mental – Ezer Mizion

A Letter Meant for You, Our Dear Friends and Supporters

I had to write to express how deeply impressed I was by the “Heroes’ Retreat” that Ezer Mizion ran for people struggling with mental illness. Thank you to the organization and dedicated workers for their tremendous efforts and attention to every detail, all in the goal of bringing joy to the emotionally ill and providing them with positive experiences, so as to give them faith in their ability to cope successfully with their challenges.

I heard this from many relatives of mentally ill individuals who took part in the retreat, but it is hard to describe what I saw with my own eyes. Unfortunately, we are going through a very difficult time with our son. For the past three years, he has barely stepped out of the house, and he refused to go to this retreat, too. Continue reading A Letter Meant for You, Our Dear Friends and Supporters

When a Crisis Smashes the Family Unit to Smithereens

Did you ever watch a child build a block tower that you just knew was about to collapse? You understood that if you move the green block a bit out and the blue one a bit to the left, it will balance but, otherwise, another block or two and the whole structure will come tumbling down. There in the edifice of chessed known as the Ezer Mizion building, ‘blocks’ are adjusted every day as staff members do their utmost to keep the family structure intact when a crisis hits. Rabbi Chananya Chollak, International Chairman of Ezer Mizion, and his key staff discuss the type of problems they deal with.

Let me tell you about a case we had a few years ago. A Down’s Syndrome child was born to a family and I was summoned to give the family encouragement. When I got to the house, I found both parents languishing in bed, in total depression. Continue reading When a Crisis Smashes the Family Unit to Smithereens

New Hope for People Struggling with Mental Illness

Professional seminar for the chareidi community, arranged by the Ezer Mizion Mental Health Family Support Center
pr mental illness flower MB900185197 About 600 people took part in the annual seminar of Ezer Mizion’s Family Counseling Center on the subject “A Bridge of Hope.” The seminar discussed the dilemmas of hope, the opportunities it offers, and the wonderful results that follow when you build up inner strength by taking the route of hope. Continue reading New Hope for People Struggling with Mental Illness

Uncalled for Anxiety

Letters to the Editor – Inyan Tziburi

Anxiety from Yamim Noraim

Oct. 20, 2014

Dear Public Interest section:

It is a few days before Rosh Hashanah, and I have finally decided to take paper and pen and write – write to everyone who, like me, is overwhelmed by anxiety. Not fear of the Divine Judgment, but fear of the harsh future that will be decreed upon me for the next year, G-d forbid. I tremble in fear from the red mark on the highways, and am terrified that I or someone in my family has been marked for tragedy. I wait with inner impatience for the Yamim Noraim – and they are really terrible days for me – to be over, and for the gleeful days of Sukkot to come and with their joy, silence the storm raging within my heart.

Another year passes, and yet another, and for me, as early as the sunny month of Tamuz, Elul with all its fears, anxieties and nerves, begins to darken my state of mind. I become an edgy, moody mother, wracked by guilt feelings. Continue reading Uncalled for Anxiety

Mental Rehabilitation in a Framework Appropriate for a Yeshiva Student

Hamevaser
Aug. 1, 2014

A new Ezer Mizion program enables mentally ill, young, religious men to rehabilitate in a sheltered environment without giving up on their values. Brown Satin Kippah
The Cohen family experienced a saga of worry, distress, and deep challenge when their son Moshe, an 18-year-old yeshiva boy, went through a mental crisis. Continue reading Mental Rehabilitation in a Framework Appropriate for a Yeshiva Student

Life Skills Center for Yeshiva Boys

In response to a need within the community in addition to a request from the Health Ministry, a program is being developed to provide unique rehabilitative occupational frameworks for young people. Continue reading Life Skills Center for Yeshiva Boys

Mental Health Education and Awareness

Next week, as part of a series on mental health topics of interest, Ezer Mizion’s Family Support Center will be hosting a lecture on the subject of social anxiety, in collaboration with the Elad municipality.

The main speaker, Dr. Yaakov Charnes, Ministry of Health regional psychiatrist, will speak about social anxiety, low self-image and ways to deal with them. He will also discuss introversion and extreme shyness that detracts from normal functioning and blocks normal joie de vivre.

If you a mental health professional or therapist, educator, family member or the general public you are invited to join us on Tuesday, May 20^th, at the Sport Center, Avtalyon St., Elad at 8:00 PM.

Inauguration of Mental Health Building

In the presence of many distinguished rabbis and public figures, as well as rehabilitating individuals and their families, Ezer Mizion inaugurated the new, spacious building housing its Mental Health Rehab House, that features sheltered employment and training for people recovering from mental illness.

Since the inception of Ezer Mizion’s Mental Health services department some fifteen years ago, it has served as the address for rehabilitating individuals, enabling them to work and resume normative life. The beautiful, new structure was erected as a collaborative effort of Ezer Mizion, the National Insurance Institute and the Ministry of Health, with the goal of upgrading the rehabilitation process. Continue reading Inauguration of Mental Health Building

No Longer Alone

No more shame, no more concealment, no more shying away from getting help. The mentally ill are no longer alone.

Sara’s Story

Sara was a bubbly, upbeat bride. The couple was deliriously joyful when they realized they’d soon become a threesome. But months later, what permeated their home was anything but joy. With the maturity uncharacteristic of a young husband, barely out of his teens, he turned to Ezer Mizion for help. “I understand that a new mother has to rest but my wife just ignores the baby no matter how hard he cries. Sometimes she’ll burst into tears for no apparent reason. She was fine after birth but now, three months later, she neglects the house, neglects the baby. It doesn’t appear that she is tired or even lazy. It seems as pr mental illness flower MB900445658 if she-she-she’s not there!” the young husband’s voice broke. Continue reading No Longer Alone

Time Heals

Members of the Social Club for the Mentally Ill display their clock creations