Upcoming Events

Do you have a loved one with a severe mental illness?

P’tach Libeynu’s support group for family members affected by a loved one’s mental illness meets at 6:15 on the fourth Monday of each month in the Beit Knesset. Contact Karen Cohen at (925) 945-7272 for information and registration.

P’tach Libeynu: Open Hearts, Open Minds about Mental Illness

In January of 2009 Temple Isaiah hosted a conference for the Contra Costa Jewish community called P’tach Libeynu: Beginning a Conversation About the Stigma of Mental Illness. Two hundred people attended and we launched an important initiative to help those with mental illness, their friends and family members, mental health professionals and Jewish professionals grapple with the on-going communal challenges of supporting and integrating those with mental illness.

During the conference, we created a “next steps” list of priorities and we are currently fulfilling the first on that list by offering a support group for family members of adults with mental illness. We began with a support group facilitated by Jewish Family and Children’s Services of the East Bay. As participants complete the facilitated support group, they have the opportunity to join a lay led group which will have more of a social support and resource sharing focus. Other steps include a speakers program, education through temple bulletins, website, and emails, and continuing education for rabbis, cantors, and educators on this important topic.

P’tach Libeynu is sponsored by Temple Isaiah and Women of Isaiah, Congregations B’nai Tikvah, Beth Chaim, B’nai Shalom, Contra Costa JCC, Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay, Jewish Family and Children’s Services of the East Bay, the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center, and the Union of Reform Judaism’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns. The support groups are sponsored in part by a grant from the Jewish Community Federation and Foundation and the Sadie Meyer and Louis Cohn Foundation.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Continuing the Conversation About the Stigma of Mental Illnes

PTSD is in the news these days because of the two wars the United States is engaged in. The condition is most commonly seen in combat veterans because of the frequent severity of the psychological traumas that soldiers encounter. But people in civilian life can also experience PTSD due to life-threatening events such as car accidents, rape, or natural disasters. Individuals who become psychologically overwhelmed by traumatic events can develop disabling psychiatric symptoms that may last briefly or for a lifetime.

Like so many psychiatric conditions, PTSD sufferers are often stigmatized because their symptoms are not physically observable, and as a result others may disbelieve the degree of the victim’s suffering. The reality is that the psychological damage of PTSD can be as serious and disabling as physical injuries. However, even the Veteran’s Administration does not fully recognize the legitimacy of PTSD, as exemplified by the fact that they will not award a Purple Heart medal for PTSD, as they do for purely physical injuries.

PTSD can include the following symptoms: intrusive recollections and/or nightmares of the traumatic event, severe anxiety as if the event is recurring, psychological stress from reminders of the event, emotional numbing, feelings of detachment, sleep problems, irritability, difficulty concentrating, hyper-vigilance, and an exaggerated startle response.

There is new research suggesting that a predisposition to PTSD exists due to a structural brain difference in PTSD sufferers. This discovery is critical because individuals could be screened for this pre-existing physical finding through brain imaging techniques, which would then allow the military to use these individuals in situations other than in combat where psychological trauma is more likely. This finding is also significant because the stigma of PTSD could be reduced if people understand that individuals who develop PTSD are not “weak”, but rather are built differently physically so as to be more reactive to the impact of trauma.

Newer psychiatric treatments have been developed for PTSD, including certain medications and psychotherapeutic techniques. As a result, individuals who used to be chronically psychiatrically impaired from PTSD can now often be helped to reduce or resolve many of the symptoms that heretofore were deemed untreatable, thus minimizing the degree and/or duration of their disability.

Hugh R. Winig, M.D.
Psychiatrist

Schizophrenia: Continuing the Conversation About the Stigma of Mental Illness

Schizophrenia—arguably the most studied and most severe of the major psychiatric disorders, remains the least well understood. This psychiatric illness tends to emerge during late adolescence or early adulthood and is characterized by hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech or behavior, and decreased volition and/or flattened emotional tone. While it is known that there is a genetic/biological basis to the disease, there is only a 70% concordance rate for identical twins (when both individuals in sets of identical twins wind up either with or without the illness), indicating that psychological factors are also causative.

Psychiatrists still do not understand why some people become ill with this debilitating condition and others do not. There is no known single psychological cause of the illness, such as family dynamics or a traumatic event, and no established biological etiology, such as a dietary deficiency or toxins in the environment. The only thing that can be said for sure is that the illness usually arises during a time in life when substantial psychological challenges exist, and when significant biological changes are occurring.

Individuals who are identified in adolescence as having a strong predisposition for the illness (social isolation, difficulty with communication and perceptions, and decline in relationships and functionality at work or school) should be watched closely for more serious signs of this psychotic disorder developing. If this occurs, consideration should be given to placing the individual on anti-psychotic medication for an extended period in order to prevent the “blossoming” of the illness. This early treatment intervention may thwart the evolution of the illness by interfering with the brain “learning” to be schizophrenic, thus preventing a chronic condition from becoming established.

Like most illnesses, schizophrenia is not completely curable, but it has become increasingly manageable with newer medications and psychosocial treatments. There are many individuals who struggle with symptoms of this condition, yet can lead reasonably satisfying lives including employment and marriage. Long periods of remission of the illness can occur. Family and community support are crucial in reaching a more favorable outcome.