DBSA e-Update December 2008

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DBSA e-Update December 2008: Events & Programs

New Family Center Podcast—Finding Balance in Life

The Rebecca’s Dream Family Center is proud to announce a new podcast! Gail Cutler of Rebecca’s Dream speaks with Tom Smith about his new book, A Balanced Life: Nine Strategies for Coping with the Mental Health Problems of a Loved One. The book emerged from his family’s own experience with bipolar disorder. Recognizing that, for families and their loved ones with a mental illness, recovery means finding balance, Tom shares nine clear-cut, effective strategies to strike and maintain that balance. The strategies address warning signs, self-esteem, self-care, medication, and counseling. To listen to the podcast with Tom, click here.

Tom is the cofounder of the Karla Smith Foundation (KSF), named for his daughter, Karla, who lived with bipolar disorder before eventually taking her own life. Tom, now retired and an avid St. Louis sports fan, spends much of his time on KSF projects, locally and nationally, and has written several books. In 1966, he adopted the motto, “Bash On, Regardless,” which is useful now in his work for the Karla Smith Foundation.

DBSA e-Update December 2008: Advocacy

Year-End Legislative Wrap-Up

Although there were various mental health bills on the table this year, the two highlights are, of course, the passage of Mental Health Parity and the Veterans’ Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act of 2008. Your hard work as advocates has helped make this possible. You sent more than 44,000 letters through the DBSA Legislative Action Center (LAC). Last year’s total was 10,300—that’s a 330% increase! Experts have told us that this is an unprecedented number of letters from consumers.

DBSA looks forward to working with you in 2009, as we introduce and reintroduce legislation during the 111th Congress. It’s up to us to demonstrate that mental health is integral to overall health…that recovery is possible…and that the health care system must be coordinated to provide access to quality care. As consumers, family members and friends, we must be a unified voice on federal mental health policy.

We extend our thanks to all of you and wish you a healthy, happy New Year. We look forward to working with you in 2009 to make next year an even better year for all of us!

DBSA e-Update December 2008: Peer Services & Training 

“Relaxation Response” Reduces Psychiatric Symptoms, Stress

In a recent study cosponsored by DBSA as part of our whole health initiative, practicing the “relaxation response” was shown not only to lower stress levels but also to reduce psychiatric symptoms, such as those associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder and phobic anxiety. The relaxation response (RR) is a physical state of deep rest that changes your physical and emotional responses to stress, causing your heart rate and breathing to slow down, your blood pressure to lower, your muscles to relax, etc.

For this particular study, peer specialists trained in RR by the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, led individuals diagnosed with mental illness in eight RR sessions at two peer centers in Georgia operated by AmericanWork, one of the study sponsors. The study was organized by the Appalachian Consulting Group and also sponsored by the Georgia Division of Mental Health, APS Healthcare and the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network. Each session was 45 minutes, which included a discussion of stress management and a 20-minute RR meditation. Living with illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression, the participants also practiced RR on their own for five to 10 minutes twice a day, using a guided meditation CD. To evaluate their responses to RR, participants used three different self-reporting surveys:

• Perceived Stress Scale--Also called the PSS, this scale rates a person’s perceived stress level over the past month
• Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36)--Also called the SF-36, this scale rates eight areas of a person’s health over the past month: general health, physical functioning, physical role functioning, emotional role functioning, bodily pain, mental health, vitality, and social functioning.
• Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R)--Also called the SCL-90-R, this scale evaluates how much individuals’ psychological symptoms have bothered them in the past week. The symptoms measured include those associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety and phobic anxiety, hostility, paranoia, and psychosis.

For more about DBSA’s peer specialist and whole health training, call (800) 826-3632 or visit www.PeerSupport.org. To learn more about the relaxation response, click here.

Apply Now for Peer Specialist Training this February

DBSA 5-Day Peer Specialist Training
St. Louis, Missouri
February 23-27, 2009
$950 per individual registrant
APPLY NOW (download PDF)

Are you a consumer living in recovery who would like to share your experience and help others along the way to wellness? Don’t miss this chance to learn the skills you need to bring hope, help and support to your peers as a DBSA peer specialist. Applications are due January 26, 2009; all candidates will be notified of their application status by February 1, 2009. 

New Training Opportunities Online--Sign Up Starts January 12!

Registration begins January 12 at http://dabelearningcenter.com/ for two new training webinars hosted by the Depression, Anxiety, Bipolar eLearning Center on the following topics:

• Helping Consumers & Families Understand the Causes of Mood Disorders
  (1.5 CEUs available; $120 registration fee)
  Genetics counselor Dr. Austin of the University of British Columbia reviews what’s currently known about the factors that contribute to the development of mood disorders. She specifically emphasizes how to present this information in a way that’s accessible to, and empowering for, consumers and their families. Examples of visual aids for this purpose will be provided.
• Making the Most of Treatment: Recovery & Empowerment
  (2 CEUs available; $95 registration fee)
  Presenter Victoria Maxwell draws on her personal experience of living with bipolar disorder, anxiety, and psychosis, to share what worked and what didn't in treatment, as well as in the relationships with health care workers and vocational counselors. She discusses proactive tools that aid professionals as they help individuals accept diagnoses, medication, and treatment and also enhance recovery and the return-to-work process. These tools are all based on the recovery model, increasingly accepted in mental health systems for its effective, positive outcomes.
                                                                                            

DBSA e-Update December 2008: Chapter Update

10 Seasonal Suggestions for DBSA Chapters

A few ideas from the DBSA Chapter Relations team for what your local chapter can do this holiday season….

1. At your next support group meeting, consider focusing on specific, holiday-related concerns. Encourage everyone to share their strategies for staying well and healthy.
2. Consider hosting an event focused on goal-setting to help participants come up with their New Year’s resolutions. (Review the steps for setting a goal at www.DBSAlliance.org/GoalSetting.)
3. Offer a time for chapter participants to come together and celebrate all of their successes this past year. (It doesn’t have to be anything fancy.)
4. Take a break from the holiday hustle-and-bustle, and do something good for yourself!
5. Hold a planning session for 2009. Bring your board of directors and/or chapter members together to discuss ideas for the New Year.
6. Submit your reaffiliation paperwork to the DBSA national office. (It’s not due until January 31, but we’d love to get it in December!)
7. Review your bylaws. Does your chapter need to add or change anything? If you don’t have bylaws yet, now’s the perfect time to start working on them. (Check out sample guidelines in the Chapter Management section of our website.)
8. Find out what participants think about their support group: How’s the group going? What might improve it?
9. Take a moment to thank all the people who have helped you over this past year.
10. And, last but not least, thank yourself! Give yourself a big pat on the back for all the hope, help and support you’ve provided in 2008!

New Chapters in November

DBSA Lauderdale County (Miss.)
DBSA Southeast New Mexico (N.M.)
DBSA Saratoga County (N.Y.) 
DBSA Ada (Okla.)
DBSA MDDA-RI/Providence (R.I.)
DBSA Bridgeport (W.V.)