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Mental Health News You Can Use...August 2009 Issue 24 This electronic update is written by SAMHSA's Resource Center to Promote Acceptance, Dignity and Social Inclusion Associated with Mental Health (ADS Center), a program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) Office of Consumer Affairs. We invite you to share this information with your friends and colleagues who share your interest in confronting prejudice and discrimination associated with mental illness and to post this information in your own newsletters or listservs. Visit the ADS Center on the Web at http://www.promoteacceptance.samhsa.gov. In this issue...Spotlight: Contact Approach Efforts Models, Programs, and Technical Assistance Tools... In Our Own Voice In My Experience... “A Transforming Journey”, by Carla Beck A Letter from the ADS CenterResearch has shown that interpersonal contact between people who have mental health problems and the general public is the most effective way to reduce the negative attitudes, beliefs, and discrimination associated with mental illnesses (Corrigan & Wassel, 2008). There are different levels of contact that can be used to decrease stigma. The most effective as noted by Dr. Corrigan is the level in which you find out “that a coworker or person in your church or a neighbor is struggling with a mental illness. That tends to greatly challenge the stereotypes.” 1 Individuals across the country are involved in contact approach activities that help individuals in their local communities learn about mental health and mental problems, and understand that anyone may be affected. In this issue of Mental Health News You Can Use…we share with you information on several contact approach activities that are being implemented in communities across the United States. We hope that these activities will serve as a catalyst for you to initiate a contact approach effort in your community. Sincerely, Spotlight: Contact Approach EffortsCapitol Showcase Consumer Art Exhibit Iowa Advocates for Mental Health Recovery Minds Interrupted: Stories of Lives Affected by Mental Illness New Jersey Mental Health Players Reducing Stigma by Meeting and Learning from People with Serious Mental Illness Sharing the Struggle: Promoting Mental Health on Campus through Students’ Stories of Recovery Students in Prevention Stamp Out Stigma Stomp Out Stigma The Heard: A Speakers Bureau SAMHSA Campaign for Mental Health Recovery State Implementation Awards Online ResourcesTelling Your Recovery Story: Giving Meaning and Purpose to Your Pain by Using it to Help Someone Developing a Stigma Reduction Initiative Elements of Recovery for People Experiencing Mental Illness Voice of Transformation: Developing Recovery-Based Statewide Consumer/Survivor Organizations Self-Disclosure and Its Impact on Individuals Who Receive Mental Health Services Challenging Stereotypes: An Action Guide ResearchAlexandar, L., Link, B. The impact of contact on stigmatizing attitudes toward people with mental illness. Journal of Mental Health. 2003 June; 12:271-289. Corrigan, P.W., Gelb, B. Three programs that use mass approaches to challenge the stigma of mental illness. Psychiatric Services. 2006 March; 57:393-398. Corrigan, P.W., Larson, J., Sells, M., Niessen, N., et al. Will filmed presentations of education and contact diminish mental illness stigma. Community Mental Health Journal. 2007 April; 43:171-181. Corrigan, P.W., Penn, D. Lessons from social psychology on discrediting psychiatric stigma. The American Psychologist. 1999 September; 54:765-776. Corrigan, P.W., River, L., Lundin, R., Penn, D., et. al. Three strategies for changing attributions about severe mental illness. Schizophrenia Bulletin. 2001; 27:187-195. Corrigan, P.W., Wassel, A. Understanding and influencing the stigma of mental illness. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services. 2008 January; 46:42-48. Heihnders, M., Van Der Meij, S. The fight against stigma: An overview of stigma-reduction strategies and interventions. Psychology, Health and Medicine. 2006 August; 11:353-363. Levin, S., Van Larr, C. (2004). Stigma and group inequality: Social psychological perspectives. New Jersey: Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology. Mann, C., Himelein, M. Putting the person back into psychopathology: an intervention to reduce mental illness stigma in the classroom. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 2008 July; 43:545-551. Penn, D. Couture, S. Interpersonal contact and the stigma of mental illness: A review of the literature. Journal of Mental Health. 2003 June; 12:291-305. Rusch, L., Kanter, J., Angelone, A., Ridley, R. The impact of In Our Own Voice on stigma. American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation. 2008 October; 11:373-389. Rusch, N., Angermeyer, M.C., Corrigan, P. Mental illness stigma: Concepts, consequences, and initiatives to reduce stigma. European Psychiatry: The Journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists. 2005 December; 20:529-539. Reinke, R., Corrigan, P., Leonhard, C., Lundin, R. Examining two aspects of contact on the stigma of mental illness. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 2004 June; 23:377-389. Spagnolo, A., Murphy, A., Librera, L. Reducing stigma by meeting and learning from people with mental illness. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. 2008; 31:186-193. Models, Programs, and Technical Assistance Tools:In Our Own VoiceIn Our Own Voice (IOOV) is a unique public education program developed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). The program offers insight into the recovery that is possible for people with mental health problems; it aims to meet the need for consumer-run education initiatives, to set a standard for quality education about mental illness from those who have been there, to offer genuine work opportunities for consumers, to encourage self-confidence and self-esteem in presenters, and to focus on recovery and the message of hope. An article published in the peer-review Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal concludes that: “There is strong evidence that NAMI’s ‘In Our Own Voice’ consumer education presentation is effective as a strategy for increasing audience knowledge about mental illness and improving attitudes towards those who experience psychiatric disorders.” (Wood & Wahl, 2006). Presentations are offered by mental health consumers who have been trained as presenters. They offer personal testimonies about their journey with mental illness—through dark days, acceptance, treatment, coping skills, successes, and the realization of hopes, and dreams. The presentations consist of a video, personal testimony, and a discussion period. These presentations have helped to enrich the audiences understanding of how people with serious mental disorders cope with the reality of their illnesses while recovering and reclaiming productive lives. The presentations vary in length from 60 to 90 minutes, and they offer an opportunity for dialogue between the audience and the presenters. IOOV presentations are given to consumer groups, students, law enforcement officials, educators, providers, faith community members, politicians, professionals, inmates, and interested civic groups. Since the inception of the program in 1996 and through the spring of 2008, more than 2,000 presenters have been trained to conduct presentations, over 100,000 audience members have been reached, and the program is active in 37 of the 50 States. A Spanish language version of the IOOV program is also being developed and will be made available soon. To learn more about the IOOV program, contact your NAMI State office or local affiliate about presentations in your area. The contact information for your local affiliate or State office can be accessed by clicking here. In My Experience... “A Transforming Journey” by Carla BeckMy life would be smaller if I hadn’t had mental illness. I probably would not see the bigger picture of the world and the way things are. I feel very blessed that I did walk through the fire. It opened my eyes to seeing humanity. When I was thirty-two years old and starting a children’s theme party business, I started believing my dentist was following me. I thought my teeth were bugged and there were cameras installed everywhere I went. I remember the day I first thought I was being followed. I remember the first item I looked over and thought the dentist was there watching me. My whole family – my father, sister, brother, and their kids – were out at an ice show. When they got home, I started acting differently. I thought the cameras were there. My business was incorporated, I had ordered $5, 000 worth of inventory, and I would be up until two in the morning taking photographs for the catalog. I was trying to keep everything perfect – the perfect house, the perfect schedule. I thought that my dentist and half the county were rooting for me to succeed; I would turn on the radio so they could give me messages. If a song came on the radio advertising a certain church, I thought that was a message for me to go to that church, so I would run from church to church. During the beginning phase, I was euphoric. I felt like I had stepped out of the rain into this new world where everything was intense. I believe there was a good side and an evil side, and the dentist was on the good side. Then my emotions began to fluctuate rapidly. I made my husband change the locks on the door. I locked my journals in a box, but that wasn’t good enough. I started burning what I wrote. I left a note for the evil people: “I don’t want anyone else to know what I wrote in my journal. Your purpose may have originally been all in fun, but it’s not anymore. If there was a recording device in the house it needs to be removed. I do not want my daughter used to give me any messages.” I was in psychosis for nine months before I got help. Nobody knew what was going on. Even though we had a history of mental illness in my family, it had never been talked about, so no one knew why I was acting so different. I kind of lucked into getting help: My husband and I were going to a marriage counselor and I said something that tipped her off. She immediately referred me to a psychiatrist. Wisely, the psychiatrist did not try to convince me that my hallucinations were not real. He gave me some medicine and told me it would help me deal with stress. I took it. That’s when the real walking through fire began. I went on an anti-psychotic medication and a few weeks later, I realized how faulty my thinking had been. My head stopped feeling as if it were about to explode from the thoughts pouring in, but I became catatonic at work. I couldn’t function. I lost my job. My creativity was gone; I was emotionally flat. I could not bathe the kids or go into stores. I felt like I had three phases of reality: In the first phase I couldn’t concentrate on people, television, or writing. In the second phase I couldn’t tolerate anything, and I had to lie in a dark and quiet room with a pillow over my head. In the third phase I felt a little like myself but tired and anxious about going back into phase one again. I would cycle through this many times a day. I wasn’t able to hold a conversation. I wasn’t able to follow the directions on a box of macaroni and cheese. I progressed to not being able to be around people at all. Today, I work as a mental health peer specialist. I facilitate recovery classes; I co-founded a peer support group; I tell my story in the newspaper; I speak out about mental illness at recovery conferences, psychiatric hospitals, and police stations. Prior to going into psychosis, my house was the one all the neighborhood kids visited to enjoy crafts, throw water balloons, and come to themed birthday parties. Now my home is once again the place for kids to hang out, have holiday parties, and enjoy birthday celebrations. This is my story about how my illness developed, how I survived it, how I live with it, and how it has transformed my life. This story is part of a book, Firewalkers: Madness, Beauty & Mystery, developed by the Virginia Organization of Consumers Asserting Leadership as part of a SAMHSA Campaign for Mental Health Recovery state implementation award.
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SAMHSA Resource Center to Promote Acceptance, Dignity and Social Inclusion Associated with Mental Health http://promoteacceptance.samhsa.gov/ |