Author: Kitt O’Malley
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Excited or Overstimulated?
Volunteer training shadowing a Hearing Advocate last Friday either excited or overstimulated me. There can be a fine line between the two. Since then I’ve had trouble slowing down and turning off, and found myself glued to laptop, tablet, or iPhone until past my bedtime. I’ve resorted to taking clonazepam to turn off my brain and fall asleep.…
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US Mental Health Survey
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), collected data from 2008 to 2012. The survey includes an overwhelming amount of information. From what I could tell, the most significant statistical variances were between the sexes and by age groups. I am simply…
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So….who are you?
As I begin my training as a Hearing Advocate for those involuntarily hospitalized, I found this post timely. Finding My Sunshine is a mother, wife and PhD student living with Bipolar disorder. In this post, she describes her experience with involuntary hospitalization and multiple ECT sessions administered while prescribed Lithium, resulting in severe memory loss.…
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Updated Resources
The SAMHSA Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator can help you locate treatment facilities in the United States or U.S. Territories for substance abuse/addiction and/or mental health problems. Just updated my Resources pages, adding resources and organizing them into three separate category pages. RESOURCES IN THE UNITED STATES Mental Health Resources Disability Resources Health Care Resources
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NIMH · Atonement
In his blog post entitled Atonement, Thomas Insel, MD, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), calls for humility: So this year on Mental Illness Awareness Week, my call is for humility. We need to be aware that mental disorders are immensely complex—too complex for scientists, clinicians, patients, or families to solve alone. Prevention, recovery,…
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I Loved It! ~ Patients Rights Advocacy
Loved shadowing an MHA Hearing Advocate earlier today. Look forward to learning more. Great opportunity for me to make use of my experience having been psychiatrically hospitalized for bipolar disorder (albeit voluntarily), while dusting off old knowledge and skills from my education and the careers of my early adulthood. After all, I have a BA…
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Full Circle
This morning I interviewed with Mental Heath Association of Orange County to be a volunteer Hearing Advocate representing clients placed on mental health holds (involuntary psychiatric hospitalization for 72-hours). HEARING ADVOCACY – Advocates fill a legally state mandated role to ensure that involuntarily detained persons in a psychiatric hospital have the opportunity to express their views…
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Submit to STIGMAMA
Walker Karraa, PhD has done an incredible job growing STIGMAMA | Motherhood. Mental Illness. Out Loud. at STIGMAMA.COM. STIGMAMA is currently calling for submissions of essays, poetry, personal stories, fiction, professional perspectives, photo essays, and art about STEREOTYPES. Submit to info@stigmama.com. Help STIGMAMA widen its reach. If you are a woman of color, mature mother, grandmother or great-grandmother, young woman, childless (whether or…
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Mental Illness Awareness Week #MIAW #B4Stage4
Facts listed on this infographic from MHAScreening.org: Get Screened, America! 125,000 screens since the launch of MHAScreening.org in May 2014 66% screened positive for moderate to severe anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, or PTSD… and 64% of them had never been diagnosed. 44% said they would discuss results with someone. Stay healthy. Take a screen, and talk to…
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This Upcoming Week
SICK Under the weather with a bug that has me achy, fatigued, nauseated, and dizzy. Hope that my physical health improves soon, for I have a big week ahead of me. SKYPE CALL WEDNESDAY Wednesday I have a Skype call scheduled with my friends and colleagues, Dyane Harwood of Birth of a New Brain and Walker…