(513) 205-4118 August 2018 Editor: James D. Dahmann Ph.D. ARE WE ON YOUR SCHEDULE? TWICE? It’s already August (summer goes so fast), and if you do not yet have the annual NAMI-NKY/.N Ky CIT Steps Against Stigma walk on your calendar, put it on NOW before it gets filled up!. The walk is October.13th, 10:00 AM, at Pioneer Park. The income from this walk is the main source of income that allows NAMI Northern Kentucky to exist, and it is the only source of income to support the Crisis Intervention Team training that has proven to be so valuable. Registration is $25 with an awesome T-shirt, and $15 without the shirt. Kids 10 and under (and dogs) are free. This is a very good time to start forming your team if you have not yet done so! AND the week before, October 8-9, is the Statewide CIT Conference being held right here in Northern Kentucky! NAMI is working closely with the rest of the CIT Committee to plan and conduct this conference. We need YOUR help! Call the office, no help is too little to offer!!! MAJOR WONDERFUL NEWS!!! NAMI IN THE LOBBY!! SUN and NAMI NKY are pleased to announce NAMI in the Lobby!!! NAMI in the Lobby will be supported by generous volunteers who will work in SUN’s lobby during visiting ours for family members. Our volunteers will help these families by escorting them to the visiting area, provide information on resources in their area, and introduce NAMI NKY support programs and classes. If this sounds like something you would be interested in being a part of please contact NAMI NKY: Phone: 859-392-1730 E-mail: [email protected] Or, Address: 303 court St., suite 707 Covington KY 41011 We will need all potential volunteers to come fill out and application. Currently the hours are Tuesdays and Thursday from 6:00pm to 7:30pm. Remember, to make this vital program work, we need YOU. Think back to times when you arrived for the first time at a hospital, likely confused and scared. Wouldn’t it have been nice to have someone who had been there themselves assist you? Now it is time for you to be that good Samaritan. MORE GOOD NEWS!!! Rob Vonckx, Chief of Operations and Talent Management at NorthKey and a NAMI NKY Board members, has advised us that NorthKey is once again offering Therapeutic Rehabilitation (TR) Services at the NorthKey locations at 722 Scott Blvd., Covington and 7459 Burlington Pike, Florence. Long timers will remembers these programs as Sunshine House and Focus House in the past. TR programs are day long programs that help people with mental illness recover in a safe, welcoming environment. Basic and advanced skills are taught as needed by the individual. Executive Director Dorothy Best and your editor are meeting shortly with Sandra George, NorthKey’s new Chief of Services, to get more detailed information which we will share with you. TR programs have been major benefits in the past to folks. We are decided NorthKey has found a way to resurrect these programs! BUT, SOME SAD NEWS ALSO… We are deeply, deeply saddened to announce the passing of Dr. Fred Frese. Many of you may know him, as he spoke locally several times. Dr. Frese developed schizophrenia as a young man serving as a Captain in the Marine Corps. Following several hospitalizations, including an involuntary one at Case Western state hospital in Ohio, he achieved remarkable control of his symptoms and was able to return to school, eventually obtaining a doctorate in psychology. Eventually, Dr. Frese ended up running the very hospital where he had been involuntarily committed years before! Fred was an amazingly friendly and funny individual. How many people can talk about making the journey through the most horrible of mental illnesses and have people rolling in the aisle with laughter? In addition, Fred was a tireless advocate for individuals with severe mental illnesses. Although difficult for him due to remaining remnants of his illness, he traveled the country speaking and being an example of those with these illnesses. Dr. E. Fuller Torrey called Fred, "an extraordinary person who has helped educate a whole generation about schizophrenia as a brain disease and has demonstrated that it is possible to live a full and productive life despite having it. The loss of Dr. Frese is a huge loss to us all. TOTALLY UNFAIR!!! NAMI NKY is a nonprofit entity. As such, we have always been a tax-free entity. BUT NOW non-profit, charitable entities like NAMI must pay a 6% tax on all income to the state of Kentucky! This includes things such as dues, donations, etc. In other words, our budget has just suffered a 6% slash. Wonder how much of this money will go towards mental health care? Note this is a Kentucky only change, not a Federal change. Electronic Cigarettes Not Helpful 2 Smokers who also use e-cigarettes may be half as likely to give up tobacco as smokers who never vape at all, a European study suggests. Even when smokers only occasionally experimented with vaping, they were about 67 percent less likely to become ex-smokers. Daily e-cigarette use was associated with 48 percent lower odds of having quit regular cigarettes. Sadly, e-cigarettes are widely promoted as a smoking cessation tool, and, while there is no question that some smokers do successfully quit with e-cigarettes, they keep many more people smoking, Smokers in the study also used more cigarettes a day when they vaped than when they avoided e-cigarettes altogether. People smoked an average of about 14 cigarettes a day when they didn't vape, and around 16 cigarettes a day when they did. Rapaport, L.a (2018). E-Cigarettes tied to less smoking cessation. Reuters Health Information, March 26, 2018. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/894346?src=wnl_edit_tpal NEW PSYCH DRUGS REVISITED Quite a few months ago, we ran an article about the lack of research and development of new medications for mental illnesses. Recently Eli Lilly’s annual report came to my attention. Lilly has long been active in developing new drugs and giving awards to successful mental health programs—NorthKey’s Greenup Haus won one of them. Lilly developed such blockbuster drugs as Cymbalta, Prozac, and Zyprexa. Zyprexa (a novel antipsychotic) and ;Prozac (the first SSRI antidepressant) were particularly effective and unique drugs. They were also incredibly profitable to Lilly. Nonetheless, according to its annual report, Lilly has virtually NO new drugs dealing with psychiatric problems other than Alzheimer’s Dementia in its development pipeline. Not a single one. What this means is it is likely going to be decades, if ever, before we see a new psychiatric drug from this company. It is unknown to us if other manufacturers are in such bad shape, but it is VERY discouraging to see a prominent company known for focusing on psychiatric medications take this stance. Lilly, Eli & Co. (2018). 2017 Integrated Summary Report, pp. 8-9. Relationships: Life-saving? Psychologists’ research has long established that relationships have the power to influence physical and mental health, for better or worse. New research details how important close emotional connections are for health and well- being, influencing such conditions as cancer, heart disease, depression and addiction. That evidence is leading psychologists to say that strengthening those bonds should be a public health priority. It’s not an exaggeration to say that lack of social connections can be deadly. Strong social relationships increase the likelihood of survival by 50 percent regardless of age, sex or health status. Social disconnection is at least as harmful to people as such well-accepted risk factors as obesity, physical inactivity and smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. Sadly, a lack of social companionship is a widespread problem.. An interesting aspect of relationship research is that it is relevant to the entire lifespan. Supportive relationships in childhood can buffer children against future physical health problems, the authors say. When children experience comforting, emotionally significant relationships with parents or other close family members, they tend to have better health profiles—not only during childhood, but into adolescence and adulthood Compared with younger adults, older adults report more satisfaction with their social networks. They’re often more proactive about managing their social networks, making efforts to maintain satisfying relationships while winnowing ties with more problematic friends and relatives. On the other hand, older adults might be more susceptible to 3 loneliness and social isolation as their mobility decreases and close friends and family members pass away. In the United States, 20 percent to 43 percent of adults over age 60 experience frequent or intense loneliness. Weir, K (2018). Life-saving relationships. Monitor on Psychology, March 2018, Vol 49, No. 3, 46- Sex and Depression Men and women with major depressive disorder (MDD) have opposite genetic mechanisms that contribute to the condition. Brain autopsies revealed that expression of genes related to synapse function was decreased in men but increased in women, and expression of immune genes was increased in men and decreased in women. Women are twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with a single MDD episode and are four times more likely to be diagnosed with recurrent MDD. MDD is more severe in women than in men, and MDD symptomatology differs between the sexes. For instance, women are three times more likely to have atypical depression, characterized by hypersomnia and weight gain. Women and men with MDD also tend to have different comorbidities (additional illnesses).