This year’s class starts on Tuesday 8/31/10. It is held every Tuesday, 6:30pm – 9:00pm, for 12 weeks, at St. Francis Episcopal church on Miori Lane. To register, please call Bruce 395-6611, Jessica 676-9730, or Patsy 578-3935.

You can download their flyer here:

Flyer for Family to Family Program.

This is part 2 of that interview:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDrnT776WU4

This is part 1 of that interview:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5K3MQW5B5o

Well, we had the disaster spill in the Gulf a couple of months ago…and we are now faced with the start of the hurricane season with hurricane Alex about to make landfall close to us. All of these can impact us, both physically and mentally. People might  feel that they are not in control, and that is true, as one cannot stop the oil spill or wish the hurricanes away.

In our everyday life, we all want our lives to have some normalcy, without any changes or surprises. When a change does happens, good or bad, it is automatically a stress that some can cope better than others. Getting married, getting divorced, having a child, seeing a child graduating high school and moving out to college, getting a new job or losing a job are events that are stressful.

Some people become more anxious, some more irritable or depressed, some might even go to a “denial” mode because they cannot accept (“handle”) the change. Some of these responses are normal and necessary as they provide the drive to adapt to the new reality. But, for some people the intensity of these responses can be paralyzing and lead people to helplessness and withdrawal. One can minimize that impact by trying to prepare or “anticipate” what might come.

Like preparing for hurricanes, one can prepare for “life disasters.” We need to stay in control of whatever we can get within our control. We can stay “informed” from credible sources about what are some of the challenges in different stages of our lives. When children are anxious about going to a new school or an approaching hurricane, we can acknowledge their fears and reassure them. We should not forget that we also need to acknowledge the same feelings in us. Instead of isolating, trying to talk to friends and family who experience similar life events can help ease some of the anxieties that changes bring.

We are for the most part resilient to life stressors. But sometimes, the effects of the life changes, like some of the hurricanes, can be so large that they overpower our coping abilities. When our feelings of depression and anxiety can become overwhelming, that’s when it is time to seek help.  Help can be in the form of mental health services in the field after a natural disaster or a professional counselor after a “life disaster.” In the event when someone is contemplating suicide, then one should seek professional help immediately!

Instead of denying that hurricanes will not “hit” us this year or “life disasters” will not happen to us, it is best to take control and prepare. And if the preparation are not enough to handle the disaster, then we need to know that there is help available and that like previous disasters, we will get through this one eventually.

Stay prepared, stay alert, stay safe.

Resources: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-TALK (8255)

NAMI meetings are held on the 3rd Monday of the month at the Parkway Church on 4802 N. John Stockbauer Dr, in Victoria.

Did you know that “May is Mental Health Month?” Life is full of challenges and some people are able to handle challenges or stressors better than others.

There are a lot of misconceptions about what mental health is. How many of you can honestly say that you are “mentally healthy?” How many people live with unrealistic expectations from their spouses, their children, their co-workers, or their job? How many people feel “stressed out” or “there is not enough time,” yet, instead of taking time for themselves and reevaluate their priorities, they just keep doing what keeps them stressed out in the first place? How many people tend to “escape” with drinking alcohol or procrastinate, instead of eating healthier, exercising and coming up with a plan to address stressors?

As you can see, one can be mentally unhealthy, without necessarily also having a psychiatric-medical illness. This is analogous to being somewhat overweight and having occasional pain and aches, but without also having a medical illness, like heart disease or arthritis. Without taking some time to rest and reevaluate diet choices and exercise, some people might end up developing a medical illness. So, unless one takes time to reevaluate relationships and priorities in life, one might develop a psychiatric illness, like clinical depression or clinical anxiety.

In the same way that not everyone with a poor diet will develop diabetes, not everyone with poor coping skills will develop clinical depression. People who develop diabetes or clinical depression are usually genetically predisposed, as we know that both of these illnesses tend to run in families.

Because of  misconceptions about mental health and psychiatric illness, there is still stigma that needs to be eliminated. Just like our car dashboard, our body sends us warning signals when our body hurts or feels stressed. Ignore the signals, and you can still drive for a while; but, unless you take the time to assess the signals and take care of any problems, you will end up with a more serious problem that will be more costly…

So, take the time to assess your mental health. You will feel better and live a happier, more fulfilling life.

Texas is ranked in the lowest places with a grade of D, by the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI), a mental health advocacy group, in terms of services for mental health. Earlier this year, Texas officials were announcing more cuts in state psychiatric hospital beds (Houston Chronicle, 2/11/2010 , Cherokeean Herald, 2/17/2010 ) among other decreases in spending. Patients from all over the state, who need psychiatric hospitalization will end up to wherever psychiatric beds are still available.

 Patients with psychiatric illness tend to have higher rates of medical illness with more visits to doctors and hospitalizations. Nationally, 16 percent of the jail population is incarcerated for offenses related to mental illness, mental retardation, or substance abuse. Of these, 60 percent to 75 percent are usually jailed for nonviolent offenses.  The financial cost to the community for caring for these patients is thus shifted among the different agencies.

 Ideally, a comprehensive community mental health program should include enough psychiatric coverage to assess patients as often as necessary to prevent crises from becoming “emergencies,” seeing a counselor/psychotherapist to help with simple life skills that we usually take for granted,  having more crisis services done in the community with quick access to the treating psychiatrist to prevent ER presentations, using more Assertive Community Treatment, facilitate transfer of care from similar programs in other counties, not having to be on a waiting list to be admitted for services (rather than having year-long lists at times), having a jail-diversion program, having respite and group homes for patients who need more assistance with daily functioning, having both a partial hospitalization program and an inpatient hospitalization, having access to affordable psychiatric medications, and even having integrated psychiatric-substance abuse and psychiatric-medical clinics to better serve the needs of patients with co-occurring illnesses…

 So, does our crossroad region “need” an emergency mental health unit? It would be great to have one, but without any significant changes in the way the community funds and cares for its patients with psychiatric illness, it is like the “need” to offer open heart surgery, when we do not provide adequate resources for access to prevent and manage cardiovascular diseases.

Dear Dr. Bouras,

I have been reading about this new TMS Therapy for depression. Over the years, a lot of people have used different magnetic therapies for different ailments. How is this different?

Carl

A:

Dear Carl,

Thank you for your question. I have been getting the same question from other individuals, including even physicians who are not familiar with TMS Therapy.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS for short) therapy has been approved by the FDA, the same agency which approves all the medications we prescribe. That means that there were clinical studies, placebo-controlled and double-blinded that showed both efficacy (it works) and safety (it is safe) to be prescribed to patients with depression. In contrast, other “magnetic therapies” that people might have heard of have no scientific basis.

TMS therapy uses a magnetic field (similar in strength as MRI machines) as a way to “jump over” the skin and skull in order to reach specific areas of the brain. By rapidly changing the field, a small electric current is induced inside the brain which in turn stimulates the brain cells to be “more active.” Higher activity of the brain cells causes higher level of neurotransmitters (NTs) like serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, which in turn help with depression. These are the same NTs that are increased when we use antidepressants. In contrast, other “magnetic therapies” use weak magnets (do not penetrate to the brain) that are static (do not produce an electrical current).  

CNN rated TMS Therapy as the top ten (10) innovations for 2009 (click #5). This is a breakthrough therapy for patients suffering from depression. You can also see what media says about TMS therapy.

Dr. Bouras