DB Recognizes Importance Of Community Education

Community support characterized an October meeting of the West Hudson Psychiatric Society (WHPS) in New York, where high school students, mental health advocates, and district branch members have united in the fight against mental illness.

Nearly 100 people gathered at the Dellwood Country Club in New City, N.Y., for an educational lecture and two award presentations.

Present at the meeting were more than 20 members of the Rockland County Mental Health Coalition, a mental health advocacy group formed by West Hudson District Branch President Lois Kroplick, D.O., in 1996.

Coalition members are representatives from hospitals, government offices, and mental health organizations in Rockland County, such as the local chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. The group’s mission is to fight stigma surrounding mental illness.

According to Kroplick, the group promotes its mission in various settings in Rockland County. “We go to local elementary schools and put on improvisational skits for the students dealing with issues such as bullying, divorce, and depression,” she told Psychiatric News. Following the skits, teachers and mental health professionals field questions from students and explain the issues enacted in the skits.

Coalition members with mental illness and their families also speak at area colleges in the coalition’s College Education Program and in public in the Breaking the Silence Public Forum about their experiences with mental illness and recovery.

The woman who is largely responsible for the success of these programs is Rena Finkelstein. She is co-president of the local chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, NAMI-FAMILYA of Rockland County, chair of the coalition’s college education program, and co-chair of the Breaking the Silence Public Forum.

During the meeting, Kroplick presented Finkelstein with an award for her outstanding work as an advocate for people with mental illness and their families.

In addition, three high school students received awards for winning the “When Not to Keep a Secret” essay contest, a national endeavor begun by the APA Alliance in 1998. In the contest, ninth and 10th graders write essays about the importance of confiding in an adult when a peer has a serious problem.

In Rockland County contest winners Ashley Globerman, Mondaire Lamar Jones, and Stephanie Mostecak wrote about how they confided in adults when they learned their friends were planning to commit suicide or were facing problems such as violence and sexual abuse. Each student won a $100 honorarium and certificate.

Meeting attendees also heard a lecture on the neuropsychiatry of Lyme disease presented by two faculty members at Columbia University. Brian Fallon, M.D., M.P.H., an associate professor of clinical psychiatry, and Carolyn Britton, M.D., an associate professor of clinical neurology, spoke about the depression, anxiety, and cognitive problems that often accompany Lyme disease.

“This meeting was so special because it united the mental health community and recognized those who have done outstanding work in helping to destigmatize mental illness,” Kroplick told Psychiatric News. ▪