Using Online Recovery Resources

By Debra Hoppe

Online resources can be incredibly valuable for your recovery.  There are many websites to look at one being www.namimt.org.  There are several ideas and links that instruct you on how to succeed with your recovery plan.  That is what this series is all about recovery.

Another site is DBT Self Help.  There you will find a vast amount of information that shows you how to use your coping skills and interpret your mindfulness exercises both which are helpful tools in ones recovery plan.

My coping skills happen to be deep breathing and taking a walk.  Also reading and exercising.  They get the endorphins going and that makes me happy which is a stress reducer.  Also listening to music and watching my favorite symphony band play in the park.  They both calm me down and help me to function better.

Since I have bipolar disorder, I access www.bipolar2.com.  It brings up several sites about bipolar and what to expect from having this disorder.  I find that the more you know the better you can deal with the problem at hand.  That is why I stress so much on the recovery plan and what to do to help a person overcome their struggles.  I am struggling with my disorder so I figure I am not alone in this matter.  I just hope that I can help one person and that person helps one person and so on.  I am not an expert, but I do know that I have to tell my story to someone and what better way to do that is by directing them to the things that work for me.

Another site that I have found helpful is www.brainyquotes.com.  There you will find the quote of the day that helps a person with depression.  I find that it helps just about everyone.  It helps me to go hmmmm.  I think about the meaning of them and come up with my own conclusion.  It makes me think about how wonderful this society is to make such a simple website as this that has such an impact on my life.  What a great way to spend just a few moments of your time.

Once again, thank you for your time and I hope you are enjoying this series as much as I am enjoying writing it.  If I can help you in anyway then my goal in life has been a success.  I do have many other goals so my mission is not complete but at least I can say I have done my best at least once in my life.  Thanks again and stay tuned for the 5^th part of the series on joining a group.  

What online resources do you take advantage of in your recovery.

A Peek at the Future: Mental Illness Early Detection and Prevention

by Matt Kuntz

Note: This story is a fun look at what mental illness detection and prevention might be like in the future. None of the screening methods described in the story are up and running yet, but they are all based on actual research in the field. Check the links at the end to find out more.

Timmy dribbled the basketball down the court, ten steps behind another dribbling student. The student did a right handed layup into the basketball hoop. A few seconds later, Timmy’s ball bounced off the rim and fell through the net.

It was basketball week at sixth grade gym class. The P.E. teacher drilled them on the fundamentals for the first three days before the next two days of games.

“Timmy Johnson!” a female voice hollered from a door on the other side of the gym.

A female student ran away from the school nurse and Jimmy ran towards her.

“Hi Mrs. Woolridge,” Timmy said.

“Hi Timmy,” she replied. “I’ve just got a few quick tests for you. All of our students have to take them during their sixth grade year.”

“Mr. Cory told us all about it.”

“Great, it’ll just take a few minutes. Start by sitting down and putting on a headset and glasses.”

Timmy took a seat then slipped on the Electroencephalography (EEG) headset and the dark glasses.

Mrs. Woolridge looked at the screen in front of her to make sure the EEG sensors on the headset had a clear read of Timmy’s brain waves.  She turned the system on. “Do you see the blue dot?”

“Yes.”

“Good. All you have to do follow that dot with your eyes.  When it moves left, you look left. Got it.”

“Yes.”

After completing the eye movement test, Timmy stood in front of a screen and copied the movements of a little cartoon boy. The cartoon boy raised his left foot. Timmy raised his left foot.  The cartoon boy rotated his arms in circles. Timmy rotated his arms in circles. A motion sensor instantly recorded and analyzed Timmy’s gross motor skills.

Then Timmy moved over to the table in front of a small black computer that measured fine motor skills.  The computer timed Timmy while he rotated a round sensor between each of his fingers. After finishing that test, Timmy had to trace a line through a circular maze on the computer as fast as possible without touching the borders of the maze. Finally, he tapped the screen each time a purple frog appeared. The purple frogs started appearing slow, then they sped up. Timmy’s hand moved across the screen tapping frogs wherever they appeared.

After running through the frog test three times, Mrs. Woolridge let Timmy go back to class.

One week later, Timmy and his parents sat in chairs in Mrs. Woolridge’s office.

“First of all, I want to let you know that this isn’t something that should scare you. Timmy did come up on one of our health screening tests as vulnerable to serious mental illness, but there’s no reason to be frightened.

Timmy’s mother put her hand on Timmy’s father’s knee. “Stan’s mother had schizophrenia. He died from suicide when Stan was just a boy.”

Mrs. Woolridge nodded, “We have a lot of families with mental illness susceptibility. With a little prevention, there’s no reason to worry.”

Mrs. Woolridge handed each of them a piece of paper. “I screened Timmy’s eye movements, skin conductance, gross motor skills, and fine motor skills last week.  His eye movement and gross motor skills were fine, but Timmy’s skin conductance was a little low and had some difficulty with his fine motor skills.”

“Stupid frogs,” Timmy grumbled.

“Stupid frogs,” Mrs. Woolridge agree with a wink.

Mrs. Woolridge continued, “Mental illnesses are basically disruptions in neural circuits in the brain. If you think of the brain as a big set of wires with information passing through them, sometimes things go wrong with the wires. Those disruptions affect how people, think, feel and act. They also affect overall nervous system through the basal ganglia and other areas.”

“The basal what?” Timmy’s father asked.

“The basal ganglia. It’s a group of nerves in the center of the brain. You’ll see that it’s highlighted in red on your picture. When something affects the basal ganglia, it can impact a person’s ability to control their muscles. So basically we test the students eye movements, galvanic skin response, major body movements and delicate finger movements as a way of checking the function of the basal ganglia.

“So problems with fine motor skills mean somethings wrong with the basal ganglia?” Timmy’s mother asked.

“Not for sure,” Mrs. Woolridge responded, “But it is an indicator that something may be going on. Same thing with the galvanic skin conductance. After Timmy’s failed the fine motor portion of that exam, we ran some of his blood that you deposited with the school health center at the beginning of the year through a genetic scan for mental illness susceptibility.

“Not surprising that it turned something up,” Timmy’s mother said.  “I’ve also got depression and anxiety issues on my side.”

“So I have mental illness?” Timmy asked.

“Not full blown mental illness, but maybe the beginning stages. We can’t say that for sure Timmy without a full brain scan. You could run one of those, but it’s not necessary. The medical field is pretty hesitant in scanning young brains.  There’s a lot of radiation in a scan so we try to avoid them if possible.”

“So what can we do?” Timmy’s father asked.

Mrs. Woolridge pointed to the sheet. “We’re basically trying to prevent any potential neural disruptions into expanding into a major brain disruption event - psychosis. Some of the ways to avoid that are pretty simple. You can start off by eating well, taking Omega 3 vitamins, exercising and keeping regular sleep patterns. Oh, and don’t do any recreational drugs. Seriously, anything that messes around with the brain to make a person feel high could be really, really dangerous for you. That includes marijuana.”

“We’ll pick up some Omega 3 vitamins on the way home,” Timmy’s mother said.  “The rest of it shouldn’t be a problem.  Timmy’s a good kid, but we’ll keep an eye on him.”

“I will too,” Mrs. Wooldridge said with a smile. “Timmy, I’ve got a present for you.”

“A present?”

Mrs. Woolridge pulled a box out from under her chair. The box had a picture of a boy wearing a headset while looking at a small handheld video game tablet. “It’s a fun way to make sure that you’re brain is doing okay. It’s got one of the EEG headsets that you used when you put on the goggles and followed the dot. Basically, you just put on the headset, breath in the holes on the side of the machine, play the video game, then breath in the holes in the side of the machine again.”

“What kind of games do you have,” Timmy asked.

“They’re fun,” Mrs. Woolridge promised. “Way more fun than the dot and frog tests. It’s basic cognitive training along with some relaxation through mindfulness and neurofeedback.”

“How often does he have to use it?” Mrs. Johnson asked.

“We’ll start out with just twice a week, maybe Monday and Thursday. If he’s doing well, then we’ll drop it down to once. If things aren’t going well, then we’ll boost it up to three times. The exercises are great for the brain even if you don’t have a susceptibility to mental illness.”

“What do you mean if I’m doing well?” Timmy asked.

“The machine will automatically report back to me on your galvanic skin response, brain waves, stress hormone levels and cognitive skills. It’ll wave the flag if there’s excess anxiety, depression, or other dramatic changes in thought processes. We’ll increase the frequency of the exercises if either of those variable suggests we need to.  If things really get out of line, I’ll recommend a therapist for relaxation and communication skills training. If the neurons are still struggling to talk with each other, then you’ll have to go to a psychiatrist to take a closer look at what’s going on and maybe even prescribe something.”

“Prescribe something? I remember my mother’s medication had some pretty horrible side effects,” Mr. Johnson said.

“There probably won’t be any need for medication.” Mrs. Woolridge said. “But in the worse case, the medication that they give before psychosis now doesn’t have anywhere near the same side effects as the old ones. The ingredients in one of them, that focuses on the neurotransmitter glutamate were even sold over the counter to treat people that had taken too much aspirin.”

“Thank God,” Mr. Johnson said.

Timmy wasn’t listening anymore. He already had the box half open. “This looks awesome,” he mumbled.

End Notes

Eye Movement - http://www.iovs.org/content/28/2/366.full.pdf

Motor Proficiency in Children with Psychosis - http://ptjournal.apta.org/content/63/2/194.full.pdf

EEG Symmetry Patterns Predicting Anxiety and Depression - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16223557

Basal Ganglia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_ganglia

Prospective Biomarker for Schizophrenia - http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/03/29/prospective-biomarker-for-schizophrenia/36687.html

Using Biomakers to Identify and Treat Schizophrenia - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120711134557.htm

Cortisol levels Increased in Youth with Psychosis - http://www.medwire-news.md/47/101079/Psychiatry/Cortisol_levels_increased_in_youth_at_high_risk_for_psychosis_.html

Attention, Memory and Motor Skills as Childhood Indicators of Risk of Schizophrenia - http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleID=174316


Palau Early Psychosis Study: Neurocognitive Functioning in High Risk Adolescents - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17005375

Neurocognition in Early On-Set Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorders - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20215926

Electrodermal Predictors of Functional Outcome and Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16008777

Distinguishing Youths At Risk for Anxiety Disorders From Self-Reported BIS Sensitivity and its Psychopsysiological Concomitants - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23016527

Effects of Stress, Depression, and Their Interaction on Heart Rate, Skin Conductance, Finger Temperature, and Respiratory Rate: Sympathetic-Parasympathetic Hypothesis of Stress and Depression - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21905026

Glutamate, Shizophrenia and other CNS Disorders - http://www.promentispharma.com/technology/Glutamate/index.html

Study, Study, Study

By Debra Hoppe

The 3^rd part of our series is the need to study your mental illness.  It is important to find out what you are dealing with such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or depression.  The only way to learn about them is to study.

I access the library at work because it has a vast array of information.  It eases my tension when I can look at the bookshelf and pick out any book I want and study my heart out.  I don’t have to return it at any set time.  I can just study anytime I want to at any speed I can handle.  No worries.

There is also a huge amount of emphasis on the internet.  I found this resource to be never ending.  You can log on to www.namimt.org to find out more about bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, major depression and the list goes on.  My coworker, Quentin Schroeter, has videos online to help people understand their conditions. (Here's one where Quentin discusses psychosis.) I have found that a person with a mental illness can alleviate their stress by reading and understanding their condition.  I know it worked for me.  I read about bipolar disorder and it helped me to understand more about myself and it helped me to get out of my funk.  It might not be that simple for some people but at least you can try to read something even if it is a pamphlet.  Knowledge is knowledge no matter where it comes from.

Another way to gain an understanding of your condition is to attend a NAMI conference.  There they offer a wide range of information and have a great line up of guest speakers that have so much to say about different things.  I have gone to 2 conferences and brought back many things from both of them.  I heard Kevin Hines tell about jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge and surviving the fall.  I went to a Peer to Peer class where I got to tell a brief description of my story and boy did it feel good to get that off of my chest.  You see there is a place to learn if you just look for it.

Just remember that no matter what your situation is or what you may be going through you are never too old to learn.  I am 51 years old and am still learning about myself.  I don’t like what my bipolar disorder does to me some days but I do understand it more everyday because I study about it on a regular basis.  I not only do the studying but my family does as well.  Get people involved in your life because you will benefit from the outcome. 

Thanks for your time and I hope you have a nice day.  Stay tuned for the 4^th part of the series I will give you some hints on what websites may be beneficial to you.  See you later. 

Finding the Right Therapist

By Debra Hoppe

The second part in our series is Finding the Right Therapist.  This is no easy task.  It takes a great deal of thought and understanding of yourself and your needs.  The way that I found a therapist was again through the Center for Mental Health in Helena, Montana. 

The gal that I was paired up with is a good listener and a very compassionate person.  She has a wonderful attitude and a great sense of caring.  Those are the qualities you look for in a therapist.  You also want to have them understand your personal needs so you can have a good relationship with them. 

Patience is another thing that you need.  Finding just the right therapist takes time and effort.  It may take more than one therapist to find the right balance of understanding and knowledge.  It took three therapists for me before I found the perfect person for my needs.

Another thing to remember is if he/she caring enough to tell you when you need help or what you need in your life to be successful.  I know the therapist I have is a compassionate person and a good listener.  She is new to me so I am just getting to know how competent she is.  She is a very good match for me because she listens to me and helps me through the hard times.

I just had a hard time and I needed help to figure out what to do next.  She helped me through this rough patch because she understood what I was doing wrong in my life and was able to help me to become a better person.  It took guts to work through my bipolar disorder and diabetes, but she managed to fulfill her job description and now I am not going through as much of a crisis.

What a wonderful feeling to know you have a supportive team out there helping you not only through the hard times but through the good times as well.  Everyone keep up the hard work and remember that a good therapist is hard to come by but finding the right one is worth the effort.

NOTE FROM NAMI Montana: It is also important to ensure that your therapist is using an evidence-based type of therapy for your condition such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression or dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) for borderline personality disorder.

Essential Elements of a Mental Illness Recovery Plan

By Debra Hoppe

v  Obtain a psychiatrist.

A person with mental illness needs to obtain a psychiatrist in order to plan some sort of recovery.  One way to do that is to talk to a psychiatrist and ask them how to get started in your recovery.  The psychiatrist should ask you some questions and come up with some sort of solution to your recovery need.  It may take more than one visit so be patient and you may find yourself pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

v  Obtain a therapist.

You also need a therapist to assist you in your recovery needs.  A therapist will help you learn more about yourself and try to figure out the best solution for your care.  They will ask you important questions so you need to be thorough and honest so they can get the full picture to help the process along.

v  Study, Study, Study!

Study all you can about your condition be it bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or depression.  A person needs to have the knowledge to understand how to get the treatment they need for their recovery.  Study from the library at NAMI-MT (National Alliance on Mental Illness) at 616 Helena Ave. Ste 218, Helena, MT 59601 or go to a library near you.  You will find that your care will go much farther if you have the knowledge to back up your healthcare team.

v  Go online.

The internet is one of the best ways to find information so a person can grow in their recovery.  NAMI-MT has a website address at www.namimt.org.  There you will find a whole host of links that will assist you in following a specific type of care.  You can also find our blog so you can interact with the folks at NAMI-MT and find new ways to learn about recovery.  A person can also learn about the classes that are available in your area.

v  Join a group. 

Group therapy will encourage a person to grow and conquer their fears about recovery.  Fears are a scary thing that can be managed by a group setting.  It may take more time than a person is willing to allow.  The outcome will be overwhelming but will also be rewarding as well.

v  Don’t give up! 

Consistency with your recovery is important because it helps a person to be healthy and eventually be confident about the type of care they are receiving.  Consistency also gives a person the right to say yes or no about the type of care.  In this day and age, a person needs to be careful in handling their care as to not be influenced by the people around you.  Only you know what your body needs and know how you feel so don’t give up!

v  Take your meds. 

This is one of the most important things that cannot be overlooked because the health of a person depends on taking your meds.  Some of the side effects can be experienced if you don’t take your meds.  For bipolar disorder, a person can go from one episode to another.  An episode is where you experience mania one day and depression another day.  This can be a terrifying problem.  That is why it is important to take you medication.

v  Keep busy. 

Idol minds are not a person’s friend.  It breeds unwanted behaviors and danger.  The unwanted behaviors may be alcoholism, drug use or even incarceration.  No one wants to have a bad behavior experience.  Take up a hobby or go for a walk.  Mindfulness exercises are a great way to alleviate the pressures of everyday stress.  A mindfulness exercise may include deep breathing or a brisk walk in the park or watching a squirrel jump by as you fish in a nearby lake or stream.  What fun it would be to see a bald eagle on a boat trip in the Gates of the Mountains on the Missouri river north of Helena.

v  Get involved in your community.

Take the initiative to learn all you can about your local, state and federal government.  The outcome will be an experience you can treasure the rest of your life.  A person can be positive about the people they elect or vote them out of office and take charge of their countries future.  It takes a person that can feel good about themselves and that is why getting involved would be a great choice.  Feel in charge of your life by getting involved.

v  Have faith. 

Faith is important to have so a person can feel complete.  All of the previous accomplishments can be done individually but faith should be an important part of the process.  Faith believes in something that you can’t see.  A person can feel the love but can they see it?  You have to decide something like that for yourself.  A person can love in all types of ways.  Faith helps a person understand right from wrong, between good and bad.  Faith can come as a comfort in a person’s life.  It does to me.

v  Don’t judge! 

Stigma is a negative attitude.  It hurts people to the point of possible suicide.  It is embarrassing and hurtful.  A person will feel better about themselves if you don’t judge and that is a good feeling for all.

v  Spend time with friends or family. 

Friends and family should be the type of support group that is helpful to the recovery plan.  Encouragement can be the thing a person needs to become more healthy and happy.  Having a support group helps a person to grow so they can be an important part of their community, state or nation.

This twelve step recovery plan has helped me in my life and maybe it will help you as well.  I hope you learned how to take some positive steps on how to plan your life as a healthy individual.  Thank you for your time and I hope to be teaching you more about how to plan your recovery.

Fight Mental Illness Thursday: Ask Republicans for their Healthcare Plan

NAMI Montana friends,

Thursday June 14th is the second Thursday of the month.  That means it's Fight Mental Illness Thursday.  This month we're asking Montanans to contact the Montana Republican Party and ask them for details on their alternative to healthcare reform.  Please give them a call at (406) 442-6469 or send them a message on their website, http://www.mtgop.org/index.php/get-involved/contact-us.html.

Thanks for all your help!  Here's a fuller description of why we're asking them for these details.

Thanks,
Matt

Need for Specifics on Republicans’ Alternative to Healthcare Reform

The primary season is over. The hard-line Republicans and Democrats now know who they are going to vote for and the battle for independent voters is just beginning.  NAMI Montana has leaders and members of both political stripes with plenty falling somewhere in between. The same can be said of all of the one-in-five Montana families that are impacted by serious mental illnesses.

Republicans could finish this election season in control of the presidency, two-thirds of Montana’s congressional delegation, the Governor’s office, the Attorney General’s office, the Insurance Commissioner’s office, the Secretary of State’s office and both branches of the Montana Legislature. In layman’s terms, the Republicans have the opportunity to take the keys and get behind the wheel of both the federal and state governments. 

If the Republicans get this opportunity, one of their main priorities will be erasing the Democrats’ efforts to rework the nation’s healthcare system. The candidates’ primary talking points have left little doubt about what they will oppose, but Montanans need to know more about what these candidates would like our healthcare system to look like and how they plan to make that vision happen. Montana voters have seen some generalities, but we need to see the specifics.

If you want to accomplish tort reform, what does that look like? If you want to open Montana’s insurance market up to out-of-state companies, will the State Auditor police those contracts or should it be strictly buyer-beware? Will there be protections to ensure that insurance companies don’t refuse to cover people with medical issues or histories of having medical issues? What options will be available to Montana families that cannot afford private insurance due economic circumstances or health issues that priced them out of the market?

These are politically-loaded questions, but the answers are critical to the lives of every Montanan who will come in contact, either personally or through a loved one, with our state’s medical system. The Democrats’ healthcare reform efforts have given us a good idea where they stand on these issues. Montana’s Republican Party and its candidates need to formalize their vision for our healthcare system so Montana’s voters can use that information to determine which candidates to support this fall. Healthcare is too big of an issue for us to wait until after the election to find out the specifics of each party’s agenda.

An Issue of Serious Concern

NAMI Montana received this email and thought it should be shared. The email's author is quietly becoming one of the state's leading advocates for Montanans who live with mental illness who are incarcerated.

NAMI Montana, 

I must express some serious concerns about MSH forensic patients appearing before the parole board. No one on the parole board has experience or knowledge about mental illness and the success with medications, etc. I just got off the phone with a mother who is extremely upset that the parole board ordered a pre-release placement, where her son will not get the necessary mental health treatment. The treatment team had recommended a placement at a mental health center group home in Missoula. I have sat in on many parole board hearings where the parole board members intimidate and challenge a person on a GBMI commitment who is left speechless, anxious and shattered after the hearing. The parole board members are familiar with dealing with criminals, not persons who were determined to be Guilty but Mentally Ill.

I would like to see some changes with the governor’s appointments to the parole board. At least two members need to be familiar and comfortable with mental illnesses; either persons in recovery, family members, sympathetic providers, someone from NAMI—anyone who can provide knowledgeable and persuasive input regarding mental illness and how people can recover.

Thanks.

Janette Reget, LCSW