By Tom Leyde, Monterey Herald
Monterey >> The National Institute of Mental Health estimates one in five children has or will have a serious mental disorder.
That figure disturbed the Stilwell family of Carmel so much they decided to do something about it. They founded AIM for Mental Health, and last year started a walk and rally to raise awareness of the problem. They also held a dinner to raise money for much-needed medical research.
AIM’s second walk and rally will be Sunday. The 2-mile walk, from Lovers Point Park in Pacific Grove to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and back, starts at 9:15 a.m.
“Our goal is to grow a national campaign in support of mental health,” said Richard Stilwell, 17, a Carmel High School senior and AIM co-founder. “At AIM we believe that anything is possible, and this is just the beginning.”
Stilwell’s mother, Susan Stilwell, is the other co-founder of AIM. She became aware of a funding crisis for childhood mental health about 18 months ago when she and her daughter were part of the National Charity League, which does philanthropy for organizations.
Stilwell realized there was no national effort to get help for children with mental health problems, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), panic attacks, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder.
After weeks of conferring with mental health experts around the United States, Stilwell also found that none knew of a national campaign to raise money for cures for children with mental illness.
While there are national campaigns to fight cancer and to provide aid to victims of natural disasters, there remains no such movement to battle childhood mental diseases. That is AIM’s quest, said Stilwell, a non-practicing attorney and innkeeper with her husband, Mark Stilwell. “The response has been tremendous.”
So far, Stilwell said, AIM has raised almost $1 million. At its inaugural fundraising dinner during the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, it raised $250,000. It has already dispersed $450,000 to top clinical researchers working on cures. Of that amount, $180,000 went to the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at UCLA.
In the last year, AIM’s website says, the center has made advances in areas including finding a potential biomarker for schizophrenia risk in children and developing a new brain imaging technology.
“Brain research for mental health challenges is miniscule compared to other diseases,” Stilwell said, “so the money is really needed.”
Stilwell became aware of mental illness at a young age. Her mother had anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
“As a child I was always trying to fix her and there were never any answers to help her,” she said. The reasons for the rise in mental health disorders among children haven’t been fully determined. But one Stanford doctor, Stilwell said, believes it’s genetic.
Now, schizophrenia and other mental disorders are being diagnosed earlier.
As a result, Stilwell said, the stigma of mental illness is slowly being chipped away.
“Kids are now talking about ADHD and anxiety. Now it’s becoming more commonplace,” she said.
“The whole purpose of the walk,” she said, “is to get kids out there so they’re aware of the symptoms and don’t get worried. … Another reason for the walk is that you can’t go preach to kids about mental health in the classroom. Kids won’t pay attention. On the walk, that’s how you get their attention. This is really important.”
Last year nearly 300 people took part in the AIM walk after a three-week rally, Stilwell said.
“The biggest message, other than getting people to come to this walk on Sunday, is we’re filling a void,” Stilwell said.
Read the original article in full on Monterey Herald
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Krista Reuther is the Assistant Director of Ohana’s Community Health and Prevention Program. She received her Masters in Public Health and Social Work at UC Berkeley. She comes to this position after 14 years of clinical social work experience at Stanford Children’s Hospital in pediatric oncology, critical care, and bereavement. Her goal is to reduce the incidence of mental illness in children and adolescents in Monterey County.
Dr. Guss is a 35-year veteran educator with a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership. She served as a classroom teacher for 10 years, including two years as a teacher in a bilingual program in South Central Los Angeles. She has also served as a college professor, mentor teacher for new teachers, and a master teacher for teacher candidates completing their student teaching experience. She continues to be a strong advocate for the teaching profession.
Fellowship: Stanford University School of Medicine (1994) CA
Michael G. Thompson, Ph.D. is a consultant, author and psychologist specializing in children and families. He is the supervising psychologist for the Belmont Hill School and has worked in more than seven hundred schools across the United States, as well as in international schools in Central America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
is 15 years old and a sophomore at Marina High School in Marina, CA. Her academic interests include math, history, and psychology. She joined the AIM Ideas Lab in 2021 because she wanted to be a part of something that could have a great impact on her community. Marwa is interested in youth mental health because she has always been fascinated with the human mind and she wants to support those that are suffering who may feel like their challenges in life aren’t important enough or are too afraid to seek necessary help.
Giovanna Panetta is a 16 year old junior at Carmel High School. She has always been called to STEM subjects, specifically biology. The AIM Ideas Lab instantly attracted her attention as a research opportunity. Gia has always comprehended the importance of mental health. She knows that COVID only exacerbated previously existing problems, and that as a community we can try and find the root of those problems. Mental health is an integral part of life, and can impede a body’s ability to be healthy. She strongly believes that life is worth living, and she wants to help anyone that thinks otherwise.
Dr. Friedman completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology from University of California San Diego (UCSD). She went on to complete her masters and doctorate degrees (Ph.D.) in Clinical Psychology from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science/Chicago Medical School. Dr. Friedman completed her pre-doctoral internship at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, and her post-doctoral fellowship training at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. Her clinical training and experience has been focused primarily on comprehensive assessment and effective treatments for anxiety, mood and related disorders. Dr. Friedman has extensive experience in providing Cognitive Behavioral Therapies for anxiety disorders (e.g. worry, OCD, social anxiety, phobias and PTSD), depression, adjustment disorders/life stress, insomnia and body-focused repetitive behaviors (e.g. Trichotillomania and skin picking). She has received training in evidence-based interventions for a variety of specific problems, including exposure with response prevention (ERP) for treatment of OCD, Prolonged Exposure (PE) for treatment of PTSD, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). Moreover, she has specialty training in the treatment of childhood anxiety and related disorders, such as ADHD, selective mutism, separation anxiety, PTSD, depression and specific phobias. In addition, Dr. Friedman has developed an expertise in research on Trichotillomania and body-focused repetitive behaviors, which has led to numerous local and national presentations. Dr. Friedman regularly attends local and national conferences, training seminars and workshops in order to stay informed on the most up to date treatments and apply state of the art science into her clinical practice.
Dr. Piacentini is a board-certified clinical child and adolescent psychologist and Professor in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences. He directs the UCLA Child OCD, Anxiety, and Tic Disorders Clinic and Tourette Association Center of Excellence which provide diagnostic evaluation and treatment (both therapy and medication) for youth with the above problems. He also directs the UCLA Center for Child Anxiety Resilence, Education, and Support (CARES; carescenter.ucla.edu) which provides education and programming to parents, teachers, and clinicians about anxiety prevention and management.
Citlalli Nava is 18 years old and a first year majoring in Psychology at Hartnell Community College in Salinas, CA. She is passionate about understanding how mental health affects how youth think, act, and feel. Citlalli joined the AIM Ideas Lab in 2021 after witnessing the increase in mental health challenges in teenagers and considering the mental health issues they are facing. Citlalli is interested in youth mental health because it is a real problem faced by her generation.
Clinical and community psychologist and health care innovator Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, is CEO of the American Psychological Association, the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. With more than 146,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students as members, APA promotes and disseminates psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve lives – a mission consistent with Evans’ life work.
