2021

The article discusses how the pandemic continues to create uncertainty about where life is heading and creating additional stress with a potential for mental health concerns to increased. Dr. Ken Duckworth, CMO of NAMI, notes, “There’s unknowns about the virus, there’s unknowns with people about their own vulnerabilities, [so] we encourage people at NAMI to do whatever their good self-care strategies were before, pointing to exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy, or whatever else works for the individual.”

For a nationwide iHeartRadio special, hosted by Ryan Gorman that includes Barbara Solish, director of youth and young adult initiatives at NAMI, discussing resources and help available for children, teens and young adults faced with the hardship of the pandemic and remote learning. The NAMI segment starts at minute marker 14:47.

Dr. Ken Duckworth, CMO of NAMI, discusses the 2021 Mood Disorder Survey results. He shares ways to destigmatize mental health and tips to recognizing those in crisis.

As someone who struggles with anxiety, I know firsthand how crippling it can be sometimes. Racing thoughts. Restlessness. Shallow breathing. Queasiness. Palpitations. And that debilitating feeling of the world closing in on you. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, around 40 million adults (19.1% of the total population) in the U.S. have anxiety disorders. Fortunately, there are many science-backed strategies that can help mitigate these feelings and cultivate calm including grounding techniques.

For many, mental health is a fraught subject. As a result, it’s become something we don’t really talk about, and the silence might make you think you’re alone in struggling with your mental health. In reality, 17% of youth will experience a mental health disorder, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Talking about mental health can help break down stigma, which is exactly what a new teen-led podcast aims to do. In On Our Minds, a podcast series by PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs, 16 year-olds Noah Konevitch and Zion Williams offer first-person narratives and discussions with experts on mental health and young people. It was created in partnership with WETA’s Well Beings, a mental health public awareness campaign working with local PBS stations nationwide.

A new Harris poll created by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization with over 650 state and local affiliates, captures national attitudes about mood disorders. The survey reveals surprising findings, including an increase in reported stigma-created barriers to treatment for depression — from 72% in 2009 to 84% today. NAMI’s CMO, Ken Duckworth, MD, sheds light on how to interpret these findings, and how the support of friends and family can be a life-changer for people suffering from debilitating emotions.

For many Americans who live with a mood disorder, cost remains a major hurdle to accessing mental health care, according to a survey on mood disorders published this week by NAMI. Over half of the survey's respondents (which included people living with mood disorders and their caregivers) said that cost prevents them from trying a treatment they're interested in, says psychiatrist Ken Duckworth, NAMI's CMO. Cost was also the reason for discontinuing treatment for about a quarter of the respondents who were able to get care. The survey also revealed that many people don't even know how to find mental health support. "Forty-eight percent are unsure if they're eligible to receive care, and nearly as many are unsure about how to access services," Duckworth says.

The Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan is particularly disheartening to Americans who fought there. Across 20 years of combat, almost 800,000 troops deployed to the war zone — many of them more than once. Images of the American withdrawal and questions about the war's legacy now aggravate long-held frustrations that have been contributing to veterans' already high suicide rate. The National Alliance on Mental Illness provides advice and guidance for veterans facing anger, traumatic brain injury or PTSD.

In this podcast episode, Peter Panageas shares a panel discussion of leading voices on how to create a workplace culture of well-being to help support employee behavioral health. Ken Duckworth, CMO of NAMI, is included in the panel discussion.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five American adults has experienced a mental illness. As awareness about mental illness grows, many workplaces have been making efforts to normalize talking about mental health. But other workplaces have stayed silent on this topic, so employees are left to figure out their options on their own. And even in workplaces that encourage employees to be open, other coworkers or managers might show bias against those who do disclose a diagnosis. The article discusses personal experiences regarding talking about mental health at work. As resources, it links to the NAMI Homepage and includes the HelpLine 1-888-950-6264.