Community Integration Pioneer Dies

I had never heard of Louis Ziskind, a pioneering social worker, until receiving an alert from Mental Health America about his death at the age of 98 on March 9. Ahead of his time, he believed that people with mental illnesses should be treated in the community. In 1953, he founded Gateways, a 10-bed pilot project in Los Angeles, where people could remain in the community while being treated. According to his obituary in the Los Angeles Times, Ziskind “promoted the idea of shorter stays in state hospitals, and proposed community mental health centers that would provide treatment while aiding patients in their transition back into the mainstream.”

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-ziskind24mar24,0,2896444.story?coll=la-home-obituaries



Posted by Susan Rogers

Transformation Conference

This past weekend (March 22-25), I had the opportunity to attend the “Second Transformation Institute in Consumer Studies: An Introduction to Evaluation and Use,” which was sponsored by CONTAC and the National Empowerment Center in Charlestown, West Virginia. As the newest member of the Clearinghouse staff (but not new to mental health policy and advocacy), I want to express my appreciation and awe about what I learned, and of what I was reminded.

My primary duties here at the Clearinghouse -- to provide technical assistance to consumer-run programs on conducting evidence-based evaluations -- will be greatly enhanced by all that I learned from the distinguished faculty members, who included Drs. Jean Campbell, Dan Fisher, and Jeanne Dumont. But it is what I received from my fellow participants that I believe will enable me to become a better researcher and more effective technical assistance provider.

In the course of doing some of the most important work that consumers can do -- telling our stories -- I was reminded of the historic inequities to which our brethren have been subjected, and witnessed some of the most awe-inspiring scenes I have ever experienced. Everywhere we gathered -- conference rooms, restaurant tables and the hotel lobby -- people representing a remarkable diversity of ages, ethnicities, backgrounds, and abilities from all over the country worked cooperatively to educate themselves and each other on how to foster real and significant change by learning how to prove what we know to be true about the effectiveness of helping each other.

What a remarkable sight it was to watch everyone -- folks with long held and newly acquired Ph.D.’s in everything from nuclear engineering to the social sciences; individuals schooled in law, art, teaching, journalism and a host of other hard-won degrees; those still in school as well as those whose educational pedigree consists only of the life lessons of being a mental health consumer -- work so effectively together. What an example the consumer movement sets! You are my heroes, and I thank you.


Posted by Debbie Plotnick

A History of the MH Consumer Movement

I am going to try and blog a bit on the history of the mental health consumer movement and get feed back if possible from folks.


The history of the mental health consumer movement starts in the 1980s. Our movement definitely had ties to the earlier movement, known as the mental patients’ liberation movement, but was in many ways a new effort.

Many of us involved in those early days wanted to see an organizing effort that met the needs of people who were mostly users of the public mental health system. My own experience was that of a person who spent a good amount of time in both inpatient and outpatient services. I also had gotten a job at an outpatient clinic as the liaison to the local large public psychiatric hospital. The folks involved in the early day of organizing were interested in seeing if some of the self-help programs that were so helpful to people with other issues, such as alcoholism and drug abuse, would also be helpful to us. We were also concerned about protecting our rights as people caught up in a system of mental health services that many times did not pay much attention to our rights.

One big issue for many of the early efforts was the right to community care versus hospitalization. Community care meant not just medications but housing, employment, and help with our income, as so many of us were – and are – very poor.

more to come..........

Mental Health and Smoking Cessation

In the news...
An article entitled "Program helping mentally ill smokers" appeared on Newsday.com on March 13, 2007. The article begins...

"Joe learned to smoke at a psychiatric hospital in the 1980s, when the staff would hand out cigarettes to get patients to take their medicines, mop the floors or clean the dining room. The rewards added up, and pretty soon Joe was hooked - along with the more than 60 percent of people with psychiatric illnesses who smoke cigarettes."

Read the full article here.

In related news...
The National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse will be publishing their latest Key Assistance Report (KAR) next week. The KAR will focus on "Smoking Cessation". If you do not already receive the KAR and would like to be added to the mailing list, please send an e-mail to info@mhselfhelp.org or call 1-800-553-4KEY (4539).

Advocating for Self or Others

Advocating for Self or Others



In many faith traditions, folks talk about having a discipline. As I’m someone who is not terribly fond of structure, this seems like a scary concept. Very recently, though, I have been learning how disciplined approaches to advocacy can really help.



My first discipline is that you need to write everything down. As I try to support somebody through advocacy, I have found that the more I record things in a notebook, the more effective I am. By making notes, I am able to tell the story better, and a lot of advocacy is about telling folks the story.



A second discipline is to try and be as accurate in the words I use as possible. It is important that the truth of the story stand out, as this is the only cloth you have to weave with.



The third discipline is patience and humility. These two are the toughest for me, but when I practice them I can do so much more. I need to “walk in love” if I even hope to have others respond to my cause.



I admit I am making this sound easier than it is. I sometimes feel so passionate about an issue that I can just spin like a top; but if I can stay calm and centered, WOW! Can I have an impact!



Joseph

Don't Mourn; Organize!

Don't Mourn; Organize!
Thus said Joe Hill, a famous organizer for labor rights, on his death bed.
I have gotten a lot of calls from folks about big issues in the mental health system in their state. My advice is the same as the other Joe's. To help, we published a little book several years ago and you can download it for free at: http://www.mhselfhelp.org/techasst/view.php?techasst_id=13

As always if I can help please write me at jrogers@mhasp.org

Joseph

A Message from Joseph Rogers

Mark Twain once said, "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." So are the rumors about my role at the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse.

I feel it’s important to blog about this since several people have told me that the word on the street is that I am no longer working with the Clearinghouse. That is not true. I am still the Executive Director of the Clearinghouse and still very much involved in its day-to-day operations.

What has changed is my role at the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania (MHASP), the umbrella organization under which the Clearinghouse operates. The MHASP Board of Directors has asked that I devote more of my energy to national technical assistance, advocacy and public policy. Therefore, I am no longer President and CEO of MHASP; I am now President of Advocacy. This change has an impact on my role with MHASP, but the only impact it has for the Clearinghouse is that I will have more time to devote to the Clearinghouse than previously.

So, again, the rumors of my demise as an active member of the Clearinghouse staff are greatly exaggerated. In fact, the opposite is true. Over the next few months, I will be expanding the amount of time and energy I spend working with the wonderful projects of the Clearinghouse.

As always, I love to hear from my friends. If you have any questions, please e-mail me at jrogers@mhasp.org.

Sincerely,
Joseph

Two March 15th Deadlines

2007 World Mental Health Congress to Be Held in Hong Kong

The 2007 World Mental Health Congress of the World Federation for Mental Health will be held in Hong Kong August 19-23. The deadline for abstract submission is March 15; the early bird registration deadline is April 15. The theme is “Impact of Culture on Mental Health: East Meets West.” Additional information is available at the link below:

http://www.wmhc2007.com/?page_id=2&language=en



MindFreedom Conference to Be Held July 12-15, 2007

MindFreedom’s 2007 conference, "Creative Revolution in Healing: Turning Our Minds Around," gathers at Wisdom House, a retreat center in Litchfield, Conn., July 12-15, “to help create a choice of alternatives to the conventional mental health system.” The deadline for presentation proposals is March 15, 2007.

http://www.mindfreedom.org/campaign/choice/

Former U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton – Briefly McGovern’s Running Mate – Has Died

Former U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton died on March 4 at the age of 77. He is most remembered for having been asked to step down as the Democratic candidate for vice president in 1972 after it came to light that he had been hospitalized for depression and had undergone electroconvulsive therapy.

When news of Eagleton’s psychiatric history emerged soon after Eagleton had accepted the vice presidential spot on the Democratic ticket, George McGovern, the Democratic presidential nominee, at first stood behind him. “I think Tom Eagleton is fully qualified in mind, body and spirit to be the vice president of the United States and, if necessary, to take on the presidency on a moment’s notice,” McGovern said, according to the obituary published March 5 in The New York Times. Maintaining that he was “1,000 percent for Tom Eagleton,” McGovern continued to back the beleaguered senator from Missouri as the pressure mounted to replace him on the ticket. However, after two weeks of continuing pressure from Democratic party leaders and others, McGovern forced Eagleton to step down, according to the Times obituary. After 18 days as the nominee, Eagleton withdrew for the sake of “party unity.”

Years later, McGovern said that, in retrospect, he was sorry he had forced Eagleton to step down. McGovern has also said that he regarded Eagleton as one of the 10 or 12 best senators he had served with. The Times obituary quotes McGovern: “If I had it to do over again, I’d have kept him. I didn’t know anything about mental illness. Nobody did.”

Eagleton went on to be re-elected to the Senate by Missouri voters in 1974 and 1980. He retired from the Senate in 1987. In 1984, he said that his leading role in legislation to end the U.S. bombing of Cambodia in 1973 was the greatest achievement of his Senate career.

Footnote: I am plenty old enough to remember the events of 1972 in grim detail. The question is, will I live long enough to see the day when a psychiatric history will not be the kiss of death for a candidate running for the nation’s top elective offices?

Posted by Susan Rogers