The end of the 2017 is almost here, and the holidays are upon us. This is a busy time for many people, with plenty of things to cross off the to-do list before enjoying the season.
Here at The CAFÉ TA Center, one of the things on our to-do list is to get you one last edition of our News & Notes email before the year is out! Even though your attention may be drawn to holiday planning, friends and family as December comes to a close, there is still a lot happening in the world of mental health.
In particular, we would like to call your attention to the new report from the Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (ISMICC). This committee was created by the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act, and was tasked with coming up with suggestions on how the nation’s mental health system of care could be improved. The full report, which was just released, is likely to influence the direction of public policy regarding mental health, substance use, and recovery for years to come.
You can read the full report here, and you can find the executive summary outlining the committee’s recommendations here.
No matter where you are, who you’re with, or how you are recognizing the holiday season and the New Year, everyone here at CAFÉ TAC wishes you peace, wellness, and prosperity in the coming year!
Webinar: Gender Responsive Recovery Supports
Thursday, December 28
2:00–3:00 p.m. ET
SAMHSA’s Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) invites you to a conversation with experts about gender responsive approaches to supporting behavioral health recovery.
Research suggests that the experience, prevalence, and trajectory of mental and substance use disorders differ between gender groups, as does the effectiveness of different forms of treatment. This event will include discussions of practical approaches to providing gender responsive recovery supports such as frameworks and vocabulary for understanding the different dimensions of gender and how to engage different gender groups.
Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/
JED’s 2018 Student Advisory Council
Apply by January 15
The JED Foundation has announced the fifth year of its Student Advisory Council (SAC). JED’s SAC will represent the college students’ perspective and support the Foundation’s work to protect emotional health and prevent suicide among their peers. The SAC will advise JED with feedback on existing campaigns and programs, engage their campus communities and young adults across the US about emotional health issues through awareness and fundraising events, and assist with new initiatives.
Learn more and apply at https://www.jedfoundation.org/
Applications are due on Monday, January 15, 2018
America’s Youth is in Crisis – Here’s How You Can Help
This blog post from Mental Health America reviews disturbing trends regarding depression, suicide and self-harm among youth, and offers some suggestions on some simple first steps youth and families can take to begin the conversation about mental health.
Bazelon Announces New Campus Mental Health Partnership with Steptoe & Johnson LLP
The Bazelon Center has announced a new partnership with Steptoe & Johnson LLP that will help college and university students facing discrimination due to their mental health disabilities. The partnership will focus on providing legal counseling to students who contact Bazelon about problems they face at school, including difficulties obtaining reasonable accommodations, issues with taking voluntary medical leaves or being forced to take involuntary leaves of absence, and being disciplined for conduct related to their disability.
Learn more about this initiative and the Bazelon Center’s campus mental health work at http://www.bazelon.org/our-
First Episode Psychosis: How Schools can Support Students
First Episode Psychosis (FEP) is an important issue for those working with youth: the peak onset period for psychotic disorders is between ages 15 and 25, and more than half of psychotic disorders appear before the early 20s. Because of this, schools can be an ideal place to promote better mental health in students, including those experiencing FEP.
This fact sheet from Project AWARE introduces FEP, its warning signs, and evidence-based prevention and treatment approaches.
http://files.constantcontact.
Webinar: Self-Care for the Peer Specialist
Tuesday, January 30
11:00 am PT/ 1:00 pm CT/ 2:00 pm ET
National TA Center Doors to Wellbeing presents a webinar on self-care for peer specialists.
Our mental health is strongly influenced by how we take care of ourselves. While self-care is important for everyone, it is particularly important for those of us engaged in peer support and caregiving professions. We can best support others when we first care for ourselves. Join Denise Camp, Advanced Level WRAP Facilitator, to explore the importance of self-care and how you can do small things to improve your mental health and wellness.
Workshop participants will learn to: define mental health and wellness for themselves; understand how their mental health and wellness affects their work as a peer specialist; and develop personal tools for improving and maintaining mental health and wellness.
Register at https://register.gotowebinar.
Full Disclosure: When Mental Health Professionals Reveal Their Mental Illness at Work
A new report from the by Temple University Collaborative examines the experiences of, and attitudes toward, mental health staff who have mental health issues and work in mental health care provision jobs. It finds both a pattern of positive responses to disclosure of mental health conditions, and hesitancy on the part of mental health workers to be open about their own issues.
Read the report at http://tucollaborative.org/wp-
New SAMHSA Web-Based Resources on Trauma, Suicide Prevention, and Intimate Partner Violence
The SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions has announced new and revised webpages on Trauma, Suicide Prevention, and Intimate Partner Violence.
Each page is full of updated content and many of the best nationwide resources on these topics, tailored to behavioral health and primary care organizations.
View these new pages here:
Trauma: https://www.integration.
Suicide Prevention: https://www.integration.
Intimate Partner Violence: https://www.integration.
Study Reveals Gap in Life Expectancy For People With Mental Illness
New research from Australia finds that men who are diagnosed with a mental health condition in their lifetime can expect to live 10.2 years less than those who aren’t, and women 7.3 years.
https://medicalxpress.com/
Psychosis Incidence Highly Variable Internationally
As detailed in this Science Daily article, the largest international comparison of incidence of psychotic disorders, and the first major study of its kind in more than 25 years, finds that the incidence of psychosis varies greatly across different countries, suggesting that environmental factors play a role at least as significant as genetics.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/
Study: Mental Health Mobile Apps Are Effective Self-Help Tools
When it comes to strengthening your mental or emotional health, would you trust an app? A trio of Brigham Young University health science researchers has published new research that says the answer is yes.
Read about this research at https://medicalxpress.com/
5th World Congress of the World Association of Cultural Psychiatry Seeking Presentations
Apply by January 15
The 5th World Congress of Cultural Psychiatry will be held at Columbia University in New York City on October 10-13, 2018. With the theme “Achieving Global Mental Health Equity: Making Cultural Psychiatry Count,” this multi-disciplinary conference will bring together hundreds of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, and others in mental health, anthropology, and social scientists from around the world.
Organizers are currently seeking submissions for presentations. This event presents an opportunity for people with lived experience to bring their expertise and insight to the conversation about mental health and cultural barriers.
Learn more about this event at http://wacp2018.org/. To submit a proposal, visit http://wacp2018.org/call-for-