Conversations about mental illness have come a long way from the days when adjectives such as unmentionable, secretive, and shameful inaccurately described the issue at hand. That said, there are still miles to travel before mental illness is received with complete transparency. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that in the year 2022, mental illness is more respected and recognized as a serious health factor to be addressed. Thankfully today, mental health continues to grow as a largely accepted societal enormity in dire need of supportive measures, funding, research, and treatments.
For parents of children who are mentally ill, it isn’t unusual for overwhelming feelings to occur. Therefore, it is crucial for parents to gain access to professional resources of support, guidance, and understanding without shame.
First Things First
While children with mental illness command constant care, a parent’s self-care is of the highest priority. Caregiving is a demanding job both mentally and physically, especially when mental illness cannot offer any reprieve for the child or the parent. Setting personal boundaries can help:
– Determine the simplest forms of preferred self-care, such as peer support, music, hydration, healthy snacks, and exercise regimes that can be included even for brief moments throughout the day.
– Prioritize those self-care routines for all family members throughout the day, every day. Fight strong urges to ignore self-care. Self-care must become a strong habit for everyone in the home. Involving all reliable members within the family will assist with the threat of becoming consumed by ongoing responsibilities.
National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI)
This multi-dimensional resource offers a plethora of mental health information. Teachings about mental health illness, types of mental illness, treatments, public awareness topics, family support, and therapies are the spearheading answers families require to live with optimism and strength surrounding such delicate mental health details.
Online and in-person navigation options through NAMI Basics OnDemand offer hope and clarity about mental illness in families and surrounding neighborhoods. Because each family’s mental health needs are unique, NAMI is a primary resource defending the mental health needs of families all over the world.
Need more? Please do not hesitate to contact NAMI or a mental health provider for more answers about mental health.
This article was originally published on Herrick Lipton’s blog.
Published by Herrick Lipton | New York City
Herrick Lipton, the CEO of New Horizon Counseling Center, believes that behavioral health is the focal point of healthcare. Ensuring emotional and mental stability is not only vitally important in its own merit, but it also keeps people from neglecting or abusing their physical health. Providing tools for behavioral health means providing the foundation for a long, healthy life.
Ever since Herrick Lipton got involved in NHCC as a teenager, he has focused on not only removing the stigmas surrounding behavioral healthcare, but improving options and ease of access for thousands of clients every year. Herrick was the administrative and financial director of NHCC for many years and has always made it his mission to listen to the needs of his local community. For example, in August of 2014, Herrick worked with local government officials to strategically approach the opening of Howard Beach Outpatient Clinic: what would improve its outreach and overall status as a local resource? The answer was all in the location. Moving out of a nondescript building into an accessible storefront model helped remove the clinic’s stigma and make its purpose more clear to people who might need it.
Herrick Lipton works within numerous aspects of behavioral health through his role at NHCC, including developmental disabilities, Alzheimer’s and elder care, alcohol and substance abuse, and mental illnesses in children, adolescents, and adults. One of his first realizations after becoming CEO of NHCC was the need for diversification; every behavioral health issue has its own unique set of needs, so every issue should have its own targeted program. That’s why Herrick works on not only revamping existing programs, but creating new ones that more directly help patients.
As we move toward integrated healthcare delivery systems across the board, Herrick is working to make behavioral healthcare a key component. From better outreach (NHCC has grown from 800 to 6,000 clients under Herrick’s watch) to simply encouraging people to take the first step, Herrick Lipton is constantly trying to share education and awareness about the importance of behavioral healthcare.
Herrick has managed to make NHCC thrive in a time where many behavioral health organizations unfortunately fold under mismanagement or lack of funding. His executive direction has resulted in license renewals, massive grants, and governmental citations, all of which point to a bright future not just for NHCC, but for thousands of patients in the New York area.
View all posts by Herrick Lipton | New York City