We All Need a Little Help from Our Friends

A few years ago just after my father died unexpectedly, my mother was looking for a grief support group. The first one she tried was very clinically organized and she ended up crying most of the time the group was in session and for hours after it was over.

Then she discovered a simple peer group of women who had lost their husbands. They spent some time talking but then the rest of the time they played cards and then went out to lunch. My mother never missed another group after that.

As one clinician told me, "Sometimes we just over therapize people." Sometimes we just need a little support. For persons with serious mental illness the greatest threat they face is social isolation and so support groups become a life line. But we all need those social supports and without them slowly become isolated and depressed.

Celebrate Recovery is a wonderful example of a faith-based support group for people with all manner of habits, hurts, and hang-ups. The groups meet at St. John's Church on Wednesday at 6:00 PM and at the Church at Allentown at 8:00 PM on Saturday. Whether your hang-up is substance abuse or your hurt is depression there are people there who share your pain and can lift you up.

Just like my mother, sometimes we all just need a little help from our friends. I hope you find the support you need.

Mike Schoenhofer

More Mentally Ill Persons Are in Jails and Prisons

Using using 2004 - 2005 data not previously published, the natiounal sheriff's association found that in the United States there are now more than three times more seriously mentally ill persons in jails and prisons than in hospitals. America'a jails and prisons have become our new mental hospitals.

Recent studies suggest that at lest 16 % of inmates in jails and prisons have a serious mental illness. In 1983 as similar study reported that the percentage was 6.4%. Thus, in less than three decades, the percentage of seriously mentally ill prisoners has almost tripled.

It is now extremely difficult to find a bed for a seriously mentally ill person who needs to be hospitalized.

In historical perspective, we are returning to the early nineteenth century, when mentally ill persons filled our jails and prisons. At that time, a reform movement sparked by Dorothea Dix, lead to a more humane treatment of mentally ill persons. We have now returned to the conditions of the 1840's by putting large numbers of mentally ill persons back into jails and prisons.

Dr. Stephen Moffic, a prison psychiatrist at a Wisconsin Prison, says that in many cases prisoners have better access to mental healthcare in prison than in the community because the community's resources have been so drastically cut.

What a shame that people may have to be imprisoned in order to have good access to mental health care and at what cost to our economy and at what human cost! The state can solve this problem if it has the political will.

Mike Schoenhofer

OF-1-MIND: www.of-1-mind.org

Why is behavioral healthcare treated so much differently than physical healthcare? Is it stigma? Is it lack of knowledge? Yet 1 in every 4 Ohioans has a diagnosable mental illness and 1 out of 10 have a substance abuse problem or addiction.

These are your family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and classmates.

It is time to speak out on behalf of ourselves and those we love. Mental illness and addiction are diseases of the brain that not only impact the health of an individual but also the health of our families and our communities. That is the reason why the Ohio Association of Behavioral Health Authorities launched the education and advocacy campaign: OF-1-MIND.

Think of this, recovery rates for major mental disorders are far greater than for other physical illnesses like heart disease. For every dollar spent on treatment, there is an economic return of at least $7 when taking into account productivity at work and school, reduction in crime, child abuse, and homelessness. And most importantly, recovering people work.

Please log onto http://www.of-1-mind.org/ to get involved in this vital campaign.

Now more than ever you owe it to yourself, your family, and your community to make a difference and to let your voice be heard. Maybe one day we can accomplish the vision of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health; that is, ". . .a future when mental illnesses can be prevented or cured, a future when mental illnesses are detected early, and a future when everyone with a mental illness at any stage of life has access to effective treatment and supports. . ."

Mike Schoenhofer

Three Out of Five Ohions Affected by Mental Illness and/or an Addiction

In a recent survey of 414 households in December 2009 conducted by the Ohio Association of Behavioral Health Authorities, 45% of the respondents reported they had a friend or family member who has a substance abuse problem. Almost one out of two respondents were aware of a friend or family member with mental illness (49%). When combined, 63% of respondents had someone they were close to suffering with a behavioral health issue - that's three out of five.

Amazingly, almost 60% of respondents agreed that drug and alcohol addiction is a diesase of the brain and 96% agreed that through treatment these men and women can become productive citizens.

When it comes to mental illness 83% agreed that it is a diesase of the brain and also agreed that people with mental illness can recover.

It is estimated that one in four Ohioans have a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year.

• 63% of Ohioans have a family member or friend with a mental illness and /or substance abuse disorder


• 25% of Ohioans have a diagnosable mental disorder

We need to pay be paying attention to this epidemic.

These disorders are treatable! Look at the success rates of behavioral health conditions compared to other physical disorders:

• Bipolar Disorder 80% success rate


• Heart Disease 45% success rate


• Schizophrenia 60% success rate


• Hepatitis C 40% success rate


• Addiction 60% success rate

This is a time when we have the technology and the means to successfully treat our loved ones so that they can become productive citizens. With so many of our citizens impacted by mental illness and/or substance abuse shouldn't we be paying attention to this issue.

It is time we make our voices heard. Our silence does not help the ones we love who need us all to speak out on their behalf.

Let's afford the right to the "pursuit of happiness" to all of our citizens by making sure that the treatment they deserve is there when they need it.

A small investment in treatment today create a productive citizen tomorrow.

Mike Schoenhofer