Advocacy E-News June 11, 2018
June 11, 2018
WHAT TO DO WHEN A LOVED ONE IS SEVERELY DEPRESSED
These two tragedies have inspired hundreds to tweet some version of the same message: Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. But deep in the comment threads, some have also been debating a more uncomfortable question: What do you do when a friend is depressed for such a long time that you’ve started to feel that nothing you can do will make a difference, and your empathy reserves are tapped out? There are no easy answers. But here are some tips from experts.
NEW PLAN TO DISMANTLE OBAMACARE COMES WITH POLITICAL RISKS
After failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act with a Republican-controlled Congress, the administration is seizing on a different strategy for dismantling the law, one fraught with political risk. It is asking a court to throw out major elements, including hugely popular provisions on pre-existing conditions that protect sick people from being denied health insurance or charged higher rates.
THERE MAY BE ONE BIG REASON WHY SUICIDE RATES KEEP CLIMBING IN THE US, ACCORDING TO MENTAL-HEALTH EXPERTS
We have a serious, national problem in terms of adequate recognition of psychiatric illnesses and their treatment. That is the single most effective suicide-prevention method in Western nations,” he told Business Insider. “We’re missing most of these cases. That’s really the bottom line.”
THE UNINTENTIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF SUICIDE COVERAGE
Mental health experts say exposure to media coverage of a high-profile suicide, especially coverage which fixates on the gratuitous details of a person’s death, can lead to more suicides. It’s called “suicide contagion.” The media can have a demonstrable positive impact, especially when it provides resources for people struggling with suicidal thoughts, noting “an increase in calls” when the lifeline number is shared.
THE TALK ABOUT BRINGING BACK ASYLUMS
Psychiatric facilities are unlikely to prevent crimes similar to the Parkland shooting because people are typically not committed until after a serious incident. The question of whether to open mental institutions tends to divide the people who provide, use and support mental health services — let’s call them the mental health community — into two camps. Neither side wants to return to the era of “insane asylums,” the warehouse like hospitals that closed en masse between the 1960s and 1980s. “Bring back the asylums” sounds catchy, but here are some more useful slogans to help steer the conversation.
FIND YOUR LOCAL NAMI
