MENTAL HEALTH IN THE NEWS: DSM-V APPROVED 

The fifth edition of the DSM (diagnostic and statistical manual), the book of psychiatric diagnosis, was approved by the board of trustees of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) on December 1, 2012, after a decade of review. It will be officially released in May 2013. Some major changes include:

• Asperger's disorder will now be considered part of the autism spectrum disorder instead of being classified as a separate disorder.
• Hoarding disorder has now been included.
• "Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder" has also been added as a new psychiatric category for children and adolescents who exhibit "persistent irritability and frequent episodes of behavior outbursts three or more times a week for more than a year."
• The term "gender identity disorder" is being replaced by "gender dysphoria" or the "emotional distress over a marked incogruence between one's experienced/expressed gender and assigned gender." The change was made to place the focus on the distress associated with the disorder not the lifestyle.
• While it was heavily debated whether skin picking, also known as excoriation, should be included, it made the cut.
• In the past, grief had been excluded as criteria for the diagnosis of depression unless it continued to affect the bereaved over an extended period of time. The APA now recognizes grief as a significant psychological stressor that may result soon after the loss of a loved one.
• A proposed diagnosis, known as "parental alienation syndrome", referring to the difficulty children have coping with their parents' divorce, didn't make the cut.
• Hypersexual disorder, more commonly known as "sex addiction", has been deleted.
• The term "mental retardation" is being replaced with "intellectual development disorder".
• More focus has been placed on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of high suicide rates among our nation's military.
• Eating disorders have been given more precise diagnoses criteria. Binge eating, formerly listed in an appendix, is now included as a diagnosis.

More DSM-V Facts

• The new manual, to be released in May 2013, will be 800-1,000 pages long.
• For the first time, an electronic version will be available which will include videos of patient assessments, references, etc.
• The DSM was last updated in 1994 and may not be completely revamped again for decades.

For more information on the DSM-5, see www.DSM5.org  

Upcoming Education Meeting Speakers:

Join us for our free Education Meetings the third Thursday of the month at 7:00 PM.  Meetings are held at the Mental Health Board office located at 5963 Boymel Drive in Fairfield.  All are welcome! 

April 18th:  Joyce Kachelries, Kathy Menke & Lisa Frye - LifeSpan, Inc. 

May 16th: Speakers David Polunas, CEO & Dean Saling, VP-Operations 

Introducing Beckett Springs Hospital, West Chester

Representatives from Beckett Springs Hospital, opening in West Chester in July, will be speaking to us regarding the specifics of this new, 48-bed hospital for substance abuse and psychiatric disorders. Their presentation will center around inpatient and outpatient treatment options, admittance criteria, and payment options. 

June 20th:   No Educational Meeting  

Volunteers "Team-Up" for Action  

Volunteers are dedicated, concerned individuals who gather as a community to offer time, skills and talents to essential organizational activities. The activities vary in task, commitment, experience and length of time; however, the common denominator is the purpose of the work. That common purpose for NAMI Butler County is to actively educate our community regarding mental health disorders and their impact, and advocate for and provide support to families and individuals living with mental illnesses.

Our NAMI affiliate is currently blessed with a dedicated team of volunteers. It is our goal to recruit more active team members so that our work can continue to expand. NAMI's staff recognizes and appreciates the worth of our volunteer community who enthusiastically contributes time, energy and skills to the Mission and Vision published on our website. Our volunteers include individuals who perform a varied number of functions and activities.

As the new Volunteer Coordinator for NAMI Butler County, I look forward to working with our volunteer team to expand outreach and service opportunities in the community. I will be working to provide summaries/schedules of current volunteer opportunities, general information about our volunteer program and identify possible ongoing educational opportunities for volunteers. Additionally, I seek the assistance of all volunteers to provide feedback regarding your expectations of volunteer opportunities, ideas about fundraising and outreach and effective ways to recruit additional, active volunteers, to name a few subjects.

Our vehicle for communicating and collaborating on the overall volunteer mission and activities is the established Ambassador's Club, which meets on the third Thursday of every month at 5:30 p.m. (except June and December). Mark these dates on your calendar and please join us as we "team up" for an active, rewarding volunteer program at NAMI Butler County!

The Volunteer Coordinator position is partially funded by grants from the West Chester/Liberty Community Foundation and the Hamilton Community Foundation. We are grateful for their support. 

NAMI Butler County Ambassadors Club  

Goals:

1. Provide a pool of NAMI Butler County volunteers
2. Provide a clearinghouse for volunteer opportunities
3. Brainstorm outreach and advocacy opportunities
4. Engage and train volunteers in community outreach
5. Brainstorm fundraising ideas and strategies
6. Implement fundraising strategies
7. Provide a sense of community for volunteers

Support Groups: Make Connections, Get Help

Help for Social Anxiety with Learn to Live Online Therapy 

Learn to Live: Change Your Mind, Change Your Life is a new website offering online therapy for social anxiety.  Using the highly effective tools of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), they will help you learn to live with social anxiety. On the website, you can take an anonymous social anxiety questionnaire which can help you discover if you might suffer from social anxiety.  

They offer a five-step program: Identify the Problem, Understand How Your Mind Works, Learn Ways to Deal with the Problem, Practice New Ways of Thinking and Living, Live Well the Life You Want To. For a limited time, they are offering free enrollment. If you or someone you know is dealing with social anxiety, we encourage you to check out www.learntolive.com and use code TBL102 to enroll for free for a limited time!

Book Reviews

Remembering Whitney: My Story of Love, Loss and the Night the Music Stopped 

In this book, Grammy winning gospel singer Cissy Houston recounts the life of her famous daughter, singing sensation Whitney Houston. Cissy details the family's humble beginnings, Whitney's being discovered as a model, and her foray into popular music. Whitney's struggle with public life, her troubled marriage to Bobby Brown, and her later drug abuse are all included in the book. One comes away with a sense of Whitney, the woman behind the public facade, and how influential her mother was in the life and career.
My Rating:

My Life So Far

 

Two-time Academy Award winner Jane Fonda takes us through her early life, movie life, and stints in fitness and social activism in this memoir. She details what it was like growing up as the daughter of Henry Fonda, the actor, and her first marriage to director Roger Vadim. Jane struggles with self-esteem and battles anorexia through her twenties to forties. She forays into physical fitness and produces and stars in the highest selling workout video of all time. In addition, she becomes a Vietnam War protestor and, later in life, an advocate for girl's education on reproductive health.  

My Rating:  

Membership Update 

We broke the 100 member mark! This has been a long-time goal of ours, and we are so excited to have reached it, and we hope to maintain this level going forward!  

We currently have 104 members as of March 25, 2013 and 794 people who receive our email communications. Remember, however, that your NAMI membership is a one-year membership, and therefore needs to be renewed each year. Please don't forget to renew your membership before it expires!  

If you would like to join NAMI Butler County, you will also receive our state newsletter and national magazine. You will also be telling our legislators that mental health is an important issue to you and your community. Founded in 1979, NAMI is the nation's voice on mental health disorders/mental illnesses. There are over 1,200 affiliates nationwide. Currently, less than one in 10 of our newsletter readers is a NAMI member. If you are a member, thank you!  If not, won't you join us today?

Sign Up or Renew Online click "add to cart" and pay with PayPal!

Annual Membership Dues:

Individual ............................................................$35.00

Additional Household Member..............................$10.00

Open Door (Consumers or Hardship cases)............$3.00