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1 1 “Let’s Connect” JULY 2021 Say Hello to Summer, Alpine County Family! This month is BIPOC (Black, Indigenous & People of Color) Mental Health Awareness Month. Increase your knowledge and read to understand the challenges they face on pages 11-15. Senior Soak has returned with a reservation system. See page 2 for more details on the new process. Pop Up Play Groups are here this summer for children under 5 years old. Find out where & when on page 3. Talking Circle is now from 4-5pm on Tuesdays: New Zoom link on page 5. Markleeville Evening Yoga returns in person at the Library Park on Tuesday, July 6th. More yoga and Holistic Health class info page 6. Learn the Q.P.R. method to assist others in distress so they can get the help they need. See how on page 7. Meet Katie Johnston, Fiscal & Technical Specialist for BHS on pg. 8. July is National UV Safety Month. Learn the ABCDE’s of Melanoma & how to keep your skin safe on pages 9-10. Great self-care tips for sun safety. Plan to participate in the county Community Health Improvement Gathering in Markleeville or Bear Valley. When & where on page 16. Find out how your diet & nutrition impact your mental & physical health on page 17-18, then fix yourself a healthy dish with the recipe on page 19. Reduce anxiety & stress with our nature coloring page. You’ll find it on page 20. Care for your brain by keeping it active with the Logic Grid, Zebra puzzle and US Constitution Crossword Puzzle on pages 21-24. We will have 2 Create the Good programs this month, a lunch outing to Turtle Rock Park Day Use Area and a Cook Along on Zoom. The details are all on page 4. You’ll find a July calendar with all BHS programs by date on page 25. Hang it on the fridge or wall so you don’t miss a thing! The entire BHS staff wishes all of you a relaxing and stress-free July 4th Holiday! Go outside and seize the days of summer in our beautiful Alpine County! ---PAGE BREAK--- 2 2 Senior Soak is Back!!! Beginning Monday, June 7th, Alpine County Behavioral Health Services “Senior Soak” Program returned to Grover Hot Springs with Covid-19 modifications in place. BHS will hold 6 spaces at Grover’s each Monday in July for the 10:00am-11:30am reservation session. Alpine County residents with a Senior Soak card may call Behavioral Health to reserve a space for that session. Those with reservations check in with Grover’s staff at the pool to soak and swim. Please do not make a reservation through the park’s website. You will have to pay on your own if you reserve this way. To reserve your space for any or all Monday Senior Soak sessions, to obtain a Senior Soak card, or for more information about our Senior Soak program and how it works, please call Alpine Behavioral Health Services main office at 694-1816. Reservations are first come, first served, until filled and may be made for any or all the Monday sessions in July. As restrictions decrease, we will open more spaces for Senior Soakers. Seniors 50+ years old, come out to soak and swim to im- prove and maintain good mental health. Senior Soak pro- vides the opportunity for socializing and exercising which are both known to boost mood and happiness chemicals in the brain. ---PAGE BREAK--- 3 3 ---PAGE BREAK--- 4 4 Create the Good June programs Friday, July 9th: Turtle Rock Park Picnic Lunch Outing and Noon Nutrition Education with CSS Friday, July 23rd: “Cook Along”: Pineapple Salsa Served in the Pineapple Noon & Nutrition Education with CSS Supplies, picnic lunches and ingredients for these programs will be pro- vided by BHS. Supply kits will be dropped off for Alpine County residents who sign up by the deadlines. Transportation is also available to Turtle Rock Park. Deadline to sign up for July 9th outing is end of the day on Tuesday, July 6th. Deadline to sign up for July 23rd Cook Along is Tuesday, July 20th. To sign up: Call or text Dawn @ [PHONE REDACTED] or email: [EMAIL REDACTED] Here’s the link to join July 23rd Create the Good Cook Along Program: Or call in 1-[PHONE REDACTED], meeting id 98887819160# passcode 088148 ---PAGE BREAK--- 5 5 ONLINE TALKING CIRCLE TEACHING, LISTENING, LEARNING, SHARING. Beginning July 6, 2021 Tuesdays 4-5pm ZOOM MEETING Begin Healing Connect with others, look within and use your experiences to help others. Possibility Thinking Self-Image -Self-Talk Comfort Zone -Balanced Living - Affirmations Motivation -Warriors NEW LINK!!! Join Zoom Meeting: You can join on your landline phone, cellular phone, or computer. Call Misty Dee AOD Program Specialist [PHONE REDACTED] We can help you get started. ALPINE COUNTY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES 40 Diamond Valley Rd. Markleeville, Ca 96120 [PHONE REDACTED] ---PAGE BREAK--- 6 6 YOGA Classes BHS is offering 1 hour ZOOM Yoga classes Wednesdays 9-10am with Alex Mannos Join Zoom Meeting: And IN PERSON Yoga classes Mondays 5-6pm with Alex Mannos at Bear Valley Ball Field Beginning July 12, 2021. Tuesday & Thursday 5:30-6:30pm with Brent Greuter At the Markleeville Library Park beginning July 6, 2021. Online HOLISTIC HEALTH Classes Tuesday & Thursday 11am-Noon with Cheryl Morris You need a computer or laptop with a camera, a firm upright chair with no arms and room to move your arms and legs. The focus of this class is improving joint range of mo- tion, balance and strength-building combined with breath work, imagery and self-care. The foundation of the program has ties in both Yoga and Qigong/ Tai Chi. All exercises can be performed from the chair or standing. For required forms please call or text Dawn at 694-1314 or email: [EMAIL REDACTED] NEW ZOOM LINK!!! PLEASE READ!! NEW INFORMATION ---PAGE BREAK--- 7 7 ---PAGE BREAK--- 8 8 Katie Johnston Fiscal & Technical Specialist Alpine County Behavioral Health Services would like you to get to know our staff! We wish everyone to be well and would like our community members to draw from our “wishing well” of highly caring & qualified staff members whenever they feel the need for mental health support. We’re here for you. See how... I joined the Alpine County Behavioral Health Team in October of 2019. I am a Fiscal & Technical Specialist here at BHS. As the Fiscal & Technical Specialist I am responsible for payroll, payables, grant reporting, cost reporting, budget oversight and fiscal audits. My training allows me to adopt a pragmatic and objective approach to solving issues. Although I am removed from working directly with the public I feel privileged to be part of this department as it provides me with an opportunity to give back to the community by means of working in a field that has far-reaching impacts on the lives of many. BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month Decolonizing Substance Use and Addiction Intergenerational Trauma Animation Study finds PTSD effects may linger in body chemistry of next generation Check out these links because… Personal development includes learning about yourself & others, about the world and humanity. You learn about different viewpoints, values & beliefs and what science has discovered to be true. “Learning creates understanding.” Malcom X “Your mind is like a parachute, it only works if it’s open.” Frank Zappa ---PAGE BREAK--- 9 9 July is UV Safety Awareness Month. As we spend time in the sun, we should be aware of the harm that UV rays cause to our skin. Exposure to UV rays causes most cases of melanoma. To lower your skin cancer risk and protect your skin, the CDC recommends the following: • Use a sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher with both UVA and UVB protection and reapply often • Wear protective clothing- lightweight long-sleeves and pants • Wear a hat with a wide brim that shades your face, head, ears, and neck • Wear sunglasses that block both UVA and UVS rays • Stay in the shade, especially during late morning through mid-afternoon Look for these melanoma warning signs from the Skin Cancer Foundation to know when to see your doc- tor: • A is for Asymmetry. Most melanomas are asymmetrical. • B is for Border. Melanoma borders tend to be uneven and may have scalloped or notched edges, while common moles tend to have smoother, more even borders. • C is for Color. Multiple colors are a warning sign. While benign moles are usually a single shade of brown, a melanoma may have different shades of brown, tan or black. • D is for Diameter or Dark. While it’s ideal to detect a melanoma when it is small, it’s a warning sign if a lesion is the size of a pencil eraser or larger. Some experts say it is also important to look for any lesion, no matter what size, that is darker than others. • E is for Evolving. Any change in size, shape, color or elevation of a spot on your skin, or any new in it, such as bleeding, itching or crusting, may be a warning sign of melanoma. If you notice these warning signs, or anything NEW, CHANGING or UNUSUAL on your skin schedule an appointment with a primary care provider. The ABCDEs of Melanoma Self-Care is essential for good mental health ---PAGE BREAK--- 10 10 ---PAGE BREAK--- 11 11 In July, we acknowledge BIPOC (Black, Indigenous & People of Color) Mental Health Awareness Month. This year, we’ve seen discussions of experiences of racism and the detrimental impact it has on equitable access to resources such as housing, healthcare, and education. However, we don’t often see the impact racism has on mental health. Experiences of racism have negative effects on the mental health of people of color, particularly anxiety, anger, and feelings of sadness. One in four Black Americans will experience an anxiety disorder sometime during their lives. 3.1% will experience panic disorder and 3% will experience obsessive-compulsive disorder. However, Black Americans are far less likely to seek out mental health treatment and less likely to stay in treatment. Some studies suggest that there is a link between racism and experiencing anxiety. Experiencing racism negatively affects stress and anxiety in three different ways. These are perceptions of lack of control, Internalization, and avoidance of valued action. Perception of control is how an individual feels they are in control of their life in terms of safety and environment. Individuals are not responsible for experiencing racism and have little control over whether or not they experience it. This can lead to feelings of lack of control over an individual’s environment leading to stress and anxiety. Having frequent experiences with racial discrimination can lead to feelings of not being valued or of having no worth, further contributing to mental health issues. Through internalization, individuals who experience racism often internalize these beliefs about themselves, eventually believing that negative or critical thoughts or statements about themselves are true. This leads to low self-esteem and higher stress levels. Studies have shown that believing negative thoughts about one’s self is associated with anxiety disorders. The internalization of negative beliefs can also cause individuals to feel helpless, worthless, sad, and fearful. Avoidance of valued action means that those who experience racism may avoid acknowledging feelings of hurt or may avoid experiences due to anxiety (Wilson and Murrell, 2004). Avoiding emotions can lead to further stress and anxiety, and not acknowledging feelings about experiences of racism can affect long-term mental health issues. Anxiety is often overwhelming. It can lead to elevated heart rate and blood pressure, continued negative thoughts, and feelings of worry. Individuals may also practice avoidance of valued action by avoiding people or places where a racist experience occurred. By experiencing racism at work, school, or in other social environments, these areas may cause stress and anxiety and therefore be avoided. Strategies There are several effective strategies for those experiencing racism and for managing racism’s effects on mental health. One is to make choices that are based upon values, which are things that are meaningful to us. During stressful situations, individuals who understand their values can be more aware of what truly matters to them and make choices and act accordingly based upon those values. This could be standing up to a racist co-worker because you value respect, or seeking out further help for students experiencing racism at school from an advisor or teacher because they value their education. Deciding to take action against racism when values are being violated can help minimize some of the anxiety and stress. Be mindful of emotions is also a way to lessen anxiety. Trying to control or suppress emotions has been shown to increase stress and anxiety. While it is natural to want to turn away from negative emotions during an experience, allowing yourself to feel sad or angry and acknowledging why you feel those feelings is important to mental health. These emotions provide us with valuable information and can help us adapt to life’s challenges. Our society tells us that it’s not good to feel anxious, sad, or angry, or that these feelings are signs of weakness or signal a lack of self-control. However, when we allow ourselves to feel these emotions, we also practice self-compassion. When we practice self-compassion, we learn to appreciate our emotions and our emotional responses to racism and injustice as being a natural part of the human experience. In the face of racism, feeling sad or angry is an appropriate emotional response and not unreasonable or something to be avoided intentionally. ---PAGE BREAK--- 12 12 Racial trauma, or race-based traumatic stress (RBTS), refers to the mental and emotional injury caused by encounters with racial bias and ethnic discrimination, racism, and hate crimes Any individual that has experienced an emotionally painful, sudden, and uncontrollable racist encounter is at risk of suffering from a race-based traumatic stress injury Experiences of race-based discrimination can have detrimental impacts on individuals and their wider communities. In some individuals, prolonged incidents of racism can lead to like those experienced with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) This can look like depression, anger, recurring thoughts of the event, physical reactions (e.g. headaches, chest pains, insomnia), hypervigilance, low-self-esteem, and mentally distancing from the traumatic events Some or all of these may be present in someone with RBTS and can look different across different cultural groups. It is important to note that unlike PTSD, RBTS is not considered a mental health disorder. RBTS is a mental injury that can occur as the result of living within a racist system or experiencing events of racism WHERE DOES IT COME FROM? Racialized trauma can come directly from other people or can be experienced within a wider system. It can come as the result of a direct experience where racism is enacted on you, vicariously - such as where you see videos of other people facing racism - and/or transmitted intergenerationally Trigger Warning: The following includes discussions of abuse, assault, and violence. EXAMPLES OF INDIVIDUAL RACISM • Following the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., there were nearly 1,500 reported incidents of anti-Asian racism in just one month. Reports included incidents of physical and verbal attacks as well as reports of anti-Asian discrimination in private businesses • In 2018, 38 percent of Latinx people were verbally attacked for speaking Spanish, were told to “go back to their countries,” called a racial slur, and/or treated unfairly by others Over the course of one year, Twitter saw 4.2 million anti-Semitic tweets in just the English language alone. These tweets included anti-Semitic stereotypes, promotion of anti-Semitic personality or media, symbols, slurs, or anti-Semitic conspiracy theories including Holocaust denial EXAMPLES OF SYSTEMIC RACISM • Black people make up 12 percent of the country’s population but make up around 33 percent of the total prison population This overrepresentation may reflect racist arrests and policing as well as possible racist sentencing practices in the criminal justice system. • Previous and current policies of racial displacement, exclusion, and segregation have left all BIPOC less likely than whites to own their homes regardless of level of education, income, location, marital status, and age • The erasure of Asian Pacific Islanders (APIs) in the “Asian or Pacific Islander” category by U.S. Census data severely restricts access to opportunities in these communities by concealing the unique barriers faced by APIs that are not faced by East or South Asian communities • Historical occupation segregation has made Black people less likely than Whites to hold jobs that offer retirement savings which are prioritized by the U.S. tax code [10]. This helps create a persistent wealth gap between White and Black communities where the median savings of blacks are on average just 21.4 percent of the median savings of whites [10]. Lack of cultural competency in therapy training, financial incentives, and geographical isolation have created barriers in providing appropriate mental health resources in Native American communities. Rates of suicide in these communities is 3.5x higher than racial/ethnic groups with the lowest rates of suicide [11]. UNDERSTANDING RACIAL TRAUMA ---PAGE BREAK--- 13 13 DIRECT TRAUMATIC STRESSORS Direct traumatic stressors include all direct traumatic impacts of living within a society of structural racism or being on the receiving end of individual racist attacks. A person experiencing a direct traumatic stressor may be heavily policed, or they may face barriers to home ownership due to inequitable policies. Additionally, a person experiencing a direct traumatic stressor may be the victim of individual physical and verbal attacks or may face other microaggressions. VICARIOUS TRAUMATIC STRESSORS • Vicarious traumatic stressors are the indirect traumatic impacts of living with systemic racism and individual racist actions. Vicarious traumatic stressors can have an equally detrimental impact on BIPOC’s mental health as direct traumatic stressors. • For example, viewing videos of brutal police killings of Black people, such as the video associated with the murder of George Floyd, can cause traumatic stress reactions in the people who view them - especially in Black people [12]. • Of Latinx youth that immigrate to the U.S., two-thirds report experiencing one traumatic event with the most common traumatic event reported during and post migration being witnessing a violent event or physical assault [13]. Many Native American children are vicariously traumatized by the high rates of societal homicide, suicide, and unintentional injury experienced in these communities [14]. EXAMPLES OF TRANSMITTED STRESSORS • Transmitted traumatic stressors refer to the traumatic stressors that are transferred from one generation to the next. These stressors can come from historically racist sources or may be personal traumas passed down through families and communities. • The chattel enslavement of Africans in the U.S. and other countries continues to serve as a source of traumatic stress for black people today [15]. In fact, this sustained collective trauma makes Black people highly vulnerable to developing mental health disorders [15]. • The descendants of Holocaust survivors display an increased vulnerability to developing disturbances in addition to stressors related to Holocaust loss [16]. This vulnerability is in direct relationship to the negative life experience of the previous generation [16]. • Historical trauma shared by Native Americans including boarding schools, massacres and forced violent removal from their tribal lands represents a severe communal loss and source of traumatic stress. Native Americans today continue to experience of depression, substance dependence, diabetes, and unemployment due to the impact of the trauma [17]. Source: ---PAGE BREAK--- 14 14 ---PAGE BREAK--- 15 15 ---PAGE BREAK--- 16 16 ---PAGE BREAK--- 17 17 ---PAGE BREAK--- 18 18 ---PAGE BREAK--- 19 19 Healthy eating Watermelon Feta Salad with Blueberries This watermelon feta salad with blueberries, mint, and basil is so refreshing and easy to make. It is the perfect side salad for a fun summer cookout! Servings: 6 people Ingredients 8 cups watermelon, cubed to 3/4 inch 2 cups fresh blueberries, plus more if desired 1 cup crumbled feta Mint and basil leaves, julienned or chopped Honey lime dressing: Juice of 1 lime, fresh 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons honey Salt to taste Instructions Make the honey lime dressing: combine all honey lime dressing ingredients and mix vigorously until well combined. You can also add the ingredients to a mason jar and shake well to combine. In a large serving bowl, combine cubed watermelon, blueberries, mint and basil to taste, and 3/4 cup crumbled feta. Toss with the honey lime dressing. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup feta and garnish with more mint and basil leaves. Serve immediately. Enjoy! Prep Time20 mins Cook Time0 mins Total Time20 mins ---PAGE BREAK--- 20 20 Reduce anxiety and stress Coloring has the ability to relax the fear center of your brain, the amygdala. It induces the same state as meditating by reducing the thoughts of a restless mind. This generates mindfulness and quietness, which allows your mind to get some rest after a long day at work. ---PAGE BREAK--- 21 21 Doing puzzles can improve vocabulary, memory, logic, and reasoning. It’s not very surprising that another benefit of puzzle-solving is possibly raising your IQ. In a University of Michigan research, a researcher found that grown-ups can boost their IQ by up to four points if they spend at least 25 minutes playing puzzles everyday. Whether you care about improving your IQ or not, the fact that you are keeping your brain active with puzzles can have significant memory benefits for you. This is very advantageous in delaying of certain degenerative mental conditions such as Alzheimer’s ---PAGE BREAK--- 22 22 Zebra Puzzle: How to play • Start by reading all the clues; • Find all the "basic" clues and mark them. The most basic clue is the one that states that something is in a determined house/position. Example: • The German lives in house three. • Sometimes you are going to need to deduce some information using two or more clues; • All the clues must be used; The game ends when all the clues are correctly checked and everything is filled. ---PAGE BREAK--- 23 23 ---PAGE BREAK--- 24 24 ---PAGE BREAK--- 25 25 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 1 Holistic Health With Cheryl 11am Yoga with Brent 5:30p Mville Library Park 2 3 Yoga with Alex 9-10am (Last Saturday Zoom Class) 4 5 HOLIDAY NO SR. SOAK NO YOGA 6 Holistic Health With Cheryl 11am Talking Circle 4-5pm Yoga with Brent 5:30p @ Mville Library Park 7 Yoga with Alex 9-10am On Zoom 8 Holistic Health With Cheryl 11am NO 50+ Club Yoga with Brent 5:30p @ Mville Library Park 9 Create the Good Lunch at Turtle Rock Park Day Use Area CSS nutrition education 10 11 12 Senior Soak 10-11:30am Yoga at Bear Valley Ball Field with Alex 5:00-6:00pm 13 Holistic Health With Cheryl 11am Talking Circle 4-5pm Yoga with Brent 5:30p @ Mville Library Park 14 Yoga with Alex 9-10am On Zoom 15 Holistic Health With Cheryl 11am Yoga with Brent 5:30p @ Mville Library Park 16 17 18 19 Senior Soak 10-11:30am Yoga at Bear Valley Ball Field with Alex 5:00-6:00pm 20 Holistic Health With Cheryl 11am Play Group– Alpine Co Library Noon-3pm Talking Circle 4-5pm Yoga with Brent 5:30p @ Mville Library Park 21 Yoga with Alex 9-10am On Zoom 22 Holistic Health With Cheryl 11am Yoga with Brent 5:30p @ Mville Library Park 23 Create the Good Cook Along: pineapple salsa served in the pineapple CSS nutrition education 24 25 26 Senior Soak 10-11:30am Yoga at Bear Valley Ball Field with Alex 5:00-6:00pm 27 Holistic Health With Cheryl 11am Talking Circle 4-5pm Yoga with Brent 5:30p @ Mville Library Park 28 Yoga with Alex 9-10am On Zoom 29 Holistic Health With Cheryl 11am Yoga with Brent 5:30p @ Mville Library Park 30 31 July 2021 Alpine County Behavioral Health Services 40 Diamond Valley Road, Markleeville, CA 96120 For more information on any of our programs, please call 694-1816 or email [EMAIL REDACTED] ---PAGE BREAK--- 26 26 40 Diamond Valley Road Markleeville, Ca 96120 Postal Customer Markleeville, CA 96120