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Learning From The Past and Planning For The Future
MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT June 18, 2004 "In order for a war to be just, three things are necessary. First, the authority
of the sovereign.... Secondly, a just cause.... Thirdly ... a rightful intention." - Saint Thomas Aquinas
Short Subjects
LINKS Rocky Mountain Region
Disaster Mental Health Institute
CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS:
Society for the Psychological Study of
Social Issues (SPSSI) Convention
June 25 - 27, 2004
Location: Washington, DC, USA
18th Conference of the International
Association of People Environment Studies
July 7 - 10, 2004
Location: Vienna, AUSTRIA17th Congress of the International Association
of Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP)
August 2 - 6, 2004
Location: Xi'an, CHINA
Contact: Zheng Gang
Institute of Psychology
Chinese Academy of Sciences
100101 Beijing, China
Email: iaccp2004@psych.ac.cnSixth International Conference of
the Learning Sciences (ICLS 2004):
"Embracing Diversity in the Learning Sciences"
June 22 - 26, 2004
Location: Santa Monica, California, USA
International Society of Political Psychology
27th Annual Scientific Meeting
July, 15-18, 2004
Location: Lund, Sweden
62nd Annual Conference of the
International Council of Psychologists
August 3 - 6, 2004
Location: University of Jinan
Jinan, CHINA
Contact: Dr. Natividad Dayan
Scientific Chair
99 General Ave
GSIS Village, Project 8
Quezon City, Metro Manila
01108 PHILIPPINES Telephone: 632-724-5358
Email: bereps@pacific.net.phXXVIII International Congress of Psychology
August 8 - 13, 2004
Location: Beijing, CHINA
Contact: XiaoLan FU, Deputy Director
Committee for International Cooperation
Chinese Psychological Society
Institute of Psychology
Chinese Academy of Sciences
P.O. Box 1603
Beijing 100101, China
Telephome: +86-10-6202-2071
Fax: +86-10-6202-2070
22nd Nordic Congress of Psychology:
"Psychology in a World of Change and Diversity -
Challenges for our Profession"
August 18 -20, 2004
Location: Copenhagen, DENMARK
Contact: Roal Ulrichsen, Chair
NPK2004 Organizing Committee
Danish Psychological Association
Stokholmsgade 27, DK-2100
Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
Email: bh@vanhauen.dk
FEMA Setting Up Shop Around the Country
As severe weather and storms sweep across the country, numerous communities are cleaning up and beginning the recovery process. Since the beginning of May, 10 states have received federal disaster declarations. Find out how FEMA quickly moves in to disaster-stricken communities to deliver critical assistance. For More Information, Go To: http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=12528
Disaster Assistance for Iowans Exceeds $4.7 Million
Three weeks after the May 25 Presidential disaster declaration for Iowa, more than $4.7 million in grants and low-interest disaster loans has been approved for Iowans affected by recent severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding, according to figures released today by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division (HLSEM). For More Information, Go To: http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=12525
Are You Ready? A Guide to Citizen Preparedness
Are You Ready? A Guide to Citizen Preparedness brings together facts on disaster survival techniques, disaster-specific information, and how to prepare for and respond to both natural and man-made disasters. As the most comprehensive guide to personal emergency preparedness published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Are You Ready? will help individuals prepare themselves and their families for disasters. For More Information, Go To: http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/
Europe virtually free of foot-and-mouth disease – UN agriculture agency
Europe is almost free of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease after a long history of devastating epidemics, but the continent’s livestock industry should remain vigilant against possible future outbreaks, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said. Marking the 50th anniversary of the creation of the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease, the FAO said that 31 of the Commission’s 33 Member States are free of foot-and-mouth disease – the virus remains endemic only in Turkey and Israel. For More Information, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11014&Cr=pov&Cr1=
Major UN meeting on small island States set for Mauritius in early 2005
Climate change, fragile ecosystems, economic vulnerability, geographic isolation and other concerns of small island developing countries will be taken up at a major United Nations conference set for early 2005 to examine a decade’s worth of efforts to address these issues, the General Assembly decided. Adopting a resolution unanimously, the Assembly fixed 10 to 14 January as the dates for the International Meeting to Review Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, to be held in Mauritius. For More Information, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11010&Cr=small&Cr1=island
Bioterrorism
Well before the 2001 anthrax outbreak, public health and government leaders in the United States recognized the need for increased preparedness to detect and respond to acts of biologic terrorism. Concern about the vulnerability of the United States to a biologic attack grew with revelations about the offensive biologic weapons programs of the former Soviet Union and Iraq, as well as uncertainty about the whereabouts of and accountability for biologic agents produced through those programs; the successful chemical attack on the Tokyo subway system by the Aum Shinrikyo cult, coupled with information that the cult was actively experimenting with biologic agents; and information about the potential for domestic bioterrorism.
In April 2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a strategic plan for preparedness and response to biologic and chemical terrorism. This article describes the clinician's role in recognizing and responding to biologic terrorism, as presented in the CDC plan; summarizes current information on the diagnosis and management of the most likely agents of bioterrorism; and describes current resources for authoritative information and guidelines related to bioterrorism. For the Full Article, Go To: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/448589
Influenza Pandemic Preparedness
In the list of potential bioterrorist agents, influenza would be classified as a category C agent. While previous influenza pandemics were naturally occurring events, an influenza pandemic could be started with an intentional release of a deliberately altered influenza strain. Even if a deliberately altered strain is not released, an influenza pandemic originating from natural origins will inevitably occur and will likely cause substantial illness, death, social disruption, and widespread panic. Globally, the 1918 pandemic killed at least 20 million people. This figure is approximately double the number killed on the battlefields of Europe during World War I. In the United States alone, the next pandemic could cause an estimated 89,000-207,000 deaths, 314,000-734,000 hospitalizations, 18-42 million outpatient visits, and 20-47 million additional illnesses. These predictions equal or surpass many published casualty estimates for a bioterrorism event. In addition to the potential for a large number of casualties, a bioterrorism incident and an influenza pandemic have similarities that allow public health planners to simultaneously plan and prepare for both types of emergencies. For the Full Article, Go To: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/465411
Preparing for a Bioterrorist Attack: Legal and Administrative Strategies
This article proposes and discusses legal and administrative preparations for a bioterrorist attack. To perform the duties expected of public health agencies during a disease outbreak caused by bioterrorism, an agency must have a sufficient number of employees and providers at work and a good communications system between staff in the central offices of the public health agency and those in outlying or neighboring agencies and hospitals. The article proposes strategies for achieving these objectives as well as for removing legal barriers that discourage agencies, institutions, and persons from working together for the overall good of the community. Issues related to disease surveillance and special considerations regarding public health restrictive orders are discussed. For the Full Article, Go To: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/448895
Leading During Times of Trouble: A Roundtable Discussion of Recent Terror Events
In February 2003, a panel was convened as part of an invitational summit on leadership during bioterrorism, titled "The Public as an Asset, Not a Problem." The goal of this meeting was to synthesize for government and public health authorities some essential principles of leadership that encourage the public's constructive collaboration in confronting a bioterrorist attack, based on frontline experiences with recent terrorism events and other relevant crises. More than 160 people attended, representing senior operational decision-makers in public health and safety–including bioterrorism coordinators from 35 state and local health agencies–as well as thought leaders in medicine, public health, nursing, hospital administration, and disaster relief.
The roundtable discussion, focusing on how to lead a community during times of trouble, was moderated by Dr. Tara O'Toole, Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies and Coeditor-in-Chief of Biosecurity and Bioterrorism. The other participants were seasoned political and public health leaders, and representative constituents, who had had to confront a recent terrorizing event, including the Washington, DC-area sniper shootings, the anthrax letter attacks, the World Trade Center attacks (2001, 1993), and the Oklahoma City bombing. For the Full Article, Go To: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/458653
THE MEDICAL MINUTE: HEADACHES ARE STILL PAINFULLY MISUNDERSTOOD
Headaches have been part of human existence for a long time. One of the earliest references to headaches may be ancient Sumerian poetry from 3000 B.C. Yet, according to the latest edition of the Medical Minute, a service of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, after centuries of experience with this common affliction, many misconceptions about headaches persist. For example, while headaches may be mild or severe and constant or intermittent, bad headaches are often incorrectly called "migraines." Honestly, there are enough causes of headache to require a medical education to sort them out. Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/7134
STUDY SUGGESTS DOUBLE PUNCH COULD MORE EFFICIENTLY KILL VIRUSES
A study revealing new information about how viral proteins move between cells and alert the immune system suggests that a double-punch approach to vaccine design would make them more effective. Conducted by Penn State College of Medicine and National Institutes of Health investigators, the study was published May 28 in the journal Science. The findings challenge the prevailing theory used for vaccine design, and suggest that vaccines should target both pathways that generate T cells, which are the body's killer cells, to allow the most efficient protection against viruses. Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/7054
(Compiled from comments, papers presented and results of panel discussions at the recent CRISES IN RURAL AMERICA Conference held in Casper, WY - April 21-24, 2004 - Second in a series of brief summaries of papers, comments and panel/symposium discussions.) COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH
Trauma training, CISM/CISD, and mediation are needs in the Rocky Mountain states. We work with people who, due to a variety of reasons, have been traumatized. For example, being hospitalized itself is a trauma. Persons with mental illness often have multiple experiences of trauma and loss.
In terms of the larger community issues, for persons with mental illness, housing, food and subsistence level supports are ongoing issues. When persons have an exacerbation of illness, they may wind up in jails or other detention facilities after which their housing may be terminated. There is a reversal where an internal crisis (illness manifestation) creates the external crisis. Rural hospitals are getting an increasing number of individuals with mental illness. From the perspective of the hospital, they are holding them in the wrong setting for up to ten days until they go through all the processes in place and until state facilities can manage to arrive to transport them. This is the most critical state they are in and they are in a setting which is not conducive to meeting their needs.
In Australia, as in some states in the United States, suicide has become one of the highest recorded death rates. In rural Australia during 1991, for the first time, deaths from suicide were greater than deaths from motor vehicle accidents (Harrison, Moller & Bordeaux, 1997; King, 1994; Meldrum, 2004). The level of legitimate ownership of firearms in rural areas is similar in both countries and the Australian rate of self harm and death by firearms is also higher in rural and remote areas. This is despite the strength of the Australian national gun control laws. The suicide rate in rural areas (e.g. Big Horn Basin in Wyoming) is high and in hospital settings, a higher number of youth (ages 12-19) are admitted with severe emotional disorders. They are violent, self-destructive, and suicidal. There is a growing concern about school intervention programs. Are we catching these individuals and intervening before they spin out of control? Some clinical observations suggest that we are not.
Suicide, domestic violence, drugs and violent crimes do occur in rural areas. Why are there so many suicides in rural areas? The reasons suggested by the panel and delegates at the conference were many and varied. One suggestion involved isolation where people who are new to an area have great difficulty adjusting to the large distances and long travel times to maintain social contacts. There is often a lack of adequate support systems. In a changing rural environment, older support and social systems are disappearing. Schools, which traditionally have been a source of social contact in small rural communities, are closing down for various reasons. Friends die or move away. Isolation in some cases leads to phobias such as not wanting to leave one's house.
Wind was also mentioned as a contributing factor to depressed feelings and possible suicidal ideation. Together with isolation, poor social support systems, and hoplessness/helplessness, it provides, in some cases, the metaphor for obstacles that are perceived as being insurmountable and out ot the control of the individual.
Bars, however, seem to remain. Alcohol problems quite often develop as a method of denying problems and/or dulling the effects of isolation, economic difficulties or dulling pain. Suicide becomes a solution that becomes more inviting. In rural areas of the west, many Veterans of the Viet Nam War are still struggling with no jobs, hoplessness, post-traumatic stressors and other related problems. Since the end of the Viet Nam War an estimated 200,000 veterans have committed suicide. The discussion of how to deal effectively with various types of suicidal persons was quite varied, dependent upon the age, background and other factors involved. Two types of suicide were discussed: the impulsive type that occurs as the result of a momentary decision; and the premeditated type that occurs following a decision process and a definite plan. It was concluded that, in most cases, if an individual is really intent upon ending his/her life, he/she will eventually succeed. It was stated that families are the real victims of a suicide.
Some Suggestions
Some of the suggestions and goals resulting from the panel discussion included the following:
• Minimize all professional jargon. Speak in terms that all rural people can understand - on an equal level - do not patronize them.• Create an atmosphere of trust and respect which may take an extensive amount of time and effort.
• Remember that changing old behaviors may be more challenging with rural people than expected.
• Understand that rural workers do not work on a timetable. They often work by seasonal requirements. Interrupting that process to "seek help" may not be an option.
• Professionals are often more accepted if they have some personal connection with rural life.
• Work to decrease suicide rates among all groups, with special emphasis on teens.
• Educate on prevention methods, recognition of warning signs, etc.
• Provide information and interventions to strengthen mental wellness strategies, measures, etc., including how to effectively identify and manage stress.
Decrease drug and alcohol abuse among the elderly and teens by educating about prevention measures and recognition of indicators.
• Continue to train law enforcement and EMS personnel in recognition of mental illness (those in acute crisis) and recognition of people who may be impaired by drugs and/or alcohol.
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REFERENCES Above represents comments, papers presented and results of panel discussions at the recent CRISES IN RURAL AMERICA Conference held in Casper, WY - April 21-24, 2004. Presenters and abstracts are located at: https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odochartaigh/rural-presenters.html
Harrison, J., Moller, J. & Bordeaux, S. (1997). Youth Suicide and Self-Injury Australia. Australian Injury Prevention Bulletin, Issue 15. Printed from http://www.nisu.flinders.edu.au/pubs/bulletin15/bulletin15sup.html 28/5/04
King, R. (1994) Suicide prevention: dilemmas and some solutions, Rural Society 4(3/4) Printed from http://www.csu.edu.au/research/crsr/ruralsoc/v4n3p2.htm 28/5/04
Meldrum, L. B.Ed.-B. Psych, M. Med.Sc. (2004). Member of the Australian Psychological Society Inc. Personal Communication
To search for books on disasters and disaster mental
health topics, leaders, leadership, orgainizations,
crisis intervention, leaders and crises, and related
topics and purchase them online, go to the following url:
https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odochartaigh/searchbooks.html
RECOMMENDED READING
The Vanishing Farmland Crisis:
by John Baden
Critical Views of the Movement to Preserve Agricultural Land
Editorial Review
From the Back Cover
"This persuasive critique is a contribution to one of the key issues in the economics of U.S. agriculture."--Bruce L. Gardner, author of The Governing of Agriculture and former senior staff economist on the President's Council of Economic Advisors
About the Author
John Baden is executive director of the Political Economy Research Center in Bozeman, Montana, Milton R. Merrill Professor of Public Policy at Utah State University, and coauthor of Natural Resources: Myths and Management. He operates a sheep ranch in Montana and has also been a timber buyer and contract logger.
Contributors: John Baden, Pierre Crosson, B. Delworth Gardner, Clifton B. Luttrell, Theodore W. Schulz, Julian L. Simon, William Fischel, E. C. Pasour, Jr., Robert H. Nelson
Book Description
Newspapers seem to be telling us that every cornfield is threatened by a Dairy Queen. This media barrage about the crisis of our "shrinking" farmland can be traced to the 1979 publication of Where Have All the Farmlands Gone? by the National Agricultural Lands Study. The NALS report, to which eleven federal agencies contributed, argued that land-use planning and control must be employed to protect valuable farmland from"urban sprawl."
This volume, a collection of essays by a distinguished group of economists including Theodore W. Schulz, Julian L. Simon, and Pierre Crosson, takes issue with the belief that croplands need governmental protection. In opposition the collection as a whole supports two theses: 1) shrinking farm acreage is not a serious problem, and 2 )individual choices by landowners in a market setting result in better-organized land use than would governmental land-use planning and regulation.
Published for the Political Economy Research Center, Bozeman, Montana.
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Contact your local Mental Health Center or
check the yellow pages for counselors, psychologists,
therapists, and other Mental health Professionals in
your area for further information.
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Copyrighted and published by the Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute. No part of this document may be reproduced without written consent.The Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Newsletter is published online weekly by:
Rocky Mountain Region
Disaster Mental Health Institute, Inc.
Box 786
Laramie, WY 82073-0786
Newsletter Online: https://www.angelfire.com/biz3/news
Institute Home Page: https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odoc/rocky.html
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