ON MAY 30, 2013, CALIFORNIA WILL COME TOGETHER AND LEAD THE WAY

1 IN 4 AMERICAN ADULTS NEED HELP RIGHT NOW.

BUT MANY WON'T ASK FOR IT FOR FEAR OF JUDGEMENT, ISOLATION & DISCRIMINATION.

On Thursday May 30, 2013 watch the premiere on California PBS stations:

A NEW STATE OF MIND: ENDING THE STIGMA OF MENTAL ILLNESS

Narrated by award-winning actress Glenn Close.

Stigma associated with mental illness can be more destructive than the illness itself. Each of us has a role to play in ending stigma once and for all, and building a stronger, healthier California. A New State of Mind: Ending the Stigma of Mental Illness tells the stories of everyday people through their struggles, recovery and resilience in the face of mental health challenges.

Los Angeles Airtime: KLCS & KOCE – 10 p.m May 30  CLICK HERE to view the trailer. Find out more about EACH MIND MATTERS, by clicking HERE.

Train the Trainer 2013 sessions have begun. This year's training features an introduction to Whole Health Wellness, using the Eight Dimensions of Wellness as defined by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

The 2013 Program Dates are:

Fridays from 9 am to 3 pm - May 17, May 24,, May 31, June 7, & June 14

The training will be held at:

Project Return Peer Support Network

6055 E. Washington Blvd., Suite 900 (Training Room)

Commerce, CA 90040

This training is only availalble to Los AngelesCounty residents who have personal lived experience of psychiatric disability or mental illness and have been employed as Peer Advocates or Mental Health Workers.

For more information please click the link to email: Georgie Sullivan

April 1-7 is National Workplace Wellness Week. Given all of the time we spend at work. Workplace Wellness is everyone’s business. For almost 20 years stress-related issues in the workplace have been on the rise.

The human and economic impact of stress is staggering. Every year, mental illness and substance abuse cost employers an estimated $80 to $100 billion. Our mental and physical health are inextricably linked together.

The good news is that many employers are recognizing the human and financial value of a healthy workplace! Mental Health America has put together a collection of resources to help employees and employers create a healthy vibrant workplace. Take a look and help your organization move toward wellness!

Thirty years ago Elyn Saks was given a diagnosis of schizophrenia. She was told that she would never be able to live independently, hold a job or get married. She would spend her days in a board and care watching television, and working menial jobs when her symptoms were quiet.

Then she decided to write the narrative for her life.

Today she is a chaired professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. She has an adjunct appointment in the department of psychiatry at the medical school of the University of California, San Diego, and is on the faculty of the New Center for Psychoanalysis. Elyn is a recipient of The MacArthur Foundation genius grant. And, she is happily married.

She has accepted and learned to manage her condition but has not allowed the original dire prognosis to hold her back. Elyn and her colleagues are studying twenty research subjects with high-functioning schizophrenia in Los Angeles, expanding the understanding of what it means to live with a mental illness.

"...many psychiatrists hold the view that treating symptoms with medication is treating mental illness. But this fails to take into account individuals’ strengths and capabilities, leading mental health professionals to underestimate what their patients can hope to achieve in the world."  -Elyn Saks

Read Elyn’s extraordinary opinion piece in the New York Times here.