Other Mental Health Related Resources

54321 Grounding Technique

unionsarah

When you’re feeling anxious and caught up in the hamster wheel of your mind, you can use the 54321 grounding technique to help re-connect yourself with the world around you.

Source: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/behavioral-health-partners/bhp-blog/april-2018/5-4-3-2-1-coping-technique-for-anxiety.aspx and https://theblissfulmind.com/grounding-technique/

5: Acknowledge FIVE things you see around you. It could be a pen, a spot on the ceiling, anything in your surroundings.

4: Acknowledge FOUR things you can touch/feel around you. It could be your hair, a pillow, or the ground under your feet. 

3: Acknowledge THREE things you hear. This could be any external sound. If you can hear your belly rumbling that counts! Focus on things you can hear outside of your body.

2: Acknowledge TWO things you can smell. Maybe you are in your office and smell pencil, or maybe you are in your bedroom and smell a pillow. If you need to take a brief walk to find a scent you could smell soap in your bathroom, or nature outside.

1: Acknowledge ONE thing you can taste. What does the inside of your mouth taste like—gum, coffee, or the sandwich from lunch?

Simple Grounding Technique: If you're feeling anxious or worried, bring your attention back to the current moment with this simple grounding exercise. Notice the following around you: 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste. Source: theblissfulmind.com

Relax Into Sleep – Meditation

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This 20-minute meditation can help with relaxing to go to sleep. It’s from a resource called Meditation Oasis, which can also be found on any podcast app (or iTunes or Google Play). They have lots of different meditations for all sorts of different situations.

https://www.meditationoasis.com/blog/2014/10/23/relax-into-sleep-guided-meditation

Direct link to the mp3: http://bit.ly/pod50

Resources to help us get through this period of uncertainty & social distancing (3/21/2020)

coloniedbsa

Hey everyone. I know this is a very difficult time for many, if not all, of us, so I wanted to share some resources that have been shared with me that will hopefully make this time easier to get through.

Additional online DBSA support groups, beyond the ones that we have set up, are available here: https://www.supportgroupscentral.com/groups_detail.cfm?cid=18
As always, the DBSA national website (https://www.dbsalliance.org) has a wealth of resources as well to help you get through this period of social distancing.

Calm.com has compiled a page chock-full of free resources to help us remain grounded & mindful in these turbulent times located here: www.calm.com/blog/take-a-deep-breath
Even if you have struggled with meditation in the past, I would highly recommend checking out this resource. It is much more comprehensive than just meditations. Even if you just want to listen to someone in a calming voice reading a story, they have that there too. Thanks to Facilitator Sarah for this recommendation.

The last thing I will add here is a DBT Skills Online Class: How to Survive & Thrive in a Pandemic by Tami Green. DBT skills can be an excellent means to help you stay on an even keel & not get all caught up in the panic. This is one place to start acquire those skills & hone the ones that you may already have. Please keep in mind that this is not a free service & our group listing it here does not mean we endorse it or in any way affiliated with this class. We just want to share as many resources as we can so you have choices. The intake session costs $225 & the class is an additional $705 ($680 if you sign up by the end of today: 3/21/2020) for eight classes held weekly beginning 3/24/2020. Thanks to Facilitator Mike for this recommendation.

I hope you found these resource recommendations helpful & if you are aware of any other relevant resources, please feel free to share them with me or in the comments. Thank you & have a good weekend.

Ever try to explain how exhausting mental health issues are?

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Several weeks ago, my friend & fellow group facilitator, Sarah, sent me this link to this comic entitled “Process” on Robot-Hugs.com, which I feel perfectly explains how exhausting it can be having any sort of mental health issue even if you haven’t done a single thing all day. Even when you manage to maintain some level of functionality over the course of your day, you find yourself way more exhausted than others around you doing the same things. If you ever find yourself wondering why that is or you need help explaining that phenomenon to others that don’t seem to understand, give this comic a gander:

https://www.robot-hugs.com/process/

P.S. Sorry, Sarah, for taking forever to post this.

Expanded Family & Friend Resources at DBSAlliance.org

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The Depression & Bipolar Alliance website has an expanded their set of resources to help family & friends cope & find support for their loved ones struggling with depression or bipolar disorder at: https://www.dbsalliance.org/support/for-friends-family/

We typically do not allow friends or family members, who themselves, do not struggle with depression or bipolar disorder, to attend our group meetings as we find that makes it even more difficult for people to fully share about their personal mental health struggles. We acknowledge that it is difficult for friends & family to watch their loved ones suffer so we try to share any friends or family resources that we have or know about, as much as possible. Unfortunately, our chapter does not have the resources to hold a separate friends & family support group at this time.

What’s the Difference Between a Psychiatrist, Psychologist, & a Therapist?

coloniedbsa1 Comment

Don’t worry about this being the start to a horrible joke. It’s not. Several times in meetings since I have been a part of DBSA & other support groups, there been many discussions as to what the difference is between those three titles listed above. Hopefully, these Venn diagrams below will clear things up a bit. One item I’m not sure is fully illustrated in these Venn diagrams is that the term, “therapist”, a shortened version of the word psychotherapist, which is an umbrella term which can include any of the follow: Psychologist, Counselor, Social Worker, & even a Psychiatrist or Psychiatrist Nurse Practitioner (although they rarely do psychotherapy these days).

Hopefully, this clears up some confusion. All of these Venn diagrams were adapted from several sources that had differing opinions on some minor aspects of the roles of these professionals but I tried to keep them as basic as possible to make them easily understood & be as less controversial as possible. That said, there are also some other minor items that needed to be generalized & may not be correct the world over. If anyone has questions or finds an error in these diagrams, please let me know. Thanks.

• Josh

P.S. I’m sorry for those reading this on a phone. The smaller text in diagrams below may hard to read but if you zoom in them, they will definitely be easier to read.

This model is basically what today’s mental health care system is based on.

Family Support Group

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Is your family looking for a support group to learn more about your diagnosis, how to help you, & just general support? NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) of NY State runs a support group to help with just these sort of things. Days, times, & locations for these groups are listed below and more information about the group can be found here:

Second & Fourth Tuesday of each month, 6-7:30pm at:
Church of Latter Day Saints
420 New Scotland Ave.
Albany, NY

First & Third Wednesday of each month, 6:30-8pm at:
SUNYA School of Public Health
1 University Place – Classroom 6
Rensselaer, NY
Information about all of NAMI’s program offerings may be found here: