weekly update - alpha one update 12-3.pdf · for 93 percent of all suicides in the united states,...
TRANSCRIPT
This Issue
Online Holiday
Auction
Programs
CIT
Peer & Family
Respite
Suicide Preven-
tion
NIMH
News/Other
Links
Weekly Update December 3, 2012
NAMI MAINE 1Bangor Street Augusta, Maine
Phone: 1-800-464-5767 Web: www.namimaine.org Email: [email protected]
Make Your Bid to Support NAMI Maine NOW! Our fantastic auction will run to December 14, 2012, with proceeds going to NAMI Maine in order to support all of our services and pro-grams. Auction items range from Bed and Breakfast getaways, Coastal Inn vacations, to gifts, jewelry, artwork, photography, toys and a wide range of items guaranteed to delight and surprise. So, tell your friends, family, community. Click Here to go to the auction and start bidding today! Now is your chance to not only get all the great items you want, but to do it knowing you are helping support our organization and mis-sion. NAMI Maine supports, educates and advocates for all those whose lives are touched by mental illness.
We are accepting new donations of items through the the
first week of December. If you would like to donate to our
auction, please email [email protected] or cram-
CIT Scheduled Training:
York CIT in Sanford, December 3-7, 2012
Androscoggin CIT in Lewiston, January 14-18, 2013
For more information, please contact Gil Soucy at 207-622-
5767
Criminal Justice Program
CIT
Links
Contact
Gil Soucy
The Crisis Intervention Team is gearing up for the York
County CIT program which runs from December 3rd to
December 7th in Sanford, Maine. We will have presenters
ranging from various organizations and agencies ranging
from: Sanford Police Department, University of New
England, Counseling Services Incorporated, Maine Medical
Ctr, Veterans Center, etc. In addition the team will be touring
some of the local mental health facilities and providers to give
them a better idea of all the work that goes on behind the
scene. This is an important aspect of CIT, observing and
interacting with the community providers and consum-
ers. Our goal for the week is to encourage out of the box
thinking when first responders interact with folks
experiencing a mental health crisis and to provide the
consumer the de-escalation environment needed for them to
be guided to the appropriate resources.
PEER & FAMILY
SUPPORT
Respite
Links
Town by Town
Supplemental
Assistance Grid
Contact
Christine Canty-
Brooks
Peer and Family Support Program
Register now for the NAMI National Con-
vention
Together We Can Make a Difference
at the 2013 NAMI National Convention in San Antonio, June 27-30.
For more information on the 2013 NAMI National Convention please visit
www.nami.org/convention
The 2013 convention theme is “Together We Can Make a Difference.” We are excited by the theme and the focus on being inclusive to people of all ages and all cultures.
NAMI SUPPORT GROUPS
You are not alone. NAMI Maine provides support groups for peers (people with mental
health conditions) and family members to meet with people experiencing similar issues and
learn new strategies to handle daily challenges. Groups are available for veterans and vet-
eran’s family members as well. Call 1-800-464-5767 or check our website at
www.namimaine.org for information on a group near you. Come and join us.
HELP OTHERS
LEARN HOW TO FACILITATE A NAMI SUPPORT GROUP Are you a family member or a peer (someone who has a mental health concern) inter-
ested in helping others get the support they need? Are you a Veteran or the spouse/
partner of a Veteran interested in helping others get the support they need?
Gain the skills you need to co-facilitate a NAMI Support Group. We need your
help. Learn about group dynamics
Learn group structure and process
Practice skills that insure an effective support group meeting FREE 2-DAY SUPPORT GROUP FACILITATOR TRAINING AVAILABLE
Sign up for the next NAMI Support Group Facilitator Training
planned for the Southern Maine area in December. Additional train-
ings are scheduled regionally. If would like more information about becoming a NAMI
support group facilitator, or would like to be put on a waiting list for the next training near
you, contact Christine Canty Brooks at 1-800-464-5767, or email ccanty-
PEER & FAMILY
SUPPORT
Respite
Links
Town by Town
Supplemental
Assistance Grid
Contact
Christine Canty-
Brooks
Peer and Family Support Program
Page 2
Family-to-Family is a FREE
twelve week education course for
family members and friends of
people living with mental illness. The course covers information about mood disorders
(bipolar disorder and major depression), panic disorder, schizophrenia, borderline person-
ality disorder, PTSD, obsessive compulsive disorder and other major mental illnesses. In
addition, coping skills such as handling crisis and relapse; suicide prevention, basic infor-
mation about medications; listening and communication techniques; problem-solving
skills; recovery and rehabilitation; and self-care around worry and stress are included.
To be put on a waiting list for the next Family-to-Family course near you please contact
Christine Canty Brooks at 1-800-464-5767, or email [email protected]. A
January course is scheduled for Portland. We are also looking for family members who
are interested in being trained to co-teach the Family-to-Family course. This is a
wonderful and rewarding way to give back to others in need.
HELP OTHERS Are you interested in helping families with children under the age of 18 who have de-
velopmental or behavioral health problems? NAMI Maine is currently recruiting res-
pite providers in all regions of the state to work with families who have need of services.
Providers are hired as employees of NAMI Maine, can work up to 20 hours weekly and are
paid at either $9 or $11 per hour, depending on their background, training and educa-
tion. Remember – uncles, aunts, grandparents, neighbors and other friends & relatives are
encouraged to become providers by applying on line, by fax, or calling NAMI Maine to
receive application materials. We will conduct a criminal background, driver’s license &
child protective check on all applicants and all providers must become certified between
now and December 31, 2012. Contact Pete Phair ([email protected]) or Karen Har-
rington ([email protected]) for more information.
RESEARCH NEWS New on the MedlinePlus Mental Disorders page:
Burden of Mental Illness 11/25/2012 10:32 PM EST
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
New on the MedlinePlus Psychotic Disorders page: Pot Psychosis May Be Gene-Related11/20/2012 02:00 PM ESTScientists identify genetic
variant that could explain mental impairment in marijuana users
Source: HealthDay
New on the MedlinePlus Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder page:
Girls with ADHD at Risk for Self-Injury, Suicide Attempts as Young
Adults11/07/2012 07:00 PM EST Source: American Psychological Association
ADHD & Down Syndrome11/05/2012 07:00 PM EST
Source: National Down Syndrome Society
New on the MedlinePlus Antidepressants page:
Brain Signal ID's Responders to Fast-Acting Antidepressant
Information for Families, Respite Providers,
Case Managers and The Community
NAMI Maine coordinates the delivery of respite services for families with
children and youth under the age of 18 who have been diagnosed with devel-
opmental, emotional or behavioral disabilities. The Family Respite program
is available for families from all parts of the state of Maine and if you, or
someone you know can benefit from a coordinated, planned break from rais-
ing children with special needs, please call NAMI Maine today. Families
may qualify for up to 16 hours of respite care per month and are encouraged
to utilize friends, family members and others (who know their children) as
respite providers. Or, they may choose to utilize a qualified respite worker
from NAMI Maine’s growing list of approved providers.
All application and permission forms for families and providers are available for downloading
on the NAMI Maine website (www.namimaine.org) as well the Family Respite website,
www.respiteforME.com.
There are some important changes for families & providers to take note of;
Children who qualify for respite care must under age 18. No exceptions.
Unused respite hours now carry over from quarter to quarter until the end
of the fiscal year
Families must provide diagnosis documentation less than a year old
Providers must become employees of NAMI Maine
Providers must be certified by 12/31/2012
If you would like to know more about the NAMI Maine Family Respite program, please con-
tact Pete or Karen at NAMI Maine for more information or to find out how to receive an appli-
cation.
NAMI Maine is currently recruiting respite providers in all regions of the state to work with
families who have need of services. Providers are hired as employees of NAMI Maine and are
paid at either $9 or $11 per hour, depending on their background, training and education. Re-
member – uncles, aunts, grandparents, neighbors and other friends & relatives are encouraged
to become providers by applying on line, by fax, or calling NAMI Maine to receive application
materials. We will conduct a criminal background, driver’s license & child protective check
on all applicants and all providers must become certified between now and December 31,
2012.
If you are a NAMI Maine respite provider awaiting the next available orientation, please click
on the November Schedule button on the left.
RESPITE
November
Provider
Schedule
Links
Respite for ME
Maine Parent
Federation
Alpha One
CONTACTS
Peter Phair
Karen Harrington
Teresa St. Peter,
South Portland
NAMI MAINE Family Respite Services
Respite Provider Recruitment
Hanging Suicides Up in United States Biggest increase seen among middle-age adults, study finds
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
TUESDAY, Nov. 20 (HealthDay News) -- A surge in hanging deaths among middle-
aged adults appears to be responsible for the notable increase in U.S. suicides between
2000 and 2010, a new study finds.
Hangings accounted for 26 percent of suicides in 2010, up from 19 percent at the start of
the decade. Among those aged 45 to 59, suicide by hanging increased 104 percent in that
time period, according to the report documenting changing suicide patterns.
Overall, 16 percent more Americans took their own lives in 2010 than in 2000. That's
equivalent to 12.1 suicides per 100,000 people compared to 10.4 per 100,000 previously.
"It is important that the huge increase in suicide by hanging be recognized," said lead re-
searcher Susan Baker, founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research
and Policy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
Greater public awareness and education about death by hanging are needed to help stem
the suicide rate overall and this particular method, she and other experts said.
"People may think that death by hanging is immediate and painless, but people struggle .
. . I am sure it is not painless by any means," Baker said.
For the study, published in the December issue of the American Journal of Preventive
Medicine, Baker's team used data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
tion.
Guns are still the number one method of suicide. Guns, poisoning and hanging account
for 93 percent of all suicides in the United States, Baker's group found. Although suicide
by firearms dropped almost one-quarter among 15- to 24-year-olds, it rose by almost the
same amount among those aged 45 to 59.
Suicide by poisoning increased to 17 percent of all suicides, up from 16 percent in 2000.
Self-inflicted death by poisoning increased most (85 percent) among people aged 60 to
69 years, the investigators found.
Other trends the researchers noted:
Suicide rates are increasing faster among women than men, and faster among whites than in non-
whites.
In terms of age, the suicide rate increased the most (39 percent) among people 45 to 59, while drop-
ping 8 percent among those 70 and older.
A recent paper in the same journal reported that more people die by suicide in the United
States than in car crashes, making suicide the leading cause of injury deaths.
A report published Nov. 5 in The Lancet said about 1,500 more suicides have occurred
since 2007 than expected, and it attributed about one-quarter of the increase to the sag-
ging economy.
Baker said limiting access to guns and narcotic painkillers has helped reduce suicides in-
volving those methods, and she wants to see similar strategies adopted to limit opportuni-
ties for hanging.
For example, building codes can ensure that overhead light fixtures and pipes are unable
to support the weight of a person, she said.
And clothing bars in closets should be made to break away when excess weight is placed
on them, Baker said.
Suicide Prevention Program
SUICIDE
PREVENTION
Free Suicide
Prevention Trainings
Links
Maine Suicide
Prevention Pro-
grams
Substance
Abuse & Mental
Health Admin.
American Asso-
ciation of Suici-
dology
Contacts
Marissa Deku
However, limiting access to hanging is far more difficult than limiting access to guns or
poisons, experts said.
"These new findings pose a serious challenge for injury prevention efforts due to the
widespread availability of rope and other means for hanging," said Simon Rego, director
of psychology training at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.
Lanny Berman, executive director of the American Association of Suicidology, agreed.
"This shift will require innovative efforts by those in the suicide prevention community
and by policy makers to effectively reach the desired goals of the revised National Strat-
egy for Suicide Prevention," Berman said.
That program was recently infused with a $56 million federal grant to fund suicide pre-
vention programs. The goal is to save 20,000 lives in the next five years.
With the exception of the United States, hanging has been the number one method of sui-
cide in high-income countries worldwide, Berman said.
SOURCES: Susan Baker, M.P.H., professor and founding director, Johns Hopkins Cen-
ter for Injury Research and Policy, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,
Baltimore; Lanny Berman, Ph.D., executive director, American Association of Suicidol-
ogy, Washington, D.C.; Simon Rego, Psy.D., director, psychology training, Montefiore
Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City; December 2012,
American Journal of Preventive Medicine HealthDay
Copyright (c) 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Maine Suicide Prevention Upcoming Trainings:
November 29th- Assessment for Clinicians in South Portland
December 4th- Transitions Training in Hallowell
December 13th- Gatekeeper in Augusta (Full)
December 18th- Training of Trainers in South Portland
January 16th- Gatekeeper in Rockland
January 28th- Training of Trainers in Augusta
Suicide Prevention Program
Page 2
SUICIDE
PREVENTION
Links
Maine Suicide
Prevention Pro-
grams
Substance
Abuse & Mental
Health Admin.
American Asso-
ciation of Suici-
dology
Contacts
Marissa Deku
NIMH
NEW YORK – The National Institute of Mental Health is putting its research and clinical muscle into determining whether
early intervention in schizophrenia can improve outcomes later in life.
The Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) program, a research project of the NIMH, will test "whether early,
aggressive, and preemptive intervention can slow or halt clinical and functional deterioration in schizophrenia," Amy Goldstein,
Ph.D., said at the American Psychiatric Association’s Institute on Psychiatric Services.
Dr. Goldstein, who is associate director of the RAISE initiative, and her colleagues described the ambitious project, which
includes a randomized clinical trial of community-based treatment, as well as a component for limiting disability from schizo-
phrenia and promoting recovery through integrated care.
Instead of focusing on the management of established illness and entrenched disability in people with schizophrenia,
RAISE is comparing the effectiveness of a phase-specific intervention for first-episode psychosis with usual community care. The
RAISE investigators also are conducting an implementation study to determine which factors hinder and which facilitate quick
adoption of early psychosis interventions.
With early treatment, patients tend to have better responses to antipsychotic medications and experience better out-
comes with social and vocational rehabilitation programs. In addition, early intervention has "a greater impact for psychological
therapies that target residual symptoms, behavioral adaptation, and quality of life," said Dr. Goldstein, who also is chief of the
NIMH Preventive Intervention Program.
RAISE ETP The RAISE ETP (Early Treatment Programs) trial pits the RAISE "Navigate" model for community-based treatment of pa-tients with first-episode psychosis with standard care. Navigate uses a team-based approach to provide patients with individual-ized psychopharmacology, individual resiliency training, family psychoeducation, and supported employment and/or education, said coinvestigator Dr. Delbert G. Robinson of Hofstra North Shore-Long Island Jewish School of Medicine in Hempstead, N.Y.
The medication component is supported by an online tool that can be used on desktop, laptop, and tablet computers.
The tool combines clinician ratings, clinical findings, and patient self-reports to help identify the optimum medication for each
patient.
In the ongoing RAISE ETP clinical trial, patients are randomized for a minimum of 2 years to the Navigate program or to
a currently available treatment program at a community center. The programs are judged by clinical raters masked to randomi-
zation who conduct live, two-way video interviews to assess diagnosis and outcomes.
Although it is still too early to analyze the data, it is encouraging that the community centers participating in the trial
were able to recruit 404 patients, and the study thus far has demonstrated that community centers with no previous experience
in treating first-episode psychosis can provide integrated treatment, Dr. Robinson said.
"This is an RCT [randomized controlled trial] where the primary outcome measure is not symptoms, it’s quality of life,"
he said.
RAISE Connection
The RAISE Connection Program is a two-site demonstration study of an intervention designed to limit the disability of
patients with early-stage psychotic disorders by helping with recovery, empowerment, skills training, and personalized support,
said Dr. Lisa B. Dixon, of the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
"With first-episode [psychosis], you don’t have people who think they have an illness; in fact, in most cases, they’re
quite certain they don’t. So part of what we’re doing is to try to help them set the stage and develop a set of attitudes and rela-
tionships to their illness that will be durable lifelong," she said.
The Connection team includes a full-time master’s-level clinician as team leader; a 0.20-0.25 full-time equivalent psy-
chiatrist; a full-time supportive employment and education specialist; and a half-time recovery coach who deals with issues of
self-management, substance abuse, and family.
For the first 1-3 months, the team strives to develop trusting relationships with the patient and his family and to identify
community support, minimize stigma, and maintain continuity of care. The care includes home visits, meetings with caregivers,
escorting patients to treatment, if needed, and ensuring that they have adequate housing and financial resources.
Over months 4-21, the staff help patients with social skills, wellness, and communications by mediating conflicts and
helping the patient and his family and friends with coping and relapse-prevention strategies.
In the final phase, usually months 22-24, patients are helped with the transition to long-term care and community sup-
port.
Dr. Dixon described the Connection program as a cross between Critical Time Intervention programs, Assertive Commu-
nity Treatment interventions, employment agencies, and drop-in centers.
"This model best fits a region with sufficient population density to support a fully dedicated team. A very big challenge
for the field is how to position this kind of a model within an overall treatment continuum," she concluded.
Dr. Goldstein and Dr. Dixon reported that they had no relevant disclosures. Dr. Robinson has received grant support
from the NIMH. Bristol-Myers Squibb and Janssen have supplied medication for the research. Further information about the RAISE initiative is available here.