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March is a mix of things to highlight and be informed about to include Women's History Month and Self- Harm Awareness Month. In addition to World Down Syndrome Day and World Bipolar Day. Below we go into further detail to discuss March offerings:
Self-Harm Awareness Month
Self-injury or self-harm is a response to severe emotional distress. Intentional, non-suicidal injuries are a way for a person to mirror psychological pain with physical pain.
In some cases, the physical injury has a temporary calming effect and, in others, a self-inflicted wound is a means of “feeling something” to combat emotional numbness.
For more than a decade, March has been designated Self-injury Awareness Month and is promoted by organizations like LifeSIGNS and the Self-Injury Foundation.
How Common is Self-Harm?
Despite the seemingly fringe aspect of this condition, it’s much more common than most people realize. Among teenagers, an estimated 15 percent will experience some form of self-injury. The number drops to 4 percent among adults. The most common forms of self-harm include:
- Skin cutting 70% to 90%
- Head banging or hitting 21% to 44%
- Flesh burning 15% to 35%
Perhaps one reason for the lack of awareness around the condition of self-harm is that a person can easily hide or explain away their injuries.
What Are the Signs of Self-Injury?
For family and friends, especially those who have loved ones suffering some type of mental illness, it’s important to watch for signs and patterns of self-injury. These might include:
- Arms, legs or other parts of the body that show signs of consistent injuries, such as scabs, bruises, burns and cuts
- Overdressing in particularly warm weather, wearing, for example, coats, long sleeve shirts or pants
- Repeatedly making excuses for why or how they got injured
- Avoidance, isolation and withdrawal from activities and relationships they previously enjoyed
The overwhelming majority of self-injury cases – some 90 percent – begin in adolescence. While the condition brings temporary relief for a person suffering, it carries a lot of shame and stigma.
Many people who self-harm are labeled attention seekers. This only serves to alienate and isolate them further. In other cases, family or friends might be in denial about the problem and still find themselves hiding sharp objects, such as kitchen knives, from their loved one.
Dr. Marsha Linehan, who was institutionalized at the age of 17 for extreme social withdrawal and severe self-harm, didn’t start sharing her experience until she was in her 60s.
Linehan now helps others and recalls for the New York Times that painful period in her life. “I felt totally empty, like the Tin Man; I had no way to communicate what was going on or understand it.”
Don’t Judge – Stay Supportive
When helping a person through the trauma of self-injury, listen, don’t judge or act disgusted. Stay supportive and proactive, drive them to a counselor’s appointment or visit them in treatment when appropriate. Take the opportunity to educate yourself about the condition and the underlying causes that often lead to it.
Self-injury Awareness Month is a chance to set aside stigma, understand the problem and be open about mental health and recovery. Far too many people suffer needlessly because they’re afraid of being judged.
Teenagers are especially vulnerable and often believe they’re the only ones in the world coping with these issues. But with treatment and support, self-injury can move from the present to the past.
National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
In 1987, President Reagan recognized March as Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month to increase “public awareness of the needs and the potential of Americans with developmental disabilities” and to provide the “encouragement and opportunities they need to lead productive lives and to achieve their full potential.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), developmental disabilities are defined as impairments in physical, learning, language or behavior areas, and include:
- Autism spectrum disorders
- Cerebral palsy
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
- Learning or intellectual disabilities
- Hearing loss
- Vision impairment
- Other developmental delays
Through a campaign each March, the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD), Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) and National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) join forces to highlight the ways in which people with and without disabilities unite to form strong communities.
Throughout the campaign, individuals with and without disabilities will share their experiences through stories, photos and videos. This year’s campaign also highlights artwork created by individuals with disabilities and is featured in the Developmental Disabilities Awareness campaign imagery. Resources (toolkits, photos, videos, promising practices) will be shared with a national audience.
National Disability Institute encourages you to support the NACDD campaign by using the hashtag #DDawareness19 on Facebook and Twitter.
World Autism Awareness Week (Mar. 30-Apr. 5)
Autism Acceptance Week is held during the week coinciding with Autism Acceptance Day. This year, it takes place from to . Autism, aka Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), affects mental, behavioral, and social development. The degree to which autism impacts an individual is unique to them since each person’s circumstances are unique. Symptoms appear as early as the first 12 months of life and can last throughout life. Many people with autism can have their symptoms and quality of life improved over time due to strong support networks and coping mechanisms and routines that work for them.
Autism Acceptance Week first started as Autism Awareness Week back in 2007 when it was first held. That was in conjunction with the first World Autism Acceptance Day, which fell on April 2. It happened in a time of great need for more awareness of autism and what it means. Before autism became as understood and recognized as it is today, many misconceptions surrounded it. When autism was first coined as a medical term in 1911 by Paul Eugen Bleuler, it was used in reference to what was believed to be the childhood or infantile version of schizophrenia.
Over the years, our understanding grew deeper as medical professionals realized that autism was a neurodevelopmental condition that was completely separate from schizophrenia. Everyone needed to know, whether they were on the spectrum or not. After more than a decade of efforts focused on increasing awareness and education, there has been a recent shift toward focusing on acceptance and equality regarding autism. Therefore, the name has recently changed to better reflect this agenda.
This Week is a global chance to raise awareness of autism and fundraise for charities that support the cause. More importantly, the Week is spent advocating for the acceptance of autism and those who fall into the spectrum. Fundraisers, seminars, and supportive displays are common ways people keep to the spirit of the Week.
HOW TO OBSERVE AUTISM ACCEPTANCE WEEK
Support those with autism
People with autism are still there after the Week concludes. Make an everyday effort, however small, to understand people who think and live differently from you.
Educate yourself
Take the opportunity to attend one of the many talks hosted by autism-based organizations during the Week or even learn on your own. Understanding autism and autistic people go a long way toward making a difference.
Fundraise for your locals
Take part in an online or in-person fundraising event like a quiz or marathon and help to raise funds for your local organization that seeks to support or research autism. Your support can be as simple as taking part in the event or volunteering to help run it.
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Community Resources:
Utilize this website for the following resources
https://americanaddictioncenters.org/
Visit FoundinFaithMD.org/get-help/apply/
to apply to the Fresh Start Furniture Program TODAY!
If you do not have computer access, please call 443-519-2464 ext. 2
ALL FURNITURE REQUESTS ARE SCHEDULED BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
If you need immediate help finding shelter or a place to eat, call 211.
Meals
Baltimore- Our Daily Bread Employment Center
725 Fallsway, Baltimore City
443-986-9000
PG CO- Bethel House 301-372-1700 & Salvation Army of Prince George’s County Food Pantry 301-277-6103
AA CO- Anne Arundel County Food Access WARM Line 410- 222- 3663 &
Anne Arundel County Food Bank
120 Marbury Drive Crownsville, MD 21032
Harford CO- Breathe 379, 2124 Nuttal Ave. Edgewood. Groceries, prepared food, clothes.
& EPICENTER, EPICENTER at Edgewood, 1918 Pulaski Hwy, Edgewood. 443.981.3742.
Mental Health Assistance
National Alliance for Mental Illness
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Call 24/7: 1-800-273-8255
Baltimore Crisis Response, Inc.
Call 24/7: 410-433-5175 if you or someone you know needs help with a mental health crisis
Legal Services
Homeless Persons Representation Project (HPRP)
201 N. Charles St., Suite 1104, Baltimore City
410-685-6589 / 800-773-4340
Provides free legal aid to those experiencing or at risk of homelessness
Maryland Legal Aid
500 E. Lexington St., Baltimore City
410-951-7777
Provides a full range of free civil legal services to financially eligible individuals, with a focus on legal issues concerning elder rights, employment, family, public benefits, health care and housing
Reentry Services
Assists prisoners, ex-prisoners and others in need become independent, responsible citizens through civil legal assistance and re-entry services
Baltimore- Alternative Directions
2505 N. Charles St., Baltimore City
410-889-5072
PG CO- People Ready 5814 Baltimore Ave.
Hyattsville, Maryland 20781 (301)277-2172
AA CO- AmeriCorps (800) 942-2677
Identification
Beans and Bread
402 South Bond St., Baltimore City
410-732-1892
ID cards and birth certificates available on the first business day of the month to the first 5 to 10 people who arrive
Manna House
435 East 25th St., Baltimore
410-889-3001
Provides assistance with birth certificate and ID cards applications
Employment Assistance
ONE STOP CAREER CENTERS
Downtown One Stop Career Center
1100 North Eutaw St., Room 101, Baltimore City
410-767-2148
Eastside One-Stop Career Center
3001 East Madison St., Baltimore City
410-396-9030
Provides assistance with job search strategies, employment referrals and placement and other workforce services; offers access to copiers, faxes and phones
Northwest American Job Center (Re-entry Center)
Mondawmin Mall, Suite 302
2401 Liberty Heights Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21215
Telephone: 410-396-7873
DROP-IN CENTERS
Manna House
435 E. 25th St., Baltimore City
410-889-3001
Franciscan Center
101 W. 23rd St., Baltimore City
410-467-5340
H.O.P.E.
2828 Loch Raven Rd., Baltimore City
410-327-5830
Provides clothing, communication, laundry, food, recreation and showers
** For any other region specific info email socialmedia@emrcgroup.org **
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