MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH AND ALSO TIME FOR THE
FOURTH ANNUAL REEL MINDS MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL, JOINING ME IS
KATHRYN COPPOLA AND SUSAN RACHER.
ONE OF THE ONLY ONES HAPPENING IN THE COUNTRY, WHY IS IT SO
UNIQUE WHY IS IT SO SPECIAL?
A LOT OF THINGS THAT MAKE IT UNIQUE.
FIRST OF ALL IT'S IN MIAMI.
MIAMI DOESN'T HAVE THIS IN ALL OF FLORIDA.
ONE OF THE THINGS IS IT'S FREE.
THAT MAKES IT REALLY IMPORTANT AND ANYONE CAN GET A FREE
TICKET.
OKAY.
BESIDES FREE TICKET, WE HAVE FREE FOOD.
WE HAVE FREE LIVE MUSIC BY TWO AMAZING GUYS WHO BOTH ARE LIVING
IN RECOVERY FROM A MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGE AND THEY EVEN WRITE
SONGS ABOUT THEIR MENTAL HEALTH RECOVERY.
WE ALSO HAVE FREE DOOR PRIZES.
AND WE HAVE SIX FILMS.
THEY'RE SHORT FILMS.
AND AFTER EACH OF THE FILMS, WE HAVE SOMEONE WITH A LITTLE
EXPERIENCE WHO SPEAKS TO OR ABOUT WHAT WE'VE JUST SEEN AS AN
AUDIENCE.
SO IF WE HAVE A FILM ABOUT OCD WE'RE GOING TO HAVE SOMEONE TALK
ABOUT OCD. AND THEY ONLY TALK FIVE MINUTES.
SO IT'S NOT A BIG SPEAKER PRESENTATION BECAUSE THE
FLIMTION ARE THE MAIN SUBJECT MATTER.
BUT -- FILMS ARE THE MAIN SUBJECT MATTER.
EVERYONE HAS A LIVED EXPERIENCE.
THEY KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE EITHER OCD OR BE A SUICIDE
SURVIVOR.
THEY COULD BE BULLIED, THEY HAVE A FAMILY MEMBER WHO HAS
SCHIZOPHRENIA OR, IN A CASE HERE, THE LOCAL MAN, MO HALL IS
GOING TO TALK ABOUT HIS BEING HOMELESS AND HOW A PROGRAM OVER
AT MIAMI BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT, HE IS WORKING WITH
THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TO HELP OTHERS WITH HOMELESSNESS.
WE WERE TALKING ABOUT EARLIER THE FACT THAT AN ESTIMATED 1 IN
5 FOLKS WHETHER ADULTS OR CHILDREN ARE STRUGGLING WITH
SOME SORT OF MENTAL HEALTH CONDITION.
BUT THERE IS SO LITTLE AWARENESS ABOUT THIS TOPIC, IS THAT WHAT
YOU ARE SEEING HERE IN MIAMI-DADE?
ABSOLUTELY.
AND WE ACTUALLY STARTED REEL MINDS FOUR YEARS AGO TO INCREASE
AWARENESS, TO REACH PEOPLE WHO ORDINARILY WOULD NOT SEEK MENTAL
HEALTH CARE OR MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION, BUT WHO WOULD GO TO A
FILM FESTIVAL.
AND THE FILMS ARE HIGHLY EDUCATIONAL, THEY ARE ORIGINAL
FILMS, PRODUCED GENERALLY BY INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE A MESSAGE
TO SHARE THROUGH FILM, GENERALLY THEIR OWN LIVED EXPERIENCE.
WE HAVE GENERALLY YOUNG FILM MAKERS.
AND THE MAGNITUDE AND SIZE OF THE FILM FESTIVAL AND THE REACH
IT HAS IN THE COMMUNITY, FROM EVERY ZIP CODE, EVERY PART OF
THE COUNTY AND BROWARD, IS REALLY -- IS PRETTY AWESOME.
IT'S AN EDUCATIONAL EVENT.
SO PEOPLE WILL LEAVE THE FILM FESTIVAL KNOWING MUCH MORE ABOUT
MENTAL HEALTH THAN THEY DID WHEN THEY ARRIVED.
AND THAT'S OUR GOAL.
TELL ME ABOUT ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE FILMS THAT WE WILL BE
SEEING.
THE FILMS THIS YEAR ARE THE BEST THAT WE'VE EVER HAD.
THEY'RE ALL ORIGINAL, ART FILMS, NOT DOCUMENTARIES OR INSTRUCTION
FILMS.
MY FAVORITE IS A FILM CALLED MISDIRECTION, ABOUT A YOUNG
WOMAN, A YOUNG GAY WOMAN WHO HAS OCD AND HER JOURNEY THROUGH THE
SHORT FILM, AND THEY ARE ALL SHORT FILMS, HER JOURNEY TO
COMING TO TERMS AND FINDING AN OUTLET FOR HER OCD.
AND THEN THAT FILM WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A BRIEF PRESENTATION
BY DR.
BARBARA COFFEE WHO IS DIVISION CHIEF FOR CHILD
PSYCHIATRY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OF MIAMI MEDICAL SCHOOL EVER
MEDICINE.
SHE'LL TALK ABOUT OCD.
WE HAVE A COMBINATION OF VERY FUN AND ENTERTAINING, I DON'T
WANT TO GIVE AWAY THE END OF THE FILM, A VERY CUTE FILM WITH
EDUCATIONAL CONTENT.
SO TO ADDRESS THE STIGMA OF MENTAL ILLNESS WHAT DO YOU HELP
THE AUDIENCE WILL WALK AWAY, I WAS TALKING ABOUT WHO WAS YOUR
TARGET AUDIENCE IN ALL OF THIS?
IF SOMEBODY LETS SAY PERHAPS THEY DON'T HAVE A MENTAL HEALTH
CONDITION, YOU REALLY, THIS IS ABOUT EDUCATING EVERYONE, RIGHT?
RIGHT.
OUR GOAL IS SENSITIVITY AND UNDERSTANDING.
SO THERE ARE A LOT OF ISSUES THAT WE TRY TO ADDRESS.
ONE IS, THE COMMONALITY OF MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS, THAT
IT'S NOT RARE OR UNIQUE.
TWO, THAT THERE'S HELP AND THAT THERE ARE SOLUTIONS AND THAT
RECOVERY IS POSSIBLE.
SO TO FOLLOW ON KATHY'S COMMENT ABOUT LIVED EXPERIENCE, WHEN A
YOUNG ADULT COMES JUST AT THE AUDIENCE AND TALKS ABOUT THEIR
EXPERIENCE IN COLLEGE AND THE FACT THAT THEY LIVED WITH A
DIAGNOSIS THAT WAS UNTREATED FOR MANY YEARS, AND THEY SUFFERED,
AND NOW THEY'RE BEING TREATED AND THEY'RE OKAY, THAT'S A
MESSAGE OF HOPE.
AND OPTIMISM FOR PEOPLE.
SO WE WANT TO MAKE THAT MESSAGE.
AND THEN WE WANT TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND HOW TO ACCESS
RESOURCES.
SO YOU TALKED ABOUT HELP, NAMI IS THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE
FOR MENTAL ILLNESS.
YOU PROVIDE AN AMAZING SET OF RESOURCES FOR THE COMMUNITY.
SO TELL ME OUT THERE FOR FOLKS WHO DON'T KNOW, PERHAPS THEY ARE
SUFFERING FROM A MENTAL HEALTH CONDITION OR A LOVED ONE IS.
WHAT CAN YOU OFFER THEM AN WHERE DO THEY GET THIS HELP?
SURE.
THEY CAN GO TO NAMIMIAMI.ORG.
WE ARE THE LOCALITY MIAMI AFFILIATE OF A NATIONAL
ORGANIZATION.
SO OUR ORGANIZATION HAS AFFILIATES, THOUSANDS OF
AFFILIATES THROUGHOUT UNITED STATES.
AND OUR PROGRAMS ARE CREATED AT NAMI NATIONAL, IN VIRGINIA.
AND ALL WE HAVE TO DO AS AN AFFILIATE IS SPEAKING MANY TIMES
IS JUST GO UP AND PICK THE APPLE.
WHICH PROGRAM CAN WE OFFER?
DO WE HAVE THE CAPACITY?
DO WE HAVE THE FUNDING?
AND SO WE STARTED, AND SOME PEOPLE SAY WE REBOOTED, ONLY
FOUR YEARS AGO, WHEN WE FIRST STARTED HAVING THE FILM
FESTIVAL.
SO SINCE THAT TIME WE HAVE BROUGHT SUPPORT GROUPS FOR
PEOPLE WHO HAVE MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES.
WE HAVE SUPPORT GROUPS FOR FAMILY MEMBERS USING THAT TERM
BROADLY, FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND WE HAVE SUPPORT GROUPS THROUGH
THEM.
AND WE HAVE EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE MENTAL
HEALTH CHALLENGES AND WE HAVE IT FOR FAMILIES, WE HAVE IT IN
SPANISH AND CREOLE, AROUND WE FOUND NEW YOUTH PROGRAM, THAT'S
THE THEME OF THIS YEAR'S FILM FESTIVAL, ENDING THE SILENCE.
WHERE THE MIAMI-DADE SCHOOL SYSTEM OFFERED US TO COME INTO
THE SCHOOLS AND SHARE THIS PROGRAM.
YOU SHARED WITH ME THAT SO MANY PEOPLE DON'T HAVE HELP.
WHY IS IT A PROBLEM IN SOUTH FLORIDA?
IT IS A HUGE PROBLEM AND ESTIMATED NATIONALLY ABOUT HALF
OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE A MENTAL HEALTH CONDITION ARE TREATED.
SO THAT MEANS THAT HALF ARE NOT.
IN MIAMI-DADE THE NUMBERS ARE MUCH WORSE.
THERE ARE ESTIMATES OF ABOUT 24, 25% OF THOSE WITH A MENTAL
HEALTH CONDITION RECEIVE TREATMENT.
AND THERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS.
ONE IS THAT FLORIDA IS AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE COUNTRY IN
MENTAL HEALTH FUNDING.
WE'RE NUMBER 49 OR 50.
WE SPEND ABOUT $39 PERSON ON MENTAL HEALTH FUNDING, STATES
LIKE MINNESOTA SPEND ALMOST TEN TIMES THAT AMOUNT.
SO THAT'S -- ACCESS IS A BIG ISSUE.
THERE'S A WAIT-LIST TO SEE PSYCHIATRISTS, THERE'S A
WAIT-LIST TO GET INTO SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT.
SO CULTURE FEAR AND STIGMA WHICH IS WHAT REEL MINDS IS TRYING TO
ADDRESS IN THOUGHT AND WHAT ENDING THE SILENCE REALLY HITS
BETWEEN THE EYES IN TERMS OF ADDRESSING STIGMA AND FEAR.
AND WHAT A GREAT ETHNIC USE FILM AS A HEAL.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.
CAN YOU CHECK OUT THE REEL MINDS FILM FESTIVAL AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI'S SHELALAH CENTER, THE CURTAIN GOES UP AT 2
P.M.