APRIL 2006
CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News February 16, 2006, Vol. 06-20
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration today unveiled a consensus statement outlining principles necessary to achieve mental health recovery. The consensus statement was developed through deliberations by over 110 expert panelists representing mental health consumers, families, providers, advocates, researchers, managed care organizations, state and local public officials and others.
"Recovery must be the common, recognized outcome of the services we support," SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie said. "This consensus statement on mental health recovery provides essential guidance that helps us move towards operationalizing recovery from a public policy and public financing standpoint. Individuals, families, communities, providers, organizations, and systems can use these principles to build resilience and facilitate recovery."
The 10 Fundamental Components of Recovery include:
Self-Direction: Consumers lead, control, exercise choice over, and determine their own path of recovery by optimizing autonomy, independence, and control of resources to achieve a self-determined life. By definition, the recovery process must be self-directed by the individual, who defines his or her own life goals and designs a unique path towards those goals.
Individualized and Person-Centered: There are multiple pathways to recovery based on an individual's unique strengths and resiliencies as well as his or her needs, preferences, experiences (including past trauma), and cultural background in all of its diverse representations. Individuals also identify recovery as being an ongoing journey and an end result as well as an overall paradigm for achieving wellness and optimal mental health.
Empowerment: Consumers have the authority to choose from a range of options and to participate in all decisions—including the allocation of resources—that will affect their lives, and are educated and supported in so doing. They have the ability to join with other consumers to collectively and effectively speak for themselves about their needs, wants, desires, and aspirations. Through empowerment, an individual gains control of his or her own destiny and influences the organizational and societal structures in his or her life.
Holistic: Recovery encompasses an individual's whole life, including mind, body, spirit, and community. Recovery embraces all aspects of life, including housing, employment, education, mental health and healthcare treatment and services, complementary and naturalistic services (such as recreational services, libraries, museums, etc.), addictions treatment, spirituality, creativity, social networks, community participation, and family supports as determined by the person. Families, providers, organizations, systems, communities, and society play crucial roles in creating and maintaining meaningful opportunities for consumer access to these supports.
Non-Linear: Recovery is not a step-by-step process but one based on continual growth, occasional setbacks, and learning from experience. Recovery begins with an initial stage of awareness in which a person recognizes that positive change is possible. This awareness enables the consumer to move on to fully engage in the work of recovery.
Strengths-Based: Recovery focuses on valuing and building on the multiple capacities, resiliencies, talents, coping abilities, and inherent worth of individuals. By building on these strengths, consumers leave stymied life roles behind and engage in new life roles (e.g., partner, caregiver, friend, student, employee). The process of recovery moves forward through interaction with others in supportive, trust-based relationships.
Peer Support: Mutual support—including the sharing of experiential knowledge and skills and social learning—plays an invaluable role in recovery. Consumers encourage and engage other consumers in recovery and provide each other with a sense of belonging, supportive relationships, valued roles, and community.
Respect: Community, systems, and societal acceptance and appreciation of consumers—including protecting their rights and eliminating discrimination and stigma—are crucial to achieving recovery. Self-acceptance and regaining belief in one's self are particularly vital. Respect ensures the inclusion and full participation of consumers in all aspects of their lives.
Responsibility: Consumers have a personal responsibility for their own self-care and journeys of recovery. Taking steps towards their goals may require great courage. Consumers must strive to understand and give meaning to their experiences and identify coping strategies and healing processes to promote their own wellness.
Hope: Recovery provides the essential and motivating message of a better future—that people can and do overcome the barriers and obstacles that confront them. Hope is internalized; but can be fostered by peers, families, friends, providers, and others. Hope is the catalyst of the recovery process.
The National Consensus Statement on Mental Health Recovery is available at SAMHSA's National Mental Health Information Center at www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov or 1-800-789-2647.
The Mental Health Empowerment Project (MHEP) has incorporated SAMHSA’s Statement on Mental Health Recovery into a presentation/training called, “The 10 Components of Recovery.” This presentation is available to all interested parties—either for their own viewing or for use as a presentation tool. You can access the document by going to MHEP’s web site at www.mhepinc.org and clicking on “Articles.”
Keynote speaker: John Crowe, MS, CRC
Co-Director, Building Connections Project
Mental Health Association of New
John Crowe will provide his views on how to
“Build Skills That Help You Connect to Your Community.”
Workshops include: The Building Blocks of Moving on with One’s Life; Spirituality; The Ten Components of Recovery; and many more…
May 17, 2006 (Wednesday)
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
(8:30 a.m. registration)
Hutchings Psychiatric Center
Education and Training Building (Auditorium)
545 Cedar Street
Syracuse, New York
Registration is Free
Lunch Is Included
May 23, 2006 (Tuesday)
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
(8:30 a.m. registration)
Clarion Hotel
3 Watervliet Avenue Extension
Albany, New York
Registration is Free
Lunch Is Included
REGISTER EARLY AS SEATING IS LIMITED
Mental Health Empowerment Project, Inc.
116 Everett Road, Suite 7
Albany, New York 12205
518-434-1393; 1-800-643-7462
“Recovery—Reaching New Heights in Psychiatric Rehabilitation”
June 5-8, 2006, Phoenix, Arizona
For more information:
A 3-day Training Institute with Pat Deegan, Ph.D.
Recovery Oriented Practice Training Institute—Common Ground
Recovery Oriented Practice is a comprehensive training program designed to help supervisors and direct service workers more effectively support clients’ recovery. For more information please go to http://www.patdeegan.com and click on “learn more about training institute.”
Mark Your Calendars Now for NMHA”s 2006 Annual Meeting “Building the Movement,” June 8-10 in Washington, DC.
Go to http://www.nmha.org/annualmeeting/index.cfm for additional details.
Generation to Generation: Sexual Abuse and Family Violence Throughout the Lifecycle
For more information contact Holly Beck at: 631/264-2915, ext. 302, or e-mail hbeck@fegs.org, The Long Island Committee on Sexual Abuse & Family Violence
Directory of Consumer-Driven Services
http://www.cdsdirectory.org
This Directory provides consumers, researchers, administrators, service providers, and others with a comprehensive central resource for information on national and local consumer-driven programs. Such programs have a proven track record in helping people recover from mental illness.
Created by the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Health Clearinghouse
http://www.sba.gov/training/aboutus.html
http://www.sba.gov/training/coursestake.html
This training network is a customer-focused SBA strategy designed to enrich, educate and empower small businesses. It is an internet-based learning environment—operating like a virtual campus—offering online courses, workshops, publications, information resources, learning tools and direct access to electronic counseling, and other forms of technical assistance.
These resources are made available by the Law, Health Policy & Disability Center, University of Iowa College of Law and The Burton Blatt Institute of Syracuse University.
To subscribe and/or view past resources of the week archives, access www.onestoptoolkit.org and click on the link to “Resources of the Week” on the right hand side of the page.
Prevalence and Treatment of Mental Disorders, 1900 to 2003 by Ronald C. Kessler
From the New England Journal of Medicine (www.nejm.org). In order to read this article, you will need to register for an account at nejm.org. The free account allows access to all articles six months old and older.
Unity House, Troy, NY, Seeks Peer Support Counselors
These positions would provide recovery support counseling including establishing rapport, helping consumers identify feelings/needs, providing encouragement/giving positive feedback.
For more information, please contact Tony Trahan at 518-274-2633, ext. 244, or forward your resume to Tony at: Unity House, 33 Second Street, 4th Floor, Troy, New York 12180.
Filmmaker Michael Moore invites you to
e-mail your "health care horror story" to him.
In a recent letter, Moore writes, “Send me a short, factual account of what has happened to you—and what IS happening to you right now if you have been unable to get the health care you need. Send it to: michael@michaelmoore.com. I will read every single one of them (even if I can't respond to or help everyone, I will be able to bring to light a few of your stories).”
February 3rd, 2006
Ark Media, a documentary film company is producing a film about life in mental institutions during the early to mid-twentieth century. The film will air on PBS as part of the series, “American Experience.” They are looking for people who can share their first-hand experiences of life in these institutions; and, are looking for either consumers/survivors or former employees or their family members. The film will vividly represent the sacrifices that occurred in overcrowded hospitals, often consisting of a decline in quality of life and the turn toward desperate, risky treatments.
If you are interesting in participating or obtaining additional information, please contact
Ark Media by phone at: 718-832-5279 or 718-369-0880; by fax: 718-768-5454; or e-mail: katecwalker@yahoo.com.
Com . ple . men . tum, v.t., Lat.: to make whole
Dr. Phil House, Billings Gazette
Christmas is over, and now it is time to reflect on the past year and look forward to the new year. It's easy to recall the trials and difficulties and forget the blessings experienced. We need to focus on gratitude, a gentle, positive emotion with distinct impact.
Last year, I attended a presentation on gratitude and thankfulness conducted by psychologist Robert Emmons, Ph.D., University of California at Davis. He referred to gratitude as the "forgotten factor" in happiness research. Emmons' research reveals that grateful people report higher levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, vitality, optimism and lower levels of depression and stress. Their disposition toward gratitude enhances pleasant feeling states, while not denying the negative aspects of life.
Emmons' research reveals that people with a strong disposition toward gratitude have the capacity to be empathic, and take the perspective of others. They are rated as more generous and helpful by others. In addition, those who are more involved in their faith and regularly attend religious services and activities are more likely to be grateful.
These people are more likely to believe in the interconnectedness of all life and are committed to and responsible to others. Grateful individuals place less importance on material goods, do not judge success in terms of possessions accumulated, are less envious of others and are more likely to share possessions.
Consider pursuing gratitude as a conscious strategy to improve psychological well-being this year by engaging in some of the following:
These resources function as reserves to be drawn on in times of need. In other words, gratitude builds psychological, social and spiritual resources.
In the midst of some of life's toughest trials, a positive strategy is to consciously pursue thanksgiving and gratitude.
I recently watched a young soldier get off a plane at the airport, coming home for the holidays. His troubled gait revealed he was recovering from a serious injury. His loved ones gathered around and did not seem to focus on his limitations, but on the joy of having him home from a foreign country alive. I overheard him express thanks for their caring support.
I cried with a family who lost a small child to a terminal illness. The family focused on how blessed they had been to have him as a son, and the joy he brought into their lives. Yet they were going through the grief of missing him on their first holiday without him. We addressed healthy ways to bear the loss and express gratitude for his brief time with them.
Over this past year, I have observed a neighbor wrestling with cancer, but expressing thanks to God for the daily gift of life.
I spoke with a child about the death of a beloved pet, what joy that dog brought him daily and how he is feeling loss. I struggled to answer the question of whether pets go to heaven. We figured since God took such special care in creating animals like his dog, there will probably be animals in heaven, and we will hope his precious pet is among them.
Learning to experience gratitude in the midst of loss is a positive decision in the midst of trials and troubles. It is good to acknowledge the loss of big - and little - things in life, and learn to focus on the good received and blessings experienced.
Staying thankful in the present makes it easier to bear loss when it inevitably occurs.
Dr. Phil House is a clinical and school psychologist at Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch. He can be reached at house@ybgr.org.
Source: Billings Gazette 'Mental Health E-News' posting, New York Ass'n of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Service.
By Rachel Kayani Muslim News February 24, 2006
Eating habits could be responsible for the rise in mental health problems in the UK.
Over the past fifty years, the consumption of fresh produce has decreased, and more saturated fats and sugars are being eaten. As a result the nation's health has been affected and, according to a new report, it could also be damaging our mental health.
The Mental Health Foundation and food campaign group, Sustain, claim unbalanced, less nutritious diets have led to an increase in cases of depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Alzheimer's disease. The report also concludes that it is not just what we are eating but also how it is produced that is having an effect. Due to changes in the way food is now manufactured and produced, in many cases, the vitamin and mineral content has been reduced.
Industrialized farming methods mean the use of pesticides is now more widespread and the body fat content of many animals is now higher. For example, research has shown that chickens now reach their slaughter weight twice as fast as they did 30 years ago, and their fat content has increased from around 2% to 22%.
Overall, the report found that vegetable and fish consumption has declined by 34% and 59% respectively in the last 60 years, and only 13% of men and 15% of women eat at least five portions of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. There has also been a drop in intake of omega-3 fatty acids, so called 'good fats', that can be found in oily fish and nuts. Deficiency in omega-3 fatty acids have been implicated in a number of mental health problems including depression and hyperactivity disorders.
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116 Everett Rd, Suite 7
Albany, NY 12205
Phone: 518-434-1393 or 1-800-MHEP-INC
Fax: 518-434-3823
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