Mental Health Recovery

Mental Health Recovery

We believe recovery is possible. Our site contains articles, news, recovery techniques and links. We advocate for mental health care systems to adopt the recovery model.

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Recovery IS Possible...

	More Articles on Recovey
	Advance Directives - use an advance directive as a crisis plan and as part of WRAP.
	Workforce Issues with Recovery-Based Care Transformation
	WRAP, Peer Support and Recovery: Tools for System Change
	Implementing Recovery-based Care from East to West
	Partners in Recovery - Panel: Integrating Psychiatry into the Recovery Process, at the Adult System of Care Conference, April 26-28, 2000, in Santa Clara. The key note speakers were Jay Mahler, an activist in the consumer survivor movement, and Patricia Deegan Ph. D., Director of Training at the National Empowerment Center.
	Living with voices - useful articles on coping with this common and distressing symptom.
	Schizophrenia & Recovery - resources for recovery from schizophrenia.
	Seeking alternative treatments for depression - for 30%-50% drugs simply do not work.
	Research on the Drug Treatment of Schizophrenia: A Critical Appraisal and Implications for Social Work Education (alternate link)
	Mental Health Recovery: What Helps and What Hinders? - National Research Project for the Development of Recovery Facilitating System Performance Indicators releases report.
	10 Keys to Recovery - UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute researchers have identified 10 key factors to recovery from schizophrenia.
	Most employers want to make accommodations for employees with mental illness -- but may have misconceptions on how to do it.
	Website lifeline for victims worldwide, hundreds are finding help combating addiction to prescription drugs.

Recovery from Schizophrenia - excerpt from Finding Hope in Schizophrenia: Healing and Hope for Everyone In the Family by Louise Loots Thornton. Thornton is the mother of three children. Two have been diagnosed with mental illness. Her son, diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, has been living with the symptoms for over 20 years. Her daughter has a dual diagnosis and severe depression. Louise has been a member of NAMI/SCC for over 15 years and co-teaches the Journey of Hope class in Watsonville. She is an English teacher at Gavilan College.

	Someone Believes in Me - Article by Daniel B. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., author of PACE: Personal Assistance in Community Existence - An Alternative to P/ACT, about the strength of healing that people who have significantly recovered from mental illness received from having someone believe in them.
	"We've Been Misled by the Drug Industry," by Daniel B. Fisher. Editors Note: We believe that in many cases medications are the key to recovery, as do several individuals comments on Dan Fisher's article.
	Recovery from Schizophrenia is possible - A very large group of consumers has achieved remarkable recovery. They are people who, in spite of ongoing symptoms, have carved out a life. - From Monitor on Psychology, Feb. 2000
	Schizophrenia - A handbook for families - published by Health Canada, this approaches treatment with more than just medication.
	RecoveryTools.Org is a non-commercial recovery resource site with recovery concepts, strategies and tools to promote hope, health and recovery for people who experience psychiatric symptoms.
	Setting up an independent living situation for someone with a mental illness or developmental disability.
	SAMHSA released a series of self-help guides called "Recovering Your Mental Health," which cover basic topics such as esteem, friendship, wellness living, etc.
	Individuals in India who suffer from mental illness sometimes bypass psychiatrists and prescriptions in favor of the healing environment of a local religious temple.
	Pat Deegan, Ph.D., speaks, revealing how the mental health system has so often impeded patients' road to recovery, and how we can do better.
	Not long ago I was asked to speak and be available to answer questions at a meeting of our local chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). The participants were either individuals being treated for a mental disorder or family members. I was struck by the first question, "How do we find a psychiatrist who will both prescribe medications and talk to us?" As I looked at the audience, they all nodded in affirmation that this was a significant problem.
	Spirituality, Meaning and Recovery from Serious Brain Disorder - essay by Garth House.
	Psychotherapy not only can lead to clinical improvement in patients with psychiatric disorders, but also can favorably influence their brains and physiology as well, increasing scientific evidence shows. - Psychiatric News July 6, 2001.
	Treatment of psychosis without using psychiatric medications - letter from Dr. Loren Mosher.
	John Nash's recovery was done without antipsychotic medications. Robert Whitaker comments that drugs can even hinder recovery.
	Prevention of Mental Illness - People Who publishes consumer views on what helps promote mental health and prevent mental illness.
	Alternative Mental Health Ezine - For those who are suffering from mental ailments, many alternative remedies exist that soothe symptoms without the toxic effects of drugs. Click here to visit the Alternative Mental Health site.
	Intentional Care Performance Standards help bridge the gap between the principles of recovery and empowerment and the real-world application of these principles in the everyday work of direct service staff and their supervisors.
	Some factors that may help support recovery.
	Words that Can Help - Often encouragement is the best way of helping.
	Recovery from schizophrenia is not rare.

Wellness Action Recovery Plan- Notes from a recent talk by B. J. North and Sharon Kuehn, on WRAP: The Wellness Action Recovery Plan, a program of self-help and recovery started by Mary Ellen Copeland, a mental health recovery educator and author. Sharon Kuehn

	Family Response to Chronic Illness - Excerpts from the book Family Process by Peter Steinglass.
	Individual Mental Health Rehabilitation Services include services to assist a client in improving, maintaining or restoring various community living skills such as functional skills, daily living skills, social skills, and leisure skills.

Career Services in Santa Cruz County - Carol Caruso writes about the services available in Santa Cruz for developing employment skills.

	Recovery from OCD - obsessive compulsive disorder - Eric Shapiro casts light on what effected his own recovery.
	Messengers - In January, we published this story in our newsletter. Read what happened, and the power that newsletters and web sites can have to effect change in our society.
	A personal story highlighting the down-side of Zoloft.
	Jeff's story - psychiatric mis-treatment in our prisons.
	Mistreatment by system results in half a decade of psychiatric abuse.
	I survived schizophrenia.
	Eric Shapiro writes of his own battle with OCD, that he used his mind's awareness of its self combined with acupuncture to recover.
	Warning: Anti-depressants can be hazardous to your health. David Healy's "healthy volunteer study" led him to conclude SSRI's may cause aggression and agitation.
	In the top six, five of the drugs said to be causing withdrawal problems are SSRIs - second after Seroxat comes Efexor (venlafaxine), with 272 complaints.
	A story of recovery and hope - The Naked Bird Watcher.

Advocacy...

California Legislation

	Massive cuts announced by Governor Davis. Entire budget cuts (Mental health on page 15).
	Hundreds pack Assembly Budget Subcommittee hearing on December 17.
	California Governor Davis signs AB 1421 - Involuntary Confinement Bill.
	Large turnout for September 17th rally urging Governor Davis to veto AB 1421 for involuntary mental health treatment. More on AB 1421. Voting record in Senate.
	In-Home Supportive Services funding still needs Governor's signature.
	Governor Gray Davis, signed the 2002-2003 state budget, with some expected additional cuts made to services and programs for people with disabilities.

Federal Legislation

	Warnings issued for Paxil use for those under 18 years.
	108th Congress begins consideration of spending bills for the current 2003 fiscal year. NEW
	Congress Adjourns for Election Campaign Season Without Acting on Mental Illness Insurance Parity Bill or Funding for Research and Services Programs.
	Action needed on Family Opportunity Act
	National Empowerment Center, National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse and CONTAC for FY 2003 threatened.
	Senate Finance Committee Medicare package includes discriminatory provision of 50% copayment for outpatient mental health treatment services.
	Advocacy needed for HHS-Labor Appropriations Bill for FY 2003.
	NAMI legislative priorities for 2002.
	Federal legislative update - August 2002.

General

	Mental Health commission issues searing indictment of nation’s MH system.
	Psychiatric survivors declare a hunger strike questioning NAMI and American Psychiatric Association on human rights violations.
	Status of health care access in America: a crisis unfolding.
	Massachusetts’s state Mental Health Commissioner states why outpatient commitment laws are wrong, and what we should be doing instead.
	The story of Rodney Yoder. (June 2003 update)
	David Oaks writes of the "triple play" completed by President Bush against the consumer / survivor movement and disability groups, along with the united response it has triggered.
	Federal legislative update - August 2002.
	PBS Documentary on John Nash. This documentary raises questions of accuracy in the movie, A Beautiful Mind.
	Senate Bill S 543 would Provide Full Parity for All Mental Disorders. This bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Senate would eliminate health-insurance companies’ discrimination between mental health and medical/surgical care. Notably, The Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001 (S. 543) would level the health-coverage playing field by prohibiting companies’ practice of providing unequal benefits and financial requirements. Mental health advocates should urge their Senators to co-sponsor S. 543. Read this June 12, 2001 Action Alert from the Bazelon Center and a list of the 30 current sponsors. Click here for updates on status of parity bills in the U.S.

Health plans still discriminate against mental illness.
Washington Post: Second Opinion on Parity Legislation.

	State of the Union for disabled people in America.
	The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) has launched a new grant initiative called "Systems Change Grants for Community Living." HCFA's goal is to improve community services for children and adults of any age who have a disability, including persons disabled due to a severe mental illness.
	Researchers publish significant findings that integrated treatment models, which include supported employment assistance, are effective in helping even those people with severe mental illnesses who initially have little or no interest in reentering the job market.
	Stigma - The Most Unjust Assessment One Person Can Make About Another, Before Even Meeting That Person!
	HCFA Revises Final Interim Rules on Use of Restraint and Seclusion in Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities for Children and Adolescents. (May 23, 2001)
	Becoming a Mental Health Reformer by Tom Barresi - an effective Mental Health Advocate/Reformer, must be fully capable of working unsupervised, and totally alone, he can't allow his confidence to be "shaken", by anyone.
	On May 6, 2001, PBS had a special program called "Treating the Mentally Ill". Click here for program transcript. (May 4, 2001)
	Click here for a list of political contributions by major pharmaceutical companies.
	Study shows that providing housing for the homeless is cost-effective. (May, 2001)
	Assisted Care - Patient Bill of Rights - The right to have preserved and safeguarded his or her personal property..
	RAND Study: Effectiveness of Involuntary Outpatient Treatment is Unclear - The California Senate commissioned a study to investigate whether involuntary outpatient treatment works.
	LA Times Editors support forced psychiatric treatment.
	Action alert: NAMI Stigma Busters report for February, 2002.
	Action alert: Your support for allocation of funding for the Family Opportunities Act in the Senate and House budget proposals is needed.
	Action alert: President George W. Bush's federal budget plan for fiscal year 2003, released February 4, falls extremely short of the need in terms of mental health spending.
	NAMI SCC has raised a number of concerns about the 7th Avenue Center locked treatment facility in Santa Cruz. The Center responded with a fact sheet and long list of accomplishments but more discussion on these concerns is needed.

AB1800 - Why forced psychiatry is not the right approach, comments by Senator John Burton. (Feb., 2001)

Psychiatrist Loren Mosher & David Oaks Speak on Recovery - Mad Pride, The Movement for Human Rights and Alternatives in the "Mental Health System" hosted a panel in San Francisco on January 5, 2001. In it, Dr. Loren Mosher spoke on Biopsychiatric Ideology as an Impediment to Recovery, and David Oaks, spoke of the movement to Resist the Rise of Forced Psychiatry. (Jan., 2001)

Stigma of Mental Illness - People with psychiatric disabilities are shunned. Ensconced in a separate array of interventions that are isolating and insulating, people with psychiatric disabilities are also discredited with a mental-health specific language.

Something CAN be done about the Santa Cruz Housing shortage - Read what Judy Williams did to provide housing for mental health clients in Santa Cruz County.
(Feb., 2001)

Glued Pages and Sticky Questions - Concerns about censorship by the NAMI California Board of Directors of The Journal, and their stopping the publishing of this excellent publication. (Feb., 2001)

Update: Dan Weisburd DEMAND Notice released March 8, 2001. Dan Weisburd demands a retraction and apology from the NAMI California Board of Directors.

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Last Updated on 02/06/05 webmaster@namiscc.org

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