We need to change the culture of this topic
and make it OK to speak out
about mental health and suicide.
– Luke Richardson
A freefall from the highest heights or an average life, is all the same experience, believe it or not. Extreme pain and suffering, self induced or violently enforced, is not the story of all our lives, nor is sipping champagne in the South Pacific on our fully staffed yacht. But on either extreme or somewhere in between, mental health affects us all. We exist together, connected by neighborhoods and greater societies, and often judge from afar, at what is crazy to us, never understanding they were not really bad, but did not recognize, they were going nuts, and help was to be had.
As individuals, each and every man and woman, must ultimately live and die based upon our own choices, most good, some bad. But how often do we make the connection, that by nourishing our mental health, the scales may tip, avoiding disaster.
⊕⊕⊕⊕⊕
The Neighborhood’s Mental Health Awareness is a series of presentations, shared by the lives that live them. Mental Health is such an umbrella term, that many may not realize, why we do the things we do or feel a certain way. And while it is a goal to teach and entertain, the mission is for everyone to know….. You are not alone.
– Kendall F. Person, thepublicblogger
Mental Health Awareness Topics
David Bowie wrote the song “Rock and Roll Suicide,” which concludes the album Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. It is about an old glitter rocker too old for much any more, about to kill himself. Much of Bowie’s career was devoted to the expression of an incredible, Avaunt Guard compassion for the “freaks” in the English world of the late 60’s and early 70’s, long before there was any LGBT or such things as are common now. When he did this stuff, no one was doing it, and he stuck his neck out for them. The Lyric that concludes the album is:
Your not alone.
Just turn on with me
And your…not alone.
Lets turn on and be…wonderful
Give me your hand
Cause you wonderful
Give me hour hands
Wonderful
Oh give me your hands….
Bowie of course died recently, but continued his love for those on the fringe long after this 1972 album. He was not “gay,” but willingly took on the disdain for those who suffered the exclusion, like Dylan when he said: I would not be so all alone… Everybody must get stoned,” meaning more than the obvious thing that was occurring in the sixties, he meant stoned in the biblical sense, like those stoned as was the adulteress rescued by Jesus. It took me maybe 25 years to realize that meaning of the Dylan lyric.
“Your not alone,” then means that we should not leave one another alone, as we do bustling about in pursuit of our self interest and selfish concerns, and when we love one another, we ourselves are not alone, even if no one loves us back. Who then is with us?
We are like those starving people around the soup bowl who all have spoons, but cannot bend their elbows.
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Reblogged this on Kate McClelland.
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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is conducting a study of Post Partum Depression/Psychosis. Yesterday, they released an app that can be downloaded for free from the iTunes Store. Look for the PPD ACT app.
This is an International study. UNC hopes to garner the help of thousands upon thousands of women to aid in their research. All participants will be asked to go through two short surveys of questions. If selected for this study, you will be asked to consent to a saliva spit test for genetic testing. All information received will be confidentially held.
To read more about this, you can visit my wordpress site. I have links to the CNN article and to the app.
Thank you for the work you are doing. I’m a survivor of suicide and have suffered from bipolar disorder since my late twenties. At age 32 I experienced a psychotic break after the birth of my firstborn.
☕️❤️
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Thank you for adding your voice and sharing your personal experiences. We have learned, that by sharing and teaching and learning, no matter the topic or the struggle, someone, somewhere is inspired by the story. You are no different – as survivor – is the key word. Welcome to The Neighborhood. Glad you made it.
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Thank you, Kendall.☕️❤️
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Reblogged this on Art by Rob Goldstein and commented:
Mental Health Week begins April 4th in The Neighborhood!
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Thank you Kendall.
Mental health is a big topic and takes place on a continuum.
It is also shaped by the communities and the families of the people who have these illnesses.
The common bond between all people with mental illnesses is the stigma that makes it acceptable to let out mentally ill citizens live and die in squalor.
It is the most disgusting institutional stigma since the almost universal agreement that all gay men should be treated like pedophiles.
Thank you for using the Neighborhood to promote mental health.
Here are some resources below:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-TALK (8255)
National Drug Information Treatment and Referral Hotline: 800-662-HELP (4357)
The Mental Health Writers Guild
https://mentalhealthwritersguild.wordpress.com/guild-members/
17 Things People With Mental Illness Want Their Significant Others to Know
http://themighty.com/2015/08/17-things-people-with-mental-illness-want-their-significant-others-to-know/
National Alliance on Mental Illness
https://www.nami.org/
16 Voices From the First National March for Mental Health Dignity
http://themighty.com/2015/08/16-voices-from-the-first-national-march-for-mental-health-dignity/
Mental Disorders in America
http://www.thekimfoundation.org/html/about_mental_ill/statistics.html
ISSTD Center for Advanced Studies in Trauma and Dissociation
http://www.isst-d.org/default.asp?contentID=1
Guidelines for Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder in Adults
http://www.isst-d.org/default.asp?contentID=49
What Poverty Does to the Young Brain
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/what-poverty-does-to-the-young-brain
National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-25-ABUSE
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-SAFE (7233), 800-787-3224 (TTY) 800-942-6908 (Spanish)
Elder Abuse Hotline: 800-252-8966
Alzheimer’s Association Hotline: 800-621-0379
Missing Children Network: 800-235-3535
Schizophrenia Screening Test and Early Treatment Resources
Click to access primetest.pdf
Depression Screening
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/mental-health-screen/patient-health
Borderline Personality Disorder
https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions/Borderline-Personality-Disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/basics/tests-diagnosis/con-20025568
The PC-PTSD screening tool for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder used by the US Veterans Association
http://traumadissociation.com/pcl5-ptsd.html
Trauma FAQ
http://traumadissociation.com/ptsd.html
Screening for Alcohol Related problems
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa65/AA65.htm
Substance Use Screening & Assessment Instruments
http://lib.adai.washington.edu/instruments/
The Alcohol & Drug Addiction Resource Center: 800-390-4056
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Yeah. This topic is important to bring to the forefront for discussion. Thank you for beginning the conversation.
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You are very welcome. And thank you adding your voice in support.
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I am a nurse who years ago worked with wonderful individuals who had mental illnesses. As well as lost a close friend to suicide while I was there with him, giving me a whole new perspective on the before during and after effects it has. But most of all on the person who feels completely defeated that there’s no alternative in their mind at that moment in time. This is an area that is not as cut and dry as people feel or want to feel it is; to watch for signs, make sure that person has someone to talk to, it is much more complex than that.
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Thank you for adding your voice through real life experience. You are appreciated very much.
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You’re so welcome! My life has been and is dedicated to helping those who needs or wants help, and to be the voice for those who hasn’t one any longer. Even if only one person or one family, it’s worth each minute!
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These subjects should never be spoken in hushed tones! This is too prevalent in our society now to turn the other cheek as we did in centuries past.
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Thank you for adding your voice. Strength in numbers is a proven force.
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I am a person with a mental disorder, has tried to commit suicide. Has done harm to myself and others.
I may spend a lifetime in therapy or on medication but I’m treated different once it’s known I have a mental disorder.
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Welcome to The Neighborhood.
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