1041 results for author: Mental Health Colorado
Colorado county jails will no longer be used to temporarily detain people suffering from mental illness or episodes, according to a new law signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper.
"It's an area where Colorado is leading the way," he said. "Being in jail is probably the worst way to treat someone suffering from a brain disease."
Senate Bill 207 also authorizes $7 million from legalized marijuana revenues to create mental-health response teams to help law enforcement deal with mentally ill people -- particularly in rural areas.
Former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, who now heads the nonprofit Mental Health Colorado, explained the law Friday when he ...
The views and opinions expressed in following story are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Mental Health Colorado.
It’s Friday night and I’m taking an empty pizza box out to the dumpster behind my apartment building.
Out the back door and into the frigid night, the first thing I see as I turn toward the dumpster is my neighbor squatting against the side of the building, a lost look in his eyes.
My neighbor and I have a sort of incredulous bond. He knows my secret and I know his. I know he has bipolar disorder and he knows I have schizoaffective disorder. And we both trust each other to keep our respec...
Steamboat Springs — For the past two years, Andrew Romanoff has traveled across the state hoping to have a "Conversation with Coloradans" about mental health in their communities.
"This is the second year for our listening tour," Romanoff said during a recent telephone interview. "We want to hear what the barriers are in our state for mental health care."
Romanoff was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008 and served as speaker of the house from 2005 to 2008.
But the past several years, the former state representative has shifted gears and is now president and CEO of Mental Health Colorado, an influential ...
The views and opinions expressed in following story are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Mental Health Colorado.
Casual drinking, professional disappointments, boredom, socializing, the anxiety of never living up to my college degree, unaddressed family issues—these were the things that led me to alcohol.
I thought it was “normal” when my drinking increased – that I could handle partying a couple of extra days a week. But when I needed to slow down, I couldn’t. I could stop drinking for bits at a time, but the cycle kept coming back. My resentments, my unmanageability, and my destructive behavior ...
Mental health care was one area perhaps lost in the shuffle of the 2017 legislative session amid high-profile issues like transportation, the hospital provider fee and what constitutes the public consumption of marijuana.
But officials say 2017 was a banner year filled with advances that will have a great impact across Colorado. In one example, the House and Senate both passed -- and Gov. Hickenlooper signed into law last month -- a bill that provides support to students who may be dealing with mental health issues. Another is designed to end the use of jails and correctional facilities as placement options for individuals with mental health concerns ...
In conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month, Mental Health Colorado’s Statewide Tour visited La Junta and Arkansas Valley residents recently at Woodruff Memorial Library.
The tour focused on the barriers that prevent people from getting the mental health care that they need and the solutions to ensuring that appropriate care is provided to individuals in the Arkansas Valley. At the state level, Mental Health Colorado advocates for the more than one million Coloradans who experience a mental health or substance use disorder each year. They engage policymakers, providers, the public and the press to promote early intervention, expand access ...
The views and opinions expressed in following story are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Mental Health Colorado.
My first experience with the mental health system was the last week of June 1980. I was at a church camp on top of Grand Mesa outside of Grand Junction when I unknowingly ingested a small amount of PCP (Angel Dust). I had a severe reaction and was in and out of psych wards for the next three months until I was placed on Thorazine and recovered quickly. I went on to graduate from high school and attended college and graduated with a BS degree.
My next experience was – oddly enough, I remember the ...
The views and opinions expressed in following story are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Mental Health Colorado.
My story started when I was 13 years old. Prior to starting junior high school, all was well. I earned excellent grades, I was very social and popular, and I was a great athlete. All around, I was a very happy kid. Suddenly, something switched. I felt different, uncomfortable, unsure of myself, and I lacked self-confidence. I became, instead, a very unhappy kid. What I didn't realize at the time was that I was now living my life with bipolar illness.
I didn't receive any sort of treatment and no ...
The views and opinions expressed in following story are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Mental Health Colorado.
I was first diagnosed with major depression at age 15, after a suicide attempt. I was hospitalized for three months in an Adolescent Psychiatric Unit. I spent the next 25 years dealing with major bouts of depression, anxiety, anger, and suicidal ideation. I became addicted to drugs and alcohol while trying to self-medicate. I've been hospitalized six times, attended a 30 day rehabilitation center, and lived in a couple of halfway houses. I used to pray for death every night and was ...
The views and opinions expressed in following story are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Mental Health Colorado.
Cancer. An ugly, frightening word. Of all the words in my vocabulary, it’s the word I hate most. Typically, when I say the word, I precede it with an adjective that’s not appropriate to print.
I had a run-in with intermediate stage breast cancer in 2015, and I am a different person now. A woman with six fewer axilla lymph nodes, a thicker head of hair and chronic lymphedema in my left hand, but I am alive and grateful. My cancer experience was, by far, the most traumatic event of my life to ...
