The Free Three Things

Here’s some truth.

Psychiatrists, therapists, etc … aren’t really sure what causes depression and what the best course of treatment is for any given person.

Mental health does not lend itself to a diagnostic prescriptive model. It’s not clear what is happening and it is certainly not precise. It’s subjective.

The practitioner uses his/her “judgement” to prescribe a course of action.

There is some disagreement around “depression” (the “cause and cure”)

However, nearly everyone would agree that the ‘FREE THREE’ can help.

If you are struggling. Take action today

1. GO OUTSIDE / EXERCISE… move your body.
2. LISTEN TO SOME UPBEAT MUSIC
3. LAUGH. Schedule in some comedic relief. Watch a movie, listen to a funny podcast, watch some videos on YouTube.

Do this everyday for 30 days…. Money back guarantee!!!

ABOUT RICH JONES MA, MBA, LCAS, SAP
EVP & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HERITAGE CARES

Executive Vice President (EVP) at Heritage Health Solutions, Inc.
Chief Strategy Officer Co-Founder at Youturn,
CEO at Wellness Partners Group
CEO/President at Jones Solutions Group
Former CEO at FAVOR Greenville

Visit Heritage Health at – Click Here

For Addiction Support Info – Click Here

Please Subscribe to the Recovery Cartel – Click Here

The post The FREE Three Things – Really, they’re FREE…. appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

81,000 + New Record Overdose Deaths

The complicating factors surrounding the current COVID-19 situation and substance use disorder treatment and recovery seem insurmountable. Again, this last year, another record number of overdose deaths. 81,000 + (as per C.D.C. Dec 2020 report – Overdose Deaths Accelerating During COVID-19)

There will be money coming to help.

But how will it be allocated? Will it reach the most vulnerable?

For example, there is a baseline, fundamental misunderstanding of community based recovery support.

Independent Recovery Support

Fact: Independent recovery support is an essential part of the continuum. “INDEPENDENT” and authentic recovery support.

These are organizations that are not run by the government, not run by clinical providers, NOT part of the larger state drug and alcohol system or the local county “authority”.

Recovery Community Organizations, Recovery Housing, Recovery High Schools, and Collegiate Recovery Organisations for example.

Short-Changed

When the funding is “run” through the traditional infrastructure (single state authority/Drug and Alcohol Commission) these grassroots organizations get short-changed.

With the exception of a small number of states–less than 5% will ever work its way “down” to street level organizations.

Back in Washington, SAMHSA and the officials are given reports that 20% or more went to “recovery”.

But NO ONE in Washington even knows what that means.

They think putting a peer support staff in the IOP group is funding “recovery support”.

For example, there are very, very clear definitions of Recovery Community Organizations.

There is an Association of Recovery Community Organizations. 150 plus members.

YOU CAN NOT BE A CLINICAL PROVIDER AND BE AN RCO.

It’s literal in the definition of an Recovery Community Organization.

But no one in Washington (or in any given state government) understands that and people just go on blindly.

Thinking the money went to “recovery”.

Funding Needs To Hit The Streets

There will be no progress in this fight until a massive amount of funding hits the street.

Until a massive INDEPENDENT recovery system is funded. And I simply do not see that happening.

It would require too many people to give up too much power.

Solutions

We will need a coalition of wealthy funders, and or social-entrepreneurs.

We need them to come together and fund a scalable model OUTSIDE of the confines of the bureaucracy. youturn exists to be part of that solution.

FAVOR Greenville exists to be part of that solution.

It’s exhausting. But I feel like incremental progress will not get it done.

The post Record Number of Overdose Deaths, AGAIN! appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

The Referee Should STOP THE FIGHT:

We are getting beat down by addiction. A knock out on most days. Some days the referee should step in and stop the fight.

It’s getting painful. It’s getting old.

Why are we losing the fight? Why are we getting our asses kicked on such a consistent basis?

We are told these outcomes are due to “lack of access to treatment”. Or perhaps its due to the fact that “insurance parity has not been enforced“.

Access to treatment and insurance parity are a small part of the conversation. However, the fundamentally flawed “addiction and recovery” paradigm seems like a more interesting and compelling topic.

I want to comment on 2 noteworthy articles sent my way. These articles are “old”, however, they are very instructive.

Alcohol Deaths:

The first was focused on the mortality rate directly related to chronic alcohol misuse. 

An in-depth study found that the number of people “drinking themselves to death” has more than doubled.

Overdose Deaths:

Another article was focused on the “overdose epidemic”. Researchers at Georgetown University and University of Pennsylvania believe that number is well understated:

But new research published in PLOS ONE from the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University suggests that drug-associated mortality in this country is actually more than double that.

The answer to such a complex problem is unclear.

However, it is crystal clear that the answer is NOT more of the same.

These articles are out of date. The current news is even more depressing. The CDC reports record high overdose deaths during the past 12 month tracking period (June 2019 to May 2020). Of course, these numbers are exacerbated by COVID-19. However, this is beyond the pale.

More Of the Same?

We do not need to double down on the models that have produced these results. The current system (the status quo model, the legacy model etc..) predates all of us.

It started well before most of us enter the field. None of us invented this “punish them until they want it model”. We inherited it.

Why then, are we so beholden to something with which we have no ownership?

It’s not about particular people or particular programs. It’s the philosophy and the paradigm that is most problematic.

Paradigm Shift:

“A paradigm is a standard, perspective, or set of ideas. A paradigm is a way of looking at something. The word paradigm comes up a lot in the academic, scientific, and business worlds. … When you change paradigms, you’re changing how you think about something”.

Where substance use disorders are concerned, must of what are told has been insufficient. In some cases, dead wrong. Everything from etiology to treatment.

The entire process is conceptually misinformed.

This is what happens when you get something wrong at a fundamental level. Eventually, it all breaks down.

In business you go bankrupt. In healthcare a million people die.

Why stubbornly hold onto an idea that is patently wrong?

A Thought Experiment:

Let’s pretend you are a football coach. Your job is on the line. Your team is 0 and 7 heading into the halfway mark of the season.

Your quarterback has thrown on average 3 interceptions per game and your offense is ranked dead last.

As you head into game 8: Are you going to keep that same starting quarterback in the game?

Are you going to maintain the same offensive system that has produces dismal results?

Or are you going to yank the quarterback, question everything and use every trick you can to salvage the season?

Of course, you are going to “question everything”.

We may not be able to replace systems as easily as we can replace quarterbacks.

However, we can identify some of the real barriers to progress. Why are we stuck in such a rinse and repeat cycle with mental health and substance use disorders?

1) THERE IS ZERO CHANCE OF INTERNALLY DRIVEN CHANGE: 

DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION, results in invention and transformation. NEW THINGS

“Innovation, on the other hand, results in improvement of existing products or service.

“Innovative practices” are frequently used to hold off disruption. The existing system does NOT want disruptive innovation. Because, the existing system does not want to be “replaced”.

Innovation is a term used to fool people into thinking we have something new to offer. When in fact, we have a repackaged and tuned up version of the same old thing.

Stay with me. Disruptive innovation requires a business model to support new ideas and new services.

You can’t scale something unless you get the idea out to millions of people. And you can’t get it out to millions of people unless you can pay some bills.

The Mac is just a hobby if Apple does not find a way to sell it.

In all industries there are barriers to entry. The status quo resists change.

No legacy system is going to willingly step aside.

No one is going to say:

“Please eliminate my way of life and destroy all these jobs”.

2) Healthcare resists disruption in an especially effective way. Behavioral healthcare is even more opaque than “general healthcare”.

The HEALTHCARE industry (substance use/mental health especially) has some extra tricks and maneuvers they bring to the table.

There are 3 healthcare-specific barriers that make the paradigm shift even more difficult.

A) Misunderstanding around innovation.

As highlighted above, disruptive innovation implies “new” products and services.

These products and services are founded on new paradigms and new principles. Disruptive innovation requires a new way of seeing the problem.

On the other hand, SUD and MH “centers for innovation” are actually centers for improvement.

Even technology driven “innovation” could be more accurately described as improvement.

Apps, software, tracking and monitoring devices, wearables, “bi-lateral text messaging”, automated asynchronous messaging represent improvement.

The success of the intervention is still based on the “willing, compliant and sufficiently docile” client. The so-called “new thing” is still built on the model of assumed client motivation.

B) HIGH REGULATION and complexity of systems. 

A maze of regulation, (disguised as “patient protection”) is especially effective in minimizing invention and slowing distribution of new things.

Directly related to regulation are the OPAQUE SYSTEMS FOR REIMBURSEMENT.

Many times, the publicly funded system creates monopolies. The state system almost always does business with state system providers.

There is a clear philosophy of keeping the money “in-house”.

At the private level, lack of reimbursement stifles creativity.

C) Finally, the trump card. 

When in doubt, status quo health providers can say that; “new ideas are dangerous”. “You will kill people if you keep doing things that way”.

The consumer and their family will be sent a clear message:

“Do you really want to risk your welfare or your loved one’s health on some silly idea”?

“Don’t try alternative treatment. Send him back to rehab for the 18th time like a sensible citizen”.

In the meantime, 81,000 people died of an overdose every year.

88,000 die of alcohol related issues every year. 47,000 people commit suicide.

I have been told:

“Rich, stop saying that stuff about alternative treatment. People hear you and they won’t go to rehab”.

This industry-driven “moral high ground” is twisted.

Some people act as if exploring recovery options automatically means death for the patient. 

Meanwhile, massive numbers are already dying under the “accepted model”.

[Note: the question of government funded innovation will ultimately be part of this discussion. Government certainly could fund innovation. However, it would have to occur outside the existing infrastructure. I have little confidence that anything so bold and courageous will come out of Washington DC. The existing institutional structures aren’t stepping aside anytime soon.

NOTE #2: For the record. Government has funded disruptive innovation in the past. Via channels outside the traditional bureaucratic infrastructure: Kennedy’s moonshot, the Marshall Plan, DARPA. And it worked.

3) The “Stigma Reinforcing” Addiction Entertainment & Exploitation Industry

Substance use disorders have apparently become entertaining. The examples are endless.

The televised public exploitation of people with substance use disorder is deeply damaging. It reinforces all the negative stereotypes.

People like Dr. Drew do more harm than good.

The underlying message is clear, addicts are second class citizens. They need to be sufficiently punished.

They need good old fashioned, one-size fits all, 12-step only treatment.

That’s the message. It’s not stigma reduction.

It’s unintentionally, or intentionally, stigma reinforcing. What a horrible thing.

It’s actually quiet revealing to consider the television show “Intervention” on the A&E channel. 

They are filming people in an “active disease state” and putting it on public display for everyone to consume.

The worst part, they frame the exploitation as “help”.

This is naive at best. Malpractice at worst. Unethical for sure.

How they get away with this is beyond me? It speaks to the lack of progress on stigma.

It speaks to zero accountability surrounding the treatment of people with SUD.

Far too many social media “marketers” (backed by rehabs who are desperate for admissions) become mini-celebrities.

Mini-celebrities that ultimately do harm on multiple levels.

Their “I will save you” message is horrible.

They prey on fear. They create fear in the families.

Their level of expertise seems to be of no concern to the people who employ them.

There is zero internal industry accountability.

Most of these people have no real knowledge or education to support their work in substance use and mental health.

They promote stigma via stereotypical story telling and slogan driven rants.

Not to mention their tragic “call now for help” obsession. The world is becoming more educated on SUD issues and the social media marketer is becoming a running joke.

However, we all suffer from association with this squad.

They refer to themselves as “recovery advocates” and the public can’t delineate between legit advocates and admission agents.

I do not want to be lumped in with these folks.

Television shows on addiction are trending up.

Independent documentaries as well. Independent documentaries tend to hold themselves to higher standards.

They show a more charitable side of substance use disorders.

However, they can go sideways on any given day as well.

Substance use disorder is a healthcare condition. It is not a carnival sideshow.

4) The behavioral health carve out:

“It is very difficult to trace the evolution of reimbursement for SUD and mental health issues.

Somewhere in the 1980’s or 1990’s managed care organizations took on substance use and mental health.

At that point, behavioral health was completely separated from the larger health plan.

In theory, this would lead to more focus SUD and MH specialty care.

In reality, this has lead to the alienation of people with SUD and mental health issues. In the real world, there is a hard stop between physical health and behavioral health.

This is not helpful. SUD and mental health is siloed off. In their own little world.

SUD and mental health should be a routine part of mainstream medicine.

However, on the whole, health systems avoid integrating SUD and mental health.

The opioid epidemic has forced some change. But nothing significant and certainly nothing permanent.

The carve out produces more stigma. The carve out also contributes to the “hit bottom” mentality that underlies the system.

We wind up working with only the most severe cases.

Services are “carved out” and therefore not even accessed until absolutely necessary. Truth be told, services are never accessed by most people in need.

What if we did shift the paradigm.

What would happen if we went to the doctor for help with SUD instead of rehab?

The post We Are Getting Beat Down. 81,000 Overdose Deaths. appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

I HAVE NO IDEA

Thank God. (And German Engineering) I walked away with an ugly big ole scrape on my big ole forehead.

I have no idea how I survived this.

I hit a trailer truck (without the trailer attached). It launched me and flipped the car.

Landed on the roof. The car on its roof sliding down interstate 85.

THIS IS HOW I DIE!

I’m upside down buckled in my seat.

I literally was thinking “this is how I die …this is how I die”… while I bounce of other cars and keep spinning and sliding…

Then all the sudden the car comes to a stop.

I’m alive. Holy cow. I’m alive. And I can move.

TRAUMA-UNIT RUN

After a few stunned seconds with me still hanging upside down in my seat… I come to my senses.

I unbuckle the seat belt and fall out of the seat. Open the door. And crawl out of the car.

Police, ambulance and firemen are everywhere.

They jump into rescue mode and I’m on the trauma-unit run before I even knew what hit me.

PROBING & SCANNING

They cut my clothes off. IV here. IV there. And then it’s all a blur.

I get to the trauma unit.

Extensive probing and scanning and strange hot liquids coursing through my body (in order to better view my internal organs).

10 hours later I’m cleared. I’m good to go.

I BELIEVE

I walk out like nothing happened. slight concussion. Very sore. And one ugly forehead.

Strangely, I have been very emotional since this happened.

I believe in God. I believe in miraculous things.

I sometimes, even read deep things and discuss these matters with “experts”.

I think about death.

Since I’ve had kids I think too much about dangerous things.

This event is profound in my eyes.

BUSY. BUSY, BUSY

I am always distracted. Busy. Stressed. Rushing here. Rushing there.

Too much dumb shit.

Too much yes. Not enough no.

I will be different after this. This is a transformational moment.

I WILL BE DIFFERENT

Much of the stuff you think is important is likely trivial. Many of the “important” projects mean nothing.

It’s all someone else’s agenda.

I will be different. I was already formulating a strategy to restructure my focus. I’m now exceptionally motivated to get it done.

Part 2 – THE CAR INVOLVED

GOSHGY BEEKEY

So I was getting my stuff out of the vehicle.. Found this Stuffed animal hanging out the window of my car.

This guy belongs to my 7 year old.

His name is “Goshy Beekey”. I think I will keep him.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Thank you to everyone who gave a shout out after that accident. I am very grateful. I feel lucky to be alive.

I feel like I have a different perspective.

But I know that stuff tends to wear off after some time.

Do I go back to my “frantic, I’m in a hurry, need to save the world” lifestyle in a couple months?

SLOW DOWN

Right now. I can still see and feel the accident.

If I drive. I’m driving slow.

If I schedule meetings. I’m spacing them so I don’t feel rushed and “always running late”.

They are important and high priority meetings. I’m will try to stay in my lane. To “not be all things to all people”…

I have said NO to the 3 future speaking requests I received (since Tuesday’s fiasco).

But … like all good intentions. Does it fade away?

Or… Do life changing events really exist?

COMPLETE CLUSTER

I have tried, unsuccessfully, to slow down and focus my efforts for at least 3 years now.

A concerted, conscious, effort. And I have made minimal progress.

Its common. I leave Greenville to drive home to change so I can go to a dinner meeting that night.

In between, I facilitate 2 zoom meetings and make as many calls as possible to FAVOR donors to say thank you.

Throw in personal, family worries and concerns and my mind is a complete cluster….

My mind is cluttered. My thoughts “elsewhere”. My presence scattered.

NOT TODAY!

I am not that way today.

In the aftermath of this accident. But… will it all come back in a day, a week, a couple months.

My default setting is “more”.

Do “permanently” life changing events exist? Probably. Yes.

But we have to do things to maintain the change.

Thank you. And thank God. Seriously.

Part 3 – WHAT IS A GOSHY BEEKEY?

Okay. It turns out that there were 2 GOSHY BEEKY in my car on the day of the accident.

GOSH BEEKY is not a name. It is, apparently, a species. So you have GOSHY BEEKY #1. And GOSHY BEEKY #2.

As you can see #1 is suffering a serious injury. An amputated foot.

#1 was the GOSHY BEEKY that was stuck in the window.

#2 was found under the seat during final the clean out.

My daughter Lizz Marie Jones has assured me she can perform elective surgery and re-attached #1’s foot.

BTW: The plural of GOSHY BEEKY is GOSHY BEEKY not “Goshy Beekies”. Just for situational awareness.

The post HOW DID I WALK AWAY FROM THIS? appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

Call the DEA on the SOCIAL MEDIA DRUG DEALERS?

Before we get started: There will be people who will read this and say “Well then get off social media. Delete the app and quit bitching”.

I know you are a keyboard warrior but…. Please don’t say anything. Just scroll on by.

I mean, just go back to your filter bubble and enjoy your digital narcotic.

The documentary Social Dilemma on Netflix is a good place to start.

It’s a bit over the top. But the basic thesis of that film is solid.

The Key

• Intermittent reinforcement
• Filter bubbles
• Intentional status destruction
• Systematic trading on insecurity

“Addictive” may be a strong word.

However, intentionally designed for compulsive use is an indisputable fact. Addictive is in the ballpark.

Social Currency

Think “slot machines” that distribute social currency.

Intentionally designed to hook young people.

As a 52-year-old man, I can see this for what it is.

It impacts me. But nothing that serious.

Intentionally Destructive

Middle school students, high school students, and young adults are unable to keep it in perspective.

It is intentionally destructive.

I hate it when people I love are harmed by these platforms.

FAKE images designed to erode self-esteem.

Thrown at kids during their most vulnerable life stage.

Record Levels

I read that approximately 74% of Millenials / and 78% of Gen Z report being lonely.

They have little genuine confidence.

It’s superficial and half-real world.

Record setting levels of anxiety and depression among college students.

Social media is a major contributor to deaths of despair.

Silicon Valley Elites

One thing is even more laughable. The “Silicon Valley” elite progressives want to preach about social issues.

They want to claim the moral high ground as it relates to racial issues, issues of diversity, social justice etc…

The silly minions follow the leader as they intentional design self-esteem destroying algorithms.

And then they lecture us on social justice. Silly, silly, people. OR….dangerous people.

Action Needed

Meanwhile, they are an oligarchy. Robber Barrons. No different than the railroad industry.

Fight back? Relentless campaign against the fakeness?

Regulation? Complete dismantling?

Zuckerberg, Dorsey, Brin, and all the other drug dealers. The real CARTEL.

I wonder if this will get reported? I wonder if this will be censured?

The post Call the DEA, They Are Killing Us! appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

The post Anxiety: Friend or Foe? appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

Let me tell you a story. I call it, Let Go and Let Bot.

Tonight I had a technology problem when filing some very important financial documents online. I won’t bore you with the details.

Basically I did hours of work only to be derailed by a glitch in the matrix. I advanced to the point of submission and hit a wall.

So …. I called the customer service / call center that supports this institution.

The First 7 Calls

The first 7 times I called I could get no further than the automated bot that says “Please tell me what the trouble is etc….

I would respond “can’t submit application” or some variation of that.

And each time the bot would come back with some completely random response.

Me: CAN’T SUBMIT THE APPLICATION.
BOT: “Can’t locate the pay button… okay. I will send you a link with that answer”.
And then I would get a text to an answer from their FAQ page.

My stress level rising. I try again …

ME: “CAN’T COMPLETE THE APPLICATION PROCESS”.
BOT: “Forgot your password… okay. I will send a link”.

Now I’m losing my shit (that is a technical term to describe poor anger management).

ME: “APPLICATION PROBLEMS”.
BOT: “How to save application … okay I will send the link”.

Each time this happened. I would hang up. Spend 3 minutes ranting to myself (no one else was around) and then call back with the following strategy:

A) TALK SLOWER / B)TALK LOUDER.

Low Earth Orbit

Repeat that process 6 or 7 times and I am straight up blasted into orbit.

But I have to get this done. Exceedingly important.

So I go back one more time.

And this time. The bot says “one moment I will connect you to an account representative”…

After a Short Wait

The account rep comes on the phone.

She was an angel sent from the gods.

She did this funky screen share thing and went into the dark web or some shit and fixed everything.

When I got it submitted. I was the happiest person on the planet. And the tech-angel rep was also happy.

We laughed, we cried tears of joy, we celebrated the goodness of humanity.

Well, maybe not quite that intense. But for sure. It goes on the 3 good things list. 😎

The post Let Go and Let Bot… appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

TRADING IN MY SMART PHONE

I’M TRADING IN MY SMART PHONE 📱 FOR A FLIP PHONE 📞 !!!

I am okay. I am not losing my shit. I am good. I just need to get better. I need to recalibrate and be more genuine. I am having Smart Phone Fatigue.

MY TAKE ON THE WORLD:

In my opinion, we are under assault. Our mental health is under assault.

Our well-being is threatened. Our sense of security.

We are in a “Mental Health Crisis” as a country. Substance use disorders are part of this mental health crisis.

They should not be carved out and placed in some silo. It is really troubling.

I have been immersed in this crisis. It’s no joke.

OUT OF RANGE

IT IS NOT WITHIN THE NORMAL RANGE.

NOT TYPICAL, IN TERMS OF INCIDENCE AND INTENSITY. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYONE IS “ON-EDGE”.

My take on this goes beyond my professional experience.

I have not always been willing to acknowledge or attend to my own mental health.

I am a man who also struggles with depression. Off and on for 20 years.

Recently more on than off. And I have refused to address this issue.

JUST WORK MORE, RIGHT?

I have stubbornly plowed through the dark nights and anxiety-ridden days.

Tell myself.. Work more. That will shut it out. Work more. That will give you a sense of “well-being”. Avoid…

Recently I have been confronted with some things in my personal life that force me to reconcile with my own mental health issues.

The truth is the stigma of mental health (especially the stigma of male depression) has kept me from addressing this issue full on.

Real men don’t cry?

Well, I don’t know about that. But they certainly don’t struggle with depression. Come on. Suck it up.

PLAN OF ACTION

So, I will aggressively address this issue.

I will follow the recommendations. I won’t play around with this anymore.

In addition to all the “standard” mental wellness protocols (meds, therapy, exercise, meditation, eat right, get better sleep etc…); I will also be getting rid of my smartphone.

NO MORE SMART PHONE

I have been thinking about this for quite some time.

When it comes to that damn phone, I don’t like who I am….

📱 Always checking my email. Always checking social media.

“Checking in” on my newsfeed. Seeing all that ridiculous bullshit.

Have you ever watched a group of people staring at their cell phones while waiting in line or while at dinner or in the lobby etc…?

IN THE WEB

Zuckerberg and company have us in the web.

It is really uncool. And I am certain that it undermines my mental health.

The data supports this and my personal experience makes it clear:

SMARTPHONES are part of the problem.

BE A FLIP-PHONE BOY

I will become “flip-phone boy”.

I will still check email, I will still post on social media, I will still “do my job”.

I’m just not going to be part of the smartphone matrix anymore.

I will do these things from a laptop or desktop only.

I must work on getting better if I expect the people I love to work on getting better.

I have been… a hypocrite.

The post TIME FOR A DUMB PHONE – IM SUFFERING WITH SMART PHONE FATIGUE SYMPTOMS! appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

YES, “MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS”

First and foremost I would like to NOTE: WE ALL HAVE “MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS” AND “EMOTIONAL ISSUES” TO MANAGE.

If you think you are “above that” or you are thinking “no I don’t”; get over yourself and just own it.

You do. I do They do! We all do.

Throw off the fake Hallmark Movie facade and own the fullness of the human condition.

IT’S OK, REALLY

It’s okay to not be okay. Everything is a “spectrum disorder”. Mental health struggles fall along a continuum.

And we all have some of these symptoms and some of these issues.

A shift in perspective, related to mental health, is so important in light of our current situation.

The crap is hitting the fan with COVID-19. Financial stressors. Political tension. Racism. “A recession”. Wait, maybe a “great depression”.

We have a vaccine. We don’t have a vaccine. When do we get back to normal? There is no normal…

Here’s the reality behind the “look how cool I am” images:

“Look at me. Look at how worried I am, look at how anxious I am, look at how irritable I am, look how sad I am, look at how manic at am”.

If I have a manic episode. I do massive and epic things in the workplace. I “burn both ends of the candle” and I am praised for it. “Wow, look what Rich is getting done”…

Then I crash and need to regroup. It’s a cycle. It’s all relative. I learn to live with this “condition”. But make no mistake, I could be diagnosed “BiPolar Type 2″… Without question. Call your nearest psychiatrist and send him or her my way 🙂

Go ahead. Talk in hushed whispers behind my back. “What’s wrong with Rich”? “Wow, can you believe it. Rich has a mental health problem…”.

HERE IS MY RESPONSE TO YOU: WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?

A shift in perspective, related to mental health, is so important in light of our current situation.

The crap is hitting the fan with COVID-19.

Financial stressors. Political tension. Racism. “A Recession”.

Wait, maybe a “great depression”.

We have a vaccine. We don’t have a vaccine.

When do we get back to normal. There is no normal…

It’s white noise in the background. Like an annoying fly buzzing about at the picnic.

But a little bigger with a much stronger “bite”.

MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS PILES UP

That gets to people. It piles up. Your stress bucket overflows.

But, you are not “crazy” or“insane”. You don’t automatically have a discrete “mental illness”.

You are a homo-sapien walking about the planet in the midst of one of the strangest and confusing times in the history of the planet.

Tough going all around. For all of us.

The main reason for the so-called “co-occurring mental health crisis” is NOT any particular incident or circumstance.

The main reason for the mental health crisis is this ever-present underlying stress that is inescapable.

STRESS VULNERABILITY MODEL

It is the stress vulnerability model writ large.

The American Psychologicale Association Dictionary of Psychology defines the “stress-vulnerability model“.

A theory that a: “genetic or biological predisposition to certain mental disorders exists and psychological and social factors can increase the likelihood of symptomatic episodes.”

As stress rises, and the bucket fills up, you will naturally display more symptoms.

Your loved one will display more symptoms.

And for the record, it’s likely that all of us have a “biological predisposition” to mental disorders.

The post WE ALL HAVE “MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS” appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS

✌️✌️I’m fired up about the “mental health crisis”.

I know I’m a C.E.O. of a substance use disorder recovery organization and I’m supposed to stay in my lane.

But… I think we all know that is a silly proposition. REGARDING MENTAL HEALTH AND SUD.

Probably the most accurate thing I ever said.

ALL IS NOT EQUAL

There is great help available. But it’s not always easy to find. It’s not available equally.

And our understanding of mental health syndromes / disorders is not complete.

We know that certain medication is essential in certain situations. Especially for acute stabilization to mitigate potentially dangerous behaviors etc …

We know that certain medications are necessary from a “maintenance” perspective.

It’s especially important to stay on medication to avoid “kindling” (ie…stacking episodes one on top of the other with no period of stability).

The longer you go between episodes the better the prognosis.

INCOMPLETE SOLUTIONS

We know that medicine is an incomplete solution. Lifestyle and self-management is just as important as “medicine”.

However, there is a catch 22… when we go off medication we may experience symptoms that make self-management difficult.

That’s another reason why prescribing “maintenance” medication is such a common practice.

We know that MOST PEOPLE struggle mightily with taking maintenance medication.

It’s too simplistic to say “take your medication daily” and then admonish people when they don’t.

When I broke into the behavioral health field, I did so as a mental health Casemanager at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center-Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

ASSERTIVE COMMUNITY TREATMENT

This was 2001. I quickly progressed to program director of an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team.

ACT is one of the most intense and challenging models across the entire behavioral health continuum.

We were responsible for individuals with “serious and persistent mental illness”.

People coming out of state hospitals. The era of de-institutionalization manifest in western Pennsylvania.

I learned motivational interviewing in 2001. And we were saturated with continuing education.

The main job was not “getting people clean and sober” OR making people “comply” with treatment plans.

CONNECTION & SUPPORT

Our job was connection. It was support.

Our job was the provision of unconditional positive regard regardless of the “patient’s behavior”.

UPMC was a teaching hospital. So we received fantastic training. DBT intensive and certifications. CISM Intervention’s and certifications. On and on.

We were rotated through on-call weeks. The team provided crisis support 24 hour/365 days per year.

We were not allowed to say the patient “just did not show up for his appointment”. We had to go find them.

On a regular basis I had a psychiatrist in the car with me as we searched the streets of Pittsburgh looking for one of my participants.

INTENSE MENTAL HEALTH FOR 5 YEARS

5 years. The most important 5 years of my career. The most fulfilling 5 years of my career. And the most stressful and difficult 5 years.

We just wanted to help. No other agenda.

I burned out. But it was still wonderful experience.

At the end of the day …. we marked progress in terms of incremental steps.

MODEL MENTALITY

I know this model can’t be replicated everywhere. It’s very expensive. We could only serve 150 people at any one time.

It’s not necessarily the model that I want to promote. It’s the mentality.

Even so, I don’t anticipate this type of thinking becoming commonplace. Where does that leave us?

Families are going to have to fill in the gap? Become case managers?

Become subject matter experts? Train families and participants so they can serve as their own case manager?

Is that ludicrous?

Is it any more ludicrous than the current model?

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