“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.

Answering the Call

Over the past few days, the Omaha area has endured the loss of several people to suicide. Answering a call or receiving a notification about the death of a community member will never be easy- this has become painfully clear. Because of my role at The Kim Foundation, I have spent countless hours researching suicide statistics, trends, common warning signs, prevention techniques, and even the history of suicide. But no book or online resource will ever fully prepare someone for the loss of a loved one to suicide.

Project UROK

Project UROK is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to create a catalog of funny, meaningful videos for teenagers struggling with mental health issues, made by people who have been there before. In doing so, the site provides not only practical assistance, but also more importantly, a sense of belonging, a sense of comfort, and a sense of hope.

Keeping Veteran Mental Health Top of Mind

This month marked the fifth annual Nebraska Behavioral Health Conference, Success, Hopes and Dreams in Lincoln, Nebraska. In addition to the fabulous key note speakers and numerous breakout sessions, this year we welcomed the talented actors of Outside the Wire for a free presentation of Theater of War.

Mental Health Awareness Month

As many of you know, May marks Mental Health Awareness Month, which is obviously quite important to us here at The Kim Foundation. As we spend all of the year working to build awareness around mental health, we greatly appreciate a month being set aside for the entire country to focus on it as well.