September Program

The Kings County Chapter of SSNS will hold three sessions in a series on"Mental Illness and Therapy". These sessions will be on Wednesday eveningsat the Lions Club Hall on River Street in Kentville. The sessions will startat 7.00 pm and conclude with refreshments. Come for the information, enjoythe interaction, and benefit from the insight.

Wednesday September 15, 2010: "Mental Illness and Concurrent Disorders andAddictions". Those providing input will include Eric Patton, certifiedaddictions specialist with 20 years of clinical experience, Derek Vernest ofAnnapolis Valley Mental Health and Addictions Services staff, and TonyLegere, a recovering consumer. More than 50% of those seeking help foraddictions have a mental illness. And more than 20% of those seeking helpfrom a mental illness have concurrent disorders or addictions.

Walk the World for Schizophrenia

Please join our walk in support of those with schizophrenia.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2010 - 1:00 PM

ROBIE TUFTS PARK, FRONT ST. WOLFVILLE

Our walk will begin from the park on Front St. - down Main St. - & back to the Lions Hall for food, music, & prizes.

Your participation will help us to alleviate the stigma & suffering endured by those who are affected by, or living with schizophrenia.

For a pledge sheet - call Pam Langille at 365-1701 ext 2890

or Pat at 678-8458

(you may also register your donation at the walk)

PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS ON MENTAL ILLNESS AND THERAPY

The Kings County Chapter of SSNS will hold three sessions in a series on “Mental Illness and Therapy”. These sessions will be on Wednesday evenings at the Lions Club Hall on River Street in Kentville. The sessions will start at 7.00 pm and conclude with refreshments. Come for the information, enjoy the interaction, and benefit from the insight.

Wednesday September 15, 2010: “Mental Illness and Concurrent Disorders and Addictions”. Those providing input will include Eric Patton, certified addictions specialist with 20 years of clinical experience, and Tony Legere, a recovering consumer. More than 50% of those seeking help for addictions have a mental illness. And more than 20% of those seeking help from a mental illness have concurrent disorders or addictions.

Wednesday October 20, 2010: “Triangles of Care: Consumers, Families, Providers Working Together”. The presenters will include those who took part in the Academic Day of the Nova Scotia Hospital at Dartmouth on October 1^st and learned of current developments in the treatment of mental illness supporting the value of consumer and family centered mental health services and how such approaches might be increasingly developed locally.

Wednesday November 17, 2010: “Psychosis and Early Intervention”. Review of what services are available for youth at risk and how Mental Health Services in the Valley are organized to respond.

Signs of schizophrenia appear in infancy

UNC-CHAPEL HILL (US)—Researchers have provided the first evidence that brain abnormalities associated with the risk of schizophrenia can be detected in babies only a few weeks old.

Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental disorder affecting one in 100 people worldwide. Most cases aren’t detected until a person starts experiencing symptoms like delusions and hallucinations as a teenager or adult. By that time, the disease has often progressed so far that it can be difficult to treat.

“It allows us to start thinking about how we can identify kids at risk for schizophrenia very early and whether there are things that we can do very early on to lessen the risk,” says lead study author John H. Gilmore, professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and director of the UNC Schizophrenia Research Center.

To read the rest of this article click on the link below.

http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/signs-of-schizophrenia-appear-in-infancy/

Medical Problems in Schizophrenia Can Be Prevented

Although at high risk for medical problems, individuals with schizophreniaare not destined to suffer from poor health.

Recent research shows that there are many opportunities to intervene and provide good preventative health care for people with schizophrenia.

To read the rest of this article click on the link below.

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/07/26/medical-problems-in-schizophrenia-can-be-prevented/16004.html

With More Than 500,000 Ontarians Impacted by Schizophrenia, New Initiative Makes Urgent Call For Support and an End to Discrimination

TORONTO, June 23 /CNW/ - More than half a million people in Ontario are either living with schizophrenia or are directly impacted by someone close to them who is suffering from the disease. Today, The Schizophrenia Society of Ontario (SSO) is launching Peace of Minds, its most forceful campaign ever to raise awareness about schizophrenia and to generate support for vital programs to help those impacted by this crushing mental disease. "After struggling for decades to end the stigma and misinformation about this disease, we decided it was time to reveal the dramatic impact of schizophrenia on our entire community," says Mary Alberti, CEO of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario.

To read the rest of this article click on the link below.

http://www.cleonet.ca/instance_news.php?instance_id=1535

Marijuana can send a brain to pot Drug use can trigger psychosis in vulnerable people, experts say

At age 17, sitting in the basement with friends smoking pot, Don Corbeil first noticed all the cameras spying on him. Then he became convinced a radioactive chip had been planted in his head. “I thought I was being monitored like a lab rat,” he explains.

It never occurred to him that marijuana could be messing with his brain. Corbeil had been smoking pot since he was 14, a habit that escalated to about 10 joints a day.

He started hearing voices and, at one point, Corbeil thought he was the Messiah. Police found him one day talking incoherently, and brought him to hospital, where he was eventually diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis.

To read the rest of the article click on the link below.

http://www.thestar.com/article/833824--marijuana-can-send-a-brain-to-pot