Inspiring Action While Changing Lives (Mental Health Awareness Month - Week 2)

May 10-16 is National Prevention Week. At this time when we're all experiencing anxiety & quarantine fatigue, it's all too easy to cope by reaching for a bottle or pill. NPW is an opportunity to respond by educating our families and communities about preventing substance use and mental illness... and practicing healthy alternatives!

NPW recognizes the important work that has been done in communities throughout the year to inspire action and prevent substance use and mental disorders. This year is a little different! Social distancing might be keeping us apart physically, but that shouldn't stop us from using social media to both celebrate the week and raise awareness.

How can you get involved?

Curious about prevention? Learn more as Denique and Giovanna share ideas for preventing risky behaviors & spreading awareness:

Denique Weidema-Lewis, Director of Prevention at Positive Directions, and Giovanna Mozzo, Co-Director of The Hub talk about NPW

Join the two statewide forums next week aimed at re-imagining the future and discussing our "new normal." Details in flyer below; register here.

Each day next week, there will be a daily theme that you can use as a guide for discussions with your family and a list of topics to get educated on and share messaging:

• Monday, May 11: Preventing Prescription Drug and Opioid Misuse

• Tuesday, May 12: Preventing Underage Drinking and Alcohol Misuse​

• Wednesday, May 13: Preventing Illicit Drug Use and Youth Marijuana Use​

• Thursday, May 14: Preventing Youth Tobacco Use (E-Cigarettes and Vaping

• Friday, May 15: Preventing Suicide

Social media is a great platform to get information out about these topics to your family, friends and colleagues. Below are some ways to get information to disseminate. Remember: Sharing is caring!

• The Hub will post tips and resources throughout the week on our social media channels. Follow and tag us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter Don't forget to let us know about your virtual community event!

• Follow and use #CTpreventionweek and other hashtags in this newsletter

• Participate in our State Prevention Challenge! Learn more by clicking #CTpreventionweek​ or download English & Spanish posters

• Our Local Prevention Councils do so much all year round. Subscribe to their emails or follow them on social media.

Congratulations to CT's youth "RxPerts"!

Check out this year's winners of the 2nd annual "Be an RxPert" contest, sponsored by Fox 61 and the Governor's Prevention Partnership. These talented youth created Public Service Announcements about opioids. Wilton's very own Adithya Rathni (age 15) won 3rd place with "The Ones Affected":

1st place: Our Superheroes, by Emily Brown (20), Junior at University of New Haven

2nd place: Taking Opioids Takes Your... by Meghan Gorman (17) and Michael Loschiavo (18), Seniors at Jonathan Law High in Milford

Thank you to the Governor's Prevention Partnership for their work with the teens. For more videos go to Connecticut Clearinghouse.

#NPW is the perfect time for us all to share openly with others, reach out to others, make use of online supports, and share resources. This post is coming to you as part of our month-long Mental Health Awareness Month series. Each week we'll send out a newsblast with videos, info, events and resources like those below. We ask you to share the blast with your family, friends, and colleagues so that everyone knows they are not alone. Check out what's to come:

Upcoming events for NPW and Mental Health Month: ​

The 2020 NAMI Connecticut Walk is virtual! Your donation right now goes even further thanks to a generous group of donors who have pledged to match gifts to the Walk — made until May 12 — dollar for dollar, up to a total of $25,000.

Also...

• Courageous Parenting 101: Protecting Youth through the Opioid Epidemic & Beyond: May 11, 3:30-4:30, by Courage to Speak & The Hub - RSVP here or attend here

• Preventing Underage Drinking and Alcohol Misuse: May 12, 11am by Prevention Works - Closed event but if interested, RSVP here

• CONECTANDO PARA LA PREVENCIÓN: PREVENCIÓN DURANTE COVID-19, May 12, 10-11am by Prevention works - RSVP here

• Parenting for Prevention: Connecticut Collaborates During COVID-19 For Our Youth: May 13, 2pm by Prevention Works - RSVP here

• Preventing Youth Tobacco Use (E-Cigarettes and Vaping), May 14, 4pm by The CT Clearinghouse - RSVP here

• Catchment Area Council 3&4, May 13, 3-5pm by The Hub - RSVP here

• How to Engage Highly Resistant Clients- What Resistance is and How to Transform it in the Path to Healing: May 15, 9am, by Newport Academy - RSVP here

• Shared Trauma presentation by Dr. Carol Tosone at the quarterly meeting of the Southwest CT Suicide Advisory Board, May 15, 12-2pm, by The Hub - RSVP here

• Hidden in Plain Sight - by TPAUD, May 20, 6:30-8pm - sign up here

• Trauma-informed Care for Yourself and Your Team During COVID-19: 2-part Crisis Workshop Series: May 18, 2-3:30pm, register here and May 27, 2-3:30pm by National Council for Behavioral Health - register here

• Free Recovery Webinar: Recovering from Relapse - How to Get Back on Your Feet: May 20, 12-1pm or 6-7pm, by the Renfrew Center - register here

• NAMI Connecticut book chat (see image above): May 28, 6:30pm, by NAMICT - get event link here

Featured articles & resources to check out:

• News article about teen drug use while social distancing, featuring Courage to Speak founder Ginger Katz of Norwalk (presenter at our Monday NPW event).

• Mental Health Awareness Month op-ed by Bridgeport resident Beth Lazar here

• CT Insider article about Congressman Jim Himes mental health panel this week

• AFSP shares tools, resources and creative ways to have a #RealConvo with the people in your life about mental health.

• "Big Tobacco Messed with the Wrong Moms" podcast by PAVE

Happy May!

Your friends at The Hub: Amy, Eliza, Ella, Giovanna, Margaret & Rai

Want your mental health or substance use event included in our regional calendar and email blast?

• Email info@thehubct.org with the JPG of any event flyer that you would like us to share in future blasts such as this.

• To add your event(s) directly into our regional calendar please send a calendar invite to info@thehubct.org.

• To receive this blast, please subscribe to thehubct.org