ENID, Okla. — With the coronavirus keeping many Americans cooped up at home, and stress and anxiety soaring amid the pandemic, some experts are pointing to the practice of meditation as a means to improve mental health. The Oklahoma chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) recently published an online flier promoting the … Continue reading Mental health experts point to meditation to reduce stress of pandemic
Mental Health
Thanks to those casting light in the darkness
“Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.” That quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne always has evoked sadness for me. Time flies by too fast, leaving only fleeting shadows of our past. Lately, though, it seems time isn’t passing quite fast enough for some folks. I paused from writing this to listen to my daughter … Continue reading Thanks to those casting light in the darkness
Opioid addiction treatment services expanding
ENID, Okla. — A new treatment soon will be offered, with no out-of-pocket expense, for opioid addiction treatment in North-central and Northwest Oklahoma. Northwest Center for Behavioral Health (NCBH), a division of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS), is finalizing plans to offer Suboxone in all five of its regional … Continue reading Opioid addiction treatment services expanding
Faith should be no barrier to mental health treatment
Pastor Jarrid Wilson would have been a good source for any column on depression, mental illness and suicide awareness. Wilson, associate pastor at megachurch Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., and co-founder of the mental health nonprofit Anthem of Hope, built a reputation around sharing his own struggles with depression, and trying to break down … Continue reading Faith should be no barrier to mental health treatment
Suicide risk demands an open, compassionate response
Suicide. Survivor’s guilt. Trauma. PTSD. Our nation has been — and should be — engaged in conversation on these difficult topics this week after the apparent suicides of three people intimately tied to mass school shootings in Parkland, Fla. and Newtown, Conn. Their deaths echo the pain, grief and insensible trauma that continue to shock … Continue reading Suicide risk demands an open, compassionate response
For first responders, depression and suicide pose the greatest risk
When members of the public experience an emergency, they count on first responders — police, firefighters and EMS — to show up. First responders pride themselves on being the ones who head toward those situations, from car wrecks to fires and violent crime. But, frequent exposure to the trauma surrounding incidents like fatality accidents, suicides … Continue reading For first responders, depression and suicide pose the greatest risk
Using tragedy to fight opioids
ENID, Okla. — Gail Box, who recently was appointed to the board of Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, remains motivated daily by the untimely death of her son, Austin Box, who died of a prescription pain medication overdose on May 19, 2011. Box said Austin’s death was the culmination of a long … Continue reading Using tragedy to fight opioids
PANDAS and PANS: Families drawn together by rarely diagnosed diseases
ENID, Okla. — The families of Ryker Sutherland and Jett Hartling have long had a lot in common. Both boys now are 11 years old and sixth-graders at Waller Middle School. Both have been active boys, and both enjoy baseball. But over the last two years, the families have been drawn closer together by … Continue reading PANDAS and PANS: Families drawn together by rarely diagnosed diseases
Facing our demon: Mental illness
This column originally was published May 11, 2018 in the Enid News & Eagle. The data surrounding the issue of mental illness in this column is specific to Oklahoma, but the general themes hold true for America in general. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and few places need awareness of this issue more than … Continue reading Facing our demon: Mental illness
Sacrificing our children on the altar of greed and guns
This originally was published as an opinion column in the Feb. 16, 2018 Enid News & Eagle. By the time this prints, the fervor of media coverage surrounding the latest mass killing will have subsided. Funerals will be planned. Families will grieve. Survivors will suffer. A nation will shake its head in a collective “So … Continue reading Sacrificing our children on the altar of greed and guns
James R. Neal 