Call For Help: In 988 We Trust?

Stigma is one of 988’s biggest hurdles. The other is widespread fear of first responders that has increased with every report of another police killing. The latter has led to pervasive misinformation online about how 988 works. But even if we set the record straight, how can we get to a place of public buy-in? It’s one thing to implement a new system for crisis response; it’s another to completely shift culture. How does 988 earn the trust of the people it’s trying to help? In this episode, you’ll hear from actress Glenn Close, Zak Williams, and others working to change the national conversation around mental health.   SHOW NOTES Connect With Glenn Bring Change to Mind creates peer support groups for high school students, find out if there’s a chapter near you! https://bringchange2mind.org/ Emergency Services for Deaf Users Read Steve Hamerdinger’s adapted paper on mental health needs for deaf people and learn more from the National Association of the Deaf.  https://mh.alabama.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ODS_DeafMI.pdf https://www.nad.org/resources/health-care-and-mental-health-services/mental-health-services/ Keep Up With 988 Follow the rollout, upcoming legislation, and all things 988. https://reimaginecrisis.org/ Stay in Touch With Zak Check out the various mental health organizations Zak is involved with.  https://bringchange2mind.org/ https://unitedgmh.org/ https://www.inseparable.us/ https://www.projecthealthyminds.com/ https://youcanpym.com/   CREDITS Call for Help is a Lemonada original, presented by Sozosei Foundation. Hosting and story-editing were done by Stephanie Wittels Wachs. Our producers are Alie Kilts and Alexa Lim. Tess Novotny is our associate producer. Natasha Jacobs is our engineer and sound designer. Music is by Xander Singh with additional music by Natasha Jacobs. Naomi Barr is our fact checker. Executive producers are Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Zak Williams and Jessica Cordova Kramer. Special thanks to Chrystal Genesis and Jackie Danziger for additional support. Follow Stephanie on Twitter and Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. You can also get premium content and behind the scenes material by subscribing to Lemonada Premium on Apple Podcasts. Want to become a Lemonada superfan? Join us at joinsubtext.com/lemonadasuperfan.   Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and all other Lemonada series: lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. To follow along with a transcript, go to lemonadamedia.com/show/callforhelp shortly after the air date.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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In times of need, who do you turn to? What systems do you believe are there to catch you if you fall? Is there a way to interrupt generations of trauma and family violence? What might the world look like if we decriminalized mental illness, substance use disorder, and poverty?  Call Declined follows the lives of two extraordinary women, Kamisha Thomas and Aimee Wissman, and the captivating story of how they fell through a frayed safety net and how resilience, friendship, and the power of creativity enabled them to survive the grim walls of the Dayton Correctional Institution. It is a story of how art became their north star and inspiration for what was to come when they finally were released from prison. Call Declined is hosted by Melissa Beck, the executive director of the Sozosei Foundation. To learn more about our country's mental health system, check out the episodes in this feed marked Call For Help, hosted by Stephanie Wittels Wachs, which explores the promise and perils of the nationwide rollout of the 988 hotline. Call Declined is presented by the Sozosei Foundation, a philanthropic arm of Otsuka. The Foundation’s goal is to increase access to mental healthcare in order to eliminate the inappropriate use of jails and prisons for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in the United States. Learn more at www.SozoseiFoundation.org.  The Sozosei Foundation extends special thanks to Aimee Wissman and Kamisha Thomas, visionary artists and co-founders of The Returning Artists Guild whose creativity, resilience, and lived experience inspire us to build a world where mental illness is not a crime. To learn more about the Guild visit www.thereturningartistsguild.org. Please note that this podcast contains mature content, including explicit language and discussions about drug use and other potentially sensitive topics. The views expressed are solely those of the participants and do not reflect the opinions of the Sozosei Foundation, podcast host or sponsors. Listener discretion is advised. This content is intended for mature audiences and is not suitable for all listeners.