April 2019

April 2019. Special thanks to Jim and Carmella for sharing their very personal story to inspire and bring hope to those suffering from mental illness. The road was not an easy one for Jim and Carmella of Toms River. They were both diagnosed with bi-polar disease early in their 20’s, and spent several decades struggling to find happiness, success, and peace. Jim (age 55) started with Preferred Behavioral Health Group (PBHG) when he was 23 in our Interact and DARE programs, but he had difficulty adhering to the guidelines and the structure. In his words: “I bottomed out and continued to drink, which made my mental illness worse – I was in denial.” His illness caused paranoia, anxiety, and depression. Over the next decade, he was in and out of psychiatric hospitals; returning regularly to our Interact program (which is a partial care program in Lakewood that runs daily Monday to Friday, providing therapy and services to support those with mental illness). He lost his driver’s license due to his drinking and was heavily fined as a result. His last hospitalization was in 2004, and he has spent many years living in a PBHG group home and until recently, a PBHG apartment. Carmella (age 53) began in a PBHG group home in 1986, but said she left soon after beginning. She returned to her roots in north Jersey but began associating with people that were not a good influence on her. “I spent the next 20 years in my drug addiction and mental illness and ended up in 2005 living in my car,” she said. After a hospitalization, she was referred to the Interact program, and slowly began to turn her life around. Jim and Carmella met in 2005 at a peer-led support center, and their relationship bloomed when they were both in Interact. They got engaged in 2007 and married in 2009! Jim and Carmella both have a strong work ethic; while in Interact they reached out to learn more about PBHG’s Supported Employment and Education program.  The Supported Employment program provides individualized service offering help with resumes, interview skills, on and off-site job coaching, and even transportation. Supported Education (offered in Monmouth, Ocean, Cape May and Atlantic counties) supports those interested or enrolled in post-secondary and certificate programs. Both Jim and Carmella have worked at a number of different jobs, receiving help from the Supported Employment program, and Carmella eventually opened up her own office cleaning business in 2008, “Carmella’s Cleaning Crew.” Carmella also was encouraged and supported in her efforts to go back to school and she received her Associate’s degree in business administration from Ocean County College in 2018. Jim and Carmella now run the business together. Both eventually needed less support from the Interact program and “graduated” to the StepDown program run in the evenings. A few years ago, they began serving as “Peer Specialists” at the Interact program, because they wanted to help others find their way. “If I didn’t accept the help from Preferred, the way I was going, I’d be dead.” said Carmella. “Preferred helped me obtain two of my life goals: to get my college degree and to get married!” Today, Jim and Carmella are doing very well. Their illnesses are controlled by medication, they are happily married, running their own cleaning business, and they recently moved into a non-PBHG apartment for 55+ seniors in Toms River.  “But this is not where we are going to finish,” said Carmela. “I want to continue my education and Jim wants to pursue getting his personal training certificate. We want to grow our business and keep helping others.” For more information on our Supported Employment and Education programs, please contact Jimmy Mezzo at jmezzo@preferredbehavioral.org. For information on our partial care programs, Primetime and Interact, contact Keryn Shane at kshane@preferredbehavioral.org.

April is Alcohol Awareness Month. An editorial by Mary Pat Angelini, CEO. April 12, 2019—Before one more high school student dies in an alcohol-related accident or another college student dies of alcohol poisoning or another family breaks up because of alcohol, the seriousness of the public health problems associated with alcohol and alcoholism must be brought into focus through the spotlight of public awareness. Alcohol is America’s most frequently-used drug, resulting in more than 88,000 alcohol-related deaths each year, and young people consume it more frequently than they use all other illicit drugs combined. Annually alcohol-impaired driving fatalities account for close to 9,000 deaths (31 percent of overall driving fatalities). Alcohol-related problems and alcoholism affect each and every one of us, directly or indirectly, and are our nation’s number one public health problem. Alcohol is a drug that affects every cell and organ system in the body, affecting judgment, coordination and long-term health. The earlier children are exposed to alcohol, the greater the probability of alcoholism and addiction. In fact, recent scientific research suggests that early use of alcohol by teenagers may contribute significantly to dependence on alcohol and other drugs later in life, with 40% of children who begin using alcohol before the age of 13 becoming alcohol dependent at some point in their lives. Regrettably, too many dismiss underage drinking as a “youthful indiscretion” or a rite of passage from adolescence into adulthood, and many underage drinkers are often first presented with alcohol in their own dining rooms, living rooms and kitchens. Alcohol is marketed to them aggressively and associated with athletic and social events that are popular with high school and college students. Legal or not, bars and clubs that knowingly serve underage drinkers, often with a wink and a nod to fake identification, do exist. Nationally, the annual economic cost of alcohol-related problems exceeds $249 billion. Cost includes health care, business and criminal justice costs and costs due to lost productivity. These are but a few of the fundamental reasons why we must increase public awareness. Not only is there a frightening set of increased short-term effects — car crashes, violent crimes, assaults, burns, drowning, suicide attempts, fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol poisonings and high-risk sexual behavior – but there are long-term physical and biochemical effects that put drinkers at risk for the rest of their lives.  “Alcohol is a drug — a powerful, mood-altering drug, and alcoholism is a chronic disease from which people can and do recover,” says David E. Lewis, M.D., Chair of the Medical-Scientific Committee of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD). “Over the past two decades, scientific research has revolutionized our understanding of how alcohol and drugs affect the body and the brain. We now know that prolonged, repeated alcohol and drug use can result in fundamental, long-lasting changes in the body, including brain structure and functioning.” We need to educate ourselves – as parents, teachers, clergy, employers, counselors, friends and neighbors. It is through education and understanding that we can reduce the stigma often associated with alcoholism that prevents millions of individuals and family members from seeking help. While the issue of alcoholism and alcohol-related problems is complex, it is one that can be resolved – but only through a sustained and cooperative effort between parents, schools and colleges, community leaders, health care providers, employers and young people There are areas that have proven to be effective in prevention and intervention of underage drinking. They include: Curtailing the availability of alcohol to underage populations; Consistent enforcement of existing laws and regulations regarding alcohol purchase; Changing cultural misconceptions and behaviors about alcohol use through education and; Expanded access to treatment and recovery support for adolescents and their families. In New Jersey, we must do a better job increasing understanding of and support for prevention, treatment and recovery. Make no mistake — underage drinking leads to extremely risky behavior — not only in the life of the underage drinker, but also with the lives of friends, neighbors, loved ones and innocent bystanders.   Mary Pat Angelini, CEO of Preferred Behavioral Health Group

April 2019…We are pleased to welcome Peter F. Kisylia of Clark who has joined Preferred Behavioral Health Group as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Kisylia brings extensive experience to his new position, including administrative positions in finance at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Aristacare Health Services, Saint Clare’s Health System, and Meridian Health. At the non-profit Preferred Behavioral Health Group organization, he is responsible for the financial operations of the organization, including providing leadership and accountability in ensuring that finance operations support the mission, overseeing all accounting, billing and payroll operations, and ensuring compliance with regulatory organizations.