National Wellness Week 2012, Sept. 17-23

You don't have to be an Olympic Athlete to enjoy National Wellness Week. This week is designed to help us be more aware of our whole health and to engage in activities that support our wellness goals.

Locally, activities at The Main Place Recovery Center will include a Movie day 11:00-1:00 on Tuesday the 18^th, Wellness Olympics on 19th from 9:00-12:00 and 2:00-4:00 p.m., build your own Frozen Yogurt sundaes on Thursday at 1:30 and Friday WMR's Wellfest Ohio on the Statehouse lawn.

Monday - Wellness Overview - Engage in the Wellness Wheel. Get a group together over lunch and everyone works on their WMR Wellness Wheel. Share how the Wellness Wheel supports our wellness goals, what's changed since the last time I did my Wellness Wheel, and what new goals am I setting.

• In Columbus, peers will meet in the Columbus Commons located in downtown Columbus along High St at 12:30pm.  Bring your lunch, a chair (or a blanket), and a friend. We will supply copies of the Wellness Wheel to share.

Tuesday - Physical Wellness - Get together for a walk, a hike, a class of Tai Chi, or anything that gets you moving. Did you know that hoola hooping for 10 minutes burns 100 calories. Engaging your physical wellness can be fun!

• In Columbus, Peers from Central Ohio will meet at Scioto Mile at 10:30am and walk along the Scioto River and enjoy the scenery of Downtown. Wear comfortable walking shoes and bring your water bottle. For information about the Scioto Mile and directions, visit www.sciotomile.com .

Wednesday - Intellectual Wellness - Get together for a good dialogue, call a neighbor and play a game of chess or checkers, work the crossword puzzle in the daily newspaper. Do something to activate your mind in creative and challenging ways.

• In Columbus, join us for an interactive workshop on "Telling Your Story". We will gather at the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Livingston Branch, 3434 Livingston Ave., Columbus, OH 43227 in the conference room from 12:30-2:30pm. Leaders from the WMR Community will facilitate a WMR experience for people who want to share their stories of recovery and wellness. Everyone has a story to share, but sometimes we need help getting our thoughts and feelings into words, art, music, or dance. This will be a deliberative process where participants can explore creative ways to engage others in the stories of recovery and wellness.

Thursday - Spiritual Wellness - Spirituality is the cornerstone of wellness and   
 recovery. We can engage in our spiritual wellness in multiple ways. We can enjoy a poetry reading, engage in a guided imagery experience, explore nature, or engage in prayer and meditation.

• In Columbus, WMR is planning an afternoon with a drum circle from 2:00-4:00pm at Southeast, Inc., 16 W. Long St., Columbus, OH 43215.

Friday - Social and Emotional Wellness - Plan to get together for coffee, ice cream or play a game of cards with family and friends. Any time we are in the company of others, we can experience social and emotional wellness. Be creative and let us know what you are planning for social and emotional wellness.

• In Columbus, Wellness Management Recovery (WMR) will host the First WellFest on the State House Lawn (corner of Broad St. and High St. downtown) from 11:00-2:00pm. Exhibitors will be on hand to share information and resources for wellness. There will also be live entertainment and wellness demonstrations. At 12:45pm, MHALC compeer members and Main Place Recovery Center members will engage in a community wide line dance. Everyone is welcome!

Saturday - Financial and Occupational Wellness - Check with your local  extension office to learn about resources they may provide in the community. The Extension Office at The Ohio State University offers a number of financial resources including publications entitled "Keep Track of Spending" and "Manage Your Money".

• You can find these articles and other resources at http://extension.osu.edu/topics/business/financial-resources .

Sunday - Environmental Wellness - Our health and well-being are directly tied to the health and well being of our environment. Today, we can work on cleaning out some old clutter, working in our yard, helping a neighbor with their yard, or taking a long walk at a local park. The Extension Office at The Ohio State University offers recorded webinars (online) on how to conserve energy. Enjoy one or more webinar by accessing their website at http://energizeohio.osu.edu/webinars. 

If you need more information or have questions, contact the WMR CCOE at info@wmrohio.org or by phone at 614-225-0980 ext. 1316.

Under the Microscope

Member of Congress Jesse Jackson, Jr. has been in the news recently as he continues his month-long leave of absence from the House of Representatives and receives care for a “mood disorder” at an undisclosed in-patient treatment facility.

That this man-gets-sick-man-gets-treatment story is getting more attention than it might otherwise merit is because the “man” is a Member of Congress and son of a famous leader in the Civil Rights movement and because, in an effort to recover away from the spotlight, decisions have been made to keep some aspects of his illness confidential—fewer, one might argue, than most of us would be comfortable with. 

In the absence of actual facts, we have speculation and an apparent green light to make an arm’s length diagnosis about the man and his mental health.  The echoes with last year’s open season on Charlie Sheen are unavoidable.

A Google search on Rep. Jackson and “mood disorder” or “mental health” will bring up plenty of hits.  Some will focus on the political implications (Mr. Jackson is up for re-election in November), some the mental health implications, some will talk about mental health disparities between African-Americans and the general population.  Should he resign his seat?  Why don’t they tell us where he is being treated and for what?  Shouldn’t his doctor be forced to release Jackson’s medical records?

As it happens, July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month which means that irrespective of whether Mr. Jackson’s actions are consistent with our attitudes towards mental health, we have an opportunity to consider questions of mental health and mental illness from a more culturally appropriate perspective.

While different segments of the U.S. population as a whole appear to experience mental health conditions at similar rates (20-25%), treatment-seeking behavior varies significantly across cultural and ethnic groups.  For example, from the website of the American Psychiatric Association, we are told that “one out of three African Americans who need mental health care receives it.”

It is interesting to note that one study recently reported that Hispanic immigrants who have lived in the United States for an extended period of time, who have been “acculturated,” experience depression at significantly higher rates than do newly arrived immigrants.  The study’s authors suggest that the newly-arrived are sustained by their ties to their country of origin, their language, culture and family.  As the length of stay increases, those connections, that “social network”, begins to erode and the resulting isolation can impact the immigrant’s mental health.

The model of independence and self-sufficiency that informs the American character and the dominant culture’s attitudes towards healthcare runs counter to the cultural norms of many minority groups.

Diane Woods, founding president of the California-based African American Health Institute of San Bernardino County and author of a recently-released study of ways to reduce disparities in mental health care for black Californians, said in a recent interview:

We congregate together as groups and we like to be in groups. We like to interact with other people of like-mind and of like-thought,” Woods said. “The concept that even though you are not biologically related to an individual, because of our culture, and you come from African heritage, you come from a larger family. So you hear the terms, ‘brother, sister.’

When taken together with the central role that religion plays in many African-American communities it is easy to understand why persons experiencing a mental health condition might first go to their pastor or other member of their faith community before seeking a conventional behavioral health intervention.

It is also important to recognize that minority and immigrant communities experience higher rates of unemployment and poverty which also limit access to healthcare of any kind.

There are also historical biases to consider when trying to impact mental health in minority communities.  To be a member of any minority group is to be sensitive to the labels assigned by the dominant culture and this can extend from language-based misunderstandings to pejoratives like “snowback” and a diagnosis like “schizophrenic”:  each further marginalize and segregate. 

Proper diagnosis and treatment depend on a trust-based relationship between the patient and the provider of mental health services.  Absent reliable scientific tests to determine the state of the client’s mental health, the provider must make a determination based on interviews and, for populations that are too-often judged and found lacking, the disclosure of symptoms that suggest less than perfect mental health can be an impossible disclosure to make.

Rep. Jackson is in a tough spot that can make any recovery that much more difficult. 

Being an African-America public figure from a famous family means that there is no shortage of people watching his every action.  And, regardless of your culture of origin, one thing you can’t see under a microscope is recovery.

--Paddy Kutz

Executive Director 

GUEST BLOG: The Evolution of the Concept of Recovery

Recently I overheard two senior mental health officials discussing recovery. One said, “I think recovery is a very important concept.” The other replied, “I agree,” and then he whispered, “But what is it?”

Indeed, we have a field and a society that have been highlighting the importance of recovery—and that have had little agreement about its meaning.

The New Freedom Commission stated: “We see a future when everyone with a mental illness will recover.” This vision has inspired many to advocate for recovery at the state and national levels. In 2006, SAMHSA published the 10 Components of Recovery. The Recovery to Practice initiative represents the next step in implementing recovery.

In this new era of healthcare reform, however, we need a broader concept of recovery. We need a concept that gives hope to those of us labeled with a psychiatric diagnosis—and that at the same time can be understood by the rest of society.

Most persons with a variety of other disabilities cannot relate to the concept of recovery. Many think our concept of recovery means that people in wheelchairs will walk or that people with autism will be able to relate socially the way most everyone else does. These are not the primary goals of the independent living movement.

To frame recovery more broadly, we need to go beyond a narrow medical definition of mental health issues. For many years, professionals and researchers have described mental illness as a severe form of mental disorder, characterized by a permanent biological defect and a chemical imbalance from which recovery rarely occurs. In the eyes of this group, recovery would occur only if there were a cure. Countless studies have been carried out to define the supposed biological basis of mental illness. No consistent deficit has been found. It was believed that at best the illness could go into remission, during which the symptoms are managed. This is the maintenance model, which leaves persons who experience distress feeling hopeless.

Recently, through a dialog by the Steering Committee of the Recovery to Practice initiative, we have drafted a broader description of recovery:

[T]he recovery paradigm views mental health issues as challenges that a person can grow beyond through the assistance of culturally appropriate, trauma-informed services and natural supports in the process of the person building a full and gratifying life in the community of his or her choice.

This description fits with the goals mapped out for persons with all disabilities in the Americans with Disabilities Act signed into law 20 years ago:

1. Equality of opportunity
2. Full participation [in the community]
3. Independent living [consumer control and consumer choice of services and supports]
4. Economic self-sufficiency

This broader definition of recovery can also span the fields of mental health and substance use. In the substance use field, these elements are vital aspects of recovery. 

- Daniel Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., 

Executive Director, 

National Empowerment Center

Gotta Have Faith

Schizophrenia: a mental disorder characterized by seperation between thought and emotions by delusions, bizarre behavior, etc. (Webster's)

My experience with schizophrenia was all of the above definition, and a small dose of delusions of grandeur in the mix. Unfortunately I still do have these symptoms, but, thanks to medication and therapy, I'm functioning much better.

My recovery, if you will, has also a spiritual and religious connection. Like the demoniac of the Gerasenes, I believe Jesus Christ has held my hand in recovery all through the good and bad times. And, with His help I pray for the others less fortunate than me as well.

I know many mentally ill blame God, family, and others for their disease, but with therapy, medication and, I believe, faith in something tangible, we can find recovery possible.

Sam Irvin