Greater Des Moines...Greater Des Moines AFFILIATE AND SUPPORT GROUP NEWSLETTER November 2007 “Support, Education, and Advocacy” Education Meetings are generally the 1st Sunday

Our website is: www.nami.org/sites/NAMIGreaterDesMoines See yourself as a person, not an illness.

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Greater Des Moines AFFILIATE AND SUPPORT GROUP NEWSLETTER November 2007

“Support, Education, and Advocacy”

Education Meetings are generally the 1st Sunday of the month from 2 - 4 PM at Iowa Lutheran Hospital, Level B conference room. Dates on Sundays other than the 1st Sunday of the month are due to holidays or other special scheduled events.

Business and Committee Meetings are the 2nd Thursday of the month at 5 P.M. at the NAMI-Iowa Office. 1. Business 4. Education 6. Fundraising 2. Marketing and membership 3. Support 5. Advocacy 7. Special Events

Thursday thru Sunday, Nov. 1-4

Training for Consumers to become a support group facilitator for NAMI Connections Support Recovery Groups. Contact the NAMI office for more information 515-254-0417 or Anna Goodwin at 1-866-446-8433 or [email protected]

Friday, Nov. 2 Registration 6:30 Program 7-9 PM

“Really, What is Depression and Other Related Illnesses? – Lutheran Church of Hope – Ashworth and Jordan Creek Parkway, SE Corner, West Des Moines, Iowa – Room 214 – Free Registration at 6:30 P.M. – Keynote presentation starts at 7PM. There will be various half hour breakout groups from 8 PM to 9 PM– Dealing with Changes in Life after 50, Suicidal Thoughts, Dealing with Results of Suicide, Addictions (alcoholism, drugs, behaviors), Co-existing Illnesses, Family Members and Caretakers – What do I do? Stigma regarding Getting Help, Burn-out or Time Out, Eating Disorders, Medication Issues, Group for Teens, Compulsive Obsessive Disorder, ADD, ADHD, PTSD, etc. Call 225-8243 Donna if you have questions.

Sunday, November 4 2 PM

Part 2 - Understanding Social Security and the Appeal Process – our speaker will be Steve Moats. 2008 Elections for Officers & Board Members

Thursday, Nov. 8 5 PM

We will be discussing and planning around 7 topic areas

Saturday, Nov. 17 Survivors of Suicide Conference - 10 am – 3 pm, Des Moines University Clinic Student Education Center Auditorium, 3200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa Free Parking in the South Parking Lot; Enter through the South Doors - FOR MORE INFORMATION and to obtain a registration form, CONTACT: David Higdon 515/323-3205 or [email protected]. Cost is $10.

Thursday, Friday Nov. 29-30

NAMI Iowa Fall Conference at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites, 4800 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines - Mary Beth Pfeiffer, author of “Crazy in America” will be a featured guest speaker. Pfeiffer’s book details the criminalization and incarceration of some of our most vulnerable citizens-those who suffer from mental illness. Call 254-0417 to pre-register.

Friday thru Sunday Nov. 30-Dec. 2

Visions for Tomorrow Teacher Training – contact the NAMI Iowa office for more information 515-254-0417.

Sunday, December 2 2 PM

The topic will be “Partial Hospitalization” – our speaker will be Becky James from Broadlawns.

Thursday, Dec. 13 5 PM


Sunday, January 6, 2008 – 2 PM

The topic will be “Treatment for Psychosis” – Our speaker will be Darla Krom, from Golden Circle Behavioral Health.

Thursday, January 10 5 PM


Sat. and Sunday, Jan. 26-27, 2008

Treating Mental Illness in Primary Care Settings – A conference for primary care physicians to better recognize, understand and treat psychiatric illnesses such as mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. Sponsored by NAMI, Medical University of South Carolina Institute of Psychiatry. On-line registration at www.muschealtlh.com/psychevents or call Liz Puca at 843-792-7340 or [email protected]. Registration fee is $295. The event is at the Hilton Oceanfront Resort 1-800-HILTONS www.hiltonheadhilton.com $99/night.

Tuesdays starting February 5, 2008

Family to Family class - Dennis and Diane Banasiak will be the co-teachers – please contact at [email protected] or call 334-5159 to sign up – Class will be held at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 7075 Ashworth Road, West Des Moines – in the large meeting room from 6:30 to 9:00 P.M.

Did You Know? NAMI E-Join is a nationwide online membership initiative that began June 20, 2007. E-Join will allow visitors to NAMI’s Web site to join online, using a credit card, for a universal dues rate of $35/annually. The money is sent to the state and local affiliate on a quarterly basis.

Letters to the Editor

You are welcome to send letters to the editor by mail or E-mail. Letters can be sent to: Teresa Bomhoff, 200 S.W. 42nd St. Des Moines, Iowa 50312 or E-mail: [email protected]


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NAMI Walks Recap

You were sensational in the first ever NAMIWALKS IOWA !

The response was so great we're still trying to get everything counted. We do know there were at least 580 folks on hand to celebrate the Walk. We topped our goal of $65,000 and will likely top $75,000 before all is done. We’ll have more details in the December newsletter.

If you were a sponsor or an individual donor – THANK YOU. We are humbled by your generosity and participation.

In case you missed who our sponsors were – here they are:

Presenting Sponsor Polk County

Major Sponsor Magellan Health Services

Gold Sponsors AstraZeneca

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Silver Sponsor West Bank

Awards Reception Sponsor Abbott

Start/Finish Line Sponsor Hanifen Co., Inc.

Polk County Health Services

Bronze Sponsors Darwin Simon Lilly Sam's Club

Supporters Abe Clayman Foundation Inc.

Anderson Erickson Iowa Health System

Jay W. Brewer New York Life

Ruan Family Foundation Siegwerk Ink Packaging TEVA Pharmaceuticals

Kilometer Sponsors Alan E. Stout, T.C. American Family Insurance Artcraft Printing Becker Underwood Boesen the Florist Community Choice Credit Union CPMI Fran & Jeff Berger H & R Block Financial Advisors Tri-State Signing Holiday Inn, Merle Hay Road John & Catherine Ayers Judy & Randall Levings Mark & Janet Rosenbury Mid-Iowa Family Therapy Clinic NAMI of Central Iowa Panera Bread Bakery-Café The Home Depot Timothy & Toni Urban US Bank West Central Mental Health Center & New Horizons

These are the planned activities for the money raised: • Provide support to persons with serious brain disorders

and to their families • Educate families and consumers

• Advocate for nondiscriminatory and equitable policies at the federal, state, and local levels and in the private sector

• Advocate for improved opportunities for housing, rehabilitation and meaningful jobs

• Support research into the causes, systems and treatments of brain disorders

• Support public education programs designed to help eliminate the pervasive stigma surrounding severe mental illness

SAVE THE DATE - Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008 - for NAMI Walks

MENTAL ILLNESS: THE FACTS From NAMI: In Our Own Voice

Mental illnesses are brain disorders. They are not defects in someone’s personality or a sign of poor moral character or lack of faith. They certainly do not mean that the ill person is a failure. Chemical imbalances in the brain, from unknown or incompletely known causes, are much of the reason for symptoms of mental illnesses.

Mental illnesses are like other organ diseases in which body chemistry changes. The abnormal chemistry of mental illnesses affects brain function the same way that too little or too much of other body chemicals damage the heart, kidneys or liver.

A heart attack is a symptom of serious heart disease, just as hearing voices, mood swings, withdrawal from social activities, or feeling out of control are common symptoms of a mental illness.

Mental illnesses can affect people of any age, race, religion, education or income level. As you read this, five million people here in the United States are dealing with serious, chronic brain disorders.

Major brain disorders include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (manic-depression), major depression, anxiety disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

There are many points on the continuum of wellness, and different degrees of recovery that can be reached with medication, therapy, and a strong support system

More Mental Illness Facts

Mental illnesses fall along a continuum of severity. According to the most recent prevalence information - in the United States today - approximately 26.2% of adults 18 and over struggle with a diagnosable psychiatric condition in a given year.

The most serious and disabling conditions affect about 6% - or 1 in 17 – adults and 9-13 % of children in the United States.

Half of all lifetime conditions of mental illness start by age 14 years, and three-fourths by age 24 years.

The best treatments for serious mental illnesses today are highly effective - between 70 and 90% of individuals have significant reduction of symptoms and improved quality of life with education about their illness, and a combination of medication, therapy, and a strong support system.

Early identification and treatment is of vital importance. By getting people the treatment they need early, recovery is possible.

Road to Recovery

• Acceptance of illness vs. escape • Emergence of hope • Rebuilt sense of self • Empowerment • Return to functioning You can recover even though the illness is not cured.

Recovery is a way of living a satisfying hopeful life.


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The Ballot for NAMI Greater Des Moines 2008 Elections

The 2008 election will be held at the November meeting. The ballot for NAMI Greater Des Moines 2008 elections will be as follows:

President – Diane Johnson (former Board member, presently Vice-President) Vice-President – Teresa Bomhoff (presently President) Secretary – Sharon Browne (presently Secretary) Treasurer – Jim Vandeberg (new candidate) Board Member – Glenn Hobin (presently Board member) Board Member – Diane Banasiak (presently Board member) Board Member – Grace Sivadge (new candidate)

State Mental Health Planning Council

The State Mental Health Planning Council is looking for volunteers to serve on the council in the category of

parents of children/adolescents with severe emotional disorder.

Teresa Bomhoff, President of NAMI Greater Des Moines, and Diane Johnson, Vice-President of NAMI Greater Des Moines, both serve on the council.

If you are interested, please contact Sue Bakker at [email protected] and ask for the MHPC Application. The Center Cannot Hold:

My Journey Through Madness Elyn R. Saks (HYPN Hyperion, 2007)

This is one of the best memoirs ever written by a person living with schizophrenia. It has been heralded in Time and

Newsweek magazines, as well as newspapers across the country.

The publicity is well-deserved. It is a down-to-earth, insightful account of mental illness, perseverance, and courage, describing not only symptoms, but also personal feelings that are not directly part of the disease.

Saks shares the fears, conflicts, frustrations, and hopes of any person who struggles with mental illness. In the process she speaks out for individual dignity, which becomes the focus of her career.

Saks first experienced symptoms at age 8. She graduated valedictorian from Vanderbilt University and received advanced degrees from Oxford University and Yale Law School.

Today she is a law professor at the University of Southern California. It is an incredible career trajectory for anyone—even more so for someone whose path is punctuated by psychotic episodes and hospitalizations.

“I wasn’t diagnosed early; I wasn’t treated early; I stumbled around in the dark for years, clutching my Aristotle and negotiating my life as best I could,” Saks writes.

Her psychotic episodes were part of a pattern: “I’d set goals for myself, meet them successfully, then fall apart at the seams. Once again, everything familiar and comfortable in my life was going away or being left behind. What was ahead was new and frightening. The scaffolding had been removed and I wasn’t sure I could sustain the structure all by myself.”

Through it all, Saks never lost her sense of humor. “Everybody at some level needs a good day care program. Mine was the Yale Law School.”

But the memoir is not about law or a legal career per se. It is a very personal, engaging work that speaks to the experience of consumers in all walks of life.

“I still wasn’t convinced that I had a mental illness,” Saks writes at the point when she begins her teaching career. “Nor was I convinced I really needed medication. To admit to any of it was to admit that my brain was profoundly broken, and I just couldn’t do that. And I couldn’t let others in on the secret.”

“More than anything else, I wanted to be healthy and whole; I wanted to exist in the world as my authentic self—and I deeply believed the drugs undermined that. And so I kept backing away from them, tinkering with the dosage, seeing how far I could go before I got burned.”

“Who was I at my core? Was I primarily a schizophrenic? Did that illness define me? Or was it an accident of ‘being’—and only peripheral to me rather than the ‘essence’ of me?

It’s been my observation that mentally ill people struggle with these questions perhaps even more than those with serious physical illness, because mental illness involves your mind and your core self as well.”

The memoir rings true.

In some respects, it is a blow against stigma, and the condescension toward consumers that still exists in too many professional circles. Doctors urged her to discontinue her studies. An emergency room stopped diagnostic work on a brain hemorrhage when they learned she was a mental patient, dismissing her as crazy and faking her complaints.

Today Saks manages her illness through a combination of regular medication, psychoanalysis, close personal relationships, and an active professional life that keeps her mind focused on legal issues rather than imagined terrors.

The “center” today is in balance—how she got there is a story worth reading. The Bipolar Teen:

What You Can Do to Help Your Child & Your Family David J. Miklowitz and Elizabeth George, Ph.D. (The Guilford Press, 2007)

Being published in November and available for pre-orders, The Bipolar Teen will help parents distinguish between the typical ups and downs of

adolescence and symptoms of depression and mania. Its focus includes early warning signs and intervention; balancing therapy and medication; and tips for getting the most support from doctors and schools. It also suggests practical strategies for maintaining stability in family home life.

The Family Intervention Guide to Mental Illness: Recognizing Symptoms & Getting Treatment Bodie Morey and Kim T. Mueser, Ph.D.

(New Harbinger Publications, 2007)

Here is a "whole-family" guide to help loved ones and to share with friends who may also confront the onset of mental illness inside their families. It covers a broad spectrum of concerns, including the recognition of symptoms, effective communication, and maintaining wellness. First-hand knowledge, practical information, and a down-to-earth perspective combine to provide concise discussions of overall strategies, good steps, bad steps, wish lists, and pitfalls. Mueser is a professor at Dartmouth Medical School and has served as a NAMI New Hampshire Board Member. Morey, a former NAMI


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New Hampshire Affiliate President, co-taught the forerunner of NAMI's current Family-to-Family Education Program. Mueser is also the co-author of The Complete Family Guide to Schizophrenia

Persons with Mental Illness Who Are Homeless or Missing: A Guide for Families People with mental illness cannot always communicate their thoughts clearly or understand

what others are saying to them. In confusion, some will retreat. Others have grandiose ideas and cannot make sound judgments. Sometimes they leave home or other secure surroundings, and they become homeless or missing. They can be gone for days, weeks, months or years. Often they leave behind distraught families, who are desperate to return their loved ones home or to another safe place. To see the on-line guide, go to: http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=missing_persons&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=47391

MARY BETH PFEIFFER IS KEYNOTE for NAMI Iowa Fall Conference Nov. 29-30

Mary Beth Pfeiffer is a long-time investigative reporter, published journalist, researcher and author,

who puts a human face on the national scandal in which thousands of mentally ill people tangle daily with police In her new book, Crazy in America: The Hidden Tragedy of Our Criminalized Mentally Ill, (Carroll & Graf; Publication date: May 22, 2007; $15.95, paperback)

Mary Beth Pfeiffer tells the stories of six people whose mental illnesses thrust them into the arms of police and into jails, prisons and juvenile facilities that were ill-prepared to care for them. The results were shocking and preventable: Suicide, self-mutilation, death at the hands of frightened and poorly trained police.

Crazy in America is now available in bookstores and on-line. Don’t miss this highly acclaimed journalist, and winner of many awards, whose pioneering reports led her to take her message about the failed mental health system nationwide. We are honored to have Ms. Pfeiffer as our Keynote Speaker at our fall conference.

Crazy in America is an upsetting book, which is as it should be.

One feels restless, even impatient, trying to summarize it. Every chapter is keen in detail. Then, suddenly, the lyrics of a Bob Dylan song come to mind, to help capture its essence:

How many times must a man look up Before he can see the sky? Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have Before he can hear people cry? Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows That too many people have died?

Drawing from California, Florida, Iowa, New York and Texas, the book uses six case studies to expose the national scandal in which the mental healthcare system keeps failing and the criminal justice system takes over.

The six case studies—each of which constitutes a separate part of the book, with three chapters in each part—shows the scandal up-close and personal. They are not dry recitations of statistics or policy prescriptions.

One study involves the odyssey of a 39 year old woman with a history of 25 hospitalizations who tears out her eyes while in solitary confinement.

Another is about a man who is shot and killed, after a police officer seeks to scold him about urinating in public but doesn’t know how to deescalate his terrified response.

Still another involves an 18-year-old boy who hangs himself after being abandoned in a small cell for eight weeks.

“People with mental illnesses lack the basic tools for survival,” Pfeiffer notes. “They see things that others don’t, yell out to silent voices, think in chaotic patterns. They are often crippled by irrational fears or weighted down by profound feelings of sadness. Yet the hallmark of prison life is regimentation and control. Obedience is expected to be instantaneous and unquestioned.”

To be sure, statistics are seeded throughout the book.

Out of 2.2 million prison and jail inmates in America, approximately 330, 000 struggle with mental illnesses. In Florida, so many people are killed by police that one 1998 study said that they account for 20 percent of the nation’s total.

Two of the persons profiled in the book were among 24 people in the Tampa Bay area killed during police confrontations from 2004 to 2006. About three dozen police officers were involved. None were criticized for their actions—and the deaths were ruled “justifiable,” “appropriate,” or “excusable.”

In a legal sense, the rulings may have been correct—the officers involved were often traumatized by the experience. But Pfeiffer points out that in 2000, the Tampa Police Department instituted Crisis Intervention Training (CIT). By 2003, three hundred officers took the course. But today, the number has dwindled to only ten to fifteen each year.

The Tampa officer who shot one of the men profiled in the book had not taken the CIT course. Only three hours of her initial police training covered mental illness. In more than 30 training courses taken by her in the fours years preceding the tragedy, not one had anything to do with mental illness. This in a state where one in four of the people arrested have a mental illness.

The decline in Tampa’s CIT program points to a key sickness: the lack of sustained leadership and commitment by those in authority and power to do what’s necessary and right, rather than simply look for “quick fixes.”

Pfeiffer offers a “Top 10 List” of reforms to keep people with mental illnesses out of the criminal justice system: 1. Stop building prisons. 2. Invest in special prison units for those people with mental illnesses who do belong in prison. 3. Train prison corrections officers to work with and respect people with mental illnesses. 4. Invest in prison rehabilitation programs to curb recidivism. 5. Stop putting people with mental illnesses into solitary confinement. 6. Roll back punitive drug laws; invest in drug treatment programs that allow people to fail and then keep trying. 7. Train police officers how to respond to people with mental illnesses in crisis. 8. Invest in inpatient and outpatient mental healthcare services in the community. 9. Pass insurance parity and extend Medicaid coverage to include stays in state psychiatric hospitals. 10.Invest in housing—and eliminate rules that keep non-violent and reformed felons out of public housing.

None of these are quick fixes. But they will help focus discussion of steps needed to do what’s right. It also may be the first list to


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frankly include stopping the construction of new prisons and repealing punitive drug laws, and instead forcing investment in community services at the front end.

The book may be disadvantaged by similarity in title and topic to Crazy: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness, published last year, which was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize, as well as NAMI’s 2007 Outstanding Media Award for Advocacy. But they are different book that complement each other. Both should be given to every governor, state legislator and Member of Congress as part of advocacy for reform.

One advantage of Crazy in America is that each case study stands alone. Along with the preface and afterword, only one case study, or any combination of them, need be read to get the point.

Yes, too many people have died.

The NAMI Fall Conference will be Thursday and Friday, Nov. 29-30 at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites, 4800 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines. Call NAMI Iowa for more details and to register for the conference – 254-0417 or 1-800-417-0417 or www.namiiowa.org

Mental Illness Facts - Did you know?

Without treatment, the consequences of mental illness for the individual and society are staggering: unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, inappropriate incarceration, and suicide.

• 44% of the males and 61% of the females in federal prisons have mental health problems* • 55% of the males and 73 % of the women in state prisons have mental health problems* • 63% of the males and 75 % of the women in local jails have mental health problems* *Office of Justice Programs, US Dept. of Justice. Press Release Sept. 6, 2006

As of 12-31-06, there were 3535 mentally ill inmates in Iowa prisons. The total prison population is slightly more than 8,600 people.

State Legislation Here are 3 places on the web to access E-mail to figure out who your legislators are, to contact your legislators, get mailing addresses, and phone numbers. http://www.infonetiowa.com/ - Also has the latest on legislation. http://www.legis.state.ia.us/ www.nami.org/advocacy

ILLINOIS' MENTAL ILLNESS TREATMENT LAW IMPROVED September 14, 2007 NAMI Illinois and Family Members Credited for Removing Requirement for "Dangerousness"

Governor Rod Blagojevich has signed Senate Bill 234 into law, to the elation of many who have been fighting for years to improve the state's strict mental illness treatment law. Illinois currently requires someone to be an actual physical danger to themselves or others before they can be court-ordered into mental illness treatment. The new law, which will go into effect June 2008, loosens that strict standard to allow earlier intervention for people with incapacitating symptoms of illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

"This measure opens far wider the door to needed treatment for a small group of people who are extremely ill," said Jonathan Stanley, acting executive director of the national Treatment Advocacy Center. "Because of the work of so many advocates, Illinois' law has gone from one virtually mandating non-treatment of those lost to severe mental illnesses to one that can and will save lives.

Illinois has joined the national trend toward making mental illness treatment laws more rational and humane."

This standard will make it easier to use assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) in Illinois. AOT has been shown to reduce rates of hospitalization, homelessness, arrests, and incarceration, saving both lives and money.

"The current criteria make it very difficult and sometimes impossible for individuals suffering from mental illness to get the help they need. In many instances, people stop taking necessary medications, and as a result, fail to realize they need those medications, or even that they suffer from an illness. In these situations, a brief involuntary commitment is the only way to ensure someone with a mental illness returns to their medications and ceases to become a danger to themselves or others."

New Language Will Allow Involuntary Commitment Before Someone Is Dangerous

Current Illinois law permits a person in crisis because of the symptoms of an acute mental illness to be court-ordered into inpatient or outpatient treatment in only one of the two following circumstances:

*** A person with mental illness who because of his or her illness is reasonably expected to inflict serious physical harm upon himself or herself or another in the near future which may include threatening behavior or conduct that places another individual in reasonable expectation of being harmed; or

*** A person with mental illness and who because of his or her illness is unable to provide for his basic physical needs so as to guard himself or herself from serious harm without the assistance of family or outside help.

The revision in the law will allow for the placement in treatment of anyone who:

"because of the nature of his or her illness, is unable to understand his or her need for treatment and who, if not treated, is at risk of suffering or continuing to suffer mental deterioration or emotional deterioration, or both, to the point that the person is at risk of engaging in dangerous conduct."

SB 234 would also add the following definition of "dangerous conduct":

"Dangerous conduct" means threatening behavior or conduct that places another individual in reasonable expectation of being harmed, or a person's inability to provide, without the assistance of family or outside help, for his or her basic physical needs so as to guard himself or herself from serious harm.

For more on the change in the law or to see how Illinois' law compares with laws in other states, visit the Treatment Advocacy Center online at www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org.

A commentary which preceded passage of SB234 - - - - A Commitment to Mental Health

Editorial – Gatehouse News Service 7-6-07 NAMI argues, persuasively, that it's better for people to intervene one step before their loved ones become an imminent threat to themselves or to others. The new standard is meant to let those familiar with a person's illness - parent, spouse, social worker - petition for commitment based on their knowledge of what's happened before. It is intended, says state Rep. David Leitch, R-Peoria, for the "parent standing there, watching for the millionth time what happens to their child when they refuse to take their meds."

Those who live with, work with or treat someone with prolonged


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mental illness feel that "uh-oh" moment hit hard. A son with schizophrenia starts menacing those around him. A father with bipolar disorder begins having bizarre manic episodes. A daughter with depression talks repeatedly about life being hopeless. Patients with these repeated behavior patterns shouldn't have to "hit rock bottom" before people around them can help, Leitch says.

At least two dozen other states have passed measures similar to SB 234. Nonetheless, involuntary commitment remains a controversial subject, even among mental health professionals. It's important to note that Illinois' proposed law applies only to the initiation of a commitment, not the process itself, which will continue to have stringent safeguards to protect individual rights. Indeed, an admitting physician, usually an emergency doctor, must agree with the commitment. A hospital psychiatrist must concur within 24 hours. After that, a judge must sign off no longer than five business days later.

"There are multiple layers of checks and balances," says Mike Kennedy, vice president of Peoria's Human Service Center. "You won't be improperly hospitalizing someone because they become symptomatic." Jack Gilligan, founder of the center, agrees. Updating Illinois' law will not be a return to the "old days," he says, when people with less-than-honorable intentions might have abused commitment.

The goal of Peoria's mental health advocates is not to hold people against their will; it's to have them seek help themselves. But when a person is beyond rationality, that's unlikely. It's time for mental illness to be recognized as the chemical imbalance - "a brain disorder," says Leitch - it is. That means dealing with it like any other medical condition when it comes to treatment access. For all practical purposes, doctors keep heart attack victims involuntarily, too.

BROKEN LIVES, BROKEN SYSTEM - BEHIND BARS

By Rick Kupchella, KARE 11 News – Minneapolis 5-10-07

There's a mental health crisis in this country that's been developing over

decades. With treatment centers closing, more and more mentally ill people end up in jail, prison, or in the local hospital emergency room.

Jails and prisons don't just cost the public a lot more money, they actually tend to exacerbate the problem with the mentally ill.

They have no windows. There is no therapy. And they are filled with criminals. Jails make the situation worse.

By some measures the problem in Minnesota is actually worse than it is nationally. According to the latest information from the Minnesota Psychiatric Society there are 28 'mental health' beds across this country for every 100,000 people. In Minnesota, we have little better than half that - 17.

Fewer mental health beds means more people on the street and ultimately in our jails and prisons.

At the Ramsey County Jail last month, we witnessed scenes you don't see every day.

We spent several hours over two days with 36-year-old Kelly Sauer - an inmate and a patient.

He doesn't remember much about the theft that put him here. But when he tells you 'the voices made him do it,' he is credible.

"When I'm off my meds," he told us, "I don't remember a lot of things. I go through blackouts, I hear voices. I see people that aren't

there. After hearing the voices over and over and over and over, you just do what they say. You don't even think about it."

Kelly is schizophrenic. The voices, he says, have told him to kill himself since about the age of 13. He's tried repeatedly. When the voices tell him to leave - he does that too.

"I've woken up and been in Nebraska. I've been in Las Vegas," he says. "I just wake up and I'm there. I don't know how I got there, I don't remember."

When asked if he's ever hurt anyone, he tells us, "No, I've always hurt myself."

By his own count this is his 20th incarceration. He'll face commitment to a mental hospital this time - at least for a few weeks. He's hopeful he'll get more help. But Kelly knows the system for dealing with people like him is broken.

In our week inside the Ramsey County Jail we watched person after person come in, identifying themselves as mentally ill. Jailors are now required to ask "Do you have any mental illness?"

As jailers explain it, there's been an evolution of law on this subject requiring them to know if a person is mentally ill. And it's not enough to go with what they're told. They have to figure it out.

They hire psychiatrists to help them. As a matter of policy, the jails have to determine if the inmate should be medicated, and if so, what medicines would be best. They have to provide those drugs at no cost to the inmate and make sure they take the medication.

They don't always need a doctor to know they have a problem. While we were with them they put one man, Derrick Hutchinson, in a Kevlar suit. He's been here many times and jailers say they are often worried that he will hurt himself.

Hutchinson told us the voices he hears seem very real.

"I get all swooped like where the hell them voices coming from?!... What the hell?!... you know what I'm saying?" Hutchinson told us.

He says they don't tell him much they just "bug me to death." Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher says he's stunned by the level of mental illness he sees in the jail. It's often said today, that the largest facility for dealing with people who are mentally ill in this country is the Los Angeles County Jail.

Jails, Fletcher maintains, are a lousy place for the mentally ill.

"It's not designed to treat persons who are mentally ill," he says. "Many in law enforcement resent the fact that the policy makers continue to expect us to be the final safety net."

The breakdowns here are almost overwhelming. Fletcher says we're clearly not taking care of this population to begin with.

We ask the mentally ill to take their medications when their mental illness often keeps that from happening. When they fail and they get in trouble, we put them in jail. Jailers say they're more likely to be victimized there. They sure don't get treatment.

In fact, the way it works in Minnesota, as soon as we put them in jail - while the jail will take over their medications - we terminate their healthcare altogether. So when they get out there's no access to medication, treatment or anything else. Sue Abderholden, with the National Alliance for Mental Illness says, "If you were on Social Security Disability, that's been stopped. You have to get everything re-started. And you have to reapply for your healthcare. And that is a 36-page form."

Abderholden says it's more work for those least likely to manage it.

One way police have been trained to minimize this problem is to start taking these people directly to the hospital instead of the jail.


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That way, at least, their healthcare isn't canceled. This has led to hospitals being jammed with the mentally ill as well. Dr. Beth Johnson is a psychiatrist at Hennepin County Medical Center. She says emergency departments are stuffed full of psychiatric and chemically dependent patients who "need to be seen and there's no place to put them." At the new Acute Psychiatric Services Center at HCMC, where she works, they took 2,000 patients last year. The place only has eight beds. On the day we arrived they were housing some in interview rooms, and more were waiting on gurneys in the general emergency room as well.

"It clogs up the system," Johnson says, "so we end up having a lot of patients on the street."

On the street and then often back in the jail, where the average hold is just four days.

Not only does this system not work, she maintains, experts say it's extraordinarily expensive.

Hard numbers can be impossible to obtain because they involve "patient" records. But a recent study of just two chronic recidivists at HCMC found taxpayers paid $2 million for the care of just two people over two years.

And in the end their mental illness didn't get better, it got worse.

(Please note: In NAMI’s Grading the States Report – Minnesota received a C, Iowa received an F)

THE ORANGE GROVE: WE NEED SPECIAL COURTS FOR MENTALLY ILL By Michael Carona, Orange County Register 9-11-07

Diversion From Prison To Treatment Will Cut Crime, Save Taxpayers' Money.

Imagine you broke your arm, went to the doctor, and for treatment you were simply told to not use it for a while. Not only would this be inadequate but would lead to a more difficult recovery and greater expense down the road when you were finally given proper care.

This hypothetical may sound absurd, but something similar, on a larger and more serious scale, is happening throughout California. And the human and monetary costs of the situation are dire.

Currently, 15 percent to 20 percent of California's prison inmates and parolees suffer from serious mental illnesses including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and major depression. Sadly, we do not have a comprehensive system in place to diagnose and treat these offenders; California instead incarcerates them when they get into trouble, and then sends them back onto the streets after they do their time.

As a result, they offend again and again. In fact, the U.S. Justice Department reported that nearly a quarter of state prisoners with a mental health problem had served three or more prior jail terms, a recidivism rate about 25 percent higher than for offenders without mental illness. This recidivism alone is costing state taxpayers millions of dollars each year - yet it is largely avoidable.

Senate Bill 851, authored by Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, seeks to remedy the revolving door for mentally ill offenders by providing them with comprehensive diagnosis and treatment. SB851 will implement mental health courts statewide to help divert mentally ill offenders and parolees from prison and into treatment. The bill will also expand screening for serious mental illnesses in prisons and provide more treatment services for parolees. SB851

will help reduce crime, address prison overcrowding and lower our incarceration costs by millions each year.

How much does all this cost? Actually, mental health courts would produce a net savings.

According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, the expansion of the state's use of mental health courts to divert seriously mentally ill inmates from state prisons could "generate net state savings of a couple of tens of millions of dollars annually when fully implemented." Moreover, the LAO's analysis concluded that there was "no significant net state general fund costs to operate the mental health court program" in that similar mental health courts actually cost less to run than traditional criminal courts.

Mental health courts already exist in 31 of the state's 58 counties. The program in Santa Clara County saved $2.2 million in one year in reduced prisoner housing costs. SB851 would standardize mental health courts in California.

The bill also gives mental health courts jurisdiction over mentally ill parole violators.

California recognizes the seriousness of mental illness and has taken steps to address the problem, including past legislation addressing the chronically homeless mentally ill. This legislation alone has resulted in a 67 percent reduction in the number of days the targeted population spent homeless, a 65 percent increase in the number of days working full-time and an incredible 72 percent reduction in the number of days spent incarcerated.

Providing those same services to seriously mentally ill parolees would result, the LAO estimates, in a 58 percent reduction in the number of offenders returning to prison - where they are assigned to beds that can cost up to $110,000 a year for this high-need population.

We must give serious consideration to our mentally ill offenders and provide them with proper psychiatric treatment. By ignoring the real source of the problem, they will continue down the same path and return behind bars again and again. SB851 is the right answer at the right time.

Not only will this bill provide the resources for proper treatment for mentally ill offenders, but it will also reduce recidivism rates, increase public safety, address prison overcrowding and save California taxpayers money. SB851 deserves to be passed by the Legislature, which could happen as soon as today, and then should be signed into law by the governor.

NAMI Greater Des Moines Board of Directors

President and Editor of Newsletter Teresa Bomhoff 274-6876 E-mail: [email protected] Vice-President – Diane Johnson 255-8157 E-mail: [email protected]

Treasurer – Don Jayne 225-8912 E-mail: [email protected]

Secretary – Sharon Browne 988-5151 E-mail: [email protected]

Board members Kevin Lind 208-6250 E-mail: [email protected]

Glenn Hobin 965-9799 E-mail: [email protected]

Diane Banasiak 334-5159 E-mail: [email protected]


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SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS Second Sunday of the month -11/11/07 Family members, if you are interested in participating in a family support group, please contact Glenn Hobin [email protected] or call 965-9799 - or contact Grace Sivadge 961-6671. Meetings are at Eyerly-Ball Community Mental Health Center, 1301 Center St., Des Moines – 2:30 – 4:00 P.M.

First Monday of each month -6:30 – 8 PM - a support group for parents and caregivers of children with severe emotional disturbance (SED) or mental illness – meets at the Child Serve Center – 5406 Merle Hay Rd, Johnston. For more information – call Diane at 255-8157.

Every Monday evening – 7-8 PM – Broadlawn’s-1801 Hickman – dual diagnosis support group “Double Trouble and Recovery” – in lower level – Sands Kitchen-call Julie at 282-6793

2nd & 4th Mondays of each month – 7 P.M. – For depression and anxiety disorders only – WestView Church, 1155 SE Boone, in Waukee. Call Julie at 710-1487 or E-mail at [email protected]

Every Tuesday evening – 8-10 P.M. - Recovery Inc., a self-help group for people who have nervous and mental troubles – at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 3120 E. 24th St., Des Moines – Call 266-2346 – Marty Hulsebus.

2nd Tuesday of the month – New Light Support Group – for persons experiencing depression or other mental health issues – at Westkirk Presbyterian Church, 2700 Colby Woods Drive, Urbandale, Iowa – 515-253-0330 – Pastor Michael Mudlaff

4th Tuesday evening of the month – Presentations on Mental Health issues and topics at Westkirk Presbyterian Church, 2700 Colby Woods Drive, Urbandale, Iowa 515-253-0330 – Pastor Michael Mudlaff

Every Thursday at 2:00 P.M. - Recovery, Inc. - a self-help group for people who have nervous and mental troubles – at Central Iowa Center for Independent Living, 665 Walnut St., Des Moines – Call 237-0232 – Mark Grunzweig.

Thursday, Nov. 1, Nov. 15 –Depression Support Group at Lutheran Church of Hope – 5:30 to 6:30 P.M. –for yourself and/or support persons or family – Room 213, Ashworth and Jordan Creek Parkway, SE Corner, West Des Moines, IA

Every Thursday evening – 7:45 – 9:45 P.M. – Recovery, Inc. - a self-help group for people who have nervous and mental troubles – at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, 1020 24th St., in West Des Moines. Call – 277-6071-Deb Rogers.

Every Saturday morning – 10 A.M. A group of people who have depression will meet at Lutheran Church of Hope, 925 Jordan Creek Parkway, Call 222-1520, ext. 175.

Saturday, Nov. 10,17, 24 Depression Support Group at Lutheran Church of Hope – 10 – 11:15 AM. –for yourself and/or support persons or family – Room 214, Ashworth and Jordan Creek Parkway, SE Corner, West Des Moines, IA

Every Saturday afternoon – 2:00 – 3:30 P.M. – the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance meets at Iowa Lutheran Hospital – University at Penn Avenue – Level B – private dining room. This is a support group for consumers.

Coping After a Suicide Support Group – Polk Co. Crisis and Advocacy Services – Contact: Chris 515-286-3887 Meeting day – 2nd Thursday of each month 6-7:30 P.M. and last Saturday of each month 9-10:30 A.M. Meeting place is 525 5th Avenue, Suite H. Victim Services Phone: 515-286-3600

Do you know of other support groups in the Des Moines area that we should list in our newsletter?

Suicide Hotline 1-800-273-TALK (8255) Veterans Suicide Hotline 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Warning: Regular or heavy alcohol use can worsen most psychological states, such as anxiety, depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, or eating

problems. Alcohol can change the way a person feels in the short run; however, the overall effect only worsens

a disorder. Marijuana and other drugs can have similar or more serious effects on the brain.

If you have a mental health crisis in your family and need assistance – call 911. Be clear with the dispatcher what the situation is, that it is a mental health crisis, and you need the DM Mobile Mental

Health Crisis Unit to assist. The goal is to keep everyone safe and to seek the appropriate level of assistance for the ill family member or friend.

The first people to arrive to the situation will be Des Moines police officers. Officers will determine if it is a mental health related issue and maintain safety at the scene. Officers make a request through dispatch if the Mobile Crisis Unit is needed.

When DM Mobile Mental Health Crisis Unit staff arrive, a mental health assessment will be done, on-site counseling and problem solving, crisis plan development, coordination with hospitals if transport to a medical facility is necessary, and medication can be administered if necessary. A psychiatrist is always on call to help make those determinations and authorizations.

DM suburbs also use the mobile crisis team services – their officers make the decision whether or not the mobile crisis team is called.

The Mobile Crisis Unit is available 6:30 AM to 2:30 AM – 7 days a week. It is staffed by licensed mental health professionals and registered nurses.

We hope you are enjoying the newsletter we are sending you. If you’ve come to our once a month affiliate meetings, we hope you’ve obtained useful information. Please help to support our organization by becoming a member of NAMI Greater Des Moines. Dues are: Send to: Don Jayne, Treasurer 1291 16th St. West Des Moines, IA 50265 Please make the check payable to NAMI GDM

If you would like to make a donation instead of becoming a member, please send your donation to our Treasurer, Don Jayne. Thanks for your generosity!

$35.00 Family/Individual $ 3.00 Limited income $50.00 Professional

RESOURCES – RESOURCES - RESOURCES


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With a membership to NAMI Greater Des Moines – you help to support all 3 levels of the NAMI organization.

Assistance with Prescription Cost Polk County residents without full health insurance coverage can save on prescription drugs under a

county sponsored drug discount program. For a complete list of card locations or a list of participating

pharmacies, call 286-3895. and The Partnership for Prescription Assistance - Call 1-888-477-2669 or visit www.pparx.org to see if you may qualify for a variety of programs available. and Patients who lack prescription drug insurance and are not eligible for Medicare - call 1-800-444-4106 or visit the Together Rx Access Web site for the Together Rx Access™ Card.

Provider Education

NAMI IOWA and Magellan Behavioral Care of Iowa offer the Provider Education Course - a 10-week training providing behavioral health practitioners with a penetrating, subjective view of mental illness presented through lecture, discussion and handouts.

The Provider Education Course has been completed at Magellan's offices in Des Moines and at the Mental Health Institute at Independence.

The course helps providers realize the hardships that families and consumers endure and appreciate the courage and persistence it takes to find ways to reconstruct lives.

CEU’s were arranged for social workers, mental health counselors, marital/family therapists, registered nurses, and certified alcohol/drug counselors.

The Provider Course emphasizes the involvement of consumers in the challenging work of provider-staff training. The teaching team consists of five people: two family members trained as NAMI Family-to-Family Education Program teachers; two consumers who are knowledgeable about their own mental illness, have a supportive relationship with their families, and are dedicated to the process of recovery; and a mental health professional who is also a family member or consumer.

The course reflects a new knowledge base, the "lived experiences" of coping with a brain disorder or caring for someone who struggles with this life-long challenge. Including this deeply personal perspective creates an appreciable difference in the program's content. It adds a means of teaching the emotional aspects and practical consequences of these illnesses in addition to the academic medical information in the course. The Provider Education course is designed for line staff at public agencies working directly with people with severe and persistent brain disorders. Course components: • Orientation • Clinical Bases • 3 Major Mental Illnesses • Types/Subtypes of Mood Disorders/Diagnosis of panic

Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Co-Occurring Brain and Addictive Disorders, interventions which are effective for Family in Stage 1 Crisis

• Research into the Biological Basis of Mental Illness • Medication review • Inside Mental Illness • Responding Effectively to Families in Stage 2

• Meeting the whole family/problem solving • Why advocacy?/Helping Families in Stage 3 If you are interested in having the Provider Education course at your business or organization – please go to our website www.nami.org/sites/NAMIGreaterDesMoines and click on educational courses to reach an application form or call the NAMI Iowa office at 254-0417.

Parents and Teachers As Allies

10% of children and adolescents in the U.S. suffer from emotional and mental disorders so

severe that they have trouble functioning at home and in school.

When a child’s behavior falls well outside the norm and signals early onset mental illness, families and teachers need to work together to get students the help they need.

This 2 hour in-service program is for parents, teachers and other school professionals, school nurses, social workers, medical residents, education majors at colleges, juvenile probation officers, court appointed advocates – CASA volunteers, and many others.

The program is presented by an education professional who is also a family member, a facilitator/family member, a parent or caregiver of a child with mental illness, and a mental health consumer that experienced the early onset of mental illness.

Components Welcome and Introductions Early Warning Signs of Mental Illnesses Family Response Group Discussion Living with Mental Illness Closing Remarks and Evaluation

Children with mental illness face a double whammy: they don’t get diagnosed soon enough, from fear and misunderstanding. By the time they finally do, a good portion of their childhood may be needlessly lost, and they may be denied the opportunity to live full and productive lives.

Only about 20% of children and adolescents with mental disorders are identified and receive mental health services. Children of color have less access to treatment and often receive poorer quality care.

Schools are in a key position to identify mental health problems early and to provide a link to appropriate services.

From the Parents and Teachers as Allies course, attendees are given a handbook which gives tips on how to team up to help ensure that students with mental illnesses are identified early and linked with services. It walks school professionals through the early warning signs of mental illness. It also lays the foundation for improving the academic achievement of those students.

Students with mental illness have the highest school drop-out and failure rates of any disability group – clearly they are being left behind.

It can take up to 8 years from the onset of symptoms before a child is identified and gets treatment.

Eight years is far too long and the consequences are devastating – not just for families, but for society as a whole. We know that unidentified and untreated mental disorders mean the loss of critical development years, school drop out and failure, involvement with the criminal justice system, and the ultimate tragedy – suicide.

Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death in children 10 to 14; children of color have the highest rates. And 90% of people who die by suicide suffer from a diagnosable, treatable mental illness at the time of their death.


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To have the Parents and Teachers as Allies program at your school or organization– please contact Diane Johnson 255-8157 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

Rates of Bipolar Diagnosis in Youth Rapidly Climbing, Treatment Patterns Similar to Adults

The number of visits to a doctor’s office that resulted in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and

adolescents has increased by 40 times over the last decade, reported researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Over the same time period, the number of visits by adults resulting in a bipolar disorder diagnosis almost doubled. The cause of these increases in unclear. Medication prescription patterns for the two groups were similar. The study was published in the September 2007 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. The full press release can be found at: http:// www.nimh.nih.gov/press/rates_bipolar_diagnosis.cfm

College Students and Mental Health The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law April 2007

Many college age students suffer from depression. In the 2006 National College Health Assessment, 43.8% of the 94,806 students surveyed reported they “felt so depressed it was difficult to function” during the past year, and 9.3% said they had “seriously considered suicide” during the year.

Students also named depression as one of the top ten impediments to academic performance. Academic demands, living away from home, financial responsibilities and new relationships are contributing factors.

The school’s response can add to the problem. Colleges and universities should be committed to the success of all their students and should encourage students to seek counseling when they feel depressed or overwhelmed or otherwise have mental health needs. Yet some schools lack comprehensive policies for responding to such students or do so in discriminatory or punitive ways, requiring them to leave or evicting them from college/university housing. Some charge students with disciplinary violations for suicidal gestures or thoughts. Such measures discourage students from seeking help. They isolate students from social and professional supports – friends and understanding counselors and teachers – at a time of crisis, increasing the risk of harm.

The goal of campus policies should be to maximize the likelihood that students who require mental health treatment receive it and to ensure that their problems not reach crisis proportions before services become available.

To that end, schools should take actions to • de-stigmatize mental illness, • encourage students to seek help early, • remove barriers to seeking treatment, and • ensure that students will not be penalized when they ask

for help.

Unfortunately, some schools have created a paradox for students in need: while encouraging students who struggle with mental health problems to seek assistance, the school administration then applies disciplinary measures when students take this difficult step, in an effort to remove mental health problems from the campus.

All students should know whom to call when they or their fellow students are in trouble and should have ready access to counseling and other support. Moreover, mental health programs need to work in partnership with schools to make mental health services are

readily available, including getting out of their clinics and reaching out to students who are at obvious risk.

Teen Suicide Studies Statement by Ken Duckworth, M.D. NAMI Medical Director – 9-7-07

Teen suicide is an often preventable tragedy. It is an appropriate focus of research and

inquiry. Two new studies focused on the issue, raise both important clinical and policy questions.

In the September issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry, researchers looked at children and teen suicide rates in the U.S. and the Netherlands, two countries which have put major warnings on the medications to treat depression, with a resulting substantial drop in medication prescriptions for children and teens.

They observed a large increase in suicide in children and teens following controversy about advisory warnings – one that correlates to the drop in prescriptions for antidepressants. There was a 14% increase in suicide rates for children and adolescents under the age of 19 from 2003 to 2004.

A second study, published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, shows an 8% increase in suicide rates for individuals between the ages of 10 and 24 in 2004, following a 28% decrease over the last 15 years. This is the largest escalation in this group since the agency began collecting suicide data in 1979.

Suicide has many dimensions, and medication treatment is an important one. This study is an opportunity to begin to put key pieces together relating regulatory demands, warnings and the tragedy that is suicide.

One possibility is that the FDA “black box warning” on the use of antidepressants with children and adolescents has reduced access to a useful (but risky on rare occasions) treatment – with bad outcomes as a result. It will take more study and time to fully assess how central this element of the rate increase is. NAMI will support and follow that research.

NAMI favors fully informed consent about the risks and benefits of all treatments and the often overlooked risk of no treatment at all – along with careful monitoring of individuals who have suicidal concerns and a comprehensive treatment plan that looks at all aspects of a child’s or teenager’s life in order to maximize their chances of a safe recovery from depression or other psychiatric illnesses.

Many thanks to Frank Varvaris – our speaker at the September NAMI Greater Des Moines educational meeting on the topic of “Estate Planning”. Topics covered were:

• Futures Planning o Financial Planning – selecting a combination of resources

which will guarantee adequate funds for the person’s lifetime

o Letter of Intent o Legal planning – do you need to establish a special needs

trust to protect government benefits? o Program Finalizing o Maintenance Planning

• Financial Evaluation • Government Benefits • Wills • Special Needs Trust


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• Trust Funding Frank did not charge a fee for speaking to our group – for which we are very grateful. If you would like to contact Frank – PH (319) 862-0363 or e-mail [email protected]

NAMI Greater Des Moines to have a Sales Table at the NAMI Fall Conference on Nov. 29-30

We will have small and large notecards designed by those with mental illness, silver ribbon products, and issues of

Schizophrenia Digest and BP (BiPolar ) magazine for sale to help support the activities of NAMI Greater

Des Moines.

The notecards and the silver ribbon products are purchased by NAMI Greater Des Moines from NARSAD and sold to anyone who wants to purchase these products . . . . . so who is NARSAD?

A little history lesson - NARSAD (The Mental Health Research Association)

was started by NAMI and other advocacy organizations

NARSAD’s sole mission is to raise and distribute funds for scientific research into the causes, cures, preventions and treatments of chronic and severe mental illnesses.

NARSAD was formed in 1986 as a coalition of 4 major citizen’s groups: the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), The National Mental Health Association and the Schizophrenia Research Foundation.

It’s first 10 grants were made in 1987. Since 1987, NARSAD has awarded $162.1 million to scientists throughout the world, including researchers who have won the Nobel Prize in medicine.

NARSAD is recognized as one of “America’s 100 Best Charities” by Worth Magazine and rates an A+ by the American Institute of Philanthropy. All of NARSAD’s administrative expenses are covered by two family foundations, allowing 100% of every dollar donated to go directly to fund research grants.

NARSAD’s Scientific Council solicits grant proposals from research institutions throughout the world, mostly universities. The solicitation is directed to three levels of investigators: Established, Independent, and Young. Emphasis is placed on young investigators to take advantage of their new ideas and to encourage young people into the field.

NARSAD Artworks began marketing in 1990. It was born out of the search by its founders, Patsy and Hal Hollister, for a way that the art works of their daughter, Annick, stricken by schizophrenia in 1978, might be used to help her. That thought expanded into helping any other artists suffering from mental illness. NARSAD is a 501c3 organization. The only people who receive pay are the artists, the packaging team at the VA in Long Beach, and 2 part-time employees. Artists whose works are selected for use are paid at standard commercial rates.

Silver Ribbons The Silver Ribbon concept was developed by a long time mental health advocate from Newport Beach,

California, Jean Liechty. She started in 1993 making ribbons from aluminum foil which she displayed and sold at various conventions around the country. At the same time, she worked to get the silver ribbon trademarked which was accomplished in 1988.

Her health took a bad turn and she was unable to continue her efforts for a couple of years and finally decided to turn the marketing efforts over to NARSAD Artworks in late 2000.

The Silver Ribbon has been trademarked for promoting public awareness of the need for support of people with brain disorders and disabilities. That encompasses the broad array of maladies that can affect the brain ranging from brain-injury to psychiatric illness, or from Alzheimer’s disease to brain cancer; all of which are disabling to the brain.

NARSAD Artworks does not want to minimize the importance of any individual advocacy or support area. Instead they want a coalition approach. The Silver Ribbon does not weaken any other symbol or logo.

For some time NARSAD Artworks has been soliciting letters from the public to be sent to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee in support of the U.S. Postal Service issuing a Silver Ribbon first class stamp.

This effort received a tremendous boost late in 2003 through the efforts of a Chicago based group headed by Mick Kelly and his brain injured son, Brian. They collected 42,000 letters which they boxed up and sent to the Postmaster General.

That resulted in the issue being placed on the agenda of the committee when they met in early 2004 and their decision was to “place (the Silver Ribbon nomination) under consideration for future stamp issuance.”

On August 28, 2006, former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, wrote a letter in support of issuance of the Silver Ribbon Brain Disorders and Disabilities Awareness First Class postage stamp to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee.

Stigma

Stigma surrounding mental illnesses comes from many sources. Public stigma is a result of the

general population’s misconceptions about mental illnesses. Internalized stigma - the belief that you are

weak or damaged because of your own illness - occurs when individuals assimilate social stereotypes about themselves as persons with serious mental illnesses.

Internalized stigma, like public stigma, negatively affects the lives of people with mental illnesses and hinders the recovery process. Internalized stigma can sometimes be the most difficult kind of stigma to fight. It may cause people to stop their treatment, isolate themselves from loved ones, or give up on things they want to do.

Bipolar

⇒ Bipolar is characterized by episodes of mania and depression that can last from days to months, and usually begins in late adolescence, but can begin in early childhood or as late as a person’s 40’s or 50’s.

⇒ Up to 90% of people living with bipolar disorder have been reported to experience onset before age 20, but many struggle an average of 10 years before they receive an accurate diagnosis. 7 out of 10 people with bipolar disorder receive at least one diagnosis.

⇒ Two-thirds of people with bipolar disorder are not properly diagnosed or treated.

⇒ People struggling with depression and bipolar disorder are far more likely to commit suicide than individuals in any other psychiatric or medical risk group.

⇒ Approximately 25-50% of people with bipolar disorder attempt suicide at least once.

⇒ More than two thirds of individuals w ho commit suicide struggle with a depressive illness or bipolar disorder.


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⇒ Approximately 40% of people with untreated bipolar disorder abuse alcohol or drugs.

Des Moines Mobile Crisis Response Team Facts

• 2083 - Total calls for FY 06-07 • Call cities

o Des Moines 1698 o West Des Moines 76 o Sheriff 60 o Ankeny 59 o EMS/Fire 47

• Disposition of Calls (How they were resolved) o Counseling/Refer/Stabilize 810 o Voluntary hospitalization 323 o Evaluated at Hospital 222 o No contact 179 o Phone Contact 159 o Involuntary Hospitalization 56 o Jail 45

• Top 5 Reasons for Calls o Suicidal 727 o Psychotic 250 o Depression 125 o Substance Abuse 119 o Domestics 97 o Other 334

Federal Legislative Issues www.nami.org/advocacy

Contact information for members of Congress Capitol Switchboard 1-202-224-3121

Contact via E-mail can be made directly through their web sites. http://grassley.senate.gov/ http://harkin.senate.gov/ http://www.house.gov/boswell/ http://www.tomlatham.house.gov/ http://www.house.gov/steveking/ http://www.braley.house.gov/ http://www.loebsack.house.gov/

2008 PRESIDENTAL ELECTION ACTION CENTER

We are sending you this website for those interested about the current presidential election. NAMI does not take a side in regard to a particular candidate.

This is one site where you can find useful information and participate in the process. http://www.aapd.com/News/election/peac2008.php

The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act Passes Both the House and Senate

The bill - which is named for a soldier from Grundy Center, Iowa, who took his own life after returning from Iraq - directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to step up screening, counseling and other mental health

services for returning war veterans.

The aim of the bill is to reduce the shocking rate of suicide among our men and women retuning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The VA estimates that more than 5,000 veterans take their lives each year. Suicide rates are 35 percent higher for Iraq veterans than for the general population. And the Department of Defense recently reported that the Army is now seeing the highest rate of suicide since the Vietnam War.

Suicide Facts • If depression is public health problem #1, then suicide is #1A.

• 33,000 Americans die by suicide each year, more than from homicide or any medical condition.

• 438,000 ER visits yearly for self-inflicted injuries

Excerpts from Mental Health Coverage Advances By Gregory Lopes, Washington Times

October 17, 2007 A House committee yesterday advanced legislation requiring employers to provide the same insurance coverage for mental illness as they do for other medical services, a move insurers warn would lead to higher medical expenses for businesses.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the bill 32-13, sending it to the floor. A competing bill was approved last month by the Senate, which the health insurance lobby and the Bush administration strongly support.

President Bush has indicated he is in favor of parity for mental health care coverage, but hasn't pledged to sign either version of the legislation.

Under both bills, health insurers would have to provide the same coverage for mental health disorders as they do for medical conditions.

This would change many longstanding practices of insurers — such as setting limits on how many times per year a patient can see a psychiatrist while allowing unlimited visits to a family doctor, or reimbursing a smaller percentage of the costs for mental health treatments.

Mental health advocacy organizations support both versions but prefer the House bill.

"We recognize the House bill provides greater protections from patient perspective," said Ralph Ibson, vice president of government affairs at Mental Health America, a nonprofit organization for the mentally ill. "Yet we have witnessed, year after year, strong legislative proposals die before passing. The Senate bill is not all that we would have hoped for, but it makes great strides; we would welcome its passage if it's as far as Congress can go."

Farewell to the Voices

Excerpts from Harvard Mental Health Letter – Sept. 2007

Any man or woman on the street can tell you that voices in the head are the chief sign of madness. It’s true: Auditory hallucinations are the most familiar and the most common psychotic symptom of schizophrenia, occurring in more than two thirds of people with the disorder. The voices praise and condemn, threaten, command, argue, make predictions, and even hold conversations with the listener, who may develop delusions or commit violent actions in response. Researchers, clinicians, and patients themselves are still searching for ways to suppress or neutralize these hallucinations.

An antipsychotic drug usually helps. It may eliminate the voices or at least make a patient indifferent to them. But drugs don’t always work, and not all patients can or want to take them consistently.

If a chemical treatment doesn’t do the job, for some patients an electrical one may. A recent meta-analysis of 10 controlled trials found that patients get some relief with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the brain regions that govern speech perception. This technique is still experimental, and it’s not known how long the effects last.


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Except for drugs, the most common approaches to treatment are behavioral and cognitive, often building on what patients do to help themselves – mainly humming, counting, praying, reading aloud, listening to music, or engaging in conversation to distract themselves. Some say it helps just to repeat what the voice says, and one study found that simply opening the mouth was effective – presumably because it prevented patients from speaking under their breaths.

Shouting back and arguing seem to be less effective, although not necessarily for everyone. Different approaches work in different situations, and studies have found that none stands out as particularly effective. Cognitive and behavioral therapies have incorporated many of these techniques.

Both cognitive and behavioral techniques can be used in group therapy and self-help groups, which also help to normalize the experience and remove its stigma.

Mindfulness meditation, difficult as it must be for people with schizophrenia, has also been used for the relief of auditory hallucinations. The patient is encouraged to note the presence of the voice calmly as it comes and goes, without either offering resistance or engaging with it.

There is little controlled research on how to cope with these hallucinations. Most of the available studies are short-term and lack solid standards for judging the outcome. Plenty of opportunities are left for finding new ways to bid the voices goodbye.

Third Annual CIT National Conference a Success (CIT is Crisis Intervention Team)

Memphis, Tennessee hosted a successful Third Annual CIT National Conference in August, featuring over 80 workshops and drawing over 1100 attendees from across the United States and internationally. During the opening session, conference attendees filled the ballroom at the Cook Convention Center to overflowing.

Bureau of Justice Grants The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration grants program funds state and local programs for police training, reentry services, mental health and substance abuse treatment in correctional facilities, and mental health courts. To learn more about the grant program, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/programs/mental_health.html

Statewide Models of Change Through CIT (CIT is Crisis intervention Team)

One of the workshops at the 3rd Annual CIT National Conference featured a discussion of statewide CIT programs in Kentucky, Georgia, Florida and Ohio.

NAMI National Board member and NAMI Kentucky Executive Director Jim Dailey presented on the status of CIT in Kentucky, including their new state law which endorses a specific model of 40-hour CIT training, based on the Memphis Model. Together with Denise Spratt, Kentucky’s Statewide CIT Coordinator, Jim is actively working throughout the Bluegrass state to help local jurisdictions create CIT programs.

David Lushbaugh, also on the NAMI National Board and former president of NAMI Georgia, discussed Georgia’s statewide program, which was started as a collaborative effort between the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and NAMI-Georgia and has led to the training of hundreds of law enforcement officers in the state.

Michele Saunders, Executive Director of Florida Partners in Crisis, described the grassroots evolution of CIT programs in her state.

After seeing the success of CIT initiatives in several Florida counties, a statewide coalition was established to provide technical assistance to counties just getting started with CIT, and to promote fidelity to the Memphis Model. Today, CIT programs exist in numerous counties and communities throughout the state.

Finally, Dr. Fred Frese, NAMI National Board Member, took the opportunity to recognize some of the figures responsible for bringing CIT to Ohio, including Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton and Lt. Mike Woody. Ohio’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of Excellence plays a key role in helping local communities implement CIT programs. As with Florida, these programs are now in place in communities throughout the state. The talk was followed by a lively question and answer session.

Race, Mental Illness and Policing: Benefiting from Crisis Intervention Team Training

This workshop presented some strategies for CIT officers to work effectively in racial and ethnic minority communities. The presenters discussed the barriers that traditionally underserved populations face in accessing treatment and the ways that different groups may talk about their symptoms. They also discussed culture-bound syndromes, which are illnesses that occur specifically in one cultural group and are often tied to traditionally recognized mental illnesses, but culturally interpreted and experienced. Finally, the presenters suggested that officers should not be intimidated by the concept of “cultural competence”: a great deal can be accomplished by admitting your own biases, letting go of assumptions and listening patiently to individuals as they tell their stories. In order to draw out an individual’s history and experience, they suggest a set of non-threatening questions such as: “Where is your family from?” “What languages do you speak?” “Who do you live with?”

“An Unlikely Union": Seminole County, Florida’s Collaborative Approach to CIT

Organizers of the Seminole County CIT program, including Shannon Seiple from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, along with Dr. Valerie Westhead and Charlotte Guiliani, from the Seminole County Mental Health Center, discussed their collaborative implementation of CIT. Seminole County employs two strategies to intervene before a crisis occurs or can escalate. First, they train as many officials as possible in CIT, including police officers, probation officers, dispatchers, code enforcement officers, child protective services, and corrections officers. This allows for intervention on many fronts, pre- and post-booking. Another effective strategy has been utilizing Florida’s civil commitment law, the Baker Act, which allows a 72 hour hold for evaluation in non-emergency situations. Officers frequently use the 72 hour hold to get someone into treatment quickly and help create stability; repeated holds (as a result of non-compliance or repeated police encounters) may be grounds for outpatient commitment. To learn more about Seminole County’s efforts, email Shannon Seiple at [email protected].

NAMI Sacramento Tackles Suicide Epidemic in Law Enforcement

Police officers are at more risk from their own guns than those of others. On the average, 150 officers die in the line of duty annually; 450 commit suicide. This rate skyrockets when officers retire, particularly on stress related injuries. NAMI in Sacramento, California has developed and is trying to promote and broaden a program in which retired officers, particularly those suffering from PTSD, address police academy cadets on maintaining good mental health through their careers. In the Sacramento program, a once suicidal highway patrol sergeant talks of his experiences at the gut


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level and shares a few basic—but crucial—steps on how to avoid the “soul wounding” and emotional erosion that happens in the average policeman’s career. For information on beginning this valuable program in your area, contact [email protected] or Andy O’Hara at [email protected] The Facts About Violence and Mental Illness Ron Honberg, NAMI National • “Most people who are violent do not have a mental illness,

and most people who have mental illness are not violent” - Report to the President on Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech

Tragedy, June 13, 2007, http://www.hhs.gov/vtreport.pdf • Violence among people with mental illness is an exception – it

means that something has gone terribly wrong with getting treatment or adhering to it.

• People with mental illnesses are more often the victims of violence than the perpetrators of violence.

• A small subset poses greater risks of violence when there is a past history of violence, non-participation in treatment, and/or co-occurring use of alcohol or drugs. • For this small subset, treatment is the best way to reduce risks.

Key messages: – Treatment works when you can get it. – Treatment is frequently unavailable – Invest adequate resources in services that work – Treat people before crises occur – Colleges and universities must be prepared to

identify and treat students with mental illness. – Peer leadership and supports must be part of

system. – Although a last resort, court-ordered treatment

should be available on an inpatient and outpatient basis without requiring proof of imminent dangerousness

Please send a big THANK YOU to

Cindy Gross and Plaza Printers 6762 Douglas Avenue

Urbandale, Iowa 50322 278-4695 www.plazaprinters.net

For their assistance in helping us print this newsletter.

Sunday, Nov. 4 NAMI Greater Des Moines Educational meeting at Iowa Lutheran 2:00 P.M.

The topic for the Nov. 4 meeting is “Understanding Social Security and the Appeal Process”. Steve Moats will be our speaker. Steve works with Frank Varvaris – our speaker at the September educational meeting. Steve Moats has worked personally and professionally for/with persons with disabilities for more than 20 years (since 1985)-- including provision of services for those with chronic mental illness, depression, closed head injury, seizure disorders, visual impairment, hearing impairment, orthopedic and neurological conditions, and various other disorders including cerebral palsy, autism, muscular dystrophy, and bipolar affective disorder. Steve has testified as a rehabilitation expert at several hundred legal proceedings and trials. He has worked extensively with disabled veterans, persons with mental illness, and students. Steve understands our social and legal systems including educational programming challenges for minor children with disabilities, workers compensation, and the Social Security Disability application and disability appeals processes.

We will have our annual election of officers and Board of Directors. The ballot of candidates is on page 3.

There will be a great selection of products for sale – Small and large notecards (designed by those with mental illness) Christmas/Holiday cards (designed by those with mental illness) Bookmarks (designed by those with mental illness) Silver ribbon lapel pins and cookie cutters Silver Ribbon Bracelets, Charms, Earrings, and Baseball caps NAMI GDM and NAMI Iowa car magnets Schizophrenia Digest magazines BP (Bipolar) magazines

NONPROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE PAID DES MOINES IA PERMIT NO. 34

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Greater Des Moines 5911 Meredith Drive, Suite E Des Moines, Iowa 50322-1903


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We will also have plenty of free resource material.

Come Join Us!

Documents

Greater Des Moines...Greater Des Moines AFFILIATE AND SUPPORT GROUP NEWSLETTER November 2007 “Support, Education, and Advocacy” Education Meetings are generally the 1st Sunday