Welcome to our blog!

Journey Of Hope MN, a faith-based support group for those impacted by mental illness, will use this blog to share thoughts and interesting articles regarding mental illnesses, treatments, and resources both within the Rochester MN community and online.

For now - here's a thought for the weekend:

Stamping Out Stigma in the media

It is so exciting to see mental illness candidly in the media. Progress is being made regarding stamping out stigma. Some examples we noticed in September include...

Article in Wall Street Journal regarding treating anxiety with exposure therapy
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323475304578503584007049700.htm

What it is like to live with schizophrenia
http://www.lhj.com/health/conditions/mental-health/symptoms-treatment-schizophrenia/?page=1

Temple Grandin, a best-selling author, who has autism and is a doctor of animal science and professor at Colorado State University, autistic activist, and consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior. She also created the "hug box", a device to calm autistic children. The subject of an award-winning biographical film, Temple Grandin, in 2010 she was listed in the Time 100 list of the 100 most influential people in the world in the "Heroes" category. (See following link for more details about her).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Grandin


She was the featured author of the week in "The Week" news magazine. Here's an excerpt from her interview. . . . she argues that "young people with mild autism should be encouraged to have jobs. "I'm seeing too many kids that are really talented and on the high end of the spectrum going nowhere," she says. "They haven't learned how to work." In her view getting more autistic people into the workforce will benefit everyone, since their pattern-spotting tendencies have already led to countless innovations. So many have special talents, she argues. "Who do you think made the first stone spear?' she says. "It certainly wasn't the social yakkity yaks around the campfire."

Randy mentioned that a German company is hoping to hire the next generation of innovators by hiring 650 autistic people. Autistic people have the ability to "think outside of the box."
http://news.msn.com/world/german-company-seeks-to-hire-650-autistic-people

There has recently been significant advances in treatment for PTSD http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/05/science/la-sci-ptsd-gene-20130606

Twin Cities Public Television, in collaboration with Health Partners and NAMI is working on a yearlong project, "Make it OK." The goal is to help stamp out stigma and provide information. "If we all talk more about mental illnesses, we'll understand more. When we understand more, we'll make it ok ." At least five broadcasts and event surrounding them will occur between October 2013 through July 2014. We'll keep you posted as we learn more details and how Journey of Hope can be involved.
http://makeitok.org/