JoeyFest Resources

Thank you for exploring our JoeyFest Resource Page. JoeyFest is an annual event in support of mental health issues inspired by the life of Joey Towers.

In keeping with the intent of JoeyFest, this page contains accumulated resources outlining both why the community’s participation in the mental health discussion is important, and how members of the community can best engage in this conversation.

Thank you again.

Why it Matters

Community involvement in conversations pertaining to mental health is critical. While mental illnesses may require services from trained health care providers, friends and family play an important role in both encouraging individuals to seek help and in de-stigmatizing treatment. A community that is active and engaged in conversations around mental health is also better able to support the emotional, psychological, and social well-being of its members.

Defining Our Language

Mental Health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. Akin to physical health, this term applies to everyone, being one factor in the holistic health of an individual.
Mental or Psychological Distress refers to an individual’s emotional and mental response to stressors in their life. While moderate-to-high, prolonged levels of distress are commonly experienced across a range of individuals and are not classified as mental illness, this distress can both affect an individual’s physical and mental wellbeing while also potentially being a contributing factor to mental and physical illnesses.
Mental Illness is a diagnosed or undiagnosed health condition that affects a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, or behavior. Examples include depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia. This term also extends to eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorders.
Mental Health Promotion consists of interventions that improve psychological well- being, including the creation of an environment that supports mental health and strengthens the ability to cope with adversity. The ability to cope is referred to as resilience.
Mental Health Treatment is the provision of specific intervention services by trained professionals in response to mental illnesses.
Mental Health Prevention includes efforts to either prevent mental health issues before they emerge or to support individuals struggling with mental health to stay well.

Fast Facts

1 in 25 individuals in the United States lives with a chronic, serious mental illness, with 1 in 5 Americans experiencing a mental illness each year.
Three-quarters of those experiencing chronic mental illness first experience the disease by age 24, while a full half first experience this disease by age 14.
Mood disorders—to include major depression disorder—are the third most common cause of hospitalization in the United States for both youth and adults ages 18-44.
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Specifically, it is the 2nd leading cause of death among people aged 10-34 in our country.
On average, U.S. adults living with serious mental illness die 25 years earlier than others, largely due to treatable medical conditions.

What can you do?

Many people experiencing mental distress or mental illness feel deep shame, isolation, or despair. An empathetic conversation may help to alleviate some of these feelings and provide an opportunity to share information and support. While asking someone about their mental health can be uncomfortable and anxiety inducing, a conversation with a loved one now may make it easier for them to ask for help later.

Responding to Asks for Help

When someone shares that they are struggling with their mental health, they are allowing themselves to be vulnerable.
An unempathetic response not only risks losing the opportunity to have an important conversation in the moment but also makes it more difficult for the individual to be vulnerable again in the future.
While a reaction that feeds into the stigma surrounding mental health is the most obvious of the detrimental responses, lapsing into awkward silences or shying away from the subject can be almost as harmful.
If you hear overwhelming or worrying sentiments being expressed, remain calm. The wrong reaction can shut down the conversation and cause more stress for the individual.
Give the person you are speaking with all the time they need to express themselves in the way they feel most comfortable.
Ask questions and show genuine concern. You do not have to be an expert; you just need to be willing to listen.
Seek immediate assistance if you think your friend or family member is in immediate danger of harming themselves.

Prompting a Conversation

There is never a perfect time to have a conversation about mental health, and waiting for that perfect moment may only result in the conversation never happening. However, there are factors to consider before prompting an honest and open conversation.
The first factor – What do you know about this individual, and what is your relationship with them?

o What type of relationship do you have with the individual?
o What do you know about their current context and what they are experiencing?
o What is their level of comfortability with speaking to their own mental health?

The second factor – How can you make this individual as comfortable as possible during what is inherently a vulnerable conversation?

o Is it best to have a conversation during a long drive? Or would it be more helpful to have the conversation during an activity that allows for the focus to not be entirely on the individual themself.

The third factor – How do you start the conversation?

o Will the individual you are speaking to respond best to a direct question?
o Should you instead make use of a prompt that allows for a more general conversation on the topic before asking about them specifically?

Having the Conversation

When having a conversation with an individual about their mental health, be an active listener. Active listening can be defined as the process of listening attentively while someone else speaks, paraphrasing what they have said, and asking clarifying and follow up questions that are devoid of judgement.
In the context of mental health conversations, there may come a point in the conversation where advice—to include encouraging the individual in question to seek additional resources—is necessary. However, that advice must be judgement-free and needs to wait until after the individual has had the full opportunity to explain their own context.
When having these conversations, people often draw parallels with our own lived experiences in an effort to empathize. However, this may only serve to frustrate or further isolate the individual you are speaking with. Sometimes, the most powerful thing you can say is “I don’t understand what you are going through, but I want to support you.”
Choose your language carefully and avoid using words that add to the negative stigma surrounding mental health. In addition, avoid advice that does not recognize the context of their struggle with mental health. For example, if someone says that they struggle to find the motivation to get out of bed, it is unhelpful at best and damaging at worst to encourage them to instead muster the motivation to work out as a means of feeling better.
After a certain point, the conversation will begin to yield diminishing returns. Before moving on to other topics, acknowledge the trust they showed you in having the conversation. Being vulnerable is difficult. Simple phrases like, “thank you for opening up to me,” recognize the effort shown and open the door for future conversations.
Keep checking in. You cannot help an individual improve, or even maintain, their mental health via one standalone conversation.

Helping Someone Who is Not Ready to Talk

● Spend time with them. If you are not physically in the same place, make a point of calling them regularly.
● Let them know that you are concerned about them and are there if they want to talk.
● Talk to them about your own mental health and stressors. Be careful to never conflate your experiences with theirs but normalize the conversation around mental health.
● Seek immediate assistance if you think your friend or family member is in danger of harming themselves.

Support for the Supporter

Being part of a support system for someone can be mentally and emotionally taxing.
To provide the support and care that your friend/family member might need, it is important to look after your own mental health and wellbeing.
Identify coping mechanisms and do not be afraid to seek your own support, to include connecting with a therapist.

Resources

We have listed several treatment and crisis resources below. Please seek immediate assistance, via these or other resources, if you, a friend, or family member is in danger of harming themselves.

This pamphlet was compiled from a wide range of online materials from reputable sources. we highly encourage additional perusal of these sources, which can be found in the References and Additional Resources Section. If you are having difficulty in locating these sources online, please email joeyfest.org@gmail.com to for assistance.

Treatment and Crisis Resources

Finding Treatment

o Psychology Today offers a national directory of therapists, psychiatrists, therapy groups and treatment facility options at https://www.psychologytoday.com/us.
o SAMHSA Treatment Locator provides referrals to low-cost/sliding scale mental health care, substance abuse and dual diagnosis treatment. Call the treatment locator at 800-662-4357.

Suicide And Crisis

o The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention provides referrals to support groups and mental health professionals, resources on loss, and suicide prevention information. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 or text TALK to 741741.
o The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline connects callers to trained crisis counselors. Call the lifeline at 988.
o The Trevor Project — Saving Young LGBTQ Lives provides both the TrevorChat, which is a free, confidential, and secure instant messaging service that provides live help to LGBTQ youth, as well the TrevorLifeline. If you are a young person in crisis or in need of a safe and judgment-free place to talk, call the TrevorLifeline now at 1-866-488-7386.
o Trans Lifeline is for transgender people in a crisis. Call the lifeline at 1-877-565- 8860.

References and Additional Resources

Defining Our Language

Allina Health, Change to Chill;
Cardiac College - Health e-University, Psychological Distress;
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Community Conversations About Mental Health;
Mental Health Foundation, Prevention and mental health.

Fast Facts

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mental Health.
American Psychiatric Association, Suicide Prevention.

Responding to an Ask for Help

MakeItOkay.org, Discussion Guide.

Prompting a Conversation

Think Mental Health, Supporting others’ mental health, How to Start the Conversation;
Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, Tips for Asking a Friend About Their Mental Health.

Having the Conversation

Think Mental Health, Supporting others’ mental health, How to Start the Conversation;
Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, Tips for Asking a Friend About Their
Mental Health.
MakeItOkay.org, Discussion Guide.

Helping Someone Who is not Ready to Talk

Think Mental Health, Supporting others’ mental health, How to Start the Conversation;

Support for the Supporter

Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, Tips for Asking a Friend About Their Mental Health.
Think Mental Health, Support for family friends and carers.

Thank you for reading.

We hope that these resources can be of help for you and your loved ones. Please never hesitate to get in touch with our team to request resources, learn more about our work, and get involved in the movement towards more positive mental health awareness and support.