tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355Fri, 02 May 2008 20:49:50 +0000http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/clearinghouseBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-8887631827757035127Fri, 02 May 2008 20:48:00 +00002008-05-02T15:49:50.057-05:00Alternatives 2008alternativesscholarshipsWorkshop and institute proposals for Alternatives 2008 – to be held at the Adams Mark Hotel in Buffalo, N.Y., October 29-November 2, 2008 – are due by May 15, 2008. The call for presentations and additional resources for the conference, whose theme is “Creating Community Through Active Citizenship,” are posted at www.power2u.org/alternatives-2008. The workshops selected will represent a variety http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2008/05/alternatives-2008-seeks-workshop.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-7987427126180056359Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:40:00 +00002008-03-04T15:55:28.717-05:00For immediate release: NEWS RELEASE 4 March 2008Media contacts:Krista Erickson - 541-345-9106 Daniel Hazen - 315-528-3385 krista@mindfreedom.org dan@psychrights.org "Forcing Psychiatric Drugs Can Increase Violence," Warns New Task Force on Mental Health Legal Advocacy & Activism Promising to fight what they call pervasive and harmful violations of mental healthclients who are involuntarily http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2008/03/news-release-forcing-psychiatric-drugs.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-3012620789745850903Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:57:00 +00002008-02-26T15:59:02.500-05:00From the National Empowerment Center: “We are going to roll up our sleeves and discuss monumental issues, such as ending segregation from society, moving forward with the global advancement of self-determination and launching new efforts to redefine supports and recovery, so that real control is determined by people with mental and/or physical disabilities,” said Center for Self-Determination http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2008/02/first-international-conference-on-self.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-5459942917680399471Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:34:00 +00002008-02-19T10:37:25.699-05:00Jane W. Christol of San Jose, California, writes: The 2008 conference of the California Network of Mental Health Clients, “25 Years: Celebrating the Past; Building the Future,” February 8-10, in Sacramento, was a statewide conference given by and for mental health clients. It is a profound experience to be in the company of heroes and leaders in a movement toward recovery from such devastating http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2008/02/conference-promotes-recovery-and-civil.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-5390978395465838905Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:21:00 +00002008-01-11T14:23:35.579-05:00It’s time to thank mental health consumers once again for giving a voice to people with mental health problems. The Voice Awards honor mental health consumer leaders for their contributions in reducing stigma and discrimination. If you know of a mental health consumer who has led efforts to reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illnesses, demonstrated that recovery is real http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2008/01/nominate-consumersadvocates-for-awards.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-681858719003594860Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:40:00 +00002007-12-12T14:42:41.965-05:00holidaysThe holidays are here again with the customary celebrations, traditions, and stress. It’s become a cliché that the holidays are a stressful time during which feelings of depression and loneliness can be magnified by what is supposed to a joyful time of year. However, it is no less true. For people with mental illnesses, the high expectations for happiness and the social obligations can lead to http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/12/pamphlet-offers-coping-tips-for-getting.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-1884410370765442928Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:26:00 +00002007-11-09T16:27:52.518-05:00An article published in the UK’s Times Online in February 2007 discusses the presence of a gene connected with an increased risk of schizophrenia that is also said to enhance brain functioning. According to studies conducted at the National Institute of Mental Health, this gene, DARPP-32, is linked to higher intelligence. It improves the way that information is exchanged between the striatum, a http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/11/gene-linked-to-higher-intelligence.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-7520236698964291351Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:20:00 +00002007-09-14T14:22:13.794-05:00http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/09/we-mourn-acclaimed-advocate-bill_14.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-8966226531462551019Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:12:00 +00002007-09-14T14:13:26.720-05:00Bill Compton, a renowned consumer/survivor activist and head of Project Return, California’s largest peer-run program, has died at 61 after a long battle with cancer. The following comes from Eduardo Vega, M.A., chief of the Empowerment and Advocacy Division of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health: “With heavy hearts we need to share the news of Bill Compton’s passing due to http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/09/we-mourn-acclaimed-advocate-bill.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-7279932258005300451Wed, 12 Sep 2007 22:03:00 +00002007-09-12T17:06:36.502-05:00A new personal account of mental illness has been published. Elyn Saks’ The Center Cannot Hold chronicles the author’s experiences with schizophrenia throughout her lifetime. The book has been compared to books like Girl, Interrupted by Susannah Kaysen and An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison. The story starts with the beginnings of the illness present in her childhood and proceeds straight http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/09/memoir-of-schizophrenia.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-3564254253676075339Thu, 06 Sep 2007 14:12:00 +00002007-09-06T09:18:23.292-05:00Two-Face Productions, Philadelphia’s 15-year-old theater company of people who have mental illnesses and their friends, will produce a one-man version of “[One] Man of La Mancha” on Grandparents’ Day, Sunday, September 9, 2007, at 2 p.m., at TheManhattanRoom, 15 West Girard Avenue (between Front and Frankford Avenue), Philadelphia. The performance, by Dean Patrick Carvin, will be followed by http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/09/acclaimed-one-man-production-of-man-of.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-9012952013248733483Wed, 01 Aug 2007 20:16:00 +00002007-08-01T15:18:23.916-05:00Jeff Shair, a long-time consumer advocate who wears a number of hats, including one as a devoted volunteer at the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, has shared with us his adventures with Tai Chi. He credits the enormous improvements that he has experienced in his health, and in his life in general, to an adapted form of this traditional Chinese practice. I usually take a http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/08/tai-chi-may-be-good-for-what-ails-you.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-651147395037477238Tue, 08 May 2007 13:31:00 +00002007-05-08T08:33:01.699-05:00recoveryA peer specialist in Vermont has developed a Web site focused on mental health recovery. “It contains many resources available for reading and download. There are over 100 articles, multiple wellness programs and goal-setting packets, an entire section dedicated to the Peer Recovery Center that I work at, links to important sites, information about being healthy, a section for finding work and http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/05/new-recovery-web-site-is-launched.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-546265072800452387Wed, 25 Apr 2007 13:20:00 +00002007-04-25T08:38:40.079-05:00In the wake of the tragedy in Blacksburg, Va., it is understandable that people are searching for ways to prevent another such tragedy. Certainly, the student responsible for the attacks should have received psychiatric help. Had he received effective help in time, these events may not have happened. It's important to note that people with mental illness are more often the victims of violence http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/04/some-thoughts-on-virginia-tech-tragedy.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-1442585657114654608Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:17:00 +00002007-04-24T13:19:52.843-05:00PHILADELPHIA (4/20/07) – In the aftermath of the tragedy in Blacksburg, Va. – in which a student was responsible for 33 deaths, including his own – the UPenn Collaborative on Community Integration is helping colleges and universities better support students who have mental illnesses. UPenn Collaborative director Mark Salzer, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology in psychiatry at the http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/04/upenn-collaborative-responds-to.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-605773250574657200Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:14:00 +00002007-04-24T13:20:17.060-05:00WASHINGTON (4/20/07) – The National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations (http://www.ncmhcso.org/), an organization of people with psychiatric histories, asks that everyone learn from the tragic events at Virginia Tech, in which a student was responsible for 33 deaths, including his own. "We offer sincere sympathy to the families and friends of those killed and injured, http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/04/national-coalition-of-people-with.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-2138119934182287457Fri, 20 Apr 2007 19:01:00 +00002007-04-20T14:22:09.832-05:00traumatic eventsVirginia TechSAMHSA is making available several Web-based resources to assist in the aftermath of the tragic shootings at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: + Understanding Mental Illness - After the Virginia Tech Tragedy (http://www.samhsa.gov/MentalHealth/understanding_Mentalllness.aspx) - a collection of resources and informational materials to build better public understanding about http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/04/samhsa-launches-web-resources-to-assist.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-6236254281822807729Thu, 12 Apr 2007 18:47:00 +00002007-04-12T13:52:34.372-05:00Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have found that suicide rates among children, women and men of all ages are higher in states where more households have guns. “We found that where there are more guns, there are more suicides,” according to the lead author of the study, which appears in the April 2007 edition of The Journal of Trauma. In the 15 states with the highest levels of http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/04/more-guns-mean-more-suicides.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-6049252739236780024Tue, 10 Apr 2007 20:16:00 +00002007-04-10T15:19:34.720-05:00What’s going on in Illinois – an attempt to loosen the commitment laws to make it easier to lock people up – reminds me of what philosopher and poet George Santayana famously said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” In 1987, when Pennsylvania legislators were pondering a similar change in the Commonwealth’s commitment law, they had the benefit of history in the http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/04/illinois-is-considering-broadening-its.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-7909720520866631860Wed, 04 Apr 2007 21:16:00 +00002007-04-04T16:18:43.031-05:00Can you tell the difference between clinical depression and “the blues”? According to a study of more than 8,000 adults that has just been published in The Archives of General Psychiatry, about 25 percent of those who seem depressed are just dealing with real-life troubles, such as divorce, losing their job, or blowing their nest egg at the track. Yet they are misdiagnosed as having clinical http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/04/is-depression-over-diagnosed.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-6929031105838347013Wed, 28 Mar 2007 16:24:00 +00002007-03-28T11:26:48.132-05:00Louis Ziskindcommunity integrationI 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. http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/03/community-integration-pioneer-dies.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-7990536390925008474Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:28:00 +00002007-03-27T14:40:17.832-05:00Transformation ConferenceThis 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 http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/03/transformation-conference.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-9104289612605876676Wed, 14 Mar 2007 20:14:00 +00002007-03-14T15:17:59.180-05:00HistoryI 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 http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/03/history-of-mh-consumer-movement.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-5881797220931599606Wed, 14 Mar 2007 15:03:00 +00002007-03-14T10:27:15.071-05:00clearinghouse resourcesIn 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 http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/03/mental-health-and-smoking-cessation.htmlclearinghousetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20737355.post-4697338775212428246Wed, 14 Mar 2007 01:51:00 +00002007-03-13T20:53:27.218-05:00advocacyAdvocating 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,http://www.mhselfhelp.org/blog/2007/03/advocating-for-self-or-others.htmlclearinghouse