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Category: For Educators

Tammy Ozolins is erasing the stigma of mental illness

Tammy is a contributor here at Emotionally Naked. To date, she has written more guest post articles than any other author. She is a middle school teacher who is not afraid to talk about her own mental illness, bipolar disorder rapid cycling. She is a health and PE teacher who has shared with her fellow teachers and principal that she lives with bipolar disorder.

Her candidness in the video below offers you a glimpse into what those who live with this illness endure and the courage and dedication it takes to maintain a healthy life. Tammy educates her students about … Read more...

HB 928-Recovery school pilot for Virginia in the news

Anne Moss Rogers
Anne Moss Rogers holds a picture of her son, Charles, who died by suicide while going through withdrawal and her book, Diary of a Broken Mind.
Kerry Jenkins Rhodes
Kerry Rhodes holds a picture of her son, Taylor who died from an accidental overdose

Recovery High School Newspaper Article

Kerry Rhodes and I were recently featured in an article in the newspaper about supporting the recovery high school in Virginia. And I was on an NBC news segment about the same bill, HB 928 sponsored by Del. Carrie Coyner.

See the NBC news segment

Kerri Rhodes knew her son, Taylor, had … Read more...

Mental health speaker for schools

Visit Anne Moss Rogers Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Speaker website here. See an example of a school mental health, coping and resilience event here.

Order now

For college and high school mental health and suicide prevention presentations, I start by telling the story of my youngest son, Charles, who suffered from depression, then addiction and died by suicide.

So the first one-third is my story

How did it all happen? What was … Read more...

For teachers who teach mental health and suicide prevention

Here in Virginia, teachers have been tasked with teaching suicide prevention, yet most of them have received no training nor have they received any recommendations as to what to present to students. This article focuses more on suicide prevention and than mental health teaching modules.

Some of our schools are doing SOS, Signs of Suicide. This is being taught in schools all over the US, including schools in Chesterfield County. While this is not a neat package of, “here’s the presentation you can use for your class,” but a web page that will get updated as we evolve in … Read more...

Do you want me to speak at your high school on suicide prevention and SUD?

testimonial about a high school mental health speaker
15 year old student, Cosby High School

I have a list of high schools, however, you might want to request that I speak to a high school near you. If so, please list the name of the school and add other information about that school on the Google form below. That form will populate a spreadsheet from which I will work those contacts.

I will be sending an actual paper letter in an envelope to the principals of these high schools and follow up with phone call and an email.

At this time, I am focusing on high schools and … Read more...

Why are we making high school so so stressful?

“Everyone needs to relax a little. Life ain’t a board meeting.”
—Charles Aubrey Rogers

I talk to students a lot. And when I hear how packed their schedules are, I wonder why we are doing this to our kids? Administrators are enchanted with scores from standardized testing that is all about memorization and no innovation. That alone has taken education backwards. What is the point of pure memorization in a world that values innovation?

When I heard my niece’s schedule her senior year and the kind of work her AP classes required, I couldn’t believe we are putting our kids … Read more...

Mental health and suicide prevention speaker

Motivational suicide prevention speaker-More video at her speaker website
Anne moss’s speaker website

❤️“Anne Moss captures hearts and fills them with hope.”

As one of the top motivational mental health and suicide prevention speakers, AnneMoss comes to the subject as a mother who lost a child, Charles, to addiction and suicide. No presentation is “canned” but uniquely customized to the audience and always ends on a message of hope with moments of sadness as well as humor.

Topics include Turning Pain into Purpose, The Emotionally Naked Truth about Suicide (or student suicide), and How can we intervene … Read more...

Struggling Teens. Normal Growing Pains or Mental Illness?

Is it teen angst or something else?

Almost half of all chronic mental illness begins by age 14, three quarters by age 24. Yet teens are unlikely to ask for help or recognize they need it. Sometimes it’s the stigma and other times it’s not knowing what is happening to them or what to call it.

In Charles’ case, he didn’t know how to label his anxiety. I remember him describing the feeling he got in middle school and telling him that what he was experiencing was called anxiety.

It is hard to tell what is real distress and what … Read more...

Supporting a 1:250 counselor ratio in public schools

by Kathryn Haines and Anna

Note from Anne Moss. I’m supporting candidates, red or blue, who support mental health, including addiction support. Kat Haines is running for Chesterfield County School Board in Virginia. I hope you will support these candidates, too. Because nothing is going to change if people who don’t get it are making the decisions.

They say you know more people when you have kids in school than you do at any other time in your life. As I collect people’s stories, their struggles with mental health emerge as a theme, not only in my own family, but … Read more...

Why I decided to tell my students about my Mental Illness

by Tammy Ozolins

When I started to accept my mental illness diagnosis, managing, coping, and recovery began.  I also said I was going to make sure the road I took would help fight the stigma and help others dealing with a mental illness.

Our counseling department asked if any staff member wanted to make a video about something our students would probably not know about us. That’s when I decided to tell them about my struggle with the depression part of my illness. I actually cope and manage with Bipolar 2, but I teach middle school so I did not … Read more...

Speaking at Millwood School this Thurs, March 21

:54 second Invitation!

Getting Comfortable with an Uncomfortable Conversation- Breaking the silence on mental illness and suicide

Thursday, March 21, 2019 from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM (EDT)

Millwood School – Robinson Hall 
15100 Millwood School Lane 
Midlothian, VA 23112

Register

This is a community event! This presentation is about my journey to healing by dragging an unpopular topic into the spotlight, how parents can discern normal teen behavior from mental illness, the transitions that can cause problems for teens, and strategies for helping children build resilience.

Takeaways:
• What are the signs of suicide and how does someone … Read more...

Teens empowered to tackle taboo subjects

My niece, Aurora, called me and asked about how to start a mental wellness club at her school in upstate New York after a NAMI group visited. My niece rocks and she is the best. That from an unbiased aunt. I shared this post and April’s idea she had implemented for Godwin. And look what she did! Is this awesome or what?

What if inclusion went viral? I’ll take one at time for now but April and I are working on a Mental Wellness Guide for Schools. So if any teens or adults have more ideas, share them here! And … Read more...

New York Times: The Family Foundation School

A group of kids from the Family School go paintballing one Saturday

Not long ago, I was interviewed by Michael Wilson for an article for the New York Times. He was investigating the Family Foundation School, the therapeutic boarding school where Charles attended in 2012. A teacher in New York had died from overdose in the bathroom who had attended the school which left bread crumbs back to the Family School.

In 2015, Charles was one of three deaths of alumni from the school that happened consecutively. Liz was first on May 31, 2015 and hers was an overdose. Followed … Read more...

How to prepare children to return to school after a suicide loss

This is for those who support children and teens returning to school after the loss of a parent, sibling, grandparent or other close loved one to suicide. I’m not an expert on this so I am redirecting you to the resource that is!

How can parents best help children as they return to school?

One of the primary things parents and caregivers can do is to open a dialogue with children about returning to school. This gives the child an opportunity to express how they’re feeling and any concerns they have.

Returning to School After a Suicide Loss: For Teens

… Read more...

I kicked boys and no one ever asked why

I wore these corrective shoes. One of my feet turned in and these were supposed to help. It must have because it no longer pronates as it once did. Or I grew out of it. I remember they were expensive and I didn’t really want to wear them.

Because they were different and overly retro, I was relentlessly teased about them. But I didn’t kick boys because they made fun of me or my shoes. I just endured that.

What no one ever seemed to remember, mention or even know was why I kicked boys. No one ever asked or considered … Read more...