Spring Issue                                                                                                          April 29, 2016
MHANJ Highlights 
the Importance of Speaking Up
Theme of Mental Health Awareness Month
Language typically used to describe mental illnesses or disorders may tend to be clinical and impersonal. These words, while useful for doctors or clinicians, often don't do justice to what life with a mental illness feels like. This year's theme for May is Mental Health Month is Life With a Mental Illness. It is a call to action to share what life with a mental illness feels like to someone going through it. Life with a Mental Illness is meant to help remove the shame and stigma of speaking out so that more people can be comfortable coming out of the shadows and seeking the help they need.

"Mental illnesses are common and treatable, and help is available. We need to speak up early -- before Stage 4 -- and in real, relatable terms so that people do not feel isolated and alone," said Carolyn Beauchamp, MHANJ's President and CEO. "Sharing is a key strategy to help breaking down the stigma surrounding mental illnesses and to showing others that they are not alone in their feelings and their symptoms." 

During Mental Health Month, we are encouraging people to speak up about how it feels to live with a mental illness by tagging social media posts with #mentalillnessfeelslike. Posting with our hashtag is a way to speak up, to share your point of view with people who may be struggling to explain what they are going through, and to help others figure out if they too are showing signs of a mental illness. Please join in on Facebook and Twitter
Did you Know?
Research shows that by ignoring symptoms of mental illness we may lose up to ten years in which we could intervene in order to change people's lives for the better.

Telling people how life with a mental illness feels helps build support from friends and family, reduces stigma and discrimination, and is crucial to recovery.
MHANJ News

New Jersey Self-Help Group Clearing House
Joins MHANJ
Are you struggling to cope with an ongoing medical or emotional health issue? A self-help support group dedicated to a particular condition may provide the assistance and information you need. Through a contract with the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the MHANJ has recently been appointed to oversee the New Jersey Self-Help Group Clearing House, a national leader in the creation of community-based self-help groups. Over 1,500 groups in all 21 counties of New Jersey cover a broad spectrum of physical and behavioral health challenges, providing valuable emotional, social, and community support through peer assistance and education. 

How it Works
For People Seeking Help -- The New Jersey Self-Help Group Clearing House staff provides information and referral to its vast network of support groups.

For Self-Help Groups in New Jersey AND for Those Wishing to Start a Self-Help Group -- Our staff provides technical assistance, training and continuing education to established groups and to those who wish to start a new group. 

 "The addition of the Self-Help Group Clearinghouse to the MHANJ's Call Center and Community Education program expands our capacity to develop and support new self-help services across the state, especially in the areas of addiction, family peer education and the integration of physical and behavioral health education," said Robert Kley, MHANJ's Vice President and COO. 

For more information about the New Jersey Self-Help Group Clearing House, please call 1-800-367-6274 or email Barbara White, Outreach Coordinator, at [email protected].
Tickets Available for 
MHANJ's 17th Annual Evening of Excellence
This year's Evening of Excellence will feature an interactive forum entitled, Fighting Heroin and Opiate Addiction: What Works?  The event will be held on Tuesday, June 21, at 6 p.m. at the Galloping Hill Caterers in Union. Steve Adubato, PhD, Emmy Award-winning Anchor for Thirteen/WNET (PBS) & NJTV (PBS), will serve as our Master of Ceremonies and Panel Moderator as we delve into how New Jersey is faring on the war against heroin and opiate addiction. Treatment options for opioid addiction and co-occurring mental illness, as well as the critical role of the family in recovery, will be addressed. Other highlights will be lavish hors d'oeuvres and time to network with others in attendance.It will be a night of inspiration, enlightenment and education that will highlight pathways toward recovery. Proceeds from the event will benefit the MHANJ's advocacy initiatives. Click here to read more and register online.
Private and Public Sector Leaders Meet for 
Mental Health First Aid Partners Summit
MHANJ's Mental Health First Aid Partners Summit leaders leaders welcome panelists.
Nearly 100 private and public sector leaders from throughout the state met in March to address a major, but often overlooked, community health issue -- mental health --- at the largest gathering of its kind to date, the 
Mental Health First Aid for New Jersey Partners Summit.  Mental Health First Aid is an innovative, evidence-based 8-hour curriculum that teaches mental health literacy and preparedness skills to help people recognize early signs of a mental health problem and offer support and resources.   More than half a million people in the U.S. have been certified since 2008, with just over 7,000 of them in New Jersey. Click here to read the press release.

For more information about Mental Health First Aid or how to schedule a training for your organization, please email us at [email protected]

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We've Moved
MHANJ's statewide headquarters is now located in Union County. Please note our current address and contact information:
Mental Health Association in New Jersey
673 Morris Ave., Suite 100
Springfield, NJ 07081
Office Phone: 973-571-4100 or 
800-367-8850
Office Fax: 973-218-0636


Mental Health Association in New Jersey | 800-367-8850 | [email protected] | mhanj.org
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Mental Health Association in NJ | 673 Morris Ave. | Suite 100 | Springfield | NJ | 07081