April 26, 2012
[VIDEO] By Sarah Pusateri – When Stacie King finished up 10 years of service in the United States Navy, she was assured by her Navy TAP class instructor – a class that helps soldiers transition into civilian life and find jobs – that she would be a hot commodity for many employers. “They were just like, ‘everyone wants to hire a veteran,’” recalls King. “Everyone wants to hire a veteran. You’re so marketable!” King says for her, the exact opposite was true. She applied for dozens of jobs but got no response.
April 20, 2012
By Sarah Pusateri – Healthystate.org presents its newest documentary entitled Uniform Betrayal: Rape in the Military. The hour-long film examines the problem of rape and sexual assault in the military from the viewpoint of the survivors as well as from experts who are studying this issue. Filmmakers Jennifer Molina and Sarah Pusateri traveled to the Pentagon to find out what the Department of Defense says it’s doing to combat what even they call “a very big problem.”
April 18, 2012
By Sammy Mack – Gov. Rick Scott signed Florida’s budget Tuesday – and more than three dozen health-related programs across the state were casualties of the governor’s veto pen. Health programs represented more than a quarter of Scott’s $142 million in line-item vetoes to the $70 billion state budget. Among the cuts: medical school projects, rape crisis centers, devices for people with epilepsy and childhood vaccination programs.
April 5, 2012
[VIDEO] By Sarah Pusateri – It’s been called a “black eye” to the military, as well as an “epidemic.” Sexual assault, military leaders would agree, is a serious problem within the U.S. armed forces. Acknowledging that was the first step, and now the government is working towards a solution.
January 17, 2012
[VIDEO] By Sarah Pusateri – Experts say as many as 20% of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post traumatic syndrome disorder, or PTSD. Nightmares, flashbacks and anxiety are all symptoms of the disorder. Less publicized, however, is the effect PTSD has on the children growing up in the homes of veterans suffering from the disorder. The Department of Veteran’s Affairs says studies of Vietnam veterans’ families reveal that children of veterans with PTSD are at a higher risk for behavioral, academic and interpersonal problems. Also, research has linked PTSD to an increased likelihood of violence in the home.
December 21, 2011
By Kimberly Vlach – For a person with a severe mental illness, coping with daily activities can be excruciatingly difficult, sometimes even impossible. But how does that person navigate the workplace? The answer isn’t easy to decide, but Dr. Stephanie Mullany, M.D., a psychiatrist in Tampa Bay, recommends assessing your co-workers. “Do they have compassion and tolerance? Can they handle knowing you have a mental disease?” she suggests the person ask himself. “It’s your decision to make, and you have to live with the consequences. You don’t need to tell them, but if you feel you want to, you can.”
November 30, 2011
[VIDEO] By Farah Dosani – Having a mental or emotional illness can be debilitating on many levels. It can keep people from working, holding jobs and being around others. However, a rehabilitation program is aiming to fill those gaps. Hope Clubhouse was founded in March of 2010. The Fort Myers program is for those living with severe mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, clinical depression, schizophrenia and severe anxiety.
[VIDEO] By Kimberly Vlach – History once stigmatized people with epilepsy as witches. Just decades ago, saying the word ‘cancer’ was done in a whisper. Still often stigmatized are mental illnesses and those who are suffering from them. Many people will argue that mental illness can be overcome through sheer will power. However, just as ‘will power’ cannot cure heart disease or kidney failure, neither can it cure a physical condition of the brain.
[VIDEO] By Farah Dosani – Jennifer Lee and her 4- year-old daughter Kristin check out the Halloween candy she brought home from school. “Arlin was so sad that he couldn’t go trick-or-treating that I promised him we wouldn’t go either,” reminded Lee to her daughter. Lee’s 7-year-old son Arlin had been in a behavioral hospital in Orlando for almost two weeks over Halloween. He lives with bipolar disorder and had reached a crisis point. The single mom made the three-hour drive from Cape Coral to get help for her son.
By Farah Dosani & Kimberly Vlach – The holidays can be a rough time for people who have experienced the death of someone close to them – especially suicide survivors. “There was a lot of guilt on my part. As a mom, you want to protect your child. Any survivor is like that,” says Virginia Cervasio, Founder of C.A.R.E.S. Suicide Prevention in Fort Myers.
November 15, 2011
By Farah Dosani – About one in 10 kids in America lives with a severe mental illness. The condition can impair their lives at home, at school and with their peers. But finding care can be tough – especially in Florida. The state ranks 49th in per capita spending on mental health services.
November 3, 2011
By Farah Dosani – If you surf through channels on cable TV, it won’t be long until you come across a reality show on hoarding. The programs often feature forced clean-ups, feuding family members and plenty of drama. “I think sometimes it may give the public the impression that these situations are wrapped up quickly and dramatically in one big sweep of the clean up company, psychologist and everyone coming in just a matter of a couple of days,” says Mark Chidley, a Fort Myers mental health counselor. “My experience is very definitely not that.”
October 24, 2011
[VIDEO] By Farah Dosani – While TLC and A&E may have introduced us to hoarding, the disorder has been around, well, for as long as there’ve been objects to have been hoarded. “Hoarding is not a new phenomenon. It is centuries old. It seems to be across most cultures. There are examples of it in world literature,” said Mark Chidley, a Fort Myers mental health counselor who often works with hoarders.
October 11, 2011
By Farah Dosani – For his 2007 Pulitzer Prize-nominated book “Crazy,” Pete Earley followed mentally ill inmates for a year through the Miami-Dade prison system. The former Washington Post reporter began advocating for mental health issues after struggling to get help for his then college-age son with bi-polar disorder. His son had been arrested and put in jail.
March 30, 2011
[BLOG] By Dalia Colón – In doing some research on mental health, I was curious what those in the field consider to be the most important emerging concerns. So I contacted Dr. Alan Keck, a psychologist and spokesman for the Florida Psychological Association. Here, as Keck and his FPA colleagues see it, are five issues that deserve our attention.