ADVOCACY NEWS FROM NAMI NEW JERSEY:
1. STATE PSYCH HOSPITALS NEED AN INDEPENDENT WATCHDOG
2. NJ POLICE RECRUITS TO TAKE SUICIDE PREVENTION TRAINING
3. GREYSTONE PRESERVATION GETS BOOST FROM CODEY
4. HELP IN COPING WITH OCD IS BUT A PHONE CALL AWAY
**************************************
STATE PSYCH HOSPITALS NEED AN INDEPENDENT WATCHDOG
Creating an independent watchdog panel for all five New
Jersey state psychiatric hospitals to monitor patient care
and programming is a concept the state should pursue, according
to a group that met recently at Rutgers University. The
group of legal and mental health experts, formed to consider
a Superior Court ruling that disbanded the Doe vs. Klein
Monitoring Committee that kept tabs on Greystone Park Psychiatric
Hospital for three decades, agreed "more independent
eyes and ears'' would benefit patients, urging the state
to consider such a plan.
Read the full report:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/morris/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1261626312152300.xml&coll=1
**************************************
NJ POLICE RECRUITS TO TAKE SUICIDE PREVENTION TRAINING
At law enforcement academies around the country, cadets
learn chapter and verse about statutes, the sanctity of
evidence, the appropriate way to handle suspects and dozens
of other topics related to crime and public safety. Starting
this year in New Jersey, they'll also learn about depression,
the emotional hazards of their work and the possibility
one of their colleagues will consider ending his or her
life with a bullet. It's a blunt message meant to counter
the persistent problem of suicide in law enforcement ranks.
Read the Star Ledger report:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/new_jersey_police_recruits_req.html
**************************************
GREYSTONE PRESERVATION GETS BOOST FROM CODEY
The 133-year-old Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital is
an important historic landmark that must be preserved, according
to state Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex), who hopes
to form a task force to consider how to save the massive,
abandoned structure in Parsippany.
Read more
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/greystone_preservation_gets_bo.html
**************************************
HELP IN COPING WITH OCD IS BUT A PHONE CALL AWAY
Ina and Julian Spero had always believed their son was a
happy, well-adjusted kid.
They discovered otherwise in 1985 when he called home from
college in Florida, panicked over flunking a math exam.
He said he wanted to come home but was afraid to leave his
dorm room. He begged his parents to come get him. They eventually
learned that their son suffered from obsessive compulsive
disorder, a mental illness characterized by paralyzing rituals
and tormenting thoughts.
Read the story:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-15/1261864504252420.xml&coll=1
