Understanding the Importance of Self-Care

Over the past year, I have begun to feel some of the wearing effects of compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue can be defined as fatigue caused by empathy. It is the natural consequence of stress resulting from caring for and helping suffering or traumatized people. This concept was foreign to me before beginning my position here at The Kim Foundation.

Hill Day 2015

I’m excited to serve as this year’s National Council Hill Day State Captain for the state of Nebraska, and am grateful for former state senator, and current NABHO Executive Director, Annette Dubas’ help in the process. This year Hill Day will take place October 5th & 6th in Washington, D.C. It’s the biggest behavioral health advocacy event of the year, where hundreds of stakeholders join together to serve people living with mental illness and addictions by urging Congress to support our work.

Project Semicolon

If you have a social media account, chances are you have seen the image of someone with a semicolon tattoo (;). This tattoo trend was started by a faith-based nonprofit group dedicated to presenting hope and love to those who are struggling with depression, suicide, addiction, and self-injury.

New Schizophrenia Treatment Option

A new treatment option has now been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The three-month injectable, Invega Trinza, is an atypical antipsychotic used to treat schizophrenia.

“Melancholy.”

Last Monday evening, The Kim Foundation attended an event hosted by local filmmaker, Nathan Edwards. Edwards and his cast and crew had just wrapped up filming, “Melancholy,” merely hours before the event took place. “Melancholy” is a film about the experience of a young woman in her twenties dealing with the realities of major depressive disorder.

Dolphin Assisted Therapy

In Nebraska, equine therapy is slowly becoming more understood and utilized. Equine therapy, or horse therapy, has been proven as an effective form of both occupational and physical therapy, as well as beneficial to victims of trauma, and individuals with other behavioral health challenges such as eating disorders or substance abuse.
However, if we lived on the coast, there would another form of animal therapy available to us, dolphin therapy.

Mental Health in Our Community

Recently Erin Grace did a series of powerful articles in the Omaha World Herald on the status of mental health services in our community. While the intention was to highlight where gaps exist, and she did this successfully, I think she also did a nice job of telling one brilliant story of recovery, as well as the real struggles families have faced in their journeys with mental illness. I would like to begin with a huge thank you to the Duckert, Shumaker, and Pinkelman families for telling their stories, sharing their grief and tragedies, and providing messages of hope and concerns, all to shed light on the successes and failures of our mental health system.

Long-Term Risks of Traumatic Brain Injury

Packed full of baseball games, pool parties, and bike rides; summer is a time where the weather is warm and physical activities are at a peak. Unfortunately, so is the risk for injury.

WOWT reported a story about a local softball player who suffered a brain injury after diving head first for a ball. The 15-year old caught the ball, tossed it to her teammates, and seemed to be fine. However, as the game progressed her vision became blurry. She started to have trouble hearing and soon began to cry uncontrollably. This outpouring of emotion was something out of the norm for the notoriously tough ball player.

Bipolar Disorder in Adolescents

In a recent study from Yale School of Medicine, adolescents with bipolar disorder have visible differences in both their prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for decision making, and the insula, which is the part of the brain involved in emotion and self-awareness.