Category Archives: Mental Health

In Honor of National Mental Health Awareness Month, Award-Winning Author Announces SHHHH!! ? NO MORE! Breaking the Silence Awards To Courageous Families Struggling with Mental Illness

Posted by on June 18, 2011 1 comment

In Honor of National Mental Health Awareness Month, Award-Winning Author Announces SHHHH!! – NO MORE! Breaking the Silence Awards To Courageous Families Struggling with Mental Illness










El Dorado, CA (PRWEB) May 1, 2006

Award-winning author and educator Maureen Focht announces the first SHHHHH! – NO MORE! Breaking the Silence Award, designed to honor families struggling with mental illness. The Breaking the Silence Award strives to eliminate the stigma of mental illness and give voice to those helping family members with a mental illness to heal.

According to the National Institute of Health, mental illness affects 20% of all families and is one of the leading causes of disability.Over 2.2 million people in the U.S. suffer from schizophrenia, 18.8 million have been diagnosed with depressive disorder, and 19.1 million are afflicted by anxiety disorder. Despite its pervasiveness, mental illness carries an enormous stigma. Many families are often disoriented when a loved one becomes mentally ill.

Silent Heroes, Courageous Families Living with Depression and Mental Illness (Wyatt-MacKenzie, ISBN:1-932279-18-0) author Maureen Focht seeks to raise awareness and provide more education about the truths regarding mental illness so families will not feel “stigmatized” and reach out for help. Ms. Focht’s award program recognizes the family members who share their stories for their courageous words and actions, for their contributions, and advocacy, of their mentally ill loved one.

“The terrible stigma associated with mental illness makes families feel ashamed, humiliated, even guilty about their loved ones’ behavior. This must change. People must get the truth and information about mental illness and its true causes,” says Focht, who is donating a part of her book proceeds to a support group for the families of mentally ill people in El Dorado County, California. Recently, several very tragic events involving those with mental illness is also a cry for help in our society that does not want to deal with mental illness.

Alan Alda and Brooke Shields are perfect examples of Breaking the Silence Award Recipients for sharing their stories in coping with mental disorders with their books “Never Have Your Dog Stuff” and “Down Came The Rain”.

Ms. Focht is a healthy survivor of an upbringing shadowed by her own mother’s schizophrenia, while finding strength from her father, who stayed to care for his ill wife, work, and raise the family. She lives in northern California with her husband and daughter.

To apply for the award, please visit http://www.thesilentheroes.com . For media interviews, contact Maureen Focht at 530-621-4834.

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Compeer San Diego Participates in the Annual NAMI Walk

Posted by on April 5, 2011 1 comment

Compeer San Diego Participates in the Annual NAMI Walk

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) April 8, 2006

Compeer San Diego, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a safe, nurturing, mentoring program for children, teens, adults, and older adults living with a mental health challenge, will be participating in the annual NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness, walk on Saturday, April 15, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. in Balboa Park. Compeer san diego will have a booth and has a team participating in the yearly walkathon.

“NAMI San Diego is the biggest supporter for the mental health community and we are happy to be a part of this annual event,” states Shannon Jaccard, President and Founder of Compeer San Diego. “NAMI is a wonderful advocate and provider of education on mental health in this county and I hope this event brings more attention to the very important issue of mental illness in San Diego.”

If you are interested in being a part of “Team Compeer San Diego” please sign up at http://www.namisandiego.org and follow the links. Please also take a moment to visit our booth located in Balboa Park at 6th and Quince.

Compeer San Diego, an affiliate of Compeer International, (http://www.compeersandiego.org) is an innovative, mental-health advocacy organization that cultivates supportive friendships and mentoring between volunteers and individuals. Compeer volunteer friendships have a direct impact by building the self-esteem, self-confidence and independence of children and adults receiving mental-health treatment.

The agency offers flexible volunteer programs — from one-to-one friendships to group activities — so people can participate in a way that best fits their busy lives. Routinely recognized as a model mental-health volunteer program, Compeer San Diego is one of 100 affiliate programs in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

About NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)

NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of persons living with serious mental illness and their families. Founded in 1979, NAMI has become the nation’s voice on mental illness, a national organization including NAMI affiliates in every state and in over 1100 local communities across the country who join together to meet the NAMI mission through advocacy, research, support, and education.

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Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Emergency Grants and Mental Health First Aid Training Available to Meet Mental Health Needs after Haiti Earthquake

Posted by on December 28, 2010 1 comment

Emergency Grants and Mental Health First Aid Training Available to Meet Mental Health Needs after Haiti Earthquake











Washington, DC (PRWEB) January 19, 2010

The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare (National Council) is offering small emergency grants and free Mental Health First Aid training to support mental health efforts in the wake of the devastating Haiti earthquake.

“Our thoughts are with the people of Haiti and with their loved ones in the U.S. We commend the efforts of many agencies and individuals that are providing disaster relief. Our pockets are not deep but we are standing by to help in any way we can,” Linda Rosenberg, president and CEO of the National Council said.

Through its Project Helping Hands, the National Council offers small grants to organizations working to meet the mental health needs of Haitian survivors and loved ones in the U.S. Since 2005, Project Helping Hands has supported behavioral healthcare organizations responding to emergency mental health and addictions treatment needs in the wake of disaster — hiring treatment staff, setting up emergency outreach offices, and purchasing medications and emergency equipment.

It is estimated that up to 25 to 30 percent of people in the most vulnerable communities experience the onset of trauma and mental disorders in the wake of disaster. These needs usually manifest several weeks to months after a disaster, as the reality of loss and displacement sinks in. Those with pre-existing serious mental illnesses may be traumatized anew or displaced and need extra care and support.

Haitian populations in the U.S., concerned about the safety and whereabouts of any loved ones in Haiti, may also be experiencing acute anxiety and stress reactions. Further, it is likely that the U.S. will see a significant influx of surviving Haitians over the coming months and a good number will likely experience mental health issues, in addition to the challenges of settling into a new culture.

Free Mental Health First Aid USA (http://www.MentalHealthFirstAid.org) training is available for volunteers headed to help in Haiti in the coming months and for community groups and caring citizens working with Haitian populations in the U.S.

Mental Health First Aid USA — a collaboration of the National Council, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Missouri Department of Mental Health — equips members of the public with skills and resources to help someone developing a mental health problem or save someone experiencing a mental health crisis. Those trained in Mental Health First Aid can recognize the risk factors and warning signs of mental illness and connect persons in need with appropriate professional or other help, including peer and family support.

Those who wish to support the Haiti disaster mental health response may donate to the National Council’s Project Helping Hands at http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/cs/project_helping_hands.

The National Council is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) association of 1,700 behavioral healthcare organizations that provide treatment and rehabilitation for mental illnesses and addictions disorders to nearly six million adults, children and families in communities across the country.

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Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.







Psych Central Launches New Sanity Score Web Tool to Help Assess an Individual’s Overall Level of Mental Health

Posted by on October 7, 2010 1 comment

Psych Central Launches New Sanity Score Web Tool to Help Assess an Individual’s Overall Level of Mental Health

HAVERHILL, Mass. (PRWEB) May 2, 2007

Psych Central® today announced the public beta launch of the sanity Score™ Web tool at http://www.SanityScore.com that can help assess an individual’s overall level of mental health. The system takes responses from 90 questions and then calculates a person’s Sanity Score, a basic overall measure of a person’s mental health. Along with the numerical result, people also get a thorough description of life factors that emerged to support the result plus a graphical representation of how high that person scored along 21 different common mental health attributes.

“Millions of Americans who have a diagnosable mental illness never seek treatment for it, in part, because they are unsure of their level of mental health,” said Dr. John M. Grohol, Psy.D., founder and publisher of Psych Central. “We’ve refined this proprietary system to provide individuals with useful information about the state of their current mental health status.”

The system is free, easy-to-use, and doesn’t take long to complete. Simply go to http://www.SanityScore.com, log in with a free Psych Central account, and start taking the multiple-choice questionnaire. All-in-all, it only takes about 15 minutes to complete and receive immediate results, which can then be saved for future reference.

“Today’s public beta launch is meant to draw attention to the growing number of people who are seeking reliable and helpful information online,” said Grohol. “Visitor numbers to Psych Central, our flagship mental health Web site, have been growing consistently alongside the trend of people looking for reliable mental health information online. This is a great new tool that provides a new dimension to understanding mental health conditions that otherwise are difficult to quantify,” he said.

The Sanity Score system will become more refined and be updated as more people take the test.

After individuals complete the Sanity Score test and learn more about their mental health condition, they can head over to http://www.psychcentral.com to learn more about any concerns that they system uncovers. For each attribute, Psych Central has a complete offering of editorial news content, reference information, support communities, book reviews, blog posts, and more.

About Psych Central

Psych Central®, located at PsychCentral.com, is a leading mental health portal that features original, peer-reviewed editorial content, news, research briefs, clinical trials, ratings and reviews of medications and treatments, the popular World of Psychology blog, and a thriving online support community. Each month more than 600,000 people visit Psych Central’s independent libraries and communities, contribute to their own blogs, take an interactive screening quiz, and track their progress over time. Founded in 1995, Psych Central is published by John M. Grohol, Psy.D., a pioneer and expert in online mental health. Dr. Grohol’s leadership helped to break down the barriers of stigma often associated with mental health concerns, bringing trusted resources to the Internet. For more news from Psych Central, please visit http://psychcentral.com/about/press_releases/

Neither Psych Central nor sanity Score are a substitution for provide professional diagnosis or treatment.

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NAMI Echoes Iowa State Television and Mental Health Study Findings

Posted by on August 27, 2010 1 comment

NAMI Echoes Iowa State Television and Mental Health Study Findings











Arlington, VA (PRWEB) May 2, 2008

The National Alliance on Mental Illness’s Bob Carolla responded to a recent Iowa State University influence of television on mental health treatment study, “The Iowa State study is right. Television’s portrayal of people who live with mental illnesses and people who work in mental health professions too often reflects negative stereotypes. It makes stigma and discrimination worse. Hollywood sometimes gets it right, but only when producers, directors and writers take the time to do their homework. There are basic standards of accuracy, fairness and compassion that still produce good entertainment.”

Bob Carolla oversees NAMI’s StigmaBuster program which seeks to address outdated, outrageous, offensive portrayals or language about persons with mental illness.

About NAMI:

The National Alliance on Mental Illness is the nation’s largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness. Founded in 1979, NAMI has affiliates in every state and in more than 1,100 local communities across the country.

Web resources:

NAMI: nami.org

NAMI StigmaBusters: nami.org/template.cfm?section=about_stigmabusters

Iowa State study release: public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2008/apr/tvtherapy.shtml

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Vocus©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.