A study published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that anti-inflammatory drugs may decrease the effectiveness of SSRI antidepressants. Researchers at the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research at The Rockefeller University found that mice that were treated concurrently with SSRI antidepressants and anti-inflammatory drugs had diminished behavioral responses compared to mice treated with SSRI antidepressants alone.  To see if this finding had the same effect on humans, the researchers examined data extracted from the completed National Institute of Mental Health funded STAR*D study. The findings from the STAR*D data showed that individuals that were depressed and taking an SSRI antidepressant and an anti-inflammatory drug were less likely to have their symptoms relieved (40%), compared with individuals that were depressed and taking an SSRI depressant, but not taking an anti-inflammatory (54%).

Experts caution that this is a preliminary study and further studies need to be done. Individuals should not change their medication regimen based upon these recent findings, but should follow the advice of their prescribing physician.

The MHAM staff had a busy week between Christmas and New Year’s Day! We moved our offices from Northeast Minneapolis to our new location in Saint Paul. The new office will save us nearly $14,000 per year, which means more of our annual budget can go directly to Individual Advocacy, Issues Advocacy and Education.

Please note our new contact information:

Address: 475 Cleveland Avenue N, Suite 222, Saint Paul, MN 55104-5589
Phone: 651-493-6634
Fax: 651-340-1202

Our website, email addresses, and toll-free phone number will remain the same.

As we come to the end of our first full week in our new office, we are settling in and adding small touches that make the new space feel like home. We believe that our phones, website, and email are all up and running. However, should you have difficulty reaching us, please accept our apologies. We appreciate your patience as we make this transition.

As we move into 2011, we continue to find ways to work smarter and save money wherever possible. Our goal is to maintain our services at their current level. The recent move is part of this cost-saving plan. However, we still need support from individual donors to pursue our mission to enhance mental health, promote individual empowerment, and increase access to treatment and services for persons with mental illnesses. Please consider a tax-deductible donation. You can make your gift online.

Thank you for all you do to support our vision of improved lives for people with mental illnesses! And Happy New Year!!

The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners is seeking applicants from the community to fill positions on seven citizen advisory boards, including the Adult Mental Health Advisory Council. This 32 member council advises the County Board on adult mental health issues within Hennepin County and monitors, studies, and comments on mental health issues at the federal, state, and local levels. Members serve three-year terms and meet monthly on the third Thursday from 2:00 until 4:30 p.m. The council meets at the Hennepin County Hosmer Library in Minneapolis. located at 347 East 36th Street. Volunteers must be a resident of Hennepin County to be eligible to serve on the council.

For more information or to apply for this volunteer position, please visit the Hennepin County website.

Applications will be taken through Friday, January 7, 2011.

What if you could help us win $1000 just by giving 10 bucks? On November 16, Give to the Max Day, you can. Last year we saw over $4,000 in donations through Give to the Max, so we’re very excited to be participating again this year.

Visit our page on GiveMN.org on November 16 to make a donation.

Overall last year, more than 38,000 donors logged on to GiveMN.org and gave over $14 million to more than 3,000 Minnesota charities and nonprofits in 24 hours during Give to the Max Day. This year, the goal for GiveMN.org  is to beat that record by engaging 40,000 donors during the second annual Give to the Max Day on November 16. The Mental Health Association of Minnesota together with GiveMN.org – a first-of-its-kind giving website for nonprofits in Minnesota – is working to create a stronger nonprofit community for Minnesota.

GiveMN’s Give to the Max Day amplifies your giving impact in a number of ways:

• Win a Golden Ticket! $1,000 will be given to a random donor’s charity every hour. You could be that donor! If you are up early or up late, increase our chances of winning that $1,000 by donating at time when there are fewer people awake.
• Put us on the Leader Board! Your donation on November 16, could put us on the leader board to win $10,000 or even $20,000 for the most number of donors for our nonprofit. Help us get “on the board!”

Visit the MHAM page at GiveMN.org to donate.

And thank you to all of our donors throughout the year. We appreciate  your support of our mission to enhance mental health, promote individual empowerment, and increase access to treatment and services for persons with mental illnesses.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is looking at making some very important changes to the mechanisms by which disability is determined for people with mental illness. The proposed changes would probably be expected to make it much more difficult to be found disabled by the SSA if the primary basis of disability is a mental illness.

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law has studied and provided a recap of the proposed rule changes Major concerns revolve about the proposed implementation of standardized tests and eligibility determinations hinging on the number of standard deviations from the mean on the new standardized tests. Bazelon projects that only one to two percent of the nation’s population will qualify as disabled as a result of a mental illness under the rule change if adopted. This is far below the most conservative of the estimates of the people with mental illness that are thought to be unable to work.

There are no standardized tests that have a body of evidence that suggest the tests will be able to predict an individuals ability to work Adoption of the proposed rules can be expected to result in many people being turned down by Social Security, but who will not, due to their mental illness, be able to work.

You may express your concerns and/or objections to the proposed rule changes to the Social Security Administration, but you must do so by November 17, 2010. Address your comments to the SSA by one of the following methods:

Go to the http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#home website and search for docket number SSA-2007-0101 and follow directions.

or Fax the SSA at 410-966-2830

or mail the Office of Regulations, Social Security Administration, 137 Altmeyer Bldg., 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235-6401

Just a reminder that in recognition of Mental Illness Awareness Week, MHAM is hosting the Celebrating Recovery education event on Tuesday, October 5 at the Ramada Plaza in Minneapolis. The event will begin at 9:30 a.m. and conclude at 3 p.m. We would love to see you there! If you register before October 5, admission is $15. At the door admission is $20. Your admission includes presentations, a Wellness Fair, a Steps To Wellness self-care kit, and lunch.

This will be a great event for individuals living with mental illnesses, their family members and friends, and mental health providers. Michael Trangle, MD will speak about holistic care and staying healthy and Minnesota 10 x 10 and the DIAMOND program. Kim Lutes will share her experiences with the mental health system and the importance of self-advocacy. Brain Doran will discuss ways in which family members and friends can support a loved one who is living with a mental illness. Brett Dumke will provide an overview of the brand new Steps to Wellness self-care kits. Ed Eide will give examples of how individuals can share their stories to influence public policy.

The Steps to Wellness kits have been developed with support from an educational grant from Lilly USA, LLC, a charitable contribution from Janssen, Division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceutical, Inc., a grant from Park Nicollet Foundation Healthy Community, and a grant from Pfizer Healthcare. The kits contain tools to help individuals manage their health and learn skills to advocate for themselves when working with medical professionals and social service providers. After the event, the kits will be available for order from the MHAM website.

Tickets to this event are still available. Please see the Celebrating Recovery page on our website to register online. Scholarships are available. To arrange for a scholarship, please contact Ed Eide at 612-843-4868, ext. 1 or edeide at mentalhealthmn.org.

We have two upcoming events to announce!

The first is MHAM’s education event Celebrating Recovery on October 5, 2010. This education event in recognition of Mental Illness Awareness week will provide you with information about self-care and advocacy and offer tips on how you can become a partner in your own care. We are also very excited to unveil our brand new Steps to Wellness kits. All attendees will receive a free kit. Lunch will be served and is included in the registration fee. Cost is $15 per person in advance, $20 per person at the door, and $40 to exhibit at the Wellness Fair (includes admission to the event and lunch). Location: Ramada Plaza Hotel, 1330 Industrial Boulevard NE, Minneapolis, MN.Click on the link for more information and to register online.

The second event is Proof by David Auburn, produced by the Phoenix Theater Project. After the death of her father, Catherine is left to pull together her own life; a life that was set aside to care for her ailing father, a famous mathematician. She must deal with his legacy; hundreds of notebooks that most likely hold the ramblings of a man slowly losing his genius, but may reveal the last great work of a brilliant mind.  Now she is forced to face her own life and can no longer avoid her possible inheritance; genius or insanity. Proof will be playing weekends beginning Friday, September 10 and running through Saturday, September 25 at the People Center’s Theater, 425 20th Avenue South, Minneapolis. Tickets are $16. MHAM is working closely with Phoenix Theater Project to offer feedback on the portrayal of family relationships where a mental illness is involved, and we will be participating in a talk back session after the show on Sunday, September 12. Visit Phoenix Theater Project for more information on this Pulitzer Prize-winning play or to purchase tickets.

By Brett Dumke, MHAM Education Coordinator

Who will develop the next generation of medications for mental illness? That was the question posed by the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Dr. Thomas Insel, on a recent NIMH blog posting. Dr. Insel commented on the recent decision of two major pharmaceutical companies to terminate their psychiatric medication development programs and the likelihood of others to do so as well. If new drug innovation comes to a screeching halt, it will have a profound impact for individuals who have not responded well to medications that are currently available. In order to fill this void, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and NIMH may have to play a key part in all phases of drug development in the coming years.  MHAM will continue to monitor this alarming trend and will provide updates when they develop.

Both the House and Senate voted to restore GAMC cuts yesterday. This was a bi-partisan vote and passed overwhelmingly. For that we are happy!

However there is bad news. The Governor vetoed it. The next step is an override attempt. This will happen soon.

The state will save money with this new temporary GAMC program, because it will reduce the amount of emergency care that will be needed if it is gone. If you care about the health of poor people, please contact you elected representative and ask them to support the override.

This cannot happen without you.

Find your legislator’s contact information and call, email or send a letter today.

Thank you!