Satcher Health Leadership Institute

Anxiety: What If?

shlimentalhealth — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 02:53:02 +0000

What if someone told you there is an illness that is a major cause of heart attacks, high blood pressure, schizophrenia, and substance abuse? What if someone told you that the illness affected approximately 40 million American adults in a given year? What if someone you knew had the illness? Would you help them out? Would you leave them out in the cold? What if it was your brother, sister, mother, aunt, co-worker, close friend or classmate? What would you do? What if someone told you that there are many effective treatments for that illness? Would you seek treatment if you knew you had the illness? Well, that illness is real. That illness is Anxiety. Anxiety Disorders are constantly overlooked and underestimated. Their seriousness and severity are not usually taken seriously, especially among African American students in college, and college students and African Americans in general. Knowing that this illness is real and can seriously affect your daily functioning is the first step to bringing change to how people view anxiety and mental illnesses on the whole. With your help, we can all spread the message that mental wellness is a part of your overall well-being, and if you are ill, mentally, there is a good chance that you will also suffer physically. Utilize therapists and counselors. In the college community, counselors and other mental health professionals are easier to access. Take the initiative to take care of yourself and make sure others do the same.

Kessler RC, Chiu WT, Demler O, Walters EE. Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of twelve-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005 Jun;62(6):617-27.

U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates by Demographic Characteristics. Table 2: Annual Estimates of the Population by Selected Age Groups and Sex for the United States: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2004 (NC-EST2004-02) Source: Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau Release Date: June 9, 2005. http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/

Stigma of mental illness: treating African American women for depression

shlimentalhealth — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:03:53 +0000

Providers who successfully treat African-American women understand that treatment has to be personalized: contextually relevant to the client’s life. Black folks as a rule take extreme exception to being treated as “a case” of a diagnostic category. The quality of the interpersonal relationship regardless of the type of treatment is crucial to effective care outcomes.

One of the things that would help reduce the stigma of depressive illness is to more widely inform clients that: mild to moderate depression may be effectively treated with psychotherapy; and medication is more likely to be effective in severe cases of depression in concert with psychotherapy.

Our women need to know that therapy will help their unique and highly personal situation with clear benefits:

I can talk to somebody who will understand (my situation, race, religion, and family contexts).

I can change how I think view situations and think more positively in the moment.

I can learn about healthy options and practice preventative strategies.

I can practice new behaviors that will bring me peace of mind and/or social success.

I can get the emotional support that I need without burdening my family and friends.

I can learn to become more confident, empowered.

I can learn how to let go and let others do things for me sometimes.

I can feel worthy, unashamed, attractive, smart…

I can feel healthier, stronger, sleep better, eat wisely…feel well again.

More African-American women who have been successfully treated for depression need to have their stories publicized or shared among friends/family so that the word gets out: “I had issues and dealt with them. Hallelujah!”

Reference: Dr. Carlene Smith, Ph.D.

Psychologist

Student Health and Counceling Services

California State University San Marcos

Mental Illness and Stigma

shlimentalhealth — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:13:17 +0000

In the past mental illness has been a subject surronded by fear and denial. Today, a large effort has been made to understand mental illness and offer effective treatments. Stigma is an issue that surrounds mental illness causing many difficulties and setbacks to the progress that we have already made. So what is stigma? Stigma is an attempt to label a particular group of people as less worthy of respect than others. It can also be defined as mark of shame, disgrace or disapproval that results in discrimination. Here are some facts about stigma to inform you on just how serious of an issue it poses.

Do you know that stigma is not a matter of using the wrong word or action?

Do you know that stigma is about disrespect and using negative labels to identify a person living with mental illness?

Do you know that stigma is a barrier that discourages individuals and their families from seeking help?

Do you know that many people would rather tell employers they committed a petty crime and served time in jail, than admit to being in a psychiatric hospital?

Do you know that stigma can result in inadequate insurance coverage for mental health services?

Do you know that stigma leads to fear, mistrust, and violence against people living with mental illness and their families?

Do you know that stigma can cause families and friends to turn their backs on people with mental illness?

Do you know that stigma can prevent people from getting access to needed mental health services?

Did you know that stigma can prevent people from getting housing?

Did you know that people in jail are suffering mental illness?

Did you know that mental illness is treatable?

Did you know that people can recover from mental illness?

Did you know that stigma around mental illness is similar to in the past how stigma around cancer was?

Refrences:
SAMHSA’S National Mental Health Information Center. Anti-Stigma: Do You Know the Facts?. Retrieved from http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/OEL99-0004/default.asp

Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health.1999

Corrigan, Patrick W, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare,The Chicago Consortium for Stigma Research.Beat the Stigma and Discrimination!: Four Lessons for Mental Health Advocates.