Mental Health America Conference Day 3 Recap 2024 Mental Health America concluded the third and final day of its annual conference with powerful programming that explored topics of novel approaches to substance use disorder, lived-experience research, and targeted approaches by students to improve. mental health on college campuses and the vital role of spirituality in personal well-being. It began with a keynote address from Dr. Nzinga Harrison, co-founder and chief medical officer of Eleanor Health.
Dr. Harrison, a psychiatrist, addiction medicine expert, author, speaker and activist, emphasized a “cultural-political” approach to mental health in addition to the traditional biopsychosocial model. Specifically, she spoke about the importance of racism-informed care, which recognizes the role racial trauma plays in an individual’s life.
Dr. Harrison noted that healing can involve uncomfortable conversations.
“Just as we want to show compassion to people looking to begin their journey to recovery from addiction, we want to show compassion to people looking to begin their recovery from racism,” he said.
Following the morning keynote address, three breakout sessions explored cutting-edge approaches to youth mental health, substance use disorder treatment, and mental health research.
During a discussion titled “Lift the Mask Club: A Student-Led Approach to Normalizing and Improving Mental Health on College Campuses,” three young mental health leaders, Emily A. Abbott, Ashley Panzino, and Allie Rosenberg, discussed how they are needed mental health resources. change along with the brains of young people when they leave high school to go to college. Sponsored by the Quell Foundation, the Lift the Mask Club initiative is a program created by college students for college students, helping them navigate difficult conversations and support each other.
In a session titled “Breaking Barriers: Treating Dual Diagnosis with Ketamine and New Treatment Approaches,” Dr. Abid Nazeer, founder and medical director of Hopemark Health, described the promise of ketamine in helping to address both psychiatric symptoms and the underlying substances. wear.
“When we talk about dual diagnosis, one principle is most important: addressing both,” Dr. Nazeer said. “If you address only one, the results go down. If you address both, you will have a better chance of success.”
The MHA research team held a session titled “Your Voice Matters: Integrating Lived Experience into MHA Research,” which explored how lived experience is integrated into both research and the development of new technologies, such as the tool digital peer-to-peer connection for substance use. .
“With people where I used to be, thinking what I was thinking: ‘There’s no way out,’” said Patricia Franklin, MHA Board member and peer support specialist. “Telling someone my story, seeing where I come from and what I’ve been through, might help someone else and that’s what excites me.”
The final keynote included a highly anticipated conversation with Dr. Lisa Miller, New York Times bestselling author and professor in the Clinical Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Miller is also the founder and director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, the first Ivy League graduate program and research institute in spirituality and psychology, and has held more than a decade of joint appointments in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University School of Medicine.
Dr. Miller shared highlights of her groundbreaking work, which has demonstrated the protective effects of spirituality on brain well-being.
“Depression and spiritual life are inextricably linked,” he said. “Desperation is a gateway to awakening. “Each one of us has this opportunity.”
“That’s your birthright. “No one can ever take it away from you,” he added.
Closing the conference, MHA President and CEO Schroeder Stribling expressed his gratitude to everyone who attended, including speakers, board members and staff, for making it such a moving conference.
“At Mental Health America, together we envision a future where everyone has an equal opportunity for holistic health, healing and prosperity,” Stribling said. “And that’s what you’re doing.”
