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NAMI National name change: New name is National Alliance on Mental Illness.

MENTAL HEALTH AND PUBLIC HEALTH MERGE IN CLACKAMAS COUNTY  Excerpted from a memorandum by Maryna Thompson

Announcement was made February 15 by Maryna Thompson, Director of Public Health Division in Clackamas County, that County Commissioners have endorsed the merger of her agency and Clackamas County Mental Health (CCMH). The new system will be titled Community Health System and will be directed by Melinda Mowery, former director of CCMH.

 Ms. Mowery and Ms. Thompson believe that this change will strengthen both existing organizations. They share a common vision of an integrated, mission-driven organization that promotes the physical and mental health of its community members and strives to prevent disease, injury and disability. Their common vision is of a single continuum including wellness-based services; prevention-based services; acute and disease-based services, as well as management of chronic conditions. New organizational charts have been posted in all Public Health and Mental Health facilities.

This is the first step in what will be an opportunity to vision together and participate fully in the process of developing and implementing a unique organizational model that will be well-positioned for the future in Clackamas County. Staff of both agencies are involved in the strategic planning process which has begun.

A new Public Health Clinic, recently opened in Molalla, features delivery of the combined health services proposed county-wide.

MARIJUANA USE LINKED TO ONSET OF SCHIZOPHRENIA by Sydney, Australia psychiatrist, Dr. Andrew Campbell.

There is now evidence from overseas, particularly in Holland, that the odds of getting a psychosis is doubled – roughly doubled if people are using long term cannabis (marijuana). It’s most uncommon actually now to see someone just get schizophrenia without having cannabis associated with it. I’m seeing a high association between cannabis and psychosis. About seven out of ten young men when they first develop their psychosis, are using cannabis on a daily basis and have been doing so for years. I’m seeing another one in ten who might’ve been using cannabis occasionally and are perhaps sensitive to it. The other two people might never have used cannabis but have some other identifiable reason for developing a psychosis. The people I see who are using cannabis don’t usually have a family history. There aren’t any of the other predisposing factors that might be associated with a psychosis. They were often doing very well at school and socially – bright young men – who then use cannabis very heavily for quite some time. The teenager’s really shifting from child brain into adult brain and there’s a very big difference with the way our brain is wired up. You only have to look at the difference between the way kids behave and the way adults behave to see that there’s a difference in our behaviors as a result. But that’s a transition – it involves pruning and refining of circuitry, and I believe that having a daily dose of a powerful drug that effects chemicals that orient our brain, changes the way the brain develops, and so we see brain change. Continued smoking cannabis after having a psychotic episode makes it very difficult to manage. They’re much more vulnerable to further episodes. There is actually a resistance to the medication – basically it’s a push-pull thing. We think that a lot of these psychoses are related to two chemicals in the brain – dopamine and adrenaline, and cannabis is stimulating dopamine, and we’re giving drugs to decrease dopamine so that there’s a battle and it’s harder to medicate people, it’s harder to know what drugs and medications to give and what doses should be given. My experience is a lot of these people wind up on long standing injection antipsychotic medications and at higher doses than they need because they’re continuing to use cannabis. But they may be discontinuing to use it because it’s the only thing that’s making them feel good at that stage. But that’s not just down to the medication as well because their whole life’s changed. They become very isolated, they’re very frustrated, unfulfilled people.

New Zyprexa Zydis Reverses Weight Gain

Many persons have experienced large amounts of weight gain while taking Zyprexa (olanzapine). Zyprexa Zydis, the “orally disintegrating” form, has been found to reverse such weight gain. A study published recently in Psychopharmacology found that people who had gained weight on Zyprexa experienced about a 15-lb. Weight loss over 16 weeks on Zyprexa Zydis. Zyprexa causes weight gain by suppressing the chemicals that tell a person when s/he is full. Authors of the study think that the orally disintegrating form of Zyprexa spends less time interacting with the “feel full” chemicals. Although ZZ is somewhat more expensive than ordinary Zyprexa, it’s worth considering, as the extreme weight gain that many people experience on olanzapine is a real health hazard.

Broad NAMI-CC Brochure Blitz

Remember when you first heard about NAMI and were amazed that you hadn’t accessed the help and hope much earlier in your loved one’s illness? We want to make that phenomena of the past and ensure that when families first realize they have a MH problem, they know exactly where to turn for help.

To increase “name recognition” we are asking NAMI members to be involved in distributing NAMI-CC brochures. We have a three-pronged approach striving to brochures into: 1- offices of physicians, psychiatrists, pharmacists 2- libraries, churches and other community places 3- hospitals—including the state mental hospitals.

Each NAMI member will be asked to sign up to deliver NAMI brochures to several different sites in their area. A list will be kept for follow up replacement of brochures. This is a way we can all participate in helping our neighbors discover the healing impact of NAMI. Look for the sign-up sheets at NAMI meetings and join the information team.

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