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HOW NAMI & NAMI-WESTSIDE LOS ANGELES REACHES OUT WITH SUPPORT AND RESOURCES FOR THOSE AFFECTED BY WILDFIRES! (262 hits)

For Immediate Release From NAMI-West Side Los Angeles!


NAMI Westside Los Angeles stands in solidarity with all those affected, including residents, first responders, and their families. We understand the mental and emotional toll such events can bring, and we are here to offer our support. 💙

If you or someone you know is feeling overwhelmed or anxious, please know you are not alone. NAMI WLA is here to help.

Visit or call us at 424-293-0646 for resources and support.
Sending love, strength, and healing vibes to everyone impacted. 💚

Many California counties use zones to announce evacuations. Knowing your zone could save your life during an emergency. When an evacuation order is issued, you need to act fast.

By knowing your zone, you can:

• React Quickly
• Avoid Traffic Congestion
• Find Safe Routes
• Keep Your Family Safe

🚨𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤-𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲!🚨
Stay prepared, stay safe, and help protect your community!

#PalisadesFire #EatonFire #WildfireSafety #KnowYourZone #EmergencyPreparedness #CommunitySafety #WildfireAwareness

Wildfires have already displaced many Los Angeles residents. Be prepared by putting together a Go Bag in advance—it's essential for a quick and safe evacuation. Learn how with these helpful tips : https://www.facebook.com/NamiWestsideLosAn...

We are devastated by the ongoing wildfires in California, and thinking of all who have been affected, directly or indirectly. Tragedies like this have far-reaching mental health implications — people may be dealing with anxiety, trauma or PTSD, grief, or other impactful mental health experiences.

If these events are affecting your mental health, do not hesitate to seek help. You can reach out to the Disaster Distress Helpline by @samhsagov for free 24/7 support by calling 1-800-985-5990.

To seek out additional mental health resources, visit MHC’s Resource Library (link in bio, or TheMentalHealthCoalition.org/Resources).



MHC does not provide medical advice; this content is for informational purposes only. Always consult your physician or other qualified health professional with any concerns.

VISIT: https://www.facebook.com/NamiWestsideLosAn...


Call the Disaster Distress Line at SAMHSA for counseling and support. #TogetherWeHeal


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Does my health insurance cover therapy? How to decode your mental heath benefits.

One in three Americans has resolved to make 2025 the year they get therapy. If you’re one of them, brace yourself: Figuring out how to get your insurance benefits to cover therapy can take some legwork.

The drudgery of figuring out whether and how your insurance plan covers therapy — or choosing between plans in the hope of getting therapy covered — can feel overwhelming. In a recent poll, more than half of Americans surveyed said mental health treatment costs were a major barrier to care, while four in 10 people said the scarcity of providers was a big obstacle. A third of psychologists don’t take insurance at all, and even people who get health insurance through their jobs often have to go out of network for their mental health care.

RelatedTherapy is health care. So why won’t your health insurance pay for it?
As complicated as it is for Americans to get physical health care covered by insurance, “people with mental health conditions get the short end of the stick,” Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), wrote in an email to Vox. “We wait longer, we pay more, and we have less choice for providers.”

That makes it especially important to understand how to navigate the mental health benefits insurance plans offer. Here’s what you need to know.

Do most insurance plans cover therapy?

For more than 15 years, the US has had a law — the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act — that requires most health insurance plans to provide mental health coverage that’s as good as their physical health coverage. In particular, the law forbids insurance companies from charging more for visits to a mental health care provider than for other visits, or from limiting the number of those visits its plans cover.

However, this regulation hasn’t exactly created a consumer utopia. Insurance companies often pay super low rates to mental health providers in their networks, so many therapists simply opt out of partnering with insurance plans. People seeking in-network care are also often faced with “ghost networks,” provider directories that seem robust at first before you find out that many of the providers aren’t actually taking new patients, says Wesolowski. That means many people often end up having to contact four or more providers before finding an in-network therapist. People who struggle to find a covered therapist often end up going without.

A new law passed in September takes aim at the sparse network problem, and may force health insurance companies to expand their provider networks in the next few years.

What do all these insurance terms mean?
People trying to get therapy covered by their insurance typically run into a few different types of charges that it’s helpful to understand:

Co-pays and co-insurance: These are out-of-pocket payments you make when you visit a therapist or buy medication. Co-pays are a set amount — you might get charged a $30 co-pay for each therapy visit — while co-insurance payments charge you a proportion of the price tag; for example, 30 percent of each visit’s cost. With co-insurance, the discounted price doesn’t usually apply until you’ve already spent a certain amount of money on your health care. That spending threshold is known as a …

Read the full article HERE!: https://www.vox.com/even-better/393261/the...

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Physical and Mental Illness in Children: Both Need to Be Taken Seriously

Children experiencing any illness, either physical or mental, can be a painful challenge for a family. If left untreated, any illness presents serious risks throughout a child’s development. With treatment, parents and children’s lives can become filled with medical appointments, often causing the child to miss school and the adult to miss work. Children may struggle catching up with schoolwork and their extra curriculars may be put on the backburner. Additionally, families may suffer financial hardships through the treatment process, regardless of diagnosis. All these challenges can take an emotional toll on families.

Ultimately, illnesses can be emotionally taxing for anyone, and no illness is without its sacrifices. However, mental illness often presents an additional challenge: stigma. When it comes to mental health conditions, families often receive less support, compassion and understanding than those facing physical illness.

Mental illness is often misrepresented and misunderstood — largely because we cannot “see” it. We can’t tell by looking at someone how much they are suffering and that can influence our response.

Consider these two stories:

Story #1
Jaxon is a nine-year-old child who is active in soccer, friendly and does well in school. At the beginning of his fourth-grade school year, teachers and his parents notice a sudden change. Jaxon is lethargic, has increased appetite with sudden weight loss and appears to be constantly thirsty. His parents go to their primary care physician, and then to multiple specialists over several months with no answers. Jaxon continues to struggle, and his health issues begin affecting his friendships and schoolwork. Jaxon’s family had to pause his soccer season because the appointments were interfering with practice time and Jaxon was not feeling up to playing.

Eventually, Jaxon is referred to an endocrinologist who diagnoses Jaxon with Type 1 Diabetes. Jaxon’s family goes through intensive diabetes training with the medical staff and learns how to test Jaxon as often as needed and administer insulin. In time, Jaxon begins to feel better and makes improvements at school. Jaxon has regular visits with the endocrinologist until he and his parents are better able to manage his diabetes more independently at home. Jaxon’s parents are struggling with the guilt of their child having diabetes, and they worry about what he can eat at school, and if the school is trained properly to help him. They are exhausted from the countless nights where Jaxon was nearly hypoglycemic.

Jaxon and his family, despite their fears, are likely to receive support and understanding from their community. One can physically see Jaxon’s blood sugar results. When we see numbers and physical evidence of something that is out of the ordinary, it alarms us that actions must be taken — and the visible evidence urges people to be empathetic without question.

Story #2
Zoey is an eight-year-old girl who is shy, loves animals and is active in dance. During a dance recital, she overheard one of the little girls talking about their mom being sick. Zoey began thinking about what this little girl said repeatedly. Zoey began asking her mom if she was sick and reminding her mom to wash her hands. Zoey began having sleeping issues. She wanted to sleep with mom in her bed because she was afraid her mom would die in her sleep. Zoey’s best friend’s dad said that during a play date with his child, Zoey said she could not watch the movie, Bambi, because “the mom dies and then my mom will die.”

Zoey’s mom takes Zoey to a therapist. Zoey was initially told it was anxiety, yet the treatments were not working. Zoey’s mom talks with several doctors and therapists to see what is going on with her child when she stumbles across one therapist who diagnoses Zoey with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). In addition to fearing her mom dying, Zoey begins writing and rewriting all her assignments at school so they appear “perfect” and refuses to eat anything using her hands for fear that her hands are dirty, and she will get sick. Zoey enters weekly therapy sessions with an OCD specialist who assists Zoey and her mom with the treatment and ways to help manage the mental illness.

Zoey’s mom learns that OCD will not go away, and Zoey will need to learn how to manage it. Zoey’s mom blames herself for her daughter’s mental illness and is exhausted working with Zoey’s dance team to find a way that Zoey can remain on the team and get treatment at the same time.

Patrick Corrigan, PsyD, the editor of the American Psychiatric Association’s journal, “Stigma and Health,” claims that a pervasive misrepresentation and misunderstanding of mental illness stigma prevents people living with mental illness from getting the empathy and the services they need. As a result, Zoey — if she is even believed when disclosing her diagnosis — might experience further shame and alienation from her peers.

The Burden of Stigma
Imagine that only Jaxon was able to get the treatment when he was a child and Zoey’s challenges were brushed aside and told, “Don’t worry about it” or “This too shall pass.” Jaxon would learn how to manage his diabetes as an adolescent and through his adulthood while Zoey’s OCD would worsen over time, causing increasingly more difficulties throughout her adolescence and adulthood. Mental illnesses do not just “get better” and one cannot “grow out of” a mental illness.

When a child has a medical illness, parents’ (naturally) can be terrified of losing their child (or witnessing their child not living a full life). This thought process, however, does not always translate into the behavioral health world. As a result, we see the drastic impacts of untreated mental illness in youth.

High school students with significant symptoms of depression are more than twice as likely to drop out compared to their peers.
Students aged 6-17 with mental, emotional or behavioral concerns are 3x more likely to repeat a grade.
No matter what type of illness a child experiences, both physical and mental illnesses need to be taken seriously. Children deserve recovery and adults deserve support.

Krista Reed, LSCSW, is an OCD/BFRB/BDD specialist in Wichita, Kan. She works with clients ages 6 – 60 for OCD and BDD, and she has written children's books on mindfulness and skin picking.

VISIT: nami.org

VISIT: American Foundation For Suicide Prevention: https://www.facebook.com/AFSPnational.


Call #988 for a mental health crisis.


YOU ARE NOT ALONE! YOU ARE NOT ALONE! YOU ARE NOT ALONE! YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION with Family and Friends affected by wildfires.




Posted By: agnes levine
Friday, January 10th 2025 at 5:12PM
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