National HIV Testing Day

 

Saturday, June 27^th is National HIV Testing Day (#NHTD). HIV Testing, and retesting as necessary, is an integral part in HIV Prevention. Testing is the only way to know if you are HIV+ or not.

According to the CDC (2015):

• There are an estimated 1.2 million people living with HIV in the U.S.
• There is an estimated 50,000 new (reported) HIV diagnoses in the U.S. every year (the true number must be higher when we take into account those who become infected, do not test, and do not know they are infected)
• One in five people who have HIV don't know it. That means they aren't getting the medical care they need to stay healthy and avoid passing HIV to others

National HIV Testing Day is a reminder to get the facts, get tested, and get involved to take care of yourself and your partners.

 

Who should get tested?

EVERYONE! The CDC recommends testing at least ONCE a year for:

• —  Sexually active Individuals aged 13-64
• —  MSM(Men Who have Sex with Men)
• —  Injection Drug Users
• —  Men & women w/ more than one sexual partner
• —  Men & women who have had any STIs in their history
• —  Women who are or may become pregnant

When should you get tested?

Once a year or…every 3-6 months for more sexually active individuals & RETEST as needed depending upon your sexual activity

5 Reasons to get tested:

1. In the U.S., 1:5 people infected with HIV are unaware of their status    
2. Testing is the only way to know if a person is living with HIV
3. Even if you have been tested once, guidelines suggest RETESTING
4. If (+) test result, proper healthcare and drug therapies can stop the virus from progressing
5. If (-) test result, you can help stop the virus from keeping yourself protected

Get Tested. Know your Status. Share and Update your Status. Encourage those around you to get Tested. 

Bryan C. Heitz
Risk Reduction Specialist

Community Counseling Center

Landmark Decision Day

Wednesday Wisdom

Mental Health in Literature

Fiction

1. "A Tale for the Time Being" by Ruth Ozeki
2. "After Birth" by Elisa Albert
3. "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
4. "The Round House" by Louise Erdrich
5. "Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami
6. "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
7. "Hausfrau" by Jill Alexander Essbaum
8. "A Gesture Life" by Chang-rae Lee
9. "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven
10. "Nobody Is Ever Missing" by Catherine Lacey
11. "OCD Love Story" by Corey Ann Haydu

Nonfiction

12. "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
13. "Willow Weep for Me" by Meri Nana-Ama Danquah
14. "Trauma and Recovery" by Judith Lewis Herman
15. "After a While You Just Get Used To It" by Gwendolyn Knapp
16. "Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression" edited by Nell Casey
17. "Stop Walking on Eggshells" by Paul Mason
18. "Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia" by Marya Hornbacher
19. "Don't Panic" by R. Reid Wilson, PhD
20. "Just Checking: Scenes From the Life of an Obsessive-Compulsive" by Emily Colas
21. "Lit" by Mary Karr
22. "Irritable Hearts: A PTSD Love Story" by Mac McClelland
23. "Lay My Burden Down: Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis Among African Americans" by Alvin Poussaint and Amy Alexander
24. "Hyperbole and a Half" by Allie Brosh

*This list was published on Buzzfeed on June 9. Click HERE for more information about the books listed.

Wednesday Wisdom

Introducing: Community Cares!

Did you know that today is the "Worldwide Day of Giving?"

Each month, generous individuals, community partners, and businesses in Southern Nevada give back to Community Counseling Center in many ways, including offering their time, resources, and/or monetary donations.

Giving is simple -- maybe it's a few minutes you might have otherwise spent checking Facebook, or a coffee from Starbucks that you can do without for one day. It might be offering a smile or kind words to someone in need of encouragement, or lending a helping hand to make someone's task go faster. Giving doesn't have to cost any money at all, just a little time and willingness. 

In short, everyone is capable of giving in some capacity. 

With that in mind, Community Counseling Center is delighted to unveil its newest program, "Community Cares," a volunteer-based, staff-led initiative to give back to the community that so abundantly supports us each and every day. 

Throughout the month of June, we will be collecting nonperishable food items that will be donated to East Valley Family Services. Anyone who is able is encouraged to join the CCC staff in participating in this worthy cause. A collection box is located in our main lobby, near the front desk.  We also welcome suggestions for other service projects that "Community Cares" could adopt in future months. 

Let's do some good in the community by giving back. Together, we can make a difference!

-ASM

Graduation is not the end...

... it's the beginning!

As we settle into June, graduation season has been in full swing for about a month and a half now. At Community Counseling Center, it's no exception, as each month, individuals who have made a commitment to recovery receive their Certificate of Completion and graduate from their group or program. 

This is a momentous occasion, as many have struggled with addiction throughout much of their lives, and this commitment to living a healthier life is one to be celebrated. 

The words below were submitted by "Steve-O," who graduated from CCC today.

***

"Graduation Words of Encouragement"

As an addict in recovery I have been through a major life struggle. I have lived with my addiction. I had to force myself to realize the problem I had with drugs. Finally after 13 years of being addicted to crystal meth and at least 5 times in these program rooms, I have finally accepted offers of help and made it through a rehab program to get sober and learn how to stay sober, most importantly. 

* Being an addict in recover, your confidence is gonna be a little shaken, but remember that you have just given yourself a fresh start. You can now be or do whatever you want. There are tons of addicts finding success. Few people overcome an obstacle as big as addiction and that's what makes us special. Believe it or not, we have so much inspiration to give. What is greater than being able to help others through their own personal struggles by encouraging them with our own? 

* It's not so much the amount of time we have been sober, but what we have learned in that time!

* Each person has his or her own story when it comes to their addiction. It's usually determined as an addiction when we experience negative consequences -- like the inability to trust ourselves -- and despite those negative consequences, we still do it. Today I have regained my right for choice or trust. I have looked at most of my issues in my life and almost brought closure to most of them, so I no longer have to hide behind drugs. 

When I say I have dealt with most of my issues from the past, I'm not only talking about the things that I have said/done, or what has happened to me, been said to me  or done to me, but the issues from within, "trusting in myself." I have finally had a change of heart.

Steve-O

6/11/2015

Wednesday Wisdom

Did You Know?

 For More Information...

HIV/AIDS Long Term Survivors

 

Today is National HIV/AIDS Long-Term Survivor Awareness Day (NHALTSAD). It is a day to celebrate those who have survived decades of surviving, not just living, with HIV/AIDS. It was on June 5, 1981, that the disease now known as AIDS first appeared in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

National HIV/AIDS Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day is held annually on June 5th on the anniversary of the first published report of what came to be known as AIDS.

 

“[NHALTSAD] is a day to celebrate our survival and begin envisioning the future we never imagined. The first decades of our adulthood were overwhelmingly consumed with illness, death and fear. Now it is up to us to ensure that the next decades are the best they can be. The least we can do is afford survivors the respect they have earned and acknowledge them as elders, teachers and leaders.” -- Tez Anderson is the lead organizer of NHALTSAD (2014)

Research was conducted by Dr. George Solomon and Dr. Lydia Temoshok on how the mind and emotions impact the immune system. The purpose of their study was to understand how "long-term survivors" of HIV are different from people who follow the expected course of HIV disease. Through their research they were able to identify eight characteristics among long-term survivors of HIV.

The eight characteristics are:

1. They are realistic and accept their diagnosis and do not take it as a death sentence.
2. They have a fighting spirit and refuse to be helpless/hopeless.
3. They have changed lifestyles.
4. They are assertive and have the ability to get out of stressful and unproductive situations.
5. They are tuned into their own psychological and physical needs -- and they take care of them.
6. They are able to talk openly about their illness.
7. They have a sense of personal responsibility for their health, and look at the treating health care provider as a collaborator.
8. They are altruistically involved with other persons with HIV.

Long term survivors are now experiencing unique and complicated litany of challenges including, but not limited to, effects of stigma/discrimination/prejudice, depression, isolation, long term side effects of HART, compounded health problems due to long term HIV/AIDS infection, loss of friends or family, etc. So, if you have a Long Term Survivor of H/A in your circle of friends or family, reach out and express support in their continued fight and survival! Or, just support by posting on your social media sites and let the world know your support Long Term Survivors and their struggle!

 

Bryan C. Heitz

Risk Reduction Specialist, CCCofSN

Wednesday Wisdom

Did You Know?

Today is "Say Something Nice Day!!"

So, here are 7 reasons why you should pay a compliment to someone every day...

1) It takes the focus off you.

Anytime you can break the habit of "stinkin' thinkin'" even just for a second, you're shifting your attention from all the things going wrong in our day and putting it on helping make someone else's day a little sunnier. Before long, your compliment to a complete stranger could go viral, and strangers everywhere will be smiling at each other, telling the person they passed on the street something they like about them. Yes, this is indeed a game changer for everyone.

2) Smiling burns calories.

And smiling often leads to laughing, and laughing burns even more calories. 

3) Compliments spark creativity.

Finding something positive to say to someone at least once a day has the power to remove, say, that person's mental block around a big project they've been struggling with and clear the pathways for them to get to the solution. While something this drastic might not happen to each person who receives a compliment from you, you will undoubtedly create a space for them to think differently from that moment on. Small acts of kindness go a long way these days.

4) Kindness doesn't actually kill.

We've all heard the phrase "kill them with kindness." Well, if the fear of killing someone with kindness has prevented you from complimenting a person, I hereby release you from said fear. Kindness could quite possibly kill a bad mood or a bad memory, but it WILL NOT kill you or the person on the other end of the kindness. Don't believe me? Try it! Be nice to someone right now and see what happens. 

5) Sincere compliments build trust. 

Each one of us walking this planet has the desire to be acknowledged. When someone else notices even the slightest thing about another person, it can shout to the person, "Hey! Someone noticed me!!" Your daily compliments to "the shy one" at work whose name no one knows can help her break out of her shyness and, who knows? turn her into the best friend you've ever had. We all need someone in our lives we can trust, and the more we build up others, the more we're also building up ourselves. 

6. What goes around comes around. 

When you give a compliment, you're more than likely going to get one in return. And like we just saw in the previous reason, when someone notices you, you'll feel special, even if it's just for a moment. That moment could be enough to carry you the rest of the day and keep you happy and productive. Your boss might notice the change in your attitude and give you the raise that's been coming to you for the last two years. You'll be happier, your co-workers will be happier, and pretty soon the whole office building is happy. And yet again we have things going and coming around. 

7. Compliments are F.R.E.E.!

Enough said!

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