Author: Angie Sykeny

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

Dr. Will Torrey, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Dartmouth Health, discusses Mental Health Awareness Month, efforts to reduce stigma surrounding mental health and resources available to individuals dealing with mental health issues in New Hampshire.

What is the purpose of Mental Health Awareness Month?

The idea is to increase knowledge and understanding of mental health disorders so that the general public can know more about these common illnesses and get increasingly engaged in helping us to help people get timely access to high-quality care. About 20 percent of us in the United States will have a psychiatric illness in any given year, and half of us will at some point during our lifetime. The point of Mental Health Awareness Month is to help engage people so that they’re more knowledgeable about their illnesses, can seek help when needed, and to broaden the coalition of people who are seeking to turn toward psychiatric and addictive difficulties with the same seriousness of purpose as we treat other illnesses, like cancer.

What initiatives is Dartmouth Health doing for Mental Health Awareness Month?

We’re excited to be hosting an exhibit at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center called “Deconstructing Stigma.” It aims to help people understand more about mental illness and to help people start or continue to deepen conversations about mental illness and its treatment. We also have a series called “Heads Up” that started last May and is ending this May and has included monthly articles on different facets of mental health and webinars on those topics. Our last webinar is coming out in May for Mental Health Awareness Month. These efforts aim to educate and foster discussions so that people can start to suffer less and do more together to make treatment more available.

What are the current strengths and weaknesses of mental health care in New Hampshire?

Across the nation, the big challenge is timely access to high-quality care. Covid-19 was a perfect storm in terms of stressors that bring out psychiatric illness. People had health worries, economic challenges, loss to death, social isolation, trouble with child care — all kinds of things that lead people to be more likely to exhibit signs and symptoms of psychiatric illness. At the same time, the health care system has been stressed because of worker shortages, and some of the core supports that had typically been available are less available. New Hampshire has struggled to meet the growing demand for mental health and substance use disorder care despite efforts to address the issues. It has excellent structure in its community mental health systems, but those are somewhat overwhelmed by the need for those services at this time. This is true for inpatient hospitalization needs for children and adults and for general outpatient care. At all levels of the continuum of care, the need for services outstrips capacity.

What can be done to help reduce stigma around mental health and encourage more people to get help when they need it?

When I was growing up, breast cancer was highly stigmatized, and people wouldn’t talk about it. … It wasn’t something that you looked to get support from others for. Nowadays, people get support from their friends and family, and I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be in the same position with mental health care. That’s what we’re working toward: if someone develops depression, psychosis or posttraumatic stress disorder, they should be able to talk to their friends and family and have straightforward, well-organized pathways into care and support. … A lot of it has to do with creating community, advocating together and encouraging these conversations and having these conversations.

What can friends and family members do to support someone struggling with mental health issues?

The core messages are the same as we would give to anyone with any kind of illness — just be clear that you care about them and will be with them through this. Give the message of caring, support and hope. Family members can also get more education through organizations such as the National Alliance for Mental Illness. They offer support groups and courses so that people can learn more about psychiatric illness and be more helpful to their loved ones or friends living with these illnesses.

What resources are available to people struggling with mental health issues in New Hampshire?

First and foremost, if you’re in crisis, you can call the national number 988, which can guide you to the appropriate care. Additionally, New Hampshire has mobile crisis units that can help resolve a crisis situation directly, often without [resulting in] hospitalization. Emergency rooms are always open for real crisis times. You can access mental health care through your community mental health system, or you can go to the Psychology Today website … and it will tell you which providers in your local area accept your type of insurance. Finally, if you’re employed, your employer may have an employee assistance program that can provide you with information about resources and support that are available to you.

Featured photo: Dr. Will Torrey. Courtesy photo.

A Manchester artist talks about her coloring book

Jyl Dittbenner, the Manchester artist behind the coloring book The Colors of Manchester, talked about her creative process and the inspiration behind her illustrations of the city’s landmarks, businesses and residents. Sold out since its first release a few years ago, the book was recently reprinted, with limited copies available now at the Millyard Museum’s gift shop and the Bookery in Manchester.

How did the idea for a Manchester coloring book come about?

I draw every day, often at various cafes and restaurants, and sometimes people will see me and talk to me. Liz Hitchcock [principal at Orbit Group, a Manchester-based investment firm that supports community development initiatives] saw me drawing a few times and said, ‘You know, I’d really like to see a coloring book of Manchester. Is that something that you would want to collaborate on?’ So I worked with her and some people from the Orbit Group to take a bunch of drawings and move in a direction. I didn’t have any words in mind, so the creative director came up with a few sentences that are in the book, and we agreed on them together.

What locations or landmarks are featured, and how did you choose them?

I looked through my sketchbooks and talked with Liz and her creative department and also people in my life to determine what locations people would be interested in coloring. … There’s Baer Square in Arms Park. There’s Cat Alley. We love cats, so there are actually a lot of cats on random pages. … There’s the Palace Theatre, from the inside and outside. There are some pieces of cafe life. There’s the river and the Millyard in the background on a lot of the pages.

From an artistic standpoint, what do you find intriguing about the architecture, landmarks and scenery of Manchester?

We have a lot of older buildings and architecture, which look very different from the things around them … I also love drawing people; buildings are interesting to draw because they each have their own character, and it’s the same with drawing people. It’s just fun to see what makes us unique.

How does the process of creating a coloring book differ from creating regular art?

Most of my drawings are very sketchy. I don’t like using pencil because I drag my hand across the page, but I do all my drawings in pen. For this coloring book, I would take a sketch drawing and bring it into Procreate on the iPad, then trace over the lines that I wanted to keep, clarify the lines that I thought weren’t quite right and add more detail if I felt like [it was necessary] to create the suggestion of certain shapes and patterns for people to color.

Who would enjoy this book?

It’s for all ages, and kids can enjoy it, but it’s geared more toward adults, because it’s more about reminiscing about the places in Manchester that we frequently see. … For me, drawing and making murals in the city is something I enjoy doing; it’s relaxing and calming. I think coloring is a similar activity for other people, and it’s a less intimidating activity for people who think, ‘I can’t draw,’ or ‘I can’t make art.’ It’s an entry point [to art] for them; they can color something and feel confident in their choices of colors and how it looks.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

New state archivist wants to make the past accessible

Meet Ashley Miller, who was recently appointed as New Hampshire’s new state archivist.

How did you become the state archivist?

I did my undergrad at Penn State, where I got my degree in history. After graduating, I knew I wanted to continue [in history], but not be a history teacher. I had worked in the preservation, conservation and digitization department at Penn State in their archives, and I absolutely loved it. I moved to New Hampshire and started working at Concord Public Library as an archivist, reference and outreach coordinator and commuting down to Boston for grad school, where I pursued a master’s in archival management and a master’s in history at Simmons University. Then, this past October, I learned that the state archivist — my predecessor — was retiring. That day, I sent a very bold email to the Secretary of State, David Scanlan, saying, ‘Hey, here’s my resume, and here’s why I think I would be a good fit.’ Two months later I had an interview, and the rest is history.

What does it entail?

Right now I’m doing a lot of planning for what I want to do over the next 18 months, but once I’m into the grind of the job, the essential functions are handling research requests, managing records for state agencies, providing transportation and storage for records, [conducting] polls and refiles for agencies and the general public and preserving the documentation of New Hampshire history. I’m also responsible for the management of the building we’re in.

What kinds of materials do you work with?

We have so much. We have records of state agencies, like the Department of Health and Human Services, which aren’t accessible to the public, but when [a department] needs their records, we’re the ones who pull them and transfer and store them. We also have original town charters, probate records, legislative histories, original bills, records of governor.

Where do they come from?

State agencies, past legislators and sometimes just donors — people who discover things in their attics or they have things that were passed down to them.

What is the oldest item in our state archives?

The oldest record we have is the original New Hampshire charter from 1631.

Any other interesting or surprising finds?

We have a copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the ratification documents that were rediscovered here in the Statehouse in 1978. They’re displayed in our front lobby. How cool is it that we have those? As for other surprising finds, I can’t say I’ve come across anything too out of the ordinary. But I’ve only been on the job for about a month and a half, and we have 98,000 boxes in our archives, so there could very well be something shocking that I haven’t discovered yet.

What would you like to accomplish as state archivist?

One of my big goals is to make our records more accessible to the public, which is going to be a matter of scanning — we will really have to double down on our scanning efforts — and getting the software to be able to host browsable [archival materials] on our website, as well as [writing] descriptions and all that. I also want to do more outreach, whether that’s visiting local schools and their history departments or even just posting on social media. I want people to know that we’re here and that we have these resources available. We are the custodians and the caretakers of these records, but they belong to the people. They are meant to be seen and used by the people. … The accessibility of these records will make things much easier for genealogists, school groups, history departments, historians, researchers and students, and hopefully get more people interested in our history.

What do you enjoy about working in archives?

I’ve always loved history, since I was a little girl. It’s part of the reason I wanted to move to New England. Getting to work with primary source records and literally hold history in my hands is a fascinating experience for me. How can you not get excited about history when it’s right in front of your face?

What significance do archives have for the people of today?

There’s a great quote I learned in library school: ‘Archives are arsenals of accountability.’ They’re a record of who we are, what we’ve done and where we’ve been, and that is hugely important.

Featured photo: Ashley Miller. Courtesy photo.