We Are All Mad Here

Are you a part of the 5C mental health community? Whether you're a consumer of mental health services yourself, are an ally, friend or family member of an individual with mental health issues, or if you're just interested in becoming a visual part of MH community, we have a shirt for you!

Let's Do Something is sponsoring a Mental Health Alliance Coming Out Week starting April 1. As a part of the week, we are selling t-shirts that would advertise your affiliation with the Mental Health Community. To make a visible statement we all stand together, on Wednesday that week we would like everyone who purchased a shirt to wear it.

The design can be viewed here: http://www.designashirt.com/preview-615548 - it's based on the concept that the DSM gives everyone a number for their diagnosis. Allies without a diagnosis can use a code for a disorder that have impacted them personally, even if they don't necessarily have it, or they can use a number with a different significance (this is also a good option for anyone who isn't ready to disclose their disorder). As the first event for the week, we will have a barbeque and spray painting party to customize the shirts.

I've been noticing recently that there have been a lot of posts on Claremont Confession regarding mental health so I thought that it would be a good idea to create a page dedicated exclusively to its discussion. My idea is that it will be a resource for 5C students to seek and give advice or to share their experiences in a respectful and supportive manner.  It will work similarly to Claremont Confessions/ Compliments where people can post anonymously via a google form. 

Here's an interesting perspective on hospitalization. I think it's a good example of what good mental health care could do if that's what someone was looking for.

If you do decide to pursue medication, the first thing to do is ask your doctor a lot of questions. Ask about side effects, ask about withdrawal, ask about dependence, ask about poop out (which is when some drugs like anti-depressants suddenly stop working). If you have an idea for something that might help, ask your doctor about it. Look on the internet, but don’t let everything on there scare you. I like one website, though I can't guarantee its reliability 100%, but it basically is anything you'd want to know about any medication a psychiatrist will give you: crazymeds.us

Going to any doctor is honestly worthless if you’re going to lie to them, so if you’re committed to this, you have to be committed to honesty, and that means about everything.  This includes being honest about any alcohol/drug use, and if they ask if you can reduce your drinking being honest about your ability to do so. You also need to be honest about side effects when you have them; I say when, because you will get them. A lot of them will go away after a few days, but some won’t. It doesn’t help to deny the fact that a drug isn’t working or that its side effects are making your life hell because you think it might be the only solution, because it’s not. There are other ones out there (trust me, you’ll never get through all of them) so there’s no use sticking with one that doesn’t work.

When it comes to side effects, if you're not feeling any improvement in your symptoms ask yourself, "would my life be better without this side effect?" not "can I live with side effect?” It’s a different story if you do feel an improvement in your original symptoms, then you should ask yourself, “is this side effect better than living with depression/anxiety/bipolar/schizophrenia/ADHD/whatever-it’s-fixing?”

You should always tell your doctor about all your side effects no matter what, but there are a few that if they persist should probably be enough cause for you to change your medication (even if you think it’s OK):

·         Insomnia

·         Oversleeping (such that it interferes with daily life)

·         Loss of appetite that leads to significant weight loss

·         Increase in suicidality (this shouldn’t need to be said, but unfortunately not everyone will always realize that this is something that needs to be fixed and won’t just go away on its own)

·         Hallucinations (that you didn’t have before)

·         Mania (if you weren’t manic before)

There are also side effects that fall under the category of not-bad-enough-to-quit-your-meds that you might use as excuses, but shouldn’t:

·         Increase in weight/appetite

·         Decrease in appetite that doesn’t lead to weight loss

·         Some shakiness

·         Not being able to drink alcohol (not really a side effect, but still something you shouldn’t pick over not taking your meds)

Sometimes there are things that can help with side effects, sometimes you can just take a drug less and have the side effects go away but still have a therapeutic effect. Again, though, I’ll emphasize that you MUST talk to your doctor and be honest about everything.

When a drug isn’t doing what it’s supposed to, be skeptical of your doctor if all they want to do is increase your dose, especially if you have persistent side effects. You should also be skeptical if they are unwilling to try more than one drug or immediately switch from one drug to another; sometimes just adding something new will do more good than switching out the old one entirely. Ask your doctor if you have an idea about changing something; they should at least listen to you and explain why they’re prescribing what they’re prescribing. If they don’t do that, find a new doctor. If you don’t feel comfortable with their diagnosis, get a second or third opinion.

Don’t give up if the first, second or third doctor doesn’t work out. Don’t give up if the first, second, or third medication doesn’t work. For me, it took making appointments with more than eight different psychiatrists, actually seeing five of them, three failed medications, and finally a combination of five different medications that I take at six different times during the day to see a real improvement (and that’s slightly better than the stats I have with therapists, but that's for another post). It was all worth it though; I gave up several times throughout my life, and went years without medication when I could have had a HUGE benefit from it.

Hey everybody! Please come to this event.  It's taking place at 5:00 PM Friday (tomorrow!)   Consider inviting your friends.  And say you are coming on the facebook page! Spaces, Stigma, Community: Queerness and Mental Health This event is a community building social event that intends to provide a space to discuss concerns that are relevant to the intersection of queerness and mental health. All are welcome for this group discussion! (Treats will be provided!) • Are you Mad for Foucault?  • Which species of sexual and mental health diversity are considered pathological?  • How can queerness inform mental health, and mental health inform queerness?

The second on-campus resource, provided by the Claremont University Consortium, is found at Health Education Outreach center. Located within the same building as Student Health Services, and Monsour, its goal is to provide a physically and mentally healthy campus through peer health outreach. The director of HEO was asked general questions about mental health on campus and here are selected responses from the interview. The answers represent the continued endorsement of Monsour Counseling center, and also the CUC’s staff dedication to developing their preparedness and knowledge about mental health.

  In a college setting, what are some resources you deem crucial in assisting and managing mental health?             The most crucial resource is knowing what your resources are and how to access them. Being proactive before there is an emergency is being proactive in your personal health and safety. Our best resource is Monsour Counseling and Psychological Services. They are on call to help with crisis 24/7.  In what ways do you think or perceive the Claremont Consortium to be prepared or unprepared for mental health issues?             We are becoming more and more prepared. MCAPS (Monsour) is our best and most used resource for mental health issues. The colleges are also picking up on a national crisis training called Mental Health First Aid. The CUC Campus Safety has also been trained.  Do you feel that there are groups of people that receive inadequate mental health assistance on campus? Why?              I can't say from a data stand point. However, we know the young people struggle with getting help with mental health issues. However, it "seems" (no stats to support that I have access to) that MCAPS (Monsour) is highly used... More so than not.    What kind of mental health issues do you see most across campus?             Stress is the top impediment to academic performance (ACHA, 2012) on our campus.    How does HEO address and attempt to alleviate these issues? What does HEO provide in terms of mental health issues?             The director at HEO has been certified to teach MHFA (mental health first aid) and has done 3 trainings in the 5C and CUC this fall. HEO strives to create a safe place for any student to get resources or talk when needed. At HEO we have a free massage chair that students can use to decompress and relax. 

  Who do you wish was better trained or prepared to address or manage student mental health? Teachers? R.A.'s? Sponsor group leaders, etc?              All are important. Especially on-call staff and the Dean of Students. Campus safety has all been trained in MHFA (mental health first aid) and I have heard first hand how the training has come in use. 

When the 5C We’re All Mad Here group began, we initially focused our project on the DSM V’s inclusion of gender identity dysphoria as a mental condition. Through its categorization in the DSM V we felt the psychological and medical community was contributing to the stigma against not only transgender people but people with mental illness or health conditions deemed a “disorder” by others.  As part of this project, I set out to interview the institutional on-campus resources for mental health- Monsour Counseling center and Health Education Outreach. Through the tumblr page it has become clear that students have had both positive experiences and negative experiences at Monsour Counseling center. In response to these posts I interviewed one of the senior counselors about the “Open Door” group on campus, and the counseling centers assistance for students who identify as transgender. It appeared that Monsour had created a resource for the LGBT community and I wanted to learn why they created the group and what the goals were. Below are selected questions and responses from the interview. The questions and responses are selected to reveal the programs current/historical availability for transgender students, the emergency preparedness of Monsour in cases of violence towards students, and their goals for counseling the student body.

Resources through Monsour:

Question: How important of a resource do you perceive Monsour to be for students who are transitioning or who are transgender?

Answer: I think it’s a good resource. Not to pathologize transgender but obviously a lot of things are going to come up if a student is transitioning. That comes with that. So I would put it in the realm of coming out, whether that’s all kinds of identity. And it’s helpful to talk it out. Whether for some people that’s a smoother transition or for some it’s more intense and has more problems. And either way it’s helpful to have a place to talk that out. And I think the group therapy, we did that before, was helpful to hear other peoples experiences with what they’re going through. And especially depending on the campus, and what the community environment is like whether it’s accepting or not accepting.

Question: So in your open door meetings, around how many people show up?

Note to reader: “Open door is a group is group is for queer, gay, genderqueer, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, heterosexual, intersex, and/or questioning individuals wishing to explore sexual orientation and gender identities in a safe, confidential setting. Topics are determined by group participants, and may include coming out to friends, family, and oneself; relationships; school situations; and/or current events.”- Monsour Counseling website

Answer: So I will be honest. It’s only run one semester. I tried to run it last semester and I didn’t have enough people coming consistently. So it ran two years ago and we had I think we had about 6 students. And that was sort of a closed group. Like once we got it running, it was the same students. And that was hopeful in the sense that it was a group of not just transgender students. There were transgender students who did participate and gay, bisexual, and questioning students as well. So it was a good support in getting different perspectives. The reality is that some student’s don’t want to go to the QRC cause they are nervous and uncomfortable but some students wont dare walk into the counseling center. So we are just trying to get support wherever we can. In general, to me its not that the student has to go to therapy but you should have support, so it just depends on what kind you need and want.

Monsour Counseling Response and preparedness for On-campus discrimination or acts of violence towards students:

Question: Are you made aware when discrimination or violence happen?

Response: individually seeing. Sometimes if there’s a big incident, deans or campus safety will tell us and like “here’s an incidence report of something that happened” but if it’s not something at that level then I wouldn’t necessarily know what’s going on.

Question: So what would define an action at “that” level?

Response: So I guess, micro aggressions happen all the time, and I wouldn’t necessarily know about those things. If something gets campus safety got involved, we might get involved as well.

Structure of Monsour:

Question: How often do you see students?

Response: It depends. Just they way our counseling center model is, we are a brief counseling center which for us is 8 session per academic year. So sometimes students will come straight for 8 weeks, or once every other week, or once a month. Ya know people come in for something, and the other part is that we refer out. And so I know I have referred trans students out, particularly is someone who is transitioning and is wanting to get hormone treatments and that stuff I think there is a longer time period that they are suppose to get treatment. I only really know one local referral that specializes in transgender counseling, but I only have one person I would be able to whole heartedly refer to. Other than that I try to use resources more in the LA area.

Question: Do you think there are things at the Claremont Colleges that could improve health of the student body?

Response: I think its things they are working on. Like I said I just heard this morning that understanding gender identity is something they are officially working on. And the other part is with student health, they are working on some protocol and I am going to help facilitate some training with student health and counseling with Adriana from QRC so I know the idea is for more awareness and education. But I think on the medical side, I think they are trying to figure out their ability to just respond appropriately but also what I think is happening, I think they are some students who might actually be transitioning medically at school so I know there is some training that needs to happen and I know its on the agenda but I don’t know how far along they are with that.

Question: And do you advise the students you see?

I just wanted to address the fact that some posts here (some unintentionally) have devalued professional help and/or medication. I do acknowledge the fact that some treatments, including medication, don't work for everyone. I acknowledge the fact that people (myself included) have had bad experiences with some clinicians out there, whether they are poorly trained, under-qualified, over-booked, or possibly just not the right fit for you. I especially acknowledge that community support is a great resource for anyone with a mental illness. But it needs to be emphasized that professional help is a good thing, and is sometimes essential. Without that emphasis or disclaimer, it increases the stigma for those of us who need weekly therapy and a regime of 5 different drugs to function normally, and dissuades people who need professional help from seeking it.

To those with bad experiences with therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and/or medication and who are still suffering: keep looking. The good ones are out there, it just takes some time and patience to find them. The result of finding the right ones is worth it.

What we don't have a lot of around here is time to waste.  It has seemed to me in these past few months, when I have finally started to aggressively address my issues with dermatillomania (which have haunted me shamefully for over a decade) that there aren't many people talking about impulse-control issues on campus.  Trichotillomania and Dermatillomania (csp), combined, are said to occur in 1 in 10 people. There has been a genetic component identified in each. They are most often treated with anti-depressants (which turn out not to be an option for me) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT programs such as AA and internet over-use groups are fairly common nowadays, but I hadn't heard of a trich or csp support group until recently. I would love to open a dialogue about these disorders, as eliminating the shame and the guilt aspect will be crucial to successfully mitigating the impact of CSP on my body image, my feeling of self-worth, and my time.