Providing a haven for mentally ill young adults
“Thomas Mountain, 29, sits next to Bipolar Bear while having a cup of coffee in the Group Room at Daniel’s Place in Santa Monica. Daniel’s Place assists people ages 18 to 30 who are experiencing their first episodes of mental illness….
“It’s not at all typical for a 27-year-old man to enlist Buster the Bunny and Peter the Penguin to facilitate conversations with his mother.
“But Jan Kyas can tell his plush go-betweens things he finds it hard to say directly to people. His mother, Jirina Kyas, has embraced this communion; she talks to them as well when speaking right to her son doesn’t work.
“A former high school percussionist and Santa Monica College graduate, the young man learned as an adult that he suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism characterized by difficulties with social and communication skills, and the often attendant depression and anxiety.
“He carries the stuffed animals in his backpack. Kyas has no qualms about trotting out his inanimate menagerie when he visits Daniel’s Place…”
Continued in article: A safe haven for mentally ill young adults.
Also see the page Mental health: teen / young adult, and Mental health & fitness articles.
