Mind Your Mind News

MIND YOUR MIND NEWS June 2021, Issue 1

Table of

Contents From the Desk of Irene Barton Page

Becoming a TraumaInformed Communit Page

Collaboration and CrossSector Network Page

Supporting Mental Health in our Communit Page 1

Men’s Healt Page 1

Thank You to Our Sponso Page 1

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FROM THE DESK OF IRENE BARTON Dear Community Stakeholders, Welcome to the inaugural edition of “Mind Your Mind News”. This is one important piece of our overall communications strategy to ful ll the pillars of our Mind Your Mind mental health campaign: •

Raise Awareness

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Promote Resiliency

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Reduce Stigma

We know that our regular newsletters are rich with news about Collaborative events as well as activities from our member partners and community events. The monthly Mind Your Mind News publication and quarterly magazine will be a stand-alone communications vehicle to engage our stakeholders in our mental health campaign, and speci cally in our trauma-informed work.

As you will read in this issue, there are many reasons why we as a community should be aware of the presence and impact of trauma on the children and families we serve. Perhaps underlying all of the reasons is that a traumainformed approach leads not only to improved outcomes for the people we serve but also for the caseworkers, care providers, educators and other system personnel that are a part of the journey. When we turn the question from “What is wrong with you?” to “What has happened to you?,” we open the doors for true systems change.

While a portion of our programming will be directed to the mental health effects that are directly connected to trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences, we also recognize that mental health is something that all people are concerned with. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic recession have negatively affected many people’s mental health and created new barriers for people already suffering from mental illness and substance use disorders. During the pandemic, over 40% of adults have reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder and the numbers are even higher in our youth and young adult population.

We cannot do this alone and want each of you to play a role in helping to make Cobb a trauma-informed community.

We hope that you, your staff and volunteers will participate in our trainings, workshops, lm screenings, panel presentations and engage with us on social media and hopefully see us at in-person community events.

As I heard on a recent training that we hosted, “there is no health without mental health,” and we couldn’t agree more.

Please join us in the journey!

Warmest regards,

Irene M. Barto Executive Director

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BECOMING A TRAUMA-INFORMED COMMUNITY Taking into consideration the collective trauma our communities, and speci cally our youth have faced in light of the pandemic this past year, now more than ever we are in of need immediate and ongoing mental health support. According the Mental Health America "throughout the COVID-19 pandemic youth ages 11-17 have been more likely than any other age group to score for moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and depression".

These traumatic experiences can create dif culty for children in the classroom, whether in person or virtual, as the part of the brain responsible for learning and higher reasoning has shut down and the brain and body’s stress response is activated. As you can imagine, the more ACEs a person experiences, the more detrimental the outcome can be. When people live much of their lives in a state of toxic stress, its effects can go as far as decreased life expectancy. Trauma is not only an individual crisis. It is a public health crisis. Keep in mind, that if these changes do occur, they are not irreversible. The brain has the potential to change and adapt throughout childhood and adulthood, so the areas that may have been affected by certain events can be strengthened over time

Trauma can be de ned as a psychological, biological, or emotional response to an event or series of events that are deeply distressing. We see this explicitly played out in the lives of our youth through Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). ACEs cover a wide range of dif cult situations that children (0-17) either directly face or witness while growing up before they have developed effective coping skills.

If a person is in a constant state of fear or stress, their brain may adapt to survive within its environment. This heightens areas of the brain responsible for emotional responses and impairs areas involved in logical thinking and memory.

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What we don’t need in the midst of struggle is shame for being human -Brené Brown

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DID YOU KNOW? People who journaled about significant events reported more satisfaction with their lives and better mental health than those who did not

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Supporting Mental Health in our Community Through funding from the Jesse Parker Williams Foundation, we were able to purchase 1,500 journals for middle school youth in Cobb. The journals have guided exercises to help youth process their feelings and emotions and plenty of blank pages for creative thinking!

Why journaling? By getting thoughts down on paper, students can gain a deeper understanding of the causes of their own internal con icts, while also exploring the external challenges they're facing. Problems, fears, and concerns will come to the surface, helping students start to address the issue and visualize solutions. According to the research and advocacy organization Voices for Georgia’s Children, more than 61,000 middle and high school students in Georgia reported harming themselves in 2019, and nearly 40,000 reported attempting suicide – a 50 percent increase in two years.

Meanwhile, more than 40 percent of Georgia’s children have trouble accessing the mental health services they need. Over 20,000 children in Cobb County live in poverty with inherent psychological pressures, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only made life harder.

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Men’s Health Men’s health data from Georgia Oasis for Cobb & Douglas Public Health show that 43.9% of men in Cobb are overweight, 30.3% are obese, 33.7% have high blood pressure/hypertension, and 29.8% have high cholesterol. While these statistics are shocking, you may be wondering "what does this have to do with mental health?"

Research done for the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs) study show those who have experienced ACEs are more likely to experience physical ailments such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, obesity, suicide and more. While we can't say for sure that ACEs have caused these statistics we read above, we do know from research that trauma's effects reach further than mental and psychological effects and toxic stress leaves its mark on both the body and the mind.

Men, we honor your presence in our community and we take this space to remind you to take care of your body and your mind. Continue reading to learn additional facts and stats surrounding men's mental health. And remember, there is no health without mental health!

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MEN'S PREVENTATIVE HEALTH CHECKLIST

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DID YOU KNOW? According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), men are less likely than women to have received formal mental health support in the past year.

In a study conducted by the World Health Organization in 2018, it was emphasized that one of the largest barriers to people admitting that they are struggling is the cultural stigma that surrounds mental health.

This stigmatization being strikingly more pronounced in men and boys.

Man up is not the answer.

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“Man up” is not the answer

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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSOR

Resilient Georgia's mission is to lead a state-wide coalition to develop a closelyaligned and traumainformed public and private network working toward a united vision to create a birth through 26 year old integrated behavioral health system. Key components to be implemented by their partners include prevention, early intervention, research, advocacy and policy, and System of Care implementation and coordination.

Click here to learn more

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RESOURCES We Can Prevent ACEs

The S Word

https://tinyurl.com/545j3znv A suicide attempt survivor is on a mission to find fellow survivors and document their stories of courage, insight and humor. Along the way, she discovers a rising national movement transforming personal struggles into action

Learn how everyone can help prevent ACEs by using strategies to create safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for all children.

Mindful Self-Compassion

Mind Your Mind Speaks

tinyurl.com/mymspeaks Diane Hillary talks the mental health bene ts of practicing self compassion. We are all overwhelmed, and we can all bene t from this 6 minute session of encouraging support.

Check out our podcast series where guests can share valuable insights to raise awareness, share mental health resources and inspire action throughout our community.

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