healfrmdepress

A new article in the New York Times reports that Philosophy, the beauty brand owned by Coty, has become the first company to raise funds to treat mental illness. As I mentioned in a previous post, nearly 40,000 Americans commit suicide annually, about the same number that die from breast cancer. But while countless brands adopt pink packaging to raise awareness during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, corporate support for mental illness, the cause of most suicides, is decidedly scant.

Now Philosophy, the beauty brand owned by Coty, is introducing an effort to raise a projected $10 million over the next five years to combat mental illness. The Hope & Grace Initiative will direct 1 percent of sales of products throughout the brand’s skin care and fragrance lines to mental health charities, with a special focus on issues that particularly affect women, like postpartum depression and psychological trauma linked to domestic abuse. Grants typically will be about $25,000, with preference given to community-based programs.

The initiative is named for the two most popular products from Philosophy, which date back to the introduction of the brand in 1996: Hope in a Jar moisturizer and Amazing Grace fragrance.

Jill Scalamandre, chief marketing officer of Coty’s skin care division, said addressing mental health made sense for a brand associated with mindfulness.

“The DNA of the brand is really about inspiring women not only to look their best, but to feel their best,” Ms. Scalamandre said. “Philosophy is for women that are always on a journey of self-improvement, so we said, ‘Let’s look at mental health,’ and we were staggered by how big the issue is, with one in four women struggling with a mental health challenge.”

A section of the Philosophy website about the initiative includes a video featuring one woman, Kate (only first names are used), who has been found to have bipolar disorder, and another, Adrienne, with major depression and anxiety.

Both stress the importance of overcoming the shame and stigma associated with mental illness to get treatment. A 30-second version of the video, meant for public service announcements, that mentions the initiative but not the brand is expected to begin running on television in January, although dates are not certain when relying on donated commercial time. The videos are by the Bindery in New York, which specializes in branded content.

I totally commend Coty for this brave initiative, as there are hardly any corporations in America that are working to break the stigma of mental illness. Hopefully, other companies will be inspired enough by what Cody has done to start their own support of mental health programs.

To read the entire New York Times article, click here.

A recent article in the NY Times describes the problem of violence in jails, especially with inmates who suffer from mental illness, and illustrates how jails are the new mental hospitals of our time, with disastrous results. The article looks at Rikers Island, the second-largest jail in the United States. “Rikers now has about as many people with mental illnesses — roughly 4,000 of the 11,000 inmates — as all 24 psychiatric hospitals in New York State combined. They make up nearly 40 percent of the jail population, up from about 20 percent eight years ago,” states the article.

The article goes on to report, “The jail is not equipped for them. Inmates are housed on cellblocks supervised by uniformed men and women who are often poorly trained to deal with mental illness, and rely on pepper spray, take-down holds and fists to subdue them.”

The article reveals a secret internal study completed by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which handles medical care at Rikers, on violence by officers. It says, “The report helps lay bare the culture of brutality on the island and makes clear that it is inmates with mental illnesses who absorb the overwhelming brunt of the violence…The report cataloged in exacting detail the severity of injuries suffered by inmates: fractures, wounds requiring stitches, head injuries and the like. But it also explored who the victims were. Most significantly, 77 percent of the seriously injured inmates had received a mental illness diagnosis.”

The article concludes, “Rikers is far from alone as a correctional institution struggling with an influx of inmates with mental illnesses. According to some studies, correctional facilities now hold 95 percent of all institutionalized people with mental illnesses…Mental health clinicians are unable to involuntarily medicate inmates who go off medication and often do not have access to the full range of drugs available outside the jail. Many clinicians complain that they are working in a setting that is controlled by correction officials who do not understand mental illness.”

 

This week, USA Today continued it’s remarkable series on the mental health crisis with an October 9, 2014 article, 40,000 Suicides Annually, Yet America Still Shrugs. I highly advise that you read it! The article points out that although suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in America and the second leading cause of death in young people ages 15-34, funding for suicide research and prevention is pitifully low compared to the money spent on prostrate cancer and HIV, which kill far less people.

But nowhere is the discrepancy greater than when comparing the money spent on suicide prevention and breast cancer. Each condition kills about 40,000 people a year. Here in Portland, Oregon the Susan B. Komen walk for the cure attracts 40,000 walkers each September, yet the Out of Darkness suicide prevention walk held the first Saturday in October attracts 500 people. That is an 80:1 ratio!

What is the cause of this discrepancy? It think it can be stated in one word–stigma. While much publicity has been given to women struggling with breast cancer, and rightfully so, suicide remains a taboo subject. I remember a member of my healing from depression support group who suffered from a serious depression and worked as a nurse. One day, she came to group in a much better mood. When I asked her why she was feeling better, she smiled and told the group that she had just been diagnosed with cancer. Seeing the disbelieving looks of the group members, she explained that when she told her co-workers that she had cancer, people gave her lots of love and support. Yet for years she had not talked about her depression for fear that people wouldn’t understand, or that her job would be in jeopardy.

Every thirteen minutes a person in America commits suicide and every 40 seconds someone in the world commits suicide. Until suicide prevention becomes a higher priority in this culture, we need to learn the skills of finding alternatives to suicide. To learn some of these skills, please feel free to read my article, “How to Find Alternatives to Suicide.”

Or, you can watch my You Tube video by clicking on this link: http://youtu.be/qfknfbnSM4w

If you want to watch a video on how to find alternatives to suicide, click on the image or click here.

By now you have probably heard the tragic news about the Robin Williams suicide. Like many creative artists, Williams battled the demons of depression.

In the e-tips and affirmations you have been receiving, I have tried to share with you tools and coping strategies that you can successfully treat depression. However, when symptoms do not immediately respond to treatment, the pain of depression can become so overwhelming that we start to think of suicide as the only way to end this pain. This is how Robin Williams must have felt before he made his irreversible decision.

Yet, as one who has struggled with suicide during my own battles with depression, I can say from my own experience and from the experience of my clients, that no matter how hopeless the situation may feel, there is always a reason for hope. This is because the only constant in the universe is change. No state of consciousness, however torturous can endure forever.

If this is true, the challenge then becomes how do we endure the pain of suicidal depression while waiting for it to change? The key is to respond to the pain by increasing our coping strategies and resources.

Here are some tools that I and others have found helpful

1. Break the pain into manageable parts − If you feel overwhelmed, try to make it through one day at a time, or one hour or minute at time. If you find yourself catastrophizing about the future, refocus onto the present moment through positive self-talk and constructive action. For example, you might replace the statement “I’ll never get better” with “What self-care strategy (calling a friend, going for a swim, taking an antianxiety medication, etc.) can I choose right now to get me through this period?” Then put the strategy into action.
2. Try surrendering to the pain and experience it as a wave washing over  you. As the wave makes contact, see if you can ride the wave by focusing on your breath. Breathe through the sensations, breathing in and out while attending to the sound of your breathing. I talk about this technique more in a You Tube video called, “Bearing the unbearable pain.”
3. Another coping strategy is to notice the moments when there is a break from the pain. If you can’t locate any respites in the present, then think about some pleasant memory from the past. A single positive memory is a coping resource and has the same impact as something that occurs right now. This is because the brain cannot tell the difference between what is real and what it imagines.
4. Finally, stay in touch with others, as they are your lifeline to healing. Every single person in my support group who was desperately suicidal and reached out to others is alive today.

A well known cliche says − “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” The truth of this was brought home to me when I learned about a person who had jumped from the Golden Gate bridge and survived. He is quoted as saying, “As I passed the guard rail, I suddenly realized that everything that I thought was unfixable was in reality fixable.” Fortunately, he survived and was given the opportunity to repair his life. Others have been less fortunate.

I would like to end this article with a personal message for anyone who may be suicidal or who knows someone who is suicidal.

 If you are on the edge of the abyss, don’t jump.
If you are going through hell, don’t stop.
As long as you are breathing, there is hope. 

I hope that this information has been helpful, and remember what they say in AA: “Don’t give up five minutes before the miracle!”

Sincerely,

Douglas Bloch, M.A.

https://healingfromdepression.com

If you would like to watch a video about how I coped with suicidal thoughts, click the image below or click here.

 

 

Today I would like to share with you how regular road cycling has improved my mood and my life and  has thus played a central part in my recovery from depression. (Click on the image or link to watch a short video on how cycling has transformed my mood.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fzz2qiIL5g

In my video recently the body-mood connection, I stated how heard the quickest way to  change your mood is to change your physiology. This includes getting exercise, eating a healthy diet, getting proper sleep, etc.

These main way that I change my physiology to change my mood is through cycling. I belong to a group of eight friends who live in my neighborhood in Northeast Portland. We call ourselves the Northeast Cruisers, and as you see I am wearing our team jersey. (On the back is my cat Bruce who some of you met in my video on pets and healing from depression.

Anyway, about 3-5 times a week I go on a 15 to 25 mile cycling trip with one or more cruisers. Doing this routine helps me in a number of way.s

First, the aerobic exercise benefits my overall health through bringing oxygen and blood flow to all part of my body, including my brain.

As a result of the latter, I experience a definite increase in my mood–called the runner’s high. I guess we can call this the cyclist’s high.

Third, by riding with other people, I benefit from the human contact and connection that are so important to good mental health.

One of my favorite and most frequent rides takes place here, on Rocky Butte, which is an extinct volcano in NE Portland. Getting to the top is a challenge, but once I reach the destination, I rewarded with a clear mind and beautiful views of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens. Click on the link or the image below to watch a short video of me at the top of Rocky Butte talking about the antidepressant effects of exercise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fzz2qiIL5g