “This guide and the sharing and older who participated in the National Health connections… will provide us with an opportunity and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2014. to own our wounding and recovery and offer our Of these, 13,951 persons gave information on experiences as lessons to our community on medication usage. survival and triumph.” To download the free 37- Why the steep rise in antidepressant use? page publication, click on In Our Own Voice. Two psychiatrists offered up possible theories.

Page 28 - The Compass SPRING 2018 “Keeping in mind that antidepressants are depression may need to stay on the drug for used for a multitude of reasons -- not simply years, in many cases long-term therapy may depression -- we should expect to see increased not be warranted. “I always re-evaluate whether use of these medications as the FDA approves these medications should be continued on at more indications for their use,” said Dr. Ami least a yearly basis,” Mandel said. Baxi, director of inpatient psychiatry at Lenox Hill The study was published Aug. 15 as an NCHS Hospital in New York City. Data Brief. But Baxi also credited the rise in use of the drugs as “a sign of decreasing mental health Novel Approach for Philadelphia’s Homeless stigma,” where more people feel comfortable Project HOME, a leader in funding programs asking for help against depression and anxiety. for the Philadelphia homeless, opened a new Another expert believes Americans could facility at Suburban Station, one of many SEPTA simply be living more stress-filled lives. train stations downtown. “People have become increasing stressed The 11,000-square-foot facility in the Center and depressed in our society,” said Dr. Seth City sub-concourse, provides a gateway to vital Mandel, who directs psychiatry at Northwell services and care for Philadelphia’s homeless. Health’s Huntington Hospital in Huntington, N.Y. The Hub of Hope is a first-of-its-kind engagement “Social media continues to paradoxically center for homeless created via a partnership cause people to be more isolated and out of with a social services agency, transportation touch with their feelings,” he said. authority, and municipality. “In addition, direct-to-consumer advertising, “SEPTA is not only in the transportation coupled with an evolving societal mindset to just industry, we are also in the community service take a pill to make things better, both contributed business and we are proud of our role as a partner to the growth in antidepressant use over this in working to find solutions to the Philadelphia time period,” Mandel said. region’s needs,” said the SEPTA chairman. According to Mandel, “there are two factors “Beyond the human toll of homelessness at play here, one being that whites tend to have and poverty, homelessness presents unique greater access to psychiatric services than do challenges for SEPTA and our customers, minority groups. The other is cultural -- it is often especially in Center City. That is why SEPTA and considered more OK culturally for whites to take our Board are proud to support the Hub of Hope antidepressants than for blacks or Hispanics, to help those struggling with homelessness.” especially for men.” Philadelphia Mayor James Kenney added, The fact that women are twice as likely as men “We know that City government can’t solve to take an antidepressant may also have cultural homelessness alone. This kind of partnership roots, Mandel said. shows what we can do when we all work “Despite our society being progressive, there together.” are still ongoing gender stigma related to seeking Since 2012, the Hub of Hope—operating in treatment for depression. It is more ‘OK’ for a a 850 square-foot storefront in Suburban Station woman to be depressed and seek out treatment from January-April— has placed thousands of for this, whereas men are supposed to be tough, those experiencing chronic homelessness into suck it up and move on,” Mandel noted. shelter, treatment and other housing options. In “One other possible confounder is that 2017, 1,462 individuals visited the Hub of Hope males, in my experience, are more upset more than 11,000 times. The new permanent by the sexual side effects associated with facility will be open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m.- antidepressants -- such as erectile dysfunction 7 p.m. and on weekends, year-round, not just and delayed ejaculation -- and could make them during winter’s cold months. more reluctant to take these medications,” he For more information, view ProjectHome.org. explained. And while some people with chronic

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 29 Pursue the Wonderful SCOTT SHERMAN of Willow Grove, PA. “We just learned today at SEPTA one of our instructors We asked some of our friends to tell us a few died. He had a massive heart attack in his sleep. wonderful things that are going on with them. I am looking forward to retiring in good health, hopefully, in three more years.” BEATRIZ MOISET, retired biologist from Argentina, living in Willow Grove, PA, replied: BILL HESS, photographer and blogger in “I am giving a professional presentation here at Wasilla, Alaska. “I’m looking forward to my three home though I am 83 and have cancer. Since the grandsons and their parents coming up from world is so technically advanced, we’ll be using Arizona for the kids’ spring break from school, Skype. This is a different world than when I grew March 10.” up, but it’s the way things are now accomplished. I will be teaching what it is like to be a scientist ELISSA KAPLAN of Philadelphia. “I’m looking and to do research. I’ll discuss “pollinators” forward to having a vibrant psychotherapy and (Beatriz has written books about this and is cited coaching practice.” in books). We’ll have a question and answer period and the kids can ask me anything they LILLIAN HIGGINS RUDOLPH of Horsham, PA. wish. “I look forward to my daughter and the kids moving out of my house soon so that I can live Since Beatriz is retired, this will give her an and work gracefully, with no noise, no mess, and opportunity to use her great knowledge of the having company for my delicious food creations natural world. whenever I please.”

HELENE RYESKY, retired photographer and RUTH Z. DEMING of Willow Grove, PA. “I’m art columnist, now residing in the retirement going to participate in my first “5K Trail Run/Walk” home Rydal Park in Rydal, PA. “I’ll tell you what – 3 miles – at Pennypack Trust in Huntingdon I’m looking forward to. My grandson Hayim just Valley, PA on Saturday, April 21.” got married in Israel to a young woman named Elishada. I’m waiting for a photograph of them And YOU, Dear Reader? What are you looking to arrive. Now we’ll have more Ryeskys on this forward to. We always need a reason to get out planet.” of bed.

KEN IVINS of Willow Grove, PA. “I’m looking forward to retiring and lying on a beach in Saint Martin’s.” Ken is part of our Beehive Writer’s Group.

Page 30 - The Compass SPRING 2018 Kaleidoscope The literary section of The Compass.

LINDA BARRETT Twisting it one way, I pick up the Middle West The Tides of Time Twisting it another way, I can hear country and western Clocks and watches measure you From even Australia Digital and with many hands I don’t need a passport They count off your steady numbers, too Just a tuner From cell phones and wrist bands And the bandwidth Each second becomes an hour With my computer’s wifi An hour turns into another day As a source of transportation. The sun shines on morning flowers Then black night sweeps it away Lavender Days Time, you move and flow I first met you Independent of every time zone When the Cotswold fields We measure you either fast or slow Erupted in the blue purple Try to capture you as our own Of that Spring’s lavender. We curse you when you fly faster We walked together Or lag behind our busy schedules Among the rows We cannot be your hard master Which embraced us Foolish, we should soon tell With their spiked arms You rule this planet by your own design Independent of the tides of time. They filled our young nostrils with their perfume. Traveling by Radio Surrounded by their beauty, We surrendered our wills I don’t have any And entered into another world Plane ticket money Far from the outside war. And my car’s engine’s not Strong enough to When you left me, Drive me very far. I took off a sprig of lavender In my small apartment, To plant it into Radio serves Your uniform’s lapel As my method of travel. A symbol of when We would meet again Instead of filling my car And once more With gas Spend our love Driving On hazardous roads, In new lavender days. I sit by my radio tuning into the rest

Of the world

With my dial. HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 31 Childhood’s Spring Iris J. Arenson-Fuller She reaches out, her sapling skinny arms In Your America rising up from underneath These days trees in my world weep. the still thawing earth’s Geese fly in a funeral procession winter white swaddling clothes. on the way to the burial of things Birds sing their intricate tunes we thought we knew in intimate ways, celebrating her birth announcement when we stroked beneath the skin Insects buzz around of our lives, felt it tremble and swell. accompanying them Some of us go to watch roses die, to herald the new season their petals drying up in sadness of pollen gathering for our country, and we have heard those very roses refuse to even Melting ice and snow be transformed into sweet potpourri reveal her muddy play clothes for your fancy powder rooms where with flowers just budding you, our neighbors pretend that through their surface. it all smells good when you cover Her crocuses erupt in yellow and purple the stench and act as though it’s unfolding petal by petal business as usual because your like a child’s hand investments have started to grow, opening to reveal your privileged asses are wiped a precious special present with white hands and a steady for all the world to see. supply of the best Charmin Ultra. Linda Barrett has been writing her entire life. She lives in But the kid on 10th Street is crying Abington, PA, with her 88-year-old mother. Her work has from an earache since the buddies been published in Twisted Sister, Halcyon Days, Night to you made last year in the voting booth Dawn, as well as five times in Montomgery County Com- munity College’s Writer’s Contest. deny him care, but you don’t dare say a word when your own truth is that you and yours are safe. You buy a new dress, deep purple lovely flowers much like the veins that stood out on Eric Garner’s neck when he gasped for air, and you head for church to praise God for your allies In D.C. who are making things right again in your America.

Page 32 - The Compass SPRING 2018 Message While You Sleep: from the tightness of now, up into the wide open sky Poem for Strong Survivors of opportunity. Have you ever felt Fear, though, is a shadow puppet your legs were in stirrups from your childhood theater, waiting endlessly for new beginnings that’s finally ready to crumble feeling every sharp contraction don’t you think? life dared to dish out as your body There is no demolition crew was squeezed and pulled in and out collecting union wages. of gummy shapes? You must place a green hard hat Is this a dream? on your beautiful head, to prepare Is this just a projection to awaken from years of ugly dreams of wild colors onto the inside that have held you hostage. of your eyelids, as you sit Take apart the haunted, damaged building in the cinema of your own brain but remember to salvage what is good, wishing for a bucket of popcorn what made you who you are. to distract you? Wake up sweet one, to my count of three Breathe, you tell yourself. Breathe the spearmint air of woods Breathe the spicy scent of Dianthus, its mat of blue-green leaves, a soft carpet The Task of the Poet for you to step on, your path out The real poet has no time to waste. of your bad dream All of his days are spent at the task Nightmares visit us of making clear, first to himself and when we are afraid, then to those who want to hear, when we wear vulnerability questions of the eternal, of the like designer pajamas, transitory, questions that death when, in our waking state, whispers, while life goes on simply we are reluctant to look hard batting her lashes but listening at what we must do to leap away shyly!

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 33 Survivor’s Tattoo HARRIET RELLIS My survivor’s tattoo is etched only in my brain. You have not seen me in line at the gas chamber. The Albatross I was once a braided girl who hid in friendly trees, She doesn’t realize you’re her albatross They thought me too dark to read without Yet; maybe she will, one day. Braille dots, You are Genevieve’s father, the one you took but they were blinded by work day worries, responsibility for by dark grownup angst and family feuds. but you declined to marry her mother. They loved with a tight grip, wanted me to stay, You would change diapers and feed her but so weeds grew wildly over understanding. couldn’t To them I was a bird in hand, oddly aching to fly stay when she was a year old and now she’s four. far over fear-strewn petals on the path from Are you supporting her financially, emotionally? Brooklyn. She’s not just a doll baby. Are you there for her When I broke free, I flew like swirls of color when you babysit, or do you just go through the from an acid trip to the shimmering future. motions, Funnel clouds and winds lifted me to new worlds. while you check your phone for messages Now I try to create rituals, non-stop mind movies, or watch the football game? reels of great silky threads that never stop, Do you tell the truth or bend it to your advantage of things they said and did, were and were not. just to get your way? Will Mommie Dearest I recite their names, chants to those I loved rescue you who climb in and out of poems after their deaths. as she has before, buying clothes from The Gap No longer the braided girl, but the tombstone that every scribe, four-year old just HAS TO HAVE FOR PLAYING catching words from the sky like pine needles, WITH PEERS at preschool? I am still here in the ice block of memory, Tell me, Mr Albatross... chipping away from inside, wondering if the sun which aids my task, will ever warm me. Harriet Rellis of Warminster, PA, is a retired nurse. She is What happens when I thaw, when my battery dies? an avid bridge player, and a Bronze Life Master. Will my Triple A membership be paid till I expire, till someone else is hired as tombstone wordsmith? Iris J. Arenson-Fuller has been writing pretty much all her life. Residing in Bloomfield, CT, her work has appeared in a variety of print and on line publications in the US and Europe. She enjoys doing local readings of her work. Iris is also a Life and Loss Transformation Coach. More info can be found at www.visionpoweredcoaching, where she also blogs.

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Page 34 - The Compass SPRING 2018 POEMS BY DONNA KRAUSE John supported me through breast cancer, thirteen From Babies To Grownsups Years ago Our babies were my whole life Then his alcoholism took hold of his life I was the proud duck, with three ducklings I was alone and the house became a cold cave “Dr. Seuss and Green Eggs and Ham,” Years later John died on the side walk And “Thing one and thing two.” A massive heart attack took his life Their favorite choice of books. He’s flying with Mariel, I thought Grieved for the first string of happy years They grew into teenagers, making mistakes Just like us Met a new love named Denny Moved to Willow Grove It was my turn to excel! The grounds full of nature My face shined, happy stars winking around Deer, squirrels with their The moon Feather duster tails College bound, at last! Graduation day, Magna Cum Laude, Two successful operations on my spine How did I achieve that? Now I can stand and walk erect I was hired as a psychotherapist, on Hand in hand, I walked my daughter, My first interview. Danielle, down the aisle It brought me a sense of accomplishment Before she was wed “You can do it, played in my head.” Proud to be alive! The worst happened, our beloved daughter, Something’s been lurking in the darkness Mariel passed As my kidneys aren’t doing their job Before our eyes, thought I’d die with her, Functioning poorly But had our little girl, Danielle, to raise God please be on my side!

Six O, you crept up on me

Footsteps on the old creaky floor… HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

In memory of David B. Kime Drugs took your lover Before your eyes (1967 – 2017) You saw no other option Climbed into your brain But to take your own life Chemical imbalance just Now you are in heaven, Like mine Angels healing your soul, I feel your torture David, now you glide amongst I feel your panic The clouds Deep depression brings A new and whole man. Wanted to leave this place Called earth Donna Krause lives in Willow Grove, PA, with her loving So many times pipe-smoking companion, Denny. More than most people, Medications aren’t always she has suffered many losses, but moves forward by The answer writing poetry. Her work has been published in Pure Slush, Your apartment was ravaged Twisted Sister, and Transcendent Visions, published by the late David Kime. By fire

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 35 RUTH Z. DEMING Max kept consulting me on a drawing he was making Reminders of the Dead about ships at sea. All Over the House This was not your Winslow Homer’s Waves, but a device - yes, that’s I walk among the dead as if I’m at the the word - he uses to play games, Pyramids at Giza, and weep at the beauty of match words and numbers, and Shelley’s Ozymandias. ask Bubby’s opinion. Sipping my coffee, an elixir that makes We said goodbye to his sister me feel immortal, I can view Stephen’s who was going up to have her black and white photo in my study any hair washed. For tomorrow time I please. Holding it up, I stare was Picture-Taking Day. into his enormous still-dead eyes. Someday my own children will find Dad, in his Marine Corps uniform, is over there on in my green file cabinet, all my the credenza. Shall we have a heart-to-heart? class photos. In pencil, writ large, Dad, it’s lonesome here without you. were my classmates, including When it snows, I have no one to pick me Alice Hecht. Wonder where I can up and drive me to the grocery store. buy a pair of saddle shoes Faintly, I hear From the Halls of Montezuma like hers. and then it fades away. In the night sky I search for God. Clumsy See me standing there in my guerilla PJs I got My sister Donna and I were from Noam when he was in the Israeli army? talking over the phone. I imagine I feel swept away. Oops, I said, I almost Searching for God, I still come up spilled my cup o tea. empty-handed. Will send The Almighty a postcard No coincidence, she said. tomorrow. And address it to Planet Mars. It’s your age. We get clumsy. Dining in Style Just dropped my purple sunglasses I had the honor last night on the floor, turned the wrong of sitting next to Max burner on for tea, sat outside at the dinner table. on the porch steps eating my tomato stew and couldn’t get up. At four, he was eating a slab of pork roll and Me? Me? Volleyball player. cinnamon crisps. Piano player. Hands as steady as a surgeon’s. How I longed to taste a crisp, but my A1C Clumsy now as Smarty Jones, commanded No. no longer racing, but fathering foals, I stuck to my Sloppy grazing all alone on Joe, remembering childhoods faded summer grass. long ago. Like Mom used to make, this was gooood!

Page 36 - The Compass SPRING 2018 Time Teller with friends, sipping hot chocolate, This house runs on electricity nibbling a black and white cookie, At any hour I wish, I can find proof away from responsibilities Tick o the clock and clamoring demands. Snap on of living room lamp The steely clouds roll in overhead - Whistle of tea kettle A symphony of thunder, Unlike us, the birds don’t The shock of lightening nor does the maple tree as the deluge drops from the sky, or 25-mile speed limit sign wind bowing the trees almost in half. in front of my house “Someone should write a poem!” my friend calls out. When the electric went off And so I am, three days ago, I used my Right here at the table two fingers to turn turn turn as the wind dies, the little knob on the back the sky clears of the clock to get the right time And we continue on with our Art. Twenty after ten I had the illusion My Friend’s Kidney I was God creating time all over again If my friend hadn’t gotten a kidney, and and the dimensions Hadn’t lived to see another year, of the universe “A Wonderful Life” would have which, like an accordion, Caught up with us. contracts and expands, We wouldn’t have the poetry that brings contracts and expands. Sunshine into our darker days, Forever? Wouldn’t smile or gasp at the short stories that Ruth Zali Deming has had her poetry published in lit Flow from her fertile imagination. mags including River Poets Journal, Kaleidoscope, Jonah- No tales of her latest conversation with Magazine, and Blood and Thunder. She writes a po- The interesting stranger. em-a- day on Facebook. She happily lives alone in Willow No movie recommends or Grove, PA. Sage life-coach advice. Imagine! POEMS BY MARTHA HUNTER No, don’t imagine… Don’t want to know. Stormy Interruption And now, my friend, at Writer’s Group No salt, no sugar, Stationary bike, Gray skies and air crackling with electric energy! Sunday hikes in the I drive to the café anyway, Pennypack, positive the weather man Strolls around the block with her is wrong again Significant Other. and the sun will shine on my day. Stay healthy! It’s Girls Day Out and I’m determined I don’t want to age to spend a few precious hours Without you! sitting by the picture window ffffffffffff

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 37 For my new grandson, Gunnar Nolen - What Is A Life?

Giant leaps do not a life make. Baby Mine It’s the daily grind, the mundane, There you are, little man, The baby steps that lead us on Mouth turned down in a to the glory of a life well lived. mew of impending tears, The crossroads, A pout meant to elicit the Coincidences, flutter of the attention you crave, Snap decisions, even at six months. Opportunities accepted or lost And then, to fear of the unknown, when Granny answers your Kind deeds paying it forward expressive plea Judgments made with a The sunshine emerges from Finger shaking self righteousness. behind the clouds of your Change graciously or discomfort and you Reluctantly accepted, smile that sweet, sweet smile Sacrifices made, that I’ve seen before in your Ferreting out answers to the Sissy, great questions of life, And mother, Accepting the risk that And in photos of me, your life should indeed go on. My mother, grandmother and God grant me the strength to probably great greats back into keep moving forward. the last centuries. I lift you out of your cradle, Listening, Heart to heart for you to tell me a story. What’s going on in that little head? What emotions blooming in your heart? Are your angels teaching you what you will need to know to live your full and happy life? Sweet baby mine.

Page 38 - The Compass SPRING 2018 Mother’s Lilacs It was May and seasonable. The lilacs were tiny beads on their green stalks, getting ready to Because it was important to my dad, and our burst forth. Mother’s time had come. We helped family’s future, my mother gave up a three bed- her down the walk to the car, taking her to the ER room row house in Philadelphia for a two apart- although we all knew there wasn‘t any medicine ment duplex in the suburb of Willow Grove. For that would set her back on her feet. us, it was a way out of the cold, impersonal city Mother stopped, closed her eyes, pulled a and for my grandparents who couldn’t live alone branch down and inhaled deeply and smiled, anymore, a safe place to live out the rest of their her mother almost certainly coming back to her, lives. along with memories of Dad and all the ways he It wasn’t easy for Mother, leaving a a spacious had made her his queen. I brought in a fragrant six rooms for a four- room apartment. Nor was it branch to lay across her bed in her last week. It easy to live chuck-a-block with her stern, Scot- comforted her as she peacefully left this world. tish mother-in-law on the lower floor. Because This is my house now and I know it’s spring she had sacrificed so much, Dad vowed that her because the old tree is showing life again as it wishes would be his commands. has for fifty years. The scent memory comforts The new house was set basically in a clearing me as I trudge onward in years until I see Mother in the small woods that backed up our property. again. It was a mud pit. But Dad and Mom had a vision and we kids were dragged into the hard work of Martha Hunter of Willow Grove, PA is again attempting to retire - career childcare professional, pastoral coun- making our grounds a Garden of Eden. selor, substitute aide for Special Ed, now a wife, mother, Granny wanted roses so Mother set to work grandmother, homemaker and babysitter for our family’s with shovel, fill and mulch to build a rose bed newest treasure. She writes romances and Biblical femi- with a dozen varieties that perfumed the air ev- nist biographical fiction. ery spring and summer. She wanted Dogwoods so Dad got her some. And Beauty Trees from our German friend. But the plant she wanted most was a Lilac tree. Her mother whom she had lost in childhood kept pressed lilacs between the sheets and the scent was part of the fabric of Mother’s life. Of course, Dad brought the tree home - little more than a stick. It lived through the first winter, and the next, growing each year just a little bit more. Fifty years later, it was higher than the roof line. Visitors to our house stop and smell the fragrant blossoms. It made everyone smile - the postman, neigh- bors, salesmen, the milkman. (yes, we had our milk delivered). The young ladies of Mother’s Bible study group would say, “I know it’s spring because Mrs. Mac’s lilacs are starting to bloom!” I liked the tree but didn’t pay too much mind to it when I came to visit. It was part of the fabric of my life, background to the “important” things. Early on a January morning, Dad passed away. Four months later, unable and unwilling to go on without him, Mother began to fade.

SPRING 2018 The Compass - Page 39 REMINGTON MURPHY And you can even hear it roar. In the winter, if it gets cold Dining Out It’ll even freeze over, He goes to the same Though you’ll have to be careful 24/7 greasy spoon If you intend on skating on it, Beneath the same waning three quarter moon Because the ice stays pretty thin. And orders the per usual I would love to grow old Two grilled chicken medallions, Corn on the cob, Pennsylvania Dutch style Beside its never faltering motion Lima beans smothered in vinegar, Lulling me to sleep, And a salad, ranch dressing on the side. And I don’t really care that it’s slow. He’s gotten used to eating by himself Even if he feels deranged Ice Age Like a horror film loner, The garrulous brook Uneasy in his own skin. For once is silent, The restaurant has a counter. All the same, he’ll still insist The broken pottery-piece of a moon On sitting at a table Casts no shadow on the snow, As if his wife were still alive. And the narrow stone bridge He wonders if the waitresses Which takes you over the brook Gather in the kitchen or the employee washroom And then across the woods And have themselves a high old time And into the parking lot Laughing and telling a few stories Won’t do me any good tonight, About the strange sixty year old. It’s much too icy to chance it. He wonders if he’s reached the stage of notoriety Where they’ve given him a pet name, On one occasion I encountered a deer Like Hop-a-long, Five Dollar Tip, With a full set of antlers Or Mr. Toad. Just standing in the snow. He didn’t budge an inch, The Creek And for one surreal moment There’s a creek outside my window, I wasn’t sure if he was real, With a little stone bridge But he observed me carefully, Across it. And I could see his breath, Usually it’s shallow, And what I wouldn’t give It barely moseys along, Not to be alone right now, But here’s the thing, it keeps moving The winter is so cold. Forward, till it gets You’re gone, that’s true, To a much bigger stream But one thing remains the same, Which has a lot more I still think about you all the time. Going on. Remington Murphy has both a BA and MA in literature Occasionally, you’ll have a downpour, from Temple University. He has worked at the Roslyn, PA, post office since 1986. People walk in confused, he says, When my little humble creek and he enjoys “straightening them out.” He was married Becoming all muddy to a wonderful woman, named Valerie, who passed away. Overflows its banks,

Page 40 - The Compass SPRING 2018 Broad Street Parade to honor the Eagles’ Superbowl Victory, Feb. 8, 2018. Revelers include Max and Barry Kroll and The Steve and Nikki Roche Family.