Marys Medicine

Nami-cambridgemiddlesex.org

n a M i Wa l k 2 0 1 5
Save
the
t Tuesday, April 7
6:30-8:30 pm
EDUCATION PROGRAM
Recovery Is Real
Hear from those who have lived it
Anne Whitman, vice president of the NAMI
Mass Board of Directors, chair of the Metro
above: The formidable Cambridge Walk Team 2014
Boston/Southeast Recovery Learning Center, and president emeritus of the Cole Center.
Believe it or not, spring is just around the corner and that
Gary Bromley, a jail diversion specialist and
means it's time to get ready for the NAMI WALK. The primary fundraiser for NAMI a long-term support coordinator for One Care nationwide and for NAMI-Cambridge/Middlesex, this year's WALK is scheduled for Saturday, May 16 at Artesani Park in Brighton, along the Charles River. Our indefatigable Megan Wiechnik, resource/helpline coordinator
at NAMI Mass
Walk Captain John Sharp ensures us: Michael Siena, peer specialist, Metro Boston Re-
"it Will Be a sunny day no Matter the Weather!"
covery Center, and NAMI Connections facilitator It's not too early to sign up to walk or to donate for our team at our Walk web- Macht Auditorum, Cambridge Hospital site http://namiwalks.nami.org/CAM. Below the large picture there, click on
1493 Cambridge St., Cambridge the box "JOIN THE TEAM" or "DONATE." For questions or help in registering, cal or email John, 781-646-6381 or [email protected].
t Monday, April 13
The top affiliate Walk team for the past five years, NAMI-CM'S three teams and 55 ADVOCACY DAY
walkers brought in donations just shy of $40,000 last year, as fol ows: • nami-cm, under captain John sharp and including a huge amount donated by family-to-family students and alums through carolyn White's efforts t Saturday, May 16
• cambridge health alliance under dr. miriam tepper NAMI WALK
• Katelyn's Klan under maureen riley Forty-five percent of funds raised by Cambridge are returned to the affiliate to cover its expenses throughout the year. An equal amount goes to NAMIMass and ten percent annual fundraiser! goes to National.
Meet at Artesani Park ready! Soldiers Field Road Boston Recovery Is Real:
t Saturday, October 3
8 am – 4 pm
Hear from those who have lived it
NAMI MASS ANNUAL CONVENTION
6:30 – 8:30 pM
Sturbridge Host Hotel & Conference Center Macht auditoruM, caMBridge hospital
1493 caMBridge st., caMBridge
For more information, check our phone: 617-984-0527 or website at: see details on page 6

Education and Support
iMportant phonE nuMBErS
t Support Groups for Family Members
Information on NAMI Cambridge-Middlesex
NAMI Cambridge-Middlesex offers bi-monthly support group Affiliate Programs For up-to-date recorded information
meetings for family members and friends of people with mental about educational meetings, support groups, or membership. illness. Trained NAMI volunteers who are also family member You can leave a message . . . . . . 617-984-0527
caregivers facilitate the support groups. Conducted in a confidential atmosphere, the purpose of the support groups is to help provide naMi State office (9am-5pm, M-f)
mutual support and coping strategies. Many families find NAMI The Schrafft's Center, 529 Main St., Ste. 1M17 support groups helpful.
Boston, MA 02129 . . . . . . . 617-580-8541
Please contact Elizabeth if you would like more information or to psychiatric Emergencies - cambridge hospital
attend. She can be reached at Elizabeth@nami-cambridgemiddle- sex.org or 781-646-0397.
The Psychiatric Emergency Service (PES) of the Cambridge Health Al iance is located in the Emergency Department at the CHA The support groups are FREE and conveniently located in the 3rd Cambridge Hospital campus, 1493 Cambridge St., Cambridge. floor Conference Center of the Cambridge Health Alliance, 1493 The PES serves people of al ages from across the Greater Boston region. Cambridge St., Cambridge. On-site and on-street parking are avail- Psychiatrists and clinical social workers are on duty 24-hours a day able and the location is T accessible.
to help manage al acute mental health emergencies. Cal 911 for Mondays, 7:30-9:30 pm: immediate medical help or PES . . . . 617-665-1560
• 1st Monday of each month, Lisa and Larry BESt team (Boston Emergency Service team)
• 3rd Monday of each month, Karen and Doris • 4th Monday of each month, Rae and Jane This is the primary emergency service team in the Boston area. Serves Boston, Cambridge, and Somervil e). . 800-981-4357
For more information and updates on Cambridge-Middlesex for other communities, call . . 877-382-1609
and enter your zip code.
t Area Family Support Groups
In-person behavioral health crisis assessment, intervention, and stabilization services 24 hours a day for individuals of all ages Support/WESt—naMi cEntral MiddlESEx
covered by MassHealth (Medicaid) plans, Medicare, and the uninsured. Clients can be seen in the community or at their acton Contact Susan McDougall at [email protected] or
978-263-8830; Clare Cooper at [email protected] two centers. They provide assessment, treatment planning, and or cell 978-692-8994.
hospitalization, if necessary. There is also respite care at their two centers in Boston and Cambridge. BEdford Call the NAMI of Central Middlesex affiliate helpline
or call 911.
dorchEStEr Contact Monica, 857-342-2796 or Mpomare28@
gmail.com; Mark, 617-522-7439 or [email protected].
StoW Call Trish Woods at 978-897-2962.
national Suicide prevention lifeline 1-800-273-talk
WakEfiEld Contact Kay at 781-438-1851, or Diane at 978-658-
Free, confidential 24-hr. emotional distress line 3567 or email: [email protected] Samaritans of Massachusetts 1-877-870-hopE
caring for thE Soul-caMBridgE Info: [email protected].
24 hour Crisis Intervention/Hotline t For Consumers
Samaritans of Massachusetts 1-800-252-8336
Teen Line (statewide) naMi connEctionS Support Group for peers/consumers: Vinfen/
Cambridge-Somerville Recovery Learning Center, 35 Medford St, Samaritans of Massachusetts 1-617-247-0220
Ste. 111, Somerville. Press 1R and go through elevator; walk up 24 hour Helpline ramp, enter first suite on the left. Contact Janel Tan (tanj@vinfen.
SuBStancE aBuSE hElp
org) or 617-863-5388, or Judi Maguire [email protected].
Mass Substance abuse hElplinE 1-800-327-5050
dBSa-MclEan hoSpital Visit www.dbsaboston.org or call the
Free, confidential information and referrals DBSA office 617-855-2795 (email [email protected].
thE colE rESourcE cEntEr, Belmont 617-855-3298, colere-
[email protected]. NAMI National Legal Center (namimass.org under "Resources.") Among other useful information is a comprehensive "Road Map this newsletter is published quarterly by the national alliance on through the Massachusetts Criminal Justice System for Persons mental illness of massachusetts, inc./cambridge-middlesex affiliate with Mental Il ness and Their Family" for its members and others interested in our education, support, and advocacy work on behalf of the mentally ill. You can find back issues at www.nami-cambridgemiddlesex.org.

nAMI cAMbrIdge/MIddlesex news Famed psychiatrist dr. Mark komrad answered our Questions
at january's "ask the doctor" Meeting
Dr. Mark Komrad, author of You Need Help: Q: A mental y il relative has a long history
A Step-by-Step Plan to Convince A Loved-One of addictions. Now the addictions have all to Get Counseling, spent a Saturday morning been replaced by an addiction to Christ. He recently answering questions for us. Just elected attends a church and talks only to people to the prestigious American Col ege of Psychia- from the church.
trists and honored as an "Exemplary Psychia- a: Try to talk to others from that church
trist" by NAMI, Dr. Komrad is a frequent guest to form an al iance to get help for him.
on NPR, answering cal ers' questions.
Q: What is the effect of smoking on some-
one with mental il ness? Q: Is it a good idea to ask directly for help for
a: Nicotine is known to have anti-psy-
your family member? chotic action. One way to control or limit a: Yes, but often it works best to ask the il per-
a person's smoking is simply to limit that son to seek help for your sake, since it is hurting person's available money.
you to see them suffer without help. Q: Can people get help to convince some-
Q: It can be hard to decide between respecting
Dr. Komrad (right) answers more questions for psy-
chiatrist Dr. Hon Ho from the North Shore Medical
one they care about to get treatment? the person's autonomy and using techniques Center after his talk.
a: I am often approached by people who
to get them to get help. How can those two be want to consult me about a family member. Q: Is ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) effective
Over many sessions, we can brainstorm a: The only legitimate goal is to try to restore
in major depression? a number of approaches. Persistence and or maximize the person's autonomy, not to a: ECT is probably the most effective treat-
courage to implement ideas are needed. I punish or exploit the person. The use of logical ment. If multiple meds have failed for a given often have to do "hand holding" to support reasoning is good but not always relevant, if the patient, ECT is more likely to work than that courage and help families develop patient has lost cognitive ability. Most impor- another medicine.
fortitude and not get discouraged.
tant are parent-child relationships, where there is asymmetry, with years of roles of parental Q: Why do so many psychiatrists refuse to ac-
Q: When there is conflict with someone's
dominance for the wel -being of the child. cept health insurance? family, is that anosognosia? a: Insurance payments for mental health care
a: Not necessarily. Problems have varying
Q: How can you deal with a mental y il family
are much lower than for other specialties, causes, for example, early life experiences. If member who can't be relied on to take their resulting in some psychiatrists seeing many a parent abandoned a child, the child may patients for very short times in order to achieve have trouble establishing friendships or a: If it is wel known that they don't take their
a decent payment for themselves. relationships later on.
meds, initiate a new regimen . For example, tel them they must take the meds with you Q: Do anti-psychotic meds help with voices, i.e.
Q: After trying many things for my family
watching until you are sure they are taking them auditory hal ucinations? member, he is stil noncompliant. Am I regularly. Another approach is to use long- a: Usual y meds are more effective for voices,
acting injectible formulations, which decrease delusions, and hal ucinations, but less effective a: It's easy to inadvertently enable chronic
their therapeutic effect more gradual y when not for negative symptoms such as lack of motiva- problems in a family environment. There taken for a day or two. It can be helpful to link tion and flat affect. For many patients Clozaril is an inherent danger of the verticality of certain family privileges (eg., cel phone, internet is effective, but it is underutilized, partly family relationships. The patient needs a access, car, etc.) to the responsibility of taking because of the demanding regimen to navigate "launch" out of the family. A group home meds. Maybe one day at a time.
the very narrow therapeutic window. Blood may provide that. Some chronic il nesses tests are required to guard against side effects plateau at an impaired level. That is, after Q: Are there always changes in neuroanatomy
affecting white blood count.
some improvement, that may be al you are with mental il ness? going to get.
a: No, the changes described in published
Q: Someone was on Clozaril for 8 years, and
research are averages, so any given person will developed OCD (obsessive-compulsive disor- You can order Dr Mark Komrad's book, You not necessarily show those changes. For mental der). Was that caused by Clozaril? Need Help: A Step-by-Step Plan to Convince il ness the patient's history is the only source a: This would not be due to Clozaril, but some
A Loved-One to Get Counseling at www. of information the doctor has to make his/her patients have what is cal ed "Schizo-obsessive komradmd.com or www.amazon.com. diagnosis. Diagnoses on the basis of brain scans disorder" where symptoms of both schizophre- is not valid practice. nia and OCD are seen.
www.nami-cambridgemiddlesex.org 3

find Your legislator
MentAl heAlth In the news Resilience: Two Sisters and a story of Mental Illness
Sal n. didomenico
diSTriCT: Middlesex and Suffolk
Jessie Close and Pete Earley: "Resilience: Two Sisters and a story of Mental Il ness." The Diane State House Room 218 Boston, MA 02133 Rehm Show, NPR February 5, 2015 (the diannerehmshow.org)
Phone: 617-722-1650 Fax: 617-722-1323 Email: [email protected] Interview with Jessie and her sister, actress and mental health advocate Glenn Close, and patricia d. Jehlen
Pete Early. Pete and Jessie have written a new book Resilience, describing Jessie's bipolar diSTriCT: Second Middlesex
"journey." Also see bringchange2mind.org.
State House Room 513 Boston, MA 02133 Phone: 617-722-1578 Fax: 617-722-1117 Email: [email protected] Peter Earley One of Ten Named Warriors for Mental Wellness
anthony W. petruccelli
diSTriCT: First Suffolk and Middlesex State
House Room 424 Boston, MA 02133 Phone: 617-722-1634 Fax: 617-722-1076 Email: [email protected] June Binney Writes on Police Training in Boston Globe
david M. rogers
diSTriCT: 24th Middlesex
Ruth Graham's Sunday Ideas article, "First aid for the mind," touched briefly on how State House Room 134 Boston, MA 02133 training benefits police. Massachusetts has made a commitment to provide three hours Phone: 617-722-2400 Fax: 617-626-0275 of mental health training to local police officers, giving them the tools to safely de-escalate Email: [email protected] a situation involving a person in crisis and avoid involuntary hospitalizations and unneces- Marjorie c. decker
sary arrests.
diSTriCT: 25th Middlesex
By the end of this year, every municipal police officer in the state should receive training, State House Room 236 Boston, MA 02133 Phone: 617-722-2430 Fax: 617-626-0337 similar to Mental Health First Aid, thanks to a collaborative effort among the Executive Email: [email protected] Office of Public Safety and Security, the Department of Mental Health, and the Massachu- setts chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness. Jonathan hecht
diSTriCT: 29th Middlesex
At least one in five Bay State residents have experienced a mental illness, according to a State House Room 22 Boston, MA 02133 recent NAMI Mass survey. How we all handle such encounters can determine whether Phone: 617-722-2140 a person with a mental illness is transported to a hospital emergency room, a jail, or a Fax: 617-626-0199 Email: [email protected] June S. Binney, Director, Criminal Justice Project , NAMI Mass timothy J. toomey, Jr.
diSTriCT: 26th Middlesex
State House Room 238 Boston, MA 02133 Phone: 617-722-2380 Fax: 617-626-0668 Email: [email protected]
Jay livingstone
diSTriCT: 8th Suffolk
State House Room 146 Boston, MA 02133 Phone: 617-722-2011 Email: [email protected]
Sean garballey
State House Room 540 Boston, MA 02133 Phone: 617-722-2090 Fax: 617-722-2848 Email: [email protected]
Jay r. kaufman
State House Room 34 Boston, MA 02133 Stronger Than Stigma
Phone: 617-722-2320 Fax: 617-722-2415 Celebrities and mental health advocates (l-r) Brandon Marshall, wide receiver for the Chi- cago Bears; Michael Angelakos, lead singer of indietronica band Passion Pit; comedian and actor Wayne Brady; and Ben Scrivens, NHL goalie for the Edmonton Oilers, are helping Your representative
Bringchange2mind launch its new campaign, StrongerThanStigma. See it at bringchange- and senator want to hear
2mind.org. Tha campaign aims to erase stereotypes, create a new narrative by raising from you. Write or cal .
awareness of the mental health problems that men face, encourage dialogue, and promote

nAMI cAMbrIdge/MIddlesex news auction Bidders
State Representative Marjorie Decker (25th Middlesex District, includ- enjoy their
ing parts of Cambridge) met in December with several NAMI-CM board members, including Carolyn White and Sharon deVos, both members of the hospital advisory committee overseeing issues with TOP: Cathy Haines at right,
the Cambridge Health Al iance (CHA) ER, newly merged with the and her husband Eric
psychiatric ER. A lifelong Cambridge resident and former Cambridge dressed for the part and
City Council or, the state rep plans to work with NAMI-CM in gaining treated their eight guests
necessary support at the State House. to the full Downton Abbey
experience at her auction
dinner, serving a traditional
crown roast with the help
For the third year in a row NAMI-CM was able to make a $1000 of Jeff Wheeler (left)
donation each to the fol owing non-profit organizations: and Craig Carson, as
• Tunefoolery, a Cambridge and Boston-based organization of more
butler and valet.
than 50 unique and courageous musicians with psychiatric conditions and disabilities who play and perform music as a way towards healing BELOW: Rick (left) and Kathy
and recovery. In addition to their regular ensemble and solo acts (folk, Kosinski (right)
classical, blues, rock, show tunes) Tunefoolery has added monthly with dancers at one of
drum circles, is building a new recording studio in its space, and three performances of
wil be training its members as recording engineers, the Jose Mateo Ballet
they won in the auction.
• The Massachusetts Clubhouse Coalition which manages 34 Club-
house emplyment and recovery centers for 8,300 residents of Mass- achusetts who have serious and persistent mental il ness. More donations to service organizations dedicated to helping consumers wil be considered at the March 9 board meeting.
cations that accompany serious mental il ness. A monthly Coffee House • CHA Drop-in Center
gathering has been added.
Proceeds from the November Winetasting and Silent Auction also In addition to the Recovery Drop-in Center, CHA has added RISE, al owed the affiliate to continue to support the Drop-in Center at the a dedicated program for young adults 16-30 with psychosis which offers Cambridge Health Al iance with a $12,000 donation. NAMI-CM the timely, accessible, appealing inteventions critical to improving long- also helped the Center secure $5,000 from the Cambridge Community term outcomes.
Foundation. A smal staff in the Outpatient Psychiatry Department CHA is also one of 10 area health organizations to receive a grant are offering weekly groups, as wel as seasonal lunches, to 60 patients to from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation to support help them overcome the social isolation and frequent medical compli- the integration of behavioral health and primary care services. MEMBErS—Watch for renewal date on the mailing label of your newsletter —envelope enclosed.
Join Nami Cambridge-middlesex:
Please print clearly and mail to the address below with your check or visit www.nami.org to join online
telephoNe Number (Enter your address, if you want to receive occasional affiliate updates by email.)o i would like to become a Nami-Cm member. please send $35 (or $3 for open door membership) this includes Cm, state and national membership and newsletters. thank you for your support.
o i want the Cambridge-middlesex Nami newsletter only, since i am already a member of another affiliate. please send $10.
Make checks payable to: Nami-Cm Mail to: Nami-Cm, 174 appletoN St., Cambridge, ma 02138This is not an office, but a mailing address only. NAMI-CM is a volunteer organization; we do not maintain an office. www.nami-cambridgemiddlesex.org 5
174 Appleton Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Inside this issue:
Ask the Doctor . . . . . . . . p. 3
Mental Health in the News . . p. 4
Find Your Legislator. . . . . . p. 4
NAMI-CM News. . . . . . . p. 5
Recovery Is Real
Hear from those who have lived it
Recovery Is Real
6:30-7:00 pm Coffee hour
7:00-8:00 pm Presentations
8:00-8:30 pm Time for questions
Macht auditorum, cambridge hospital
1493 cambridge st., cambridge
speakers will include:
• anne Whitman, vice president of the NAMI Mass
Board of Directors, chair of the Metro Boston/South- east Recovery Learning Center, and president emeritus of the Cole Center.
• gary Bromley, a jail diversion specialist and a long-
term support coordinator for One Care Support.
• Megan Wiechnik, resource/helpline coordinator
• Michael siena, peer specialist, Metro Boston Recovery
Center, and NAMI Connections facilitator Free and open to the puBlic
(Free hospital parking with vouchers obtained at the meeting)
Hear from those
who have lived it

Source: http://nami-cambridgemiddlesex.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/95/2015/08/Spring2015Newsletter.pdf