Category Archives: Mental Health News
Forty years after declaring that homosexuality is not a mental disorder, the American Psychiatric Association has appointed its first openly gay CEO and medical director.
Second story in a series
The mentally ill are under scrutiny and pressure like never before. Mental health budgets have been slashed. Inpatient beds are at historic lows. Emergency rooms and jails are the new front lines of care. And gun-control debates are focused on the mentally ill.
But there is promise for change. State funding may increase. Research shows these illnesses are based in flawed physiology, not character flaws. And many who suffer are challenging stigmas.
The Post and Courier will examine these issues in a series of stories over the coming months. In this installment we look at involuntary commitments, which are at the heart of state gun-control legislation.
Perhaps the hardest part is that her son once was such a normal boy, a Mount Pleasant kid with loving parents, extended family and a life full of friends and dreams. But at 17, Jack Youngs’ thoughts turned down a disturbing new path.
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20130505/PC16/130509625
Signs of Abuse and Abusive Relationships
Domestic violence and abuse can happen to anyone, yet the problem is often overlooked, excused, or denied. This is especially true when the abuse is psychological, rather than physical. Noticing and acknowledging the signs of an abusive relationship is the first step to ending it. No one should live in fear of the person they love. If you recognize yourself or someone you know in the following warning signs and descriptions of abuse, reach out. There is help available.
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/domestic_violence_abuse_types_signs_causes_effects.htm
What would you do if your best friend’s wife told you she had been enduring physical abuse and/or emotional – psychological abuse by her husband? For many, it’s probably one of those awkward moments. Then, there’s the internal battle going on in your mind: your best friend vs. his wife. Or maybe, you just don’t know what to do in a situation like this.
Kellie Holly, author of the Verbal Abuse in Relationships blog, wrote about this scenario in a two-part series:
One of our HealthyPlace Google+ members bravely shared this:
“Was in this situation. Hate myself for not doing more than just stop talking with my friend.”
I bring this up because so many times when there’s a tragedy in the news, it’s accompanied by this statement:
“I knew (or I thought),” said Mr./Ms. So-and-So. “I wish I had done something.”
You can do something! Kellie spells out the steps in her articles. I’ll share a first step. Make sure the person is safe, then call the National Domestic Violence Hotline. 1−800−799−SAFE(7233). You can remain anonymous if you wish.
One last thing, you don’t have to be absolutely, positively sure about the abuse. If you suspect abuse, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Leave the investigation up to the authorities. They know what to do.
Related Abuse Information
Syracuse (WSYR-TV) – A growing number of teenagers are considering taking their own lives, according to new statistics from the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
15,000 teenage students were surveyed for this report. It says, in the past year:
- 7.8% attempted suicide
- 15.8% seriously considered attempting suicide
- 12.8% made a suicide plan
Kelly Day’s son Daryl Day committed suicide in March 2010 before he could graduate from Chittenango High School. Now, she asks teenagers to never give up.
http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/CDC-study-about-teen-suicide/7ww9xs-EqkG4w2EF6buJ4Q.cspx
XAS Advocacy Network Series (ANS)
Xiomara A. Sosa, ANS Executive Consultant
- The National Hispanic Veterans Advocacy Network
- The National Sexual Minority (LGBQQTI) Veterans Advocacy Network
- The National Hispanic Mental Health Professionals Advocacy Network
- The National Sexual Minority (LGBQQTI) Mental Health Professionals Advocacy Network
- The National Latina Mental Health and Wellness Advocacy Network
- The National Modern Family Mental Health and Wellness Advocacy Network
The XAS Advocacy Network Series (ANS) is a bilingual, culturally competent multi-platform advocacy campaign for diverse communities launched by XAS through Get-Right! and You Are Strong! in partnership with prominent social media and coalition partners.
Through these partnerships ANS helps shed light on issues affecting diverse communities through a series of articles about these community members’ needs, resources, events, spotlights, interviews and critical legislative, government, and military initiatives. The campaign includes Legislative Days with representatives and Town Hall Meetings with stakeholders.
The goal is to advocate for mental health and wellness and health and human services needs that are culturally competent and effect positive social change for these communities:
- Hispanic community
- Veteran community
- Sexual minority (LGBQQTI) community
XAS Consulting, LLC Founder Xiomara A. Sosa is committed to creating positive social change through culturally competent advocacy. Her advocacy work is done through the 2 nonprofit organizations she founded: The Get-Right! Organization, Inc. whose mission is to educate families, teach children, and support communities about mental health and physical health; and You Are Strong! Center on Veterans Health and Human Services whose mission is to combat negative stigma and provide health and human services information to veterans and their families.
Xiomara created this advocacy network series to build unity within and awareness about the mental health and wellness and health and human services needs of these communities. These advocacy networks are launched in partnership with like-minded social media and coalitions to unify health and human services professionals that advocate for mental health and wellness and health and human services needs of Hispanics, veterans, and sexual minorities (LGBQQTI). The advocacy campaign is based on empirical, evidence-based research data. This initiative elevates the voices of these communities and spotlights their unique challenges, needs and stories. The partnerships are a natural extension of the social media and coalition partners’ missions to help and support these communities by providing a platform where the greater community can share and receive culturally competent information.
Current ANS partners are:
Latina Lista – Co-media partner through You Are Strong! for The National Hispanic Veterans Advocacy Network (NHVAN) – launched on Memorial Day May 2012.
Stay tuned for the next partnership launch in October 2012 during Hispanic Heritage Month:
New Latina – Co-media partner through Get-Right! for The National Hispanic Mental Health Professionals Advocacy Network (HMHP)
NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE HISPANIC, A VETERAN, OR A SEXUAL MINORITY TO SUPPORT, JOIN OR PARTICIPATE IN THIS CAMPAIGN. EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTS THE ANS MISSION IS WELCOME!
World Health Organization Releases Groundbreaking Report Condemning Conversion Therapies for Sexual Minorities (GLBT)
Xiomara A. Sosa, XAS Founder & Principal
From Pan American Health Organization
Washington, D.C., 17 May 2012 (PAHO/WHO) — Services that purport to “cure” people with non-heterosexual sexual orientation lack medical justification and represent a serious threat to the health and well-being of affected people, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said in a position statement launched on 17 May, the International Day against Homophobia. The statement calls on governments, academic institutions, professional associations and the media to expose these practices and to promote respect for diversity.
From Pan American Health Organization
Washington, D.C., 17 May 2012 (PAHO/WHO) — Services that purport to “cure” people with non-heterosexual sexual orientation lack medical justification and represent a serious threat to the health and well-being of affected people, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said in a position statement launched on 17 May, the International Day against Homophobia. The statement calls on governments, academic institutions, professional associations and the media to expose these practices and to promote respect for diversity.
Twenty two years ago, on May 17, the World Health Assembly removed homosexuality from the list of mental disorders when it approved a new version of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).
“Since homosexuality is not a disorder or a disease, it does not require a cure. There is no medical indication for changing sexual orientation,” said PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses Periago. Practices known as “reparative therapy” or “conversion therapy” represent “a serious threat to the health and well-being—even the lives—of affected people.”
The PAHO statement notes that there is a professional consensus that homosexuality is a natural variation of human sexuality and cannot be regarded as a pathological condition. However, several United Nations bodies have confirmed the existence of “therapists” and “clinics” that promote treatment intended to change the sexual orientation of non-heterosexual people.
The document notes that no rigorous scientific studies demonstrate any efficacy of efforts to change sexual orientation. However, there are many testimonies about the severe harm to mental and physical health that such “services” can cause. Repression of sexual orientation has been associated with feelings of guilt and shame, depression, anxiety, and even suicide.
As an aggravating factor, there have been a growing number of reports about degrading treatments, and physical and sexual harassment under the guise of such “therapies,” which are often provided illicitly. In some cases, adolescents have been subjected to such interventions involuntarily and even deprived of their liberty, sometimes kept in isolation for several months.
“These practices are unjustifiable and should be denounced and subject to sanctions and penalties under national legislation,” said Dr. Roses. “These supposed conversion therapies constitute a violation of the ethical principles of health care and violate human rights that are protected by international and regional agreements.”
To address the problem, PAHO makes a series of recommendations for governments, academic institutions, professional associations, the media, and civil society, including:
• “Conversion” or “reparative” therapies and the clinics offering them should be denounced and subject to adequate sanctions.
• Public institutions responsible for training health professionals should include courses on human sexuality and sexual health in their curricula, with a focus on respect for diversity and the elimination of attitudes of pathologization, rejection, and hate toward non-heterosexual persons.
• Professional associations should disseminate documents and resolutions by national and international institutions and agencies that call for the de-psychopathologization of sexual diversity and the prevention of interventions aimed at changing sexual orientation.
• In the media, homophobia in any of its manifestations and expressed by any person should be exposed as a public health problem and a threat to human dignity and human rights.
• Civil society organizations can develop mechanisms of civil vigilance to detect violations of the human rights of non-heterosexual persons and report them to the relevant authorities. They can also help to identify and report people and institutions involved in the administration of “reparative” or “conversion therapies.”
PAHO, which celebrates its 110th anniversary this year, is the oldest public health organization in the world. It works with its member countries to improve the health and the quality of life of the people of the Americas. It also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of WHO.
LINKS: “Cures” for an illness that does not exist Link:
http://www.facebook.com/PAHOWHO
http://www.youtube.com/pahopin
Media Contacts:
Leticia Linn, linnl@paho.org, Tel. + 202 974 3440, Mobile +1 202 701 4005, Donna Eberwine-Villagran, eberwind@paho.org, Tel. +1 202 974 3122, Mobile +1 202 316 5469, Sonia Mey-Schmidt, maysonia@paho.org, Tel. + 1 202 974 3036, Mobile +1 202 251 2646, Knowledge Management and Communications, PAHO/WHO–www.paho.org
http://www.dayagainsthomophobia.org/Media-Release-World-Health,1557
ACA Responds to Scathing Report on Veterans Affairs
Following a critical report by the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) regarding severe delays in providing mental health evaluations and treatment for veterans, ACA has launched an initiative to shed light on this urgent matter, and highlight the need for the VA to hire more counselors. ACA staff have contacted news outlets to help us get the word out that there is no shortage of counseling professionals ready and qualified for this work.
The OIG report found that only about half of veterans received an initial mental health evaluation within 14 days; the rest had to wait on average 50 days before receiving an evaluation. The VA had claimed that 95 percent of veterans were evaluated within 14 days. In response to the report, the VA has said it intends to increase its mental health staff by 1,600 providers, and to begin hiring counselors for some of these positions. To date, however, very few counselor positions have been established at VA facilities, despite the fact that the law recognizing counselors was enacted back in 2006.
Several media interviews took place during the week of April 30. Additional interviews are scheduled for the week of May 7-11. Links to all articles published will be posted here, along with other documents developed to state our case.
Article in Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times, Marine Corps Times, and Military Eagle Edge, May 3, 2012
Why is Mental Health Awareness Month Important?
Xiomara A. Sosa, XAS Founder
May is “Mental Health Awareness Month.” It was started by the great support organization, Mental Health America, over 60 years ago.
We’ve been highlighting it every day on our site and social networks. Most people are very positive about it, but some pooh-pooh it as just another promotion; something dreamed up by the pharma companies to generate more profits.
Here’s why we believe Mental Health Awareness Month is so important:
- 1 in 4 (or 1 in 5 depending on whose statistics you use) have a diagnosable mental illness. They should not have to hide in any fashion because of stigma associated with mental illness.
- Many with a mental health condition don’t know they have something that can be helped with treatment. These people are experiencing the symptoms of a mental illness, but they haven’t connected it with the mental health condition. (Watch “I Didn’t Recognize Depression Symptoms in Myself“)
Like anything, media attention and campaigns like this are especially effective in bringing attention to these two issues. We hope you’ll help spread the word.
HealthyPlace.com
Official Statement Concerning Homosexuality from the American Counseling Association
Xiomara A. Sosa, XAS Founder
The American Counseling Association has a division called the “Association for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues in Counseling”. Its mission is as follows:
Mission Statement
The mission of the Association for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues in Counseling is to educate mental health service providers about issues confronting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) individuals. We believe that all individuals should be free to develop their full potential regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, and that professional counselors must understand the unique ways gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered individuals experience inequality and injustice resulting from discrimination and prejudice.
From the mission statement for the Association for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues in Counseling.
“Reparative Therapy”
The American Counseling Association has adopted a resolution that states that it: “opposes portrayals of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth and adults as mentally ill due to their sexual orientation; and supports the dissemination of accurate information about sexual orientation, mental health, and appropriate interventions in order to counteract bias that is based on ignorance or unfounded beliefs about same-gender sexual orientation.” [Resolution adopted by American Counseling Association Governing Council, March 1998.] Further, at its 1999 World Conference, ACA adopted a position opposing the promotion of “reparative therapy” as a “cure” for individuals who are homosexual. [Action by American Counseling Association Governing Council, April 1999.]
Taken from The American Psychological Association Online Fact Sheet — Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation & Youth: A Primer for Principals, Educators and School Personnel.
http://www.clgs.org/official-statement-concerning-homosexuality-american-counseling-association