Mental Health Awareness: Education and awareness are key

- Many children go undiagnosed and unidentified; they are penalized for inappropriate behavior though symptomatic.
- 42% of diagnosed students graduate with a high school diploma.
- 48% of diagnosed students drop out of school.

- 50% will serve jail time after leaving school; 20% serve sentences prior to leaving school.
- Currently 12 % of children in America under the age of 18 have a diagnosable
mental illness.
- Among the US population, mental illness impacts 1 in 4 individuals.
- 50% of adult cases of mental illness had signs and symptoms by age 14.
- Three quarters have begun by age 24.
- Left untreated these disorders can lead to a more severe, more difficult to treat illness.

The list of facts and figures about how mental illness affects a large segment of the country can go on and on. The good news is, that if diagnosis occurs early on, people can, and do, recover. Early intervention and understanding of the symptoms is critical for recovery.

In a story released this week in U.S.News & World Report, they said mental illnesses appear primarily before the age of 24. Untreated mental illness is associated with profoundly negative consequences, including: interruptions in the normal development of youth (like succeeding in school, at work and with friends); self-medication with alcohol and non-prescribed drugs; risky behaviors, including suicide attempts and accidents; and criminal acts that can lead to incarceration, which worsens mental illness and does nothing for public safety.

Parents and caregivers in South Lake Tahoe need to be on the look out for signs of first episode psychosis. Getting early treatment can mean the difference truly between life-long homelessness and a quality life of independence. Every psychosis can, in fact, mean permanent brain damage, so the psychosis needs to be treated as a stroke which means get prompt treatment and then provide on-going management (much like managing diabetes).

Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenic Episode, known as RAISE, is sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH.) It is an evidenced-based program that shows first episode psychosis treatment works. 85% of individuals that received early intervention treatment have full recovery.

People experiencing a first episode may not understand what is happening. The symptoms can be highly disturbing and unfamiliar, leaving the person confused and distressed.

Psychosis is defined as a loss of contact with reality. It typically involves at least one of two experiences:
• Hallucinations which can be auditory in nature (e.g., hearing voices), less commonly visual experiences and more rarely, smelling things that no one else perceives. For the person who experiences hallucinations, they are very real.
• Delusions which are false fixed beliefs, which may involve paranoia (e.g., a man who believes the FBI is chasing him) or mistaken identity (e.g., a woman who believes her mother is an imposter). What makes beliefs delusional is that they do not change when a person is presented with new ideas or facts that demonstrate they are false.

Psychosis is a condition that has historically been associated with shame, humiliation and prejudice, which makes the need for better information more important. NAMI believes that information helps individuals and families make better choices and helps reduce the isolation so common to these experiences.

The El Dorado County Mental Health Department held a community open house on Wednesday, May 13, introducing themselves and their services to the community. They see residents of all ages and from all walks of life. The County works with other local agencies to provide the mental health services needed in the community.

In the recent community mental health forum the need for greater education and increased awareness of services available were identified as the top needs for the area.

Increased awareness and education across professionals such as school teachers, administrators, nurses and any youth leaders is also key. There is still a lot of stigma out there where many assume teens with bad behavior are simply teens with bad behavior. Mental illness affects 1 in 5 children. That is a significant number.

"Families and caregivers need greater education about the critical role they play in helping with recovery," according to Jeanne Nelson of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAM) in EL Dorado County. "NAMI provides free education on exactly that but getting the word out that free support and education exists is a challenge."

Nelson said that it is common for parents and caregivers to comment 'we wish we knew about this training years ago!' The training helps people understand these are biological issues and providing an empathetic and supportive living environment (without judgement and criticism) is a key ingredient in recovery.

There are several NAMI classes and support groups now forming in South Lake Tahoe.

A Family-to-Family support class will start in October for friends and family of people with the following brain disorders: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, co-occurring brain and addictive disorders, borderline personality disorder, panic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They will meet at LTCC for six consecutive Saturdays October 10-November 14, 2015 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. To register, contact Nelson at 650-740-5776.

There is also a Family Support Group that will teach best practices for caring for your loved one with mental illness. It will be held the second Tuesday of each month at the South Lake Tahoe Library starting June 9 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The goal of the meetings is to give people hope as well as the ability to develop supportive relationships.

In September, a free program designed for parents and caregivers of children and teens with emotional and/or behavioral difficulties, or those diagnosed with a mental illness such as ADHD will start. This program is a three week course taught for three consecutive Saturdays September 12 - 26, 2015. Call Jeanne Nelson at 650-740-5776 to register.

On Jan 17, 2014 Obama signed into law the "Consolidated Appropriations Act." This legislation provides funds to SAMSHA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) to develop programs to help with "first episode psychosis." Nelson said this is fantastic news and she genuinely hopes to see more health care professionals promoting first episode psychosis treatment in South Lake Tahoe.