User login
Responding to a police call can prove dangerous. In those kinds of high-pressure situations, agitation or other manifestations of mental illness might be mistaken for violent intent – with disastrous results.
In Kalamazoo, Mich., crime response training now includes subduing suspects without using violent force. “Through training and education, and scenarios that we use in the training, [the officers] start to detect the different cues or indicators where they start to see that this is really a crisis event. And we treat it as a medical issue and get that person the help that they need,” said Rafael Diaz, executive lieutenant with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety in an interview on Michigan NPR.
In the training, called the Crisis Intervention Team model, the goal is to slow down the pace of the interaction and keep some distance between themselves and the suspect after officers recognize signs of mental illness. Both responses can lower the chances of a lash-out response.
“The number of injuries to officers goes down, the number of injuries to the person in crisis goes down, and there is a huge benefit to society there if you don’t have to use physical force,” Mr. Diaz said.
Animal neglect and mental health
Images of neglected and abused livestock on farms can inspire thoughts of how someone could mistreat the animals in their care. “Frankly, if you can’t understand that, it’s probably a good thing. It means you haven’t been in the depths of low, low mental health, depression, and anxiety,” Andria Jones-Bitton, DVM, PhD, said in an interview with the Western Producer.
Dr. Jones-Bitton is a veterinarian and epidemiologist at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph. She is studying the mental health and mental resilience of farmers and veterinarians.
“If farmers are struggling with their own well-being and motivation, they’re likely going to find it difficult to invest in improving animal welfare. When we’re mentally unwell, it’s hard to care for ourselves, let alone to care for others, even when those others are really important to us,” she said.
A national survey of Canadian farmers by Dr. Jones-Bitton showed high levels of stress and diminished ability to cope with the pressures that come with running a livestock farm. “What makes me the most upset is I have everything I’ve ever dreamed of – love, family, and a farm, and all I feel is overwhelmed out of control and sad,” one respondent said.
The problems are not unique to Canada. Studies from Ireland, for example, documented an association between animal neglect cases and the mental health, drug/alcohol addiction, and social problems of farmers.
“Even if you didn’t care about the humans that were struggling and you only cared about the animal welfare, you’d be wise to address the issue of farmer stress,” Dr. Jones-Britton said.
Depression and rural America
A recent “Farming in Tough Times” workshop that convened in Minnesota focused on the mental health of farmers. Making a living is challenging for many reasons. One is that prices for commodities are set by others.
“I realized that I can’t change the situation that we’re in. I can’t change milk prices. I can’t stop farms from going bankrupt. But I can change how we are. And we are together, and that really does matter,” said dairy farmer Brenda Rudolph during the workshop, according to a report from the St. Cloud Times, which is part of the USA Today network.
“There is a conversation you people have to have in America, rural America, that says, depression is part of your life. It is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of reality,” said Dennis Hoiberg, a farming consultant based in Australia who spoke at the workshop. He added that, from his perspective, the United States still tends to be more repressed about mental health issues than elsewhere in the world – with the focus on stress and not on resiliency.
“Most of you folk are proud folk, and most you folk are very proud of what you do,” Mr. Hoiberg said. “You’re also psychologically exposed because you are a true believer [in what you do].”
Advice offered to lessen the tough times included noticing the beauty in the world, breaking down problems into small chunks that are more easily dealt with and then moving on to the next, sleep, and a good diet.
People with mental illness languishing
Public defenders in Colorado are seeking to have dozens of people diagnosed with mental illness who are in jail awaiting trial set free until their court date. The usual scenario in Colorado for someone charged with a crime and jailed who is deemed mentally incompetent is treatment within 28 days. However, this system is broken and wait times are far longer – in one instance 270 days.
“Many of them are there for very, very low level offenses and they’re holding in jail for way longer than a person who did not suffer from mental illness would be in custody,” said Maureen Cain, policy liaison for the public defender’s office in an interview with the Denver Post. “They are being incarcerated for their mental illness, not really because of the crime they committed.” Responses from judges have ranged from immediate release to finding the incarcerated person guilty of contempt and sending them back to jail.
The Colorado Department of Human Services is in charge of people who have been jailed but have been found to be incompetent to stand trial. Officials there have say they do not have enough bed space or capacity to get people moved out of jail within 28 days.
“We are in a situation where [the human services department] is in breach, and I need to know what efforts are being made to bring it back into compliance,” said federal Judge Nina Y. Wang. “These individuals are not being served, and frankly, the state is not being served.”
“Cruel” practice confined youth
A federal class action lawsuit filed against the Departmental of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in the Chicago area alleges that, from 2015 to 2017, more than 800 youth were being confined to psychiatric hospitals even when they were cleared for discharge. The problem goes back decades and is getting worse, the lawsuit contends.
“I spent Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Easter, and my 16th birthday in the hospital,” said Skylar, who’s now 19 years old. “I only got to go outside one time. I felt like a prisoner; I felt very depressed.”
As reported on Chicago’s WGN9 News, the delay between clearance for discharge and actual freedom is a month or more in many of the cases. Acting Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert said the practice is “cruel, unusual, and illegal. It’s a violation of the children’s civil and most basic human rights.”
Many of the youth had been incarcerated for setting fires and self-harm and had been rejected by foster parents and other providers, in some cases their own families, who were concerned with the possible behavior of the youth after their release.
“Blame the children is the wrong response from DCFS,” said attorney Russell Ainsworth. “DCFS should be apologizing for not addressing this issue and for violating the Constitution.”
Responding to a police call can prove dangerous. In those kinds of high-pressure situations, agitation or other manifestations of mental illness might be mistaken for violent intent – with disastrous results.
In Kalamazoo, Mich., crime response training now includes subduing suspects without using violent force. “Through training and education, and scenarios that we use in the training, [the officers] start to detect the different cues or indicators where they start to see that this is really a crisis event. And we treat it as a medical issue and get that person the help that they need,” said Rafael Diaz, executive lieutenant with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety in an interview on Michigan NPR.
In the training, called the Crisis Intervention Team model, the goal is to slow down the pace of the interaction and keep some distance between themselves and the suspect after officers recognize signs of mental illness. Both responses can lower the chances of a lash-out response.
“The number of injuries to officers goes down, the number of injuries to the person in crisis goes down, and there is a huge benefit to society there if you don’t have to use physical force,” Mr. Diaz said.
Animal neglect and mental health
Images of neglected and abused livestock on farms can inspire thoughts of how someone could mistreat the animals in their care. “Frankly, if you can’t understand that, it’s probably a good thing. It means you haven’t been in the depths of low, low mental health, depression, and anxiety,” Andria Jones-Bitton, DVM, PhD, said in an interview with the Western Producer.
Dr. Jones-Bitton is a veterinarian and epidemiologist at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph. She is studying the mental health and mental resilience of farmers and veterinarians.
“If farmers are struggling with their own well-being and motivation, they’re likely going to find it difficult to invest in improving animal welfare. When we’re mentally unwell, it’s hard to care for ourselves, let alone to care for others, even when those others are really important to us,” she said.
A national survey of Canadian farmers by Dr. Jones-Bitton showed high levels of stress and diminished ability to cope with the pressures that come with running a livestock farm. “What makes me the most upset is I have everything I’ve ever dreamed of – love, family, and a farm, and all I feel is overwhelmed out of control and sad,” one respondent said.
The problems are not unique to Canada. Studies from Ireland, for example, documented an association between animal neglect cases and the mental health, drug/alcohol addiction, and social problems of farmers.
“Even if you didn’t care about the humans that were struggling and you only cared about the animal welfare, you’d be wise to address the issue of farmer stress,” Dr. Jones-Britton said.
Depression and rural America
A recent “Farming in Tough Times” workshop that convened in Minnesota focused on the mental health of farmers. Making a living is challenging for many reasons. One is that prices for commodities are set by others.
“I realized that I can’t change the situation that we’re in. I can’t change milk prices. I can’t stop farms from going bankrupt. But I can change how we are. And we are together, and that really does matter,” said dairy farmer Brenda Rudolph during the workshop, according to a report from the St. Cloud Times, which is part of the USA Today network.
“There is a conversation you people have to have in America, rural America, that says, depression is part of your life. It is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of reality,” said Dennis Hoiberg, a farming consultant based in Australia who spoke at the workshop. He added that, from his perspective, the United States still tends to be more repressed about mental health issues than elsewhere in the world – with the focus on stress and not on resiliency.
“Most of you folk are proud folk, and most you folk are very proud of what you do,” Mr. Hoiberg said. “You’re also psychologically exposed because you are a true believer [in what you do].”
Advice offered to lessen the tough times included noticing the beauty in the world, breaking down problems into small chunks that are more easily dealt with and then moving on to the next, sleep, and a good diet.
People with mental illness languishing
Public defenders in Colorado are seeking to have dozens of people diagnosed with mental illness who are in jail awaiting trial set free until their court date. The usual scenario in Colorado for someone charged with a crime and jailed who is deemed mentally incompetent is treatment within 28 days. However, this system is broken and wait times are far longer – in one instance 270 days.
“Many of them are there for very, very low level offenses and they’re holding in jail for way longer than a person who did not suffer from mental illness would be in custody,” said Maureen Cain, policy liaison for the public defender’s office in an interview with the Denver Post. “They are being incarcerated for their mental illness, not really because of the crime they committed.” Responses from judges have ranged from immediate release to finding the incarcerated person guilty of contempt and sending them back to jail.
The Colorado Department of Human Services is in charge of people who have been jailed but have been found to be incompetent to stand trial. Officials there have say they do not have enough bed space or capacity to get people moved out of jail within 28 days.
“We are in a situation where [the human services department] is in breach, and I need to know what efforts are being made to bring it back into compliance,” said federal Judge Nina Y. Wang. “These individuals are not being served, and frankly, the state is not being served.”
“Cruel” practice confined youth
A federal class action lawsuit filed against the Departmental of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in the Chicago area alleges that, from 2015 to 2017, more than 800 youth were being confined to psychiatric hospitals even when they were cleared for discharge. The problem goes back decades and is getting worse, the lawsuit contends.
“I spent Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Easter, and my 16th birthday in the hospital,” said Skylar, who’s now 19 years old. “I only got to go outside one time. I felt like a prisoner; I felt very depressed.”
As reported on Chicago’s WGN9 News, the delay between clearance for discharge and actual freedom is a month or more in many of the cases. Acting Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert said the practice is “cruel, unusual, and illegal. It’s a violation of the children’s civil and most basic human rights.”
Many of the youth had been incarcerated for setting fires and self-harm and had been rejected by foster parents and other providers, in some cases their own families, who were concerned with the possible behavior of the youth after their release.
“Blame the children is the wrong response from DCFS,” said attorney Russell Ainsworth. “DCFS should be apologizing for not addressing this issue and for violating the Constitution.”
Responding to a police call can prove dangerous. In those kinds of high-pressure situations, agitation or other manifestations of mental illness might be mistaken for violent intent – with disastrous results.
In Kalamazoo, Mich., crime response training now includes subduing suspects without using violent force. “Through training and education, and scenarios that we use in the training, [the officers] start to detect the different cues or indicators where they start to see that this is really a crisis event. And we treat it as a medical issue and get that person the help that they need,” said Rafael Diaz, executive lieutenant with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety in an interview on Michigan NPR.
In the training, called the Crisis Intervention Team model, the goal is to slow down the pace of the interaction and keep some distance between themselves and the suspect after officers recognize signs of mental illness. Both responses can lower the chances of a lash-out response.
“The number of injuries to officers goes down, the number of injuries to the person in crisis goes down, and there is a huge benefit to society there if you don’t have to use physical force,” Mr. Diaz said.
Animal neglect and mental health
Images of neglected and abused livestock on farms can inspire thoughts of how someone could mistreat the animals in their care. “Frankly, if you can’t understand that, it’s probably a good thing. It means you haven’t been in the depths of low, low mental health, depression, and anxiety,” Andria Jones-Bitton, DVM, PhD, said in an interview with the Western Producer.
Dr. Jones-Bitton is a veterinarian and epidemiologist at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph. She is studying the mental health and mental resilience of farmers and veterinarians.
“If farmers are struggling with their own well-being and motivation, they’re likely going to find it difficult to invest in improving animal welfare. When we’re mentally unwell, it’s hard to care for ourselves, let alone to care for others, even when those others are really important to us,” she said.
A national survey of Canadian farmers by Dr. Jones-Bitton showed high levels of stress and diminished ability to cope with the pressures that come with running a livestock farm. “What makes me the most upset is I have everything I’ve ever dreamed of – love, family, and a farm, and all I feel is overwhelmed out of control and sad,” one respondent said.
The problems are not unique to Canada. Studies from Ireland, for example, documented an association between animal neglect cases and the mental health, drug/alcohol addiction, and social problems of farmers.
“Even if you didn’t care about the humans that were struggling and you only cared about the animal welfare, you’d be wise to address the issue of farmer stress,” Dr. Jones-Britton said.
Depression and rural America
A recent “Farming in Tough Times” workshop that convened in Minnesota focused on the mental health of farmers. Making a living is challenging for many reasons. One is that prices for commodities are set by others.
“I realized that I can’t change the situation that we’re in. I can’t change milk prices. I can’t stop farms from going bankrupt. But I can change how we are. And we are together, and that really does matter,” said dairy farmer Brenda Rudolph during the workshop, according to a report from the St. Cloud Times, which is part of the USA Today network.
“There is a conversation you people have to have in America, rural America, that says, depression is part of your life. It is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of reality,” said Dennis Hoiberg, a farming consultant based in Australia who spoke at the workshop. He added that, from his perspective, the United States still tends to be more repressed about mental health issues than elsewhere in the world – with the focus on stress and not on resiliency.
“Most of you folk are proud folk, and most you folk are very proud of what you do,” Mr. Hoiberg said. “You’re also psychologically exposed because you are a true believer [in what you do].”
Advice offered to lessen the tough times included noticing the beauty in the world, breaking down problems into small chunks that are more easily dealt with and then moving on to the next, sleep, and a good diet.
People with mental illness languishing
Public defenders in Colorado are seeking to have dozens of people diagnosed with mental illness who are in jail awaiting trial set free until their court date. The usual scenario in Colorado for someone charged with a crime and jailed who is deemed mentally incompetent is treatment within 28 days. However, this system is broken and wait times are far longer – in one instance 270 days.
“Many of them are there for very, very low level offenses and they’re holding in jail for way longer than a person who did not suffer from mental illness would be in custody,” said Maureen Cain, policy liaison for the public defender’s office in an interview with the Denver Post. “They are being incarcerated for their mental illness, not really because of the crime they committed.” Responses from judges have ranged from immediate release to finding the incarcerated person guilty of contempt and sending them back to jail.
The Colorado Department of Human Services is in charge of people who have been jailed but have been found to be incompetent to stand trial. Officials there have say they do not have enough bed space or capacity to get people moved out of jail within 28 days.
“We are in a situation where [the human services department] is in breach, and I need to know what efforts are being made to bring it back into compliance,” said federal Judge Nina Y. Wang. “These individuals are not being served, and frankly, the state is not being served.”
“Cruel” practice confined youth
A federal class action lawsuit filed against the Departmental of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in the Chicago area alleges that, from 2015 to 2017, more than 800 youth were being confined to psychiatric hospitals even when they were cleared for discharge. The problem goes back decades and is getting worse, the lawsuit contends.
“I spent Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Easter, and my 16th birthday in the hospital,” said Skylar, who’s now 19 years old. “I only got to go outside one time. I felt like a prisoner; I felt very depressed.”
As reported on Chicago’s WGN9 News, the delay between clearance for discharge and actual freedom is a month or more in many of the cases. Acting Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert said the practice is “cruel, unusual, and illegal. It’s a violation of the children’s civil and most basic human rights.”
Many of the youth had been incarcerated for setting fires and self-harm and had been rejected by foster parents and other providers, in some cases their own families, who were concerned with the possible behavior of the youth after their release.
“Blame the children is the wrong response from DCFS,” said attorney Russell Ainsworth. “DCFS should be apologizing for not addressing this issue and for violating the Constitution.”