Life is More of a Rollercoaster than a Highway

I don’t know about you, but to me, it seems like life is either going 100 miles per hour or dragging along at 2 miles per hour. Before I started school, I had so much free time that I didn’t know what to do with it all. I had time for hobbies. I went to a watercolor class. I read lots of books. I wrote. I took my dogs to the dog park. I walked along the bike path. I got bored.

In the span of three weeks, I have gone from having extra hours in my day to needing extra hours in my day. I have found myself working from the moment I wake up until long after I should have gone to bed. I love learning, but I forgot how much time and hard work it requires. I am finding time management skills I never thought I had.

As I write this, I am struck by the thought that no matter how much or how little we have on our plates, it’s important to take “mental health breaks” from our day. It’s important to not get overwhelmed by our busy days or allow our mind to go numb on slow days. My mental health breaks have kept me on track and allowed me to step away from my stress for a moment long enough to breathe a sigh of relief and examine what I have accomplished.

--Brittany Schumann,
Suicide Prevention

Phone Support

I just got off the phone with M. who said she will be in 7th grade in Licking Heights this fall. She told me that PAVE was in her school last year and she said that it really made a difference with the bullying and things were better since we were there. She just wanted to say thank you. (Several times.) I asked her if she wanted to have a club next year and she said that she and her friends were thinking about it. I told her we would love to work with her and how great her school was.

I just thought you might enjoy hearing about her call. We don’t get too many of those calls. It’s nice to know that we made a positive impact.

--Jan GreenRiver
Director of Prevention & Programs

Compeer and Wellness

Mental Health America of Licking County’s Compeer has an active “wellness” component as part of our program. It is locally based, not part of the International Compeer model. Our primary focus is community integration; however an emphasis is put on “wellness” at our twice monthly socials. We serve nutritious snacks or meals and provide programming on healthy lifestyles through our partnerships with the Licking Memorial Hospital, the Licking County Health department and other not-for profits that provide speakers or support materials. Mental health education is part of our programming and we encourage Compeer members to participate in the other 8 programs and services offered by our MHA agency, including Support Groups. Several members do participate in both.

We were one of “100 Pioneers” receiving a SAMHSA grants this spring as part of a new tobacco education/session program. Our winning project is adding a screening and referral process that asks all Compeer program volunteers and consumers when joining the program about their tobacco usage. Individuals using tobacco are referred to 1-800 quit line assistance or a local hospital program. We also provide education about the high prevalence of tobacco addiction and special needs of individuals who experience mental illness.

This past year, we received a grant from Walmart Foundation to purchase cooking supplies and healthy, easy-to-use cookbooks for each member from the American Heart Association/ American Diabetes Association. A consumer volunteer was invited to teach cooking lessons using the book.

We also created our own cookbook from recipes submitted by consumers, staff and volunteers to encourage healthy eating and to empower the consumers. They liked the idea and are working on a second, better book. We were able to donate the cookbooks to our agency auction fundraiser and contribute to the efforts to support our own program.

We attended a LMHS sponsored Women’s Health Informational Fair and health screenings. We occasionally bowl for exercise.

To encourage us to walk more, we received walking maps of the downtown area near our meeting place and pedometers, as part of a Licking County Health Department Program. Those who are able will be participating in an MHA agency sponsored walk on August 22nd.

--Kristen Frame

Compeer Coordinator