Health and Human Services Blog 

We apologize that In the December 2011-January 2012 issue, in the "Recovery, Peers are Key to DMH Inpatient Mission" article we noted

Gailanne Reeh: DMH Remembers A Champion for the Child and Family Mental Health Community

Gailanne Reeh, who for 20 years served as the chairwoman of the Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) on Child and Adolescent Mental Health, died on April 10, 2012, five years after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She was a strong and unwavering advocate for children and their families and had been a partner to DMH in ways that have benefitted our clients and families, our mission and our vision.

Gailanne will be remembered as a cornerstone of the Behavioral Health, Human Services and Early Education fields throughout the Commonwealth. In addition to her role with PAC, she was the founder and CEO of ARBOR Associates; former Commissioner of the Massachusetts Office for Children; Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Youth Services; and Vice-Chair of the Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund.

Gailanne's passion, commitment, fervor and relentless advocacy on behalf of children touched the lives of thousands. The mental health community has truly lost a champion.

The May 17 Express Yourself performance at the Shubert will be dedicated to Gailanne's memory. She was a regular attendee with her family and described it as "one of the high points of the year."

Walk the Talk: Stamp Out Stigma on May 12

As spring approaches, the National Alliance on Mental illness of Massachusetts (NAMI Mass) gears up for another record-breaking, stigma-busting, hope-instilling NAMIWalks event. On Saturday, May 12, NAMI Mass will hold its 9th annual Walk for Mental Health Awareness at Artesani Park in Brighton (Boston). NAMIWalks raises awareness and benefits NAMI Mass programs for people living with mental illness across the Commonwealth.

Last year, the DMH NAMIWalks team Recovery is Real trekked the 3-mile course around the Charles River joining more than 5,000 others. On this one day each year, advocates across the state come together to break down the misconceptions and harmful stereotypes that accompany mental illness. We walk for the many people in our lives that have been affected by mental illness; for our friends, children, siblings, parents and for ourselves. NAMIWalks is a celebration and an empowering event for all who participate. The air is filled with the spirit of hope, recovery and respect.

Together, we can stamp out the stigma associated with mental illness. Join us on Saturday, May 12. Registration opens at 9 a.m. and the walk begins at 11 a.m.

To register online, join the DMH Recovery is Real Team or read more about NAMIWalks, visit www.nami.org/namiwalks/ma. For additional information contact Karen Gromis at kgromis@namimass.org or 781-938-4048.

DMH Joins the Nation in Observing

Mental Health Month

Theme focus: Healing Trauma's Invisible Wounds

By Robert Walker

DMH Office of Consumer Affairs

"What happened to you?" For a long time, no one asked that question. The questions most individuals receiving services were asked were "What is wrong with you?" or "What symptoms are you experiencing?"

Joy is a young mother who experienced trauma as a child and experienced an additional traumatic event in adulthood. For a long time, she knew something was going on but when asked, Joy would say "I'm fine" or "I have it under control." The re-traumatization in adulthood led to her use and abuse alcohol. "I became a raging alcoholic to deal with the pain of the trauma, even though I didn't really think I had experienced trauma." After admissions to different substance abuse, dual-diagnosis and psychiatric facilities, she finally found herself in a program that treated her whole person: the alcoholism, the psychiatric symptoms, her spiritual side and the underlying trauma. Folks asked Joy "What happened?" and gave her all the time needed to discuss the events in a very accepting and non-stigmatizing environment. "For once, they asked me what happened, didn't flinch when I described the events and didn't make me feel like there was something wrong with me because this happened. They helped me put my whole self back together again."

Mental Health Month began in 1949. One of this year's themes is Healing Trauma's Invisible Wounds, centering around asking the question "What happened to you?" Until recently, the role of trauma in physical and mental health was unrecognized. In the early 1980s, Kaiser Permanente discovered that in a weight loss class they held, individuals who were the most successful with losing weight were most likely to drop out. They investigated further and found that their overeating was due to early childhood adverse experiences and that weight in adulthood served a emotional, physical, or sexual protective effect. These findings lead to a large CDC-funded Adverse Childhood Experiences study of over 17,000 adults. They found 10 Adverse Childhood Experiences, including: 

• Recurrent physical abuse
• Recurrent emotional abuse
• Contact sexual abuse
• An alcohol and/or drug abuser in the household
• An incarcerated household member
• Someone who is mentally ill, institutionalized, or suicidal
• Mother is treated violently
• One or no parents
• Emotional or physical neglect

These 10 experiences lead to a myriad of mental and physical health problems and social problems in adulthood, including obesity, substance abuse, smoking, violence in the home, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide, criminal involvement, heart disease, etc. Trauma also happens in adulthood. Besides the 10 listed above, individuals can experience trauma from natural disasters, combat, being witness to violence or any other event which overwhelms our ability to cope. Trauma is very subjective.

DMH is part of the Massachusetts Self Inflicted Violence and Healing Project, along with cross-system stakeholders from the DPH Bureau of Substance Abuse Services; the Transformation Center; and DMH divisions of Multicultural Affairs, Consumer Affairs, Clinical Services and Mental Health Services; with technical assistance from the National Center on Trauma Informed Care represented by Beth Filson. Self-inflicted violence has been identified as the biggest challenge in trauma-informed care. Both providers and persons who use self-injury were surveyed to discover what helped and healed, as well as who helped and healed. The results of the survey and the technical assistance will be used to develop and pilot guidelines for interacting with individuals to support healing. More information will follow in future editions of DMH Connections.

John has been receiving services from providers in a Midwest state for as long as he can remember. He experienced significant physical trauma as a child and spent years in assorted foster homes. He was hospitalized a number of times in a Midwest psychiatric hospital at an early age. "Every time I was admitted, I ended up in restraints for cutting myself. Each time I was restrained, I felt worse and it felt like I was a kid again, being re-abused. No one asked me why I was doing this or helped me figure it out. They just physically restrained me and gave me medication that made me sleep." John's family moved to Massachusetts. While living here, he was hospitalized again. "It was different this time. People asked me how I was doing. Everyone from the doctors to the mental health workers to the person mopping the floor talked to me and really wanted to hear how I was doing. My therapist asked me to talk about what happened in my childhood and helped me understand how this relates to how I feel now. I also worked with a peer in the hospital who shared some of her own experience dealing with the same sort of issues. Everyone I dealt with were my support system and on my team." John felt like he finally got the complete care he needed. "I felt like Humpty Dumpty falling off the wall. Finally, the King's Soldiers and King's Men took the time to ask and listen in order to put me back together again."

Let's Celebrate Children's

Mental Health Awareness Day

Commissioner Fowler Joins BNN for

Special May 9 Broadcast

By Kimberly Bisset, Ed.D.

Children's Mental Health Awareness Day is May 9 this year and Commissioner Marcia Fowler, in a live broadcast at 3:30 p.m. on Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN), will bring focus to this national observance and how important supportive services are for youth and young adults living with mental illnesses and serious emotional disturbance. The show, which I host and called "Picking up the Pieces: Dare to Persevere," airs on Comcast Channel 9 and RCN Channel 15 in the Boston area. Our partnership supports a special U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)-funded initiative underway at DMH called Success for Transition Age Youth, or better known as the STAY Together grant. We are all together in this work to "raise awareness about the importance of children's mental health and that positive mental health is essential to a child's development from birth."

"Picking up the Pieces: Dare to Persevere," a specialized subset of my "Employment for All" cable television show, was created in collaboration with youth and young adults for their families, providers, the mental health system and our communities to reduce the harmful stigma often associated with mental illnesses. "Employment for All," supported by DMH, is a television series based on the belief that everyone can be successful with the right supports and is broadcast in more than 10 Massachusetts communities. It focuses on all aspects of individuals working toward recovery. We explore strategies on how to connect to community resources, promote career development and how to successfully integrate life and work goals. Each week's show features interesting and informative guests who discuss topics that promote employment or help enhance one's overall well being as it relates to employment.

For Children's Mental Health Awareness Day, we can never do enough to draw attention to the need for enhanced services for youth and young adults with mental health conditions and to showcase their triumphs. The idea for this customized cable television show, "Picking up the Pieces: Dare to Persevere," was inspired by the passion and dedication of youth and young adults on the STAY Together Social Marketing Committee. Dani Walsh, who has led many of the social marketing initiatives said, "I'm really excited to be a part of the Social Marketing Committee because I think getting the word out about our grant is crucial to its success. It has opened the door for youth involvement and youth voice is very much encouraged. I know my voice will be heard and used to its fullest advantage and that is the best outcome I could ask for."

In addition to the live broadcast, two other shows highlighting the topic of transition age youth and young adults will be taped on May 9. The first show will feature Maryann Davis, Ph.D., Director of the Transitions Research and Training Center. Dr. Davis is an internationally recognized expert on services for transition age youth and young adults. She will discuss the conflicts between the developmental needs of the transitioning population and policies and practices at the federal, state and local levels of health, human service and education agencies. The second show will feature two guests: Peter Evers, LICSW, Vice President of Program Operations for The Home for Little Wanderers; and a young adult connected to the Young Adult Resource Network (YARN) program. They will share information about the YARN program which is an innovative transitional youth program that assists young adults ages 17 to 22 who are involved with the Department of Children and Families.

Celebrate Children's Mental Health Awareness Day with us by being part of our special social media event. These three broadcasts will be available on the Employment for All YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/employmentforall.

The STAY Together grant is supported through the SAMHSA and DMH. The goal is to develop a strategic plan to increase access, cultural relevance and success for transitional age youth and young adults with lived experience through sustainable practice enhancements within the statewide Children's Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI). For more information, connect to the Facebook page "STAY Together" or on Twitter @STAYtogether2.

Children's Mental Health Week: Focus

on mental health and well being

Lisa Lambert, Executive Director
Parent/Professional Advocacy League

Children's Mental Health Awareness Week is May 6-12 this year and throughout Massachusetts, there's something for everyone to celebrate this important annual observance. While some of the events are professionally organized, most are organized by parents and family support specialists who are raising awareness about the stigma still experienced by children and youth with mental health needs. Many official proclamations will focus on Children's Mental Health Awareness Week and posters are put up in countless communities. Don't forget to wear your green ribbon to show your support!  

While we all want each child and youth to experience health, we usually think of physical health. The media floods us with articles and information about childhood obesity, asthma and other illnesses, but often missing or hidden in margins is discussion and information about children's mental health. Yet, nearly every pediatrician, teacher, after school program, scout leader and clergyperson knows a child or teen experiencing intense anxiety or battling depression. Children with mental health needs not only face the challenges of their symptoms, but often confront the societal stigma that comes too. So do their families.

A 2007 study conducted by Indiana University found that just the act of seeking help could lead to social rejection. Forty-five percent of those surveyed believed that rejection at school is a likely consequence of getting treatment and 43 percent believed that stigma associated with childhood treatment will have a negative ramification into adulthood.

Children's Mental Health Awareness Week was created by a passionate, funny and articulate group of families from Missouri. They had come together and decided that the most important thing they could do for their children was to try to reduce stigma. "This isn't a casserole illness," one said. "No one comes to your house with lasagna or a casserole when your child goes into a psychiatric hospital. Instead, they either don't know what to say, or worse, act as if this is somehow the parent's fault." So they started a campaign to raise awareness, reduce stigma and celebrate their children. And Children's Mental Health Awareness Week was born.

This May, let's make raising awareness about children's mental health something we all do. Wear green and tell people why. Let's educate people about what works and change what they "think" they know. Let's support children, youth and families who are seeking the care they need and counter public opinions about mental health treatment. Most of all, let's all say that it is stigma that is socially unacceptable.

For more information or to download materials, go to http://ppal.net/childrens-mental-health-week/about

Click here for a complete list of activities happening to celebrate Children's Mental Health Week around the state!

Tour with Us: Mass Unveils $302M State Psychiatric Hospital
 Carey Goldberg, WBUR, 3/23/12

http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2012/03/massachusetts-state-psychiatric-hospital

Mental Health Courts' strive to provide treatment instead of jail time

Deborah Becker, WBUR, 4/23/12

http://www.wbur.org/2012/04/23/mental-health-courts

Mark your calendars for Thursday, May 17 at 7 p.m. to join families, friends, educators, legislators and DMH Staff as they fill the Citi Performing Arts Wang Theatre for The 17th annual performance of the award-winning and nationally recognized Express Yourself.  This year's theme is PULSE and features 150 amazing youth performers, beautiful props and set design and the always cool Stan Strickland Band!  

Visit www.expressyourselfing.org for more information.