Bernards Voices

Related to the same theme of “caregiver connections,” Dr. Pauline Chen published an article January 21st in The New York Times about the disconnect between physicians and their patients’ caregivers, and the need for more attention to be paid to the physical and mental stresses of caregivers.

Caregiving duties place tremendous stresses on an individual, and not all of those stressors are simply physical and emotional.   “Some of these 37-going-on-40 million family caregivers have had to give up their own jobs in order to care for the patients,” Dr. Hood said.   “That means they aren’t going to be able to put aside money for their retirement.  Who is going to take care of them and their medical problems in the future?”

I’m attaching a very interesting article from a recent issue of TIME magazine that focused on health care, with the emphasis of prevention.  This piece is about research that’s been done on preventing or minimizing the onset of serious mental illness among high risk youngsters by using a family intervention and support approach.

I highlighted a couple of paragraphs of special interest, last but not least, the one that states that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has earmarked significant funds to support a nationwide expansion of the program.

In any given year, approximately 17% of Americans under 25 have a mental, emotional or behavioral disorder. (Over our lifetime, 46% of us will receive such a diagnosis.) If we reduce the proportion of young people who become mentally ill by even one-quarter, that would mean about 3.8 million saved each year from what can turn into a lifelong struggle.

How long is the window between first symptoms and actual diagnosis? The National Academies report says that across several mental illnesses — including obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression and substance dependence — we have about two to three years to intervene and keep short-term symptoms from becoming long-term afflictions.

One Family at a Time. The Robert Wood Johnson foundation is so impressed with McFarlane’s program that it has devoted $15 million to its national expansion. It is the foundation’s single largest mental-health initiative.

Does anyone on the steering committee have contacts there? It would be interesting to find out a little more and to learn whether there are any grant/funding opportunities related to it.

If you were, you sat in a gorgeous auditorium with about 100 community members and listened to some informative, inspiring and insightful (how’s that for three “i” s, Daryl?) talks from Leslie Becker-Phelps, Peter Roselle and our keynote speaker, Daryl Brewster. While the talks were very different, the themes that were communicated were very consistent: among others, the need for connection and community, the difficulty and importance of asking for help, the concept of re-setting expectations about one’s self and one’s life after the rug has been pulled out from under your feet. You also were part of the fascinating community conversation that was created by these talks and the personal stories from audience members — and heard, at times, a depth of emotion — ranging from despair to joyful optimism — that was truly moving, and which, at the end, led to a man in need walking out of the event with a Kleenex box full of cash — you had to be there to fully appreciate the moment. When I left last night at 9:55pm, the community room was still buzzing with informal conversation (maybe because of the delicious Port City Java coffee?).

I’m sure most of you heard about this study, published yesterday in The American Journal of Medicine, and covered by The New York Times.  The list of illnesses/events that account for the highest costs, per year, are listed below, and include mental illnesses, as one might expect.  This is definitely information that should be referenced in some way during our June 15 “Who Pulled the Rug Out” event, as it’s clear that these financial catastrophes are ever-present in our society, and can occur whether someone has lost their job or not.  Talk about stress and anxiety……

The health problems that left patients with the highest out-of-pocket expenses were ranked as follows:

Neurologic (i.e., multiple sclerosis): $34,167
Diabetes: $26,971
Injuries: 25,096
Stroke: $23,380
Mental illnesses: $23,178
Heart disease: $21,955

Researchers offered half of youngsters and their parents an eight-week course of “cognitive behavioral therapy.” In these hour-long sessions, parents learned how to recognize things they were doing that might make their children anxious — such as being overprotective or worrying out loud. Children also learned coping skills, according to the study, in the June issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, released Monday

Wanted to pass along to you by an article Jillian Berman from today’s USA Today about the emphasis of federal funding on the consequences of substance abuse rather than its prevention.

Also, below, an article about a series of support groups/programs being conducted in Hunterdon by SAFE, an organization primarily focused on helping victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.  They’ve been in existence for 30 years, and we may want to look into their model, and certainly consider some of these programs for our resource/referrals database.

SAFE in Hunterdon is launching new therapy groups to offer the community information on healthy relationships and ways to effectively handle stress.

The second article from USA Today is a look at the increasing use of antipsychotic drugs among the ill elderly between 1996 and 2006 — the concerning factor here is that this increase in prescription drug use among is not paired with an increase in access to mental health specialists (who, ostensibly, would manage the medications and provide the psychotherapy/support that is needed for these meds to work in an optimal fashion).

Adults who say their activities are limited by mental illness were less likely to have contact with a mental health professional in 2006 than 1996, and the decrease was greatest for the elderly, dropping from 30% to 20%.

Seniors are most concerning to us,” Frank says. Traditionally, they’ve been the most under-treated. Now many are getting psychiatric medication, but, among the seriously impaired, access to specialists is dropping.

Looking forward to the May 11 meeting of the Healthy Outcomes Partnership, at which we will finalize our plans and program for the upcoming panel discussion-town hall forum on the affect of the recession on our “communal psyche” — as you recall, Michael Aron of NJN will be meeting with us to both tell us how he envisions his role in the event, but most important, to learn from us exactly what are our objectives for June 11. It should be a great meeting, and, as always, lunch will be served!

Regarding general mental health issues, I wanted to forward to you two articles from this week’s USA Today. The first, from today’s paper, concerns the increased risk of mental disorders among children who have experienced racism/racist remarks, especially relevant to us in HOP when considering the growing Hispanic population in our community.

The link between perceived racism and mental disorders is strong, he adds. For example, Hispanics who report racism are more than three times as likely as other children to have symptoms of depression; blacks are more than twice as likely; and those of “other” minority races have almost quadruple the odds.

Hispanics had the worst mental health effects, the study shows; perceptions of bias significantly increased their symptoms of all four disorders. About four out of five Hispanic children who felt prejudice had foreign-born parents. Black parents may buffer their children better, perhaps preparing them to expect some racism, Schuster speculates.