NAMI Urban Los Angeles

The Definition of Insanity

Tue, 02 Jun 2020 14:08:40 -0700

The Miami-Dade Criminal Mental Health Project (CMHP) comes to life in this documentary, following a team of dedicated public servants working through the courts to steer people with mental illness — as their court cases hang in the balance — on a path from incarceration to recovery. Expires on PBS 10/14/20.

Holiday Self-Care Tips

Tue, 03 Dec 2019 17:00:43 -0800

With Thanksgiving around the corner, we at NAMI Urban Los Angeles (NULA) want to share some mental health self-care tips taken with our knowledge with support from NAMI National, Psych Central, The Mighty, and Marguerite Ferrera, NULA Social Media Coordinator. We know that the holidays are not always cheery and fun for everyone. For many it can bring up loneliness, depression, and often includes processing grief and loss. This is often a painful time and can lead to feelings of depressed mood and low self-esteem. Sometimes anger may arise because of challenges with family or loved ones you are obligated to see where conflicts may present. Below are a few tips to help you take good care in the best way you can during this holiday season. We too hope it is filled with moments of joy, peace, and rest.

Possible Symptoms

Physical symptoms which may include headaches, muscle tension, shortness of breath, fatigue, appetite changes and difficulties in sleep patterns.
Difficulty thinking clearly, concentrating.
Speaking negatively towards yourself.
Emotional responses may manifest to feeling out of control, nervous, anxious, hopeless or angry.
Negative changes in behavior can include aggression, exorbitant use of substances, and other compulsive behaviors.

10 Self-Care Tips for the Holidays

1) Gratitude

Remember to show yourself gratitude for the things you DO have in your life. Whether that be a job, a...Read More

How Yoga Can Bring Calm To The Lives of Seniors and Caregivers

Thu, 01 Nov 2018 02:32:27 -0700

Providing care for an aging loved one can cause an increase in stress, but seniors can be impacted by stress as well. Too much stress can result in some serious mental and physical health issues, so how can you stop the cycle in your life? Many caregivers and seniors have started to turn to meditation and yoga to bring the calm they so desperately need. If you could use a little more relaxation in your life, here are some key points to keep in mind.

Committing to Daily Practice Can Help Reduce Stress

Meditation and yoga can lessen stress, but only if you are willing to practice on a regular basis. You should aim to make meditation part of your daily routine, even if it’s only for a few minutes a day, and try to practice yoga a few times a week. Many beginners choose to start with classes, but one of the most effective ways to get a little yoga and meditation into your daily habits is to create a dedicated space in your home. Setting up a meditation room can serve as a very positive motivator to practicing on a regular basis. Both yoga and meditation require concentration, so look for a space in your home that is free of noise and distractions. Pick up some mats and cushions to provide comfort, and add decor to help you feel at ease. It’s also important to keep your meditation space organized. Clutter can Read More

Social Media is Changing the Mental Health Conversation

Sun, 01 Jul 2018 13:55:41 -0700

National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month was started in 2008. It’s been ten years since its inception and looking back over the last several years, this movement is making progress. Each year there are events, usually traumatic in nature, that call attention to mental health issues. In an effort to remove the stigma which has historically kept people silent and unable to access support, the media has begun shining light on celebrities who are speaking out. We have also seen major network television shows tackling the topic. In April of 2018, Essence published an article highlighting Black entertainers who’ve publicly acknowledged their journeys with mental health. In 19 Celebrities Who Have Struggled with Mental Illness and Depression, we are given a glimpse at reality and lays beneath the glitz and glamour.

In the last decade our access to information has truly turned the conversation about mental health on its head. Social media has allowed us to reach from our sofas around the world, sharing stories, listening and allowing our voices to be heard. And the youth and young adults of our time are not afraid to be themselves and document their lives. We are no longer in our houses hiding our dirty secrets pretending that all is well when it’s not. In our current culture, everything is out in the open and honestly, that’s great for the mental health community.

As with every generation new inventions bring with it huge changes which impact everything about our lives. Television changed the lives and way the baby boomers viewed the world. It was television which allowed audiences to see musicians they might never catch live. For decades we’ve absorbed a great deal of our lives from media and television. We’ve allowed it to inform our lives in nearly every way. What’s fascinating is everything we’ve learned from media has been...Read More

Your Roadmap To A Healthier And Happier Life

Sun, 17 Jun 2018 18:18:30 -0700

Developing habits is part of everyone’s life journey. Most often, habits are the good kind that keep us healthy and happy, like brushing our teeth or enjoying our favorite weekly shows. But habits can also develop over our lifetime that are less than healthy. Sometimes we shift into autopilot and overeat, or smoke, or drink too much alcohol. So, how do we break the bad habits?

According to James Clear, author of Transform Your Habits, we can break bad habits most effectively by replacing them with good habits. He suggests a three-step process to start your new habits.

Reminder. What you will use to regularly trigger the start of your new habit.
Routine. Performing the actual habit itself.
Reward. The progress that will keep you coming back to this habit, whether it’s weight loss, staying sober, or improving your health

If you’re looking to rewrite your roadmap with habits that will lead to a healthier and happier life, here are some important habits you’ll want to consider.

Eat More Nutrient Dense Food

Instead of responding to your body’s craving for junk foods, focus on eating foods that are more rich with nutrients. Salmon, shellfish, and liver are among the most healthy proteins you can eat, as each delivers a powerful set of nutrients including potassium, vitamin C, B vitamins, selenium, zinc, vitamin A, and iron. You’ll also want to add potatoes, egg yolks, blueberries, garlic and kale. All of these foods are in the top...Read More

Recovering Hand-in-Hand: Advice for Couples Affected by Addiction

Tue, 01 May 2018 01:29:45 -0700

Life with someone healing from an addiction is challenging. When journeying the road of recovery, relationships can be tried in ways you might not expect. Here is important advice for managing the struggles you face together.

Collateral damage. Addiction to a substance damages the user’s mind and body. In time, that damage can be repaired through discontinued use, medical treatment and counseling. However, the damage from addiction is typically more far-reaching than the addict’s physical and mental health. The relationships with people intimate with the addict, especially partners, also need healing. By incorporating some basic strategies, couples affected by addiction can begin rebuilding their relationship.

Be patient. If you’re in a relationship affected by addiction, it’s important to keep in mind that your troubles didn’t arise overnight. As Psychology Today points out, you may want to fix things immediately but just as the relationship deteriorated over time, it will take time to repair it. It takes time to rebuild trust, forgive wrongs, overcome guilt and shame and to let go of anger. Every day you will need to choose to work at your relationship in order to repair it. It’s impossible to predict how long it will take to heal, but thankfully, there are numerous tools at your disposal.

Initial steps. The first thing that needs to happen for the relationship to heal is for the addict to stop using. Some people try to manage the journey...Read More

30 Days of Gratitude

Wed, 01 Nov 2017 13:11:59 -0700

Gratitude is a word that gets thrown around in the last few decades and it has become synonymous
with the self-help movement, which is a billion dollar industry in this country.

Why do Americans consume so much self-help? This trend is connected to mental health in our country.
At the core is triggered by an absence of meaning in our lives which is replaced with capitalistic pursuits
that prove to leave us increasingly less peaceful and more at odds with ourselves and the world we live
in.

For those in the mental health community, including clients, family and friends, we know gratitude is far
more than a sales pitch, platitude or mantra. For many of us gratitude is the path to peace of mind in
world that continually pointing us “outside” of ourselves to discover happiness.

As Americans, we live and have our existences in a nation where nothing is as it seems, and this is more
pronounced in minority communities where mental health highly stigmatized. Take our current political
circus for instance. For many Americans what we’re witnessing many appear as a new phenomenon but
many of us in minority communities have always seen our political system just as it is. We know it hasn't
worked well for people of color for ages and have been saying so for as long as we can recall. But the
privilege within other communities has insulated them for decades from the terrors of this country
which include the sanctioned murders of black and brown people through our police and prison system
to the count of millions. The scarcity of adequate education is another issue we face daily.

There are countless systems in the nation that communicate to people in minority communities that we
are not safe. These systems are built to keep some “in”, while also keeping others “out.” This...Read More

Creating Myself Out of the Rubble of Mental Havoc

Wed, 20 Sep 2017 16:13:00 -0700

This winding road of my life has been paved as if by a puzzle, and piece by piece it's been set in place by God. I've been driving down this thick fog only as far as my headlights can guide. I am a sojourner on a route leading to the point where my dreams exist.

What saved me, besides Jesus Christ was poetry. It left its indelible mark on my soul and has become my breath, water, and food. Writing fiction and nonfiction has let my heart soar and my imagination seep out from the deep recesses of my mind. Drawing and painting, knitting, playing the piano and guitar by ear, plus songwriting - all these arts have contributed to my healing from mental instability. Through my creative endeavors, I have surrendered my solitude and plight and replaced it with motivation and determination to live life as brightly and calmly as possible. I can eat strawberry with cereal yogurt as I ruminate on a song I am writing, I can dance to The Weekend's "I Feel It Coming" and envision my next painting. I may be at the library or bookstore and know exactly how I want to spend the rest of my life - writing these precious books. You see, creativity is more than poems and pretty bows on gifts, artsy paintings, creativity is dreams of paradise, hopes of finding true love, and settling for peaceful nights pining away for the arts, writing with a zealousness that reminds me of my NaNoWriMo nights typing a novel, when I attempted to write 1,667 words per day. Hey, you should try that, if you haven't already! I recommend it because that's how I started writing my first novella back in 2010. Anyhow, this is going off track. But maybe I like that......veer off into the country, check if the chiles are growing ripe, check for the bird's mating calls, check for the rose buds about to bloom, check the dog's water bowl, check for hummingbirds, check for my Honey's humming and subtle ways of not saying "I-love-you's" instead through...Read More

It's Time to Walk to End the Stigma

Tue, 05 Sep 2017 00:01:22 -0700

It's amazing how fast NAMIWalks comes each year. It seems like we just spent time raising money, promoting our cause and coming together to walk to support and raise money for a very worthy cause.

What Is NAMIWalks?

NAMIWalks is a nationwide fundraiser that reaches out to the greater community for financial support. It is our largest fundraiser of the year. The money raised in NAMIWalks helps provide education, resources and builds relationships with the communities we serve. NAMIWalks is also an awesome way to gather the entire community together at one time in one location to share our victories and rally one another on as we continue to do the work of ending the stigma.

Why Get Involved?

Everyone can benefit from the information and resources NAMI provides. If we have not experienced mental health challenges ourselves, we certainly know someone who has. Unfortunately health challenges like depression, anxiety, suicide and Alzheimer's and other mental health challenges are up in our nation and especially in our growing minority communities. These communities tend to be the most underserved, while also needing the most support. The more people who know about NAMI and the service we provide the more people we can serve. The following article can help you understand the percentages of adults who are experiencing mental health challenges and why the work of NAMI is so valuable: http://amp.usatoday.com/story/101238906.

What Can You Expect?

NAMIWalks is a community event and affair. You can expect lots of people, great organization, speakers, a 5k walk and lots of fun. There will be tables for the kids to do crafts, music and people gathered to do one thing, raise money for a worthy cause.

Is NAMIWalks Nationwide?

This event does take place in various cites where NAMI has offices and this means you can get involved in a...Read More

Complementary Holistic Health Practice

Tue, 18 Jul 2017 16:52:08 -0700

Living with a mental health challenge asks that we participate in our care and well-being in ways that are focused and intentional. The level of dedication required to build a lifestyle of wellness is no small task. To do so, it is vital that we understand the mind, body, and spirit connection and how we work to integrate the three aspects of ourselves for a greater experience of wellness. Such an understanding is part of self-awareness, which in turn informs us about how we relate to our environment. First and foremost, it’s important that we partner with our doctors to discuss and chart a path that can complement any medicines, therapies, and technologies that we are engaged in.

Meditation:

Meditation is an ancient practice that has traditionally been practiced sitting still and watching the breath move in an out of the body. Many people believe that meditation is about quieting the mind but for most (or new) practitioners, meditation is a way to watch our thoughts. The purpose of watching the thoughts ignites the observer within us. Practicing meditation can assist us in identifying the thought patterns that lead to anxiety, depression, and even more traumatizing experiences. It is critical to remember that there is no right or wrong way of meditating. There is no amount of time you need to sit in order to get it right. We can even do moving meditations, offering a mindful presence of what is occurring within us as we breathe and move. In many eastern cultures forms of meditation include yoga and other body-movement practices.

Nature:

City living can convince us to believe that we are not a part of nature, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Nature has a way of calibrating our internal energy flow. Like nature, we also have seasons. Each season looks different within us—the winter in California is not the same as winter in New York, and we need to prepare for our personal seasons. Spending...Read More