News Clips
Where to start when seeking treatment for a mental health or substance use disorder
By Nancy VanDeMark – Interim President and CEO, Mental Health Colorado
May 1, 2019
One million Coloradans face a mental health or substance use disorder each year, and only half get the treatment they need. For example, depression causes people to miss work more than any other chronic health condition, according to the World Health Organization. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Mental health and substance use disorders are treatable, and treatment is key to a full and meaningful life. Mental Health Colorado has ...
For Our Spanish Speakers: Mujeres de C.O.L.O.R. con Miriam Estrada
Mujeres de COLOR con Miriam Estrada investigadora asociada de la organización para la Salud Mental de Colorado, hablando sobre la salud mental en la comunidad Latinx.
Gov. Polis visits Pueblo, Colorado Springs to sign bills into law
By: Alasyn Zimmerman
May 14, 2019
PUEBLO- With the legislative session over, Governor Jared Polis is signing bills into law.
On Tuesday, the Governor made his way to southern Colorado: making stops in Pueblo and Colorado Springs.
Among the bills Polis made law included bills to expand a medication-assisted opioid treatment program currently in Pueblo and Routt counties.
The bill was Senate President Leroy Garcia’s top priority this session.
The expansion will add programs in the San Luis Valley.
Polis also signed a bill that creates a tracking ...
Opinion: To prevent child maltreatment, we must strengthen families. Let’s start with House Bill 1193.
By: Jade Woodard and Nancy VanDeMark
April 21, 2019
More than 250 people came together at the Capitol earlier this month to draw attention to the need to strengthen families — a time-honored tradition among advocates during National Child Abuse Prevention Month in Colorado.
It is a time to recognize that we all play a role in improving the lives of children, youth and families.
Link to full story here.
Originally appeared on The Colorado Sun.
Suicide of Sol Pais — Florida teen seen as threat to Denver-area schools — highlights mental health, mass tragedies
By: Jessica Seaman
April 19, 2019
When Sol Pais traveled to Denver on Monday and bought a gun, it triggered a daylong search before she was found dead of a suspected suicide — an ending that has brought mental health and mass tragedies back into the spotlight on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting.
There’s still a lot unknown about the 18-year-old Florida woman’s trip to Colorado. But her death highlights both the rise in teenagers and young adults killing themselves and the complexity of mental illness and mass ...
20 years later: How Columbine changed mental health response
April 18, 2019
The tragic Columbine shooting forever changed our schools and first responders – here’s how.
We took a look at some of the resources developed in the aftermath of the Columbine shooting. One of the biggest changes, more access to mental health resources for our students. Sadly, numbers show it’s still not enough.
Safe2Tell is an anonymous tip line where students or parents can report something concerning or threatening. According to the Safe2Tell tip line , the most common tip they receive year after year is about suicide. The numbers ...
American Tragedy: Love is Not Enough
By: KGNU News Staff
April 18, 2019
Laurie Freeman has dedicated her life to advocating for mental health after the loss of her husband and son to suicide and her daughter to an overdose. She’s featured in a new documentary titled American Tragedy – Love is Not Enough.
“In 2010 I lost my 19 year old son to suicide followed 7 months later by my husband taking his life. 5 years later my daughter overdosed on prescription drugs, so I got very involved with mental health, with suicide prevention, helped found the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention ...
No Colorado school districts meet federal safety standards for behavioral health staffing, investigation shows
By: Christopher Osher & Jennifer Brown
April 12, 2019
Tamara Durbin is responsible for making sure more than 4,300 students across some 5,000 square miles of Colorado’s Eastern Plains get mental health care when they need it.
She does so with a patchwork of staffers that comes nowhere close to what the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for student safety.
Link to the full story.
Originally appeared on The Colorado Sun.
Safe 2 Tell tips show demand for mental health resources at school
By: Andy Koen
April 17, 2019
DENVER – Tools developed in the aftermath of the Columbine school shooting point to an underserved need in Colorado classrooms; better access to mental health resources. Data compiled by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office show calls and texts by students to Safe 2 Tell tip line quadrupled in recent years from fewer than 4,000 tips during the 2014-2015 school year to some 16,000 tips last year.
As of March, more than 14,000 tips were recorded for the current school year. Of those tips, the most frequent each year ...
The healing power of nature – Studies show being outdoors reduces stress, depression and anxiety
By: Shanna Fortier
April 10, 2019
After graduating college, Travis Wild soon found that spending time in the mountains and on trails in Colorado gave him a place to reconnect with himself and restore his mind.
“For me, the outdoors are how everything is supposed to be without influence of problems,” Wild said, adding that nature has been the steady support in his life through rough times.
When he was diagnosed with testicular cancer almost five years ago, at age 26, Wild turned to nature to destress and cope with the difficult situation. The diagnosis came when ...
