The National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse is now affiliated with the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion!
TO CONTACT THE CLEARINGHOUSE: SELFHELPCLEARINGHOUSE@GMAIL.COM TO CONTACT SUSAN ROGERS: SUSAN.ROGERS.ADVOCACY@GMAIL.COM TO CONTACT JOSEPH ROGERS: JROGERS08034@GMAIL.COM
Journalists Expose Psychiatric Hospitals’ Depredations in Florida and Washington State
“A Tampa Bay Times investigation has found that North Tampa Behavioral [Health Hospital] makes huge profits by exploiting patients held under Florida’s mental health law, known as the Baker Act. The hospital illegally cuts patients off from their families. Then it uses loopholes in the statute to hold them longer than allowed, running up their bills while they are powerless to fight back. Some patients describe getting virtually no psychiatric treatment. Meanwhile, people at risk of suicide have been allowed to hurt themselves, and helpless patients have been attacked on the ward. For this, the hospital charges up to $1,500 per night.” For the Tampa Bay Times article—“You’re Trapped. They’re Cashing In. How one Florida psychiatric hospital makes millions off patients who have no choice”—click here. And, in Washington State, for people “who check in voluntarily, the revelation that they can’t leave when they want to has shaken their faith in a system they turned to for help. The reasons for holding such patients vary, but the practice of doing so—sometimes for days—is a regular occurrence at some of Washington state’s private psychiatric hospitals, an investigation by The Seattle Times has found.” For the Seattle Times article, click here.
Peerpocalpse 2020 Conference to Host Key Elements of the Alternatives Conference
“The organizers of the Alternatives Conference have decided not to hold an independent conference this year. Instead, the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR), which organized the 2018 and 2019 Alternatives conferences, is collaborating with the Mental Health & Addiction Association of Oregon (MHAAO) to host key elements of Alternatives in MHAAO’s Peerpocalypse conference, April 20-23, 2020, in Seaside, Oregon. MHAAO welcomes Alternatives to Peerpocalypse 2020 and encourages prospective participants to learn more and/or submit a workshop proposal [by clicking] on the ‘Submit a Workshop’ tab.” The deadline to submit workshop proposals is November 15, 2019. For more information, click here.
SAMHSA Issues RFP for National Consumer and Consumer Supporter Technical Assistance Centers
“The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2020 National Consumer and Consumer Supporter Technical Assistance Centers grants. The purpose of this program is to provide technical assistance to promote evidence-based care for adults with serious mental illnesses. These programs recognize the value of those with lived experience as a component of the treatment system. The entities responsible for providing technical assistance for this program may be either consumer or consumer supporter organizations.” Applications are due December 10, 2019. For more information, click here.
Doors to Wellbeing’s Next Two Free Webinars Are on October 29 and November 19
The next two free, one-hour webinars in the monthly series hosted by Doors to Wellbeing will take place on October 29 and November 19, respectively; both webinars will begin at 2 p.m. ET. On October 29, the topic will be “Peer Specialists in Integrated Care.” On November 19, the topic will be “Peer Support and Smoking Cessation.” For more information and to register, click here.
Free SHARE! Conference on “Supervising the Peer Workforce” Seeks Proposals
A free conference for supervisors, peers, managers, human resources specialists, and administrators—where they can “learn best practices for hiring, employing, supervising and supporting the peer workforce”—will be held on March 25, 2020, in Culver City, California. SHARE! (the Self-Help And Recovery Exchange)—a non-profit organization that operates two community self-help support group centers in Los Angeles—is organizing the conference. For more information and/or to submit a proposal (deadline: January 15, 2020), click here.
“Stanford and Students with Mental Health Disabilities Reach Landmark Settlement”
“A coalition of Stanford students and Stanford University have reached a groundbreaking settlement agreement that will result in significant changes to Stanford’s leave of absence policies and practices, all of which will help ensure that students experiencing mental health crises have access to appropriate accommodations and services and are not unnecessarily excluded from campus and housing,” according to a press release by Disability Rights Advocates (DRA). “This settlement agreement—the first of its kind—includes a rewritten Involuntary Leave of Absence and Return Policy, staff training, and increased staff to assist students with mental health disabilities with reasonable accommodations that may enable them to avoid taking a leave of absence…This historic settlement, developed in consultation with students and experts in mental health and higher education, will make Stanford University’s leave of absence policies and practices ‘a significant step forward not only for Stanford, but for colleges and universities across the country,’ says Monica Porter, DRA staff attorney.” For the article, click here.
Courtesy of Elizabeth Stone
Free Diversion to What? Guide to Help Reduce Incarceration of People with Mental Health Conditions
“The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law has released a report describing the essential community mental health services that must be expanded to divert people with significant psychiatric disabilities from the criminal justice system. Diversion to What? Evidence-Based Mental Health Services That Prevent Needless Incarceration “is designed to provide guidance to stakeholders engaged in efforts to reduce incarceration of people with psychiatric disabilities, laying out the types of services that should be the focus of such efforts. The report describes what those services do and how they are structured, and identifies the evidence demonstrating their success in reducing incarceration.” For the free 13-page report, click here. (Note: For more about the intersection of mental health and criminal justice, see the monthly digest, below, of articles about the criminal justice system, in which many individuals with mental health conditions are incarcerated.)
TU Collaborative Newsletter Highlights Supported Education Manual and Free Oct. 30 Webinar
The new edition of the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion newsletter highlights its new, 49-page manual, Campus Engagement-Oriented Supported Education. “This intervention focuses on campus engagement, including strategies to support students to identify their interests, find opportunities on campus, and develop and utilize natural support systems,” the TU Collaborative writes. In addition, the TU Collaborative is hosting a free Zoom webinar on October 30 at 1 p.m.; the subject is “Practitioner Researchers: Strategies for Conducting Community Participation Research.” To read the newsletter, click here.
Coercive Practices Harm Those in Mental Health Care, Study Shows
“A review of the literature, published in Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, examines the effectiveness of coercive practices in mental health care,” according to a recent article in Mad In America. “The review indicates that coercive practices are not only ineffective, but unethical, anti-therapeutic, and violate human rights. The authors suggest steps that can be taken to reduce coercive practices in mental health care but ultimately arrive at the conclusion that a paradigm shift in the field of psychiatry is required for large-scale changes to be made. ‘There is increasing recognition that we need to make mental health care more consensual and ensure that the human rights of people with mental health problems are always respected. However, little attention is given within current mental health policies and programs to reducing coercion in clinical practice despite our commitment to clinical safety,’ write the authors, led by Dr. S.P. Sashidharan, a professor and researcher at the University of Glasgow.” For the article, click here.
Survey to Measure Treatment Outcomes for Youth with Anxiety or Depression Seeks Respondents
“How do we know if young people receiving support for anxiety or depression or getting ‘better’?” asks the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement. To answer this question, they are conducting a survey. “A group of mental health professionals and lived experience experts (including young people and parents) have proposed a set of treatment outcomes they think are important and how best to measure them in clinical practice. We want to use this recommendation to help organizations understand whether support is helping! Are you someone with experience of anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) before you were aged 24, or are you the parent of a young person with one of these conditions? Please let us know your thoughts on this proposal using this anonymous survey, which takes 10-15 minutes to complete.” For the survey, click here.
Courtesy of Emily Cutler
One Study Indicates Link Between Smartphone Dependency and Depression in Youth; For Other Researchers, It’s Complicated
Young people who are hooked on their smartphones may be at an increased risk for depression and loneliness, according to a new study from the University of Arizona. In the study of 346 older adolescents, ages 18-20, researchers “found that smartphone dependency predicts higher reports of depressive symptoms and loneliness, rather than the other way around,” according to an article in NeuroscienceNews.com. In that study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, the researchers “focus on smartphone dependency—a person’s psychological reliance on the device—rather than on general smartphone use, which can actually provide benefits.” For the article, click here. The issue of “dependency” rather than “general smartphone use” may explain why a Brigham Young University study asking, “Does time spent on social media impact mental health?” found that “screen time isn’t the problem.” “We found that time spent on social media was not what was impacting anxiety or depression,” said the lead BYU researcher, Sarah Coyne. “For example, two teenagers could use social media for exactly the same amount of time but may have vastly different outcomes as a result of the way they are using it,” Coyne said. For the Brigham Young University press release, click here.
Americans Increasingly Fear Violence from People with Mental Health Conditions, All Evidence to the Contrary Notwithstanding.
Americans are becoming increasingly afraid of people with mental health conditions, despite the fact that guns—not mental health conditions—are the operative factor in the violence that plagues the United States. According to an epidemiological study published in 2015, “Even if we had a cure for serious mental illnesses that completely eliminated active psychotic and mood disorders, the problem of interpersonal violence in the population would be reduced only by an estimated 4%, while 96% of violent acts would still occur.” And a study published online by Schizophrenia Bulletin in 2009 found “a pooled estimate of 1 stranger homicide per 14.3 million people per year.” Yet, “in 2018, roughly 70% of respondents judged people who would probably be diagnosed with schizophrenia to be a potential danger to others,” according to a recent Los Angeles Times article. “In 1996, roughly 57% held that opinion, as did about 60% of those surveyed in 2006. The surveys also revealed that 59% of Americans in 2018 supported laws requiring the hospitalization, even involuntary hospitalization, of those who meet the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia. Fewer than half shared that view in 2006.” For the Los Angeles Times article, click here. For the Schizophrenia Bulletin study, click here. For “It’s the Guns. It’s Always Been the Guns,” in The Nation, click here.
California Is Launching a Statewide Peer-run Mental Health Warm Line
California is launching a statewide mental health warm line, Capital Public Radio reports. “‘It’s for people who are, quite honestly just feeling alone,’ said Democratic Assemblymember Phil Ting, who pushed for the statewide line. ‘You’ll get callers who say ‘Hey, I’m not feeling suicidal, but I just want to talk to somebody.’” “The Mental Health Association of San Francisco has been running a Bay Area warm line since 2014, but outreach manager Peter Murphy says they lost their state funding in 2018 and have had to rely on volunteers to stay open. Now, they’re using $10.8 million from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first budget to expand the line statewide and operate it for the next three years… The line will be staffed 24/7 by people who have lived experience with mental illness. The center expects to receive 25,000 calls per year. Reach the California Peer-Run Warm Line at 1-855-845-7415. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached at 1-800-273-8255.” For the article, click here.
“If You Are Black and in a Mental Health Crisis, 911 Can Be a Death Sentence,” Writes Shaun King
“Over the past five years, I’ve closely studied thousands of police shootings and seen a trend of black families under duress calling 911 during a mental health emergency, only for their loved one to be killed by police as a result,” writes civil rights activist Shaun King in a recent piece in The Intercept. “Of course, when a black family calls 911 for support in a mental health emergency and it goes well, that doesn’t make the news….Police killings of people with mental illnesses are a huge problem for those of all races. Studies show that as many as 50 percent of people killed by American police had registered disabilities and that a huge percentage of those were people with mental illnesses. One study states that people with untreated mental illnesses are a staggering 16 times more likely to be shot and killed by police. But African Americans are at even higher risk due to the racism in our country and in our police forces.” To read more, click here.
“Schools Now Letting Students Stay Home Sick for Mental-Health Days,” Washington Post Reports
“In the face of rising rates of depression, anxiety and suicide among young people, some states and school systems have started allowing students to take mental sick days off from school,” the Washington Post reports. “Last year, Utah changed its definition of valid excuses for absences to include mental health issues. This summer, Oregon enacted a law—driven by a group of high school student activists—that allows students to take days off for mental health. Students in other states, including Colorado, Florida and Washington, are attempting to get similar laws passed…A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [in October 2019] showed the rate of suicide increased by 56 percent from 2007 to 2017 among people ages 10 to 24. Suicide in recent years has become the second-most-common cause of death among teens and young adults, overtaking homicides and outpaced only by accidents.” In Oregon, a high school senior responded to lawmakers’ concerns about abuse of the new law as follows: “The bottom line of this is there will be students that will abuse the system but there will be students that this will save.” For the article, click here.
“Uberheroes Comics Teach Children about Mental Health”
“[A] new comic series, Uberheroes, is trying to encourage young people to face reality and not hide their identities behind a mask.” The comics tackle “mental health issues that children and young people are facing, and its storylines are provided from the personal accounts of youngsters from Northern Ireland who have dealt with mental ill health. So far, four issues of Uberheroes have been published—both online and in hard copy. They are then taken into primary and secondary schools across the country to educate pupils about critical issues such as self-harm, drug addiction, body image and depression.” All of the storylines are real. Hope 4 Life NI is the mental health charity sponsoring the comics. For more, click here.
A Digest of Articles about Alternatives to Traditional Mental Health Treatment and Resources, and Healthy Lifestyle Advice
For “Depression: Brief change in diet may relieve symptoms,” click here. For “Brave Your Day” Apple Podcasts, click here. For “Can Brain Science Help Us Break Bad Habits?” click here. For “A psychologist says that the secret to living longer may be your social life,” click here. For “New research finds coastal living linked with better mental health,” click here. For “Mindfulness for middle school students: Focusing awareness on the present moment can enhance academic performance and lower stress levels,” click here. For “Learning Not to Fear: Mindfulness meditation training alters how we process fearful memories, study says,” click here.
The October 2019 Digest of Articles about the Criminal Justice System, in Which Many Individuals with Mental Health Conditions Are Incarcerated (and the Key Update continues after this Digest)
Here is the October wrap-up of stories about the criminal justice system. (Note: Some of the titles and other language are not politically correct but are reproduced as written.) For “Mentally Ill Prisoners Are Dying. Are Private Health Care Companies to Blame?” click here. For “Nowhere else to turn: Jail shouldn’t be go-to spot for mentally ill, sheriff says,” click here. For “A Radical Approach to Helping Former Prisoners Start Over: Let Them Into Your Home…Oakland’s Homecoming Project is sort of like Airbnb—but for people getting out of prison,” click here. For “Sen. Osten asks Sentencing Commission to study mental illness in CT prisons,” click here. For “Torture by Another Name: Solitary Confinement in Texas” (an 18-page report by the Texas Civil Rights Project,” click here. For “Death in Solitary: Russell Johnson’s sister warned officials that nearly three years in solitary confinement had broken him. His suicide in isolation two months later points to compounded crises inside Texas prisons,” click here. For “Caregivers, relatives hope mentally ill man’s death after police encounter can bring changes to ‘impossible situation,’” click here. For “A slice of love: Bruno Abate teaches inmates to make pizza and earn a living in Chicago jail,” click here. For “Closing Rikers: Competing Visions for the Future of New York City’s Jails,” click here. For “In Historic Vote, NYC Council Agrees to Shut Rikers by 2026,” click here. For “2020: The Democrats on Criminal Justice,” click here. For “Project Reset: Avoiding prosecution of minor offenses through art,” click here. For “ExiT: Executives Transforming Probation and Parole,” click here. For “It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It,” click here. For “Prison Writing Exhibit ‘SEEN’ Is Made Even Richer with Portraits,” click here. For “These Sheriffs Release Sick Inmates to Avoid Paying Their Hospital Bills,” click here. For “Sentenced to death by incarceration in New York State prison,” click here. For “How to End the Era of Mass Supervision,” click here. For “‘Where’s My ID?’ Prosecutors Get a Harsh Lesson in Post-Prison Life,” click here. For “Rescaled: Movement for Small Scale Detention,” click here. For “‘Tutweiler’ Reveals the Hearbreak of Pregnancy in Prison,” click here. For “It’s hard to land a bank job if you have a record. But JPMorgan Chase tells people in Chicago with criminal records: ‘We’re hiring,’” click here. For “Counselors will join NYPD to combat mental health crisis,” click here. For “Therapeutic-Relationship Building for People on Probation with Serious Mental Illnesses,” click here. For “From the Producers of Uncuffed,” click here.
FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!
60th Annual National Dialogues on Behavioral Health Conference November 3-6 in New Orleans
The National Dialogues on Behavioral Health—formerly known as the Southern Conference on Mental Health—is “the oldest ongoing annual conference on mental health and substance abuse in the United States. The 2019 conference, its 60th, will be held in New Orleans November 3-6. This year the conference will focus on “the disconnect between individuals and families’ need for care, and the need for the interconnectedness across systems that is necessary to provide true integration of care that results in good outcomes for individuals, families and communities.” For more information and to register, click here.
If You Have Experienced Psychosis, “Psychosis Beyond the Box” Wants to Hear From You.
“Psychosis Beyond the Box” seeks to gather anonymous descriptions of “aspects of psychosis that are often neglected, such as felt presences, visual or quasi-visual experiences, and alterations of space, time or distance,” as well as strategies to help with any distressing or challenging aspects of the experiences. The narratives will be compiled and shared in early psychosis programs and other service settings across the U.S. A major aim of the project—which is not a research project—is “to validate the diverse range of things people with psychosis experience, and help people, especially young adults experiencing psychosis for the first time, feel less alone and isolated (in these experiences).” For more information about the project, based at the University of South Florida, or to share your story, click here. Questions? Write to Nev Jones (genevra@usf.edu) or ShannonPagdon@gmail.com.
“Experiences with Hospitalization” Survey Seeks Participants
“The purpose of this survey is to help us understand people's lived experience with voluntary and involuntary treatment because of suicidal thoughts. It was created by people with lived experience…We are planning to use this information to facilitate discussions with suicidologists and the suicide prevention community about the impact of the use of these interventions, particularly within marginalized populations. We feel the voice of people with lived experience with these interventions has not had adequate opportunity to be heard, and hope that by completing this survey anonymously, people who have been most impacted can find a safe way to share their experiences. Please note that this is not a research project.” For more information and/or to participate, click here.
Thanks, Leah Harris
Researchers at Trinity College Dublin Seek Participants for Depression Study
Trinity College Dublin researchers write: “We are a team of psychologists at Trinity College Dublin who are trying to better understand depression. We are interested in using language to predict the occurrence of depression early. Our hope is that in doing so we can one day be able to help doctors provide treatments earlier and maybe even prevent depression altogether. In order to participate, you must be at least 18 years old, have had a Twitter account for at least one year, [and] have at least 500 Tweets. Interested in participating? Learn more by clicking. If not, thanks for taking the time to read about our research.” For the “continue” link to more information, click here.
Mental Health First Aid Australia Seeks Research Participants to Update MHFA Guidelines
Mental Health First Aid Australia is inviting people from Australia, UK, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, New Zealand, Sweden, and the USA who have expertise in the field of psychosis to participate in research whose goal is to update the Mental Health First Aid guidelines for psychosis, which were last updated in 2008. Invited participants include people with lived experience of psychosis, people who have cared for or provided significant support to someone with psychosis, and professionals with research, education, or clinical experience related to psychosis. For more information, click here.
International Survey on Antipsychotic Medication Withdrawal Seeks Respondents
“Have you taken antipsychotic medication (such as Zyprexa, Seroquel, Abilify, Risperdal, Haldol, Geodon, Stelazine, and others), for any condition or diagnosis, with or without other medications? And did you ever stop taking antipsychotics, or try to stop taking them? Are you 18 years or older? If yes, you can take this survey about antipsychotic withdrawal and attempts to withdraw, including if you stopped taking them completely or if you tried to come off and still take them. The survey aims to improve mental health services by better understanding medication withdrawal. Lead researcher is Will Hall, a therapist and Ph.D. student who has himself taken antipsychotics. Service users/survivors/consumers from around the world also gave input. The study is sponsored by Maastricht University in the Netherlands; co-sponsors include the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal. Questions? Please contact will.hall@maastrichtuniversity.nl.” For more information or to take the survey, click on www.antipsychoticwithdrawalsurvey.com
Virtual Group Is Launched to Advance Peer Research Capacity, Leadership, and Involvement
Nev Jones, Ph.D., and Emily Cutler, a doctoral candidate, have launched a new listserv dedicated to building research capacity, leadership, and involvement among peers, survivors, and service users. Dr. Jones, assistant professor, Department of Mental Health Law & Policy, University of South Florida, was part of the team that developed “User/Survivor Leadership & Capacity Building in Research: White Paper on Promoting Engagement Practices in Peer Evaluation/Research (PEPPER),” published by the Lived Experience Research Network. For the white paper, click here. Anyone interested in joining the virtual group can email Nev at nev.inbox@gmail.com.
Do You Supervise Peer Support Workers? Then Researchers Have Some Questions for You
Researchers in the University of South Florida’s Department of Psychiatry and at Magellan Health are investigating the backgrounds, training, and experiences of individuals who currently supervise at least one peer support worker in a behavioral health setting or agency. “To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first comprehensive research study of the landscape of peer support supervision practices in the United States,” writes Dr. Nev Jones, the primary investigator of the study (Protocol Number 00040223). Participants must be at least 18 years old and work in the United States or U.S. territories. An online survey lasting approximately 10 minutes will ask about respondents’ backgrounds, training and preparation for supervision, perspectives and practices, and views on barriers and facilitators to high-quality supervision. There is no monetary compensation. Questions? Contact Dr. Nev Jones (genevra@health.usf.edu) or the co-primary investigator, Dana Foglesong (dfoglesong@magellanhealth.com). To access the survey, click here.
What Happens to People after Discharge from First Episode Psychosis/Early Intervention Programs? New Study Seeks Answers—and Participants
A study led by Dr. Nev Jones at the University of South Florida seeks current and former clients as well as family members of clients previously enrolled in early intervention in psychosis (EIP)/coordinated specialty care (CSC) services. The study aims to better understand what happens after discharge from EIP/CSC programs, including in the areas of school or work and access to/use of other mental health services. Eligible participants must be at least 18 years old and must be “current clients within one month of discharge from an EIP/CSC program, former clients discharged at least six months (at the time of the scheduled interview), and the family members of former clients.” In exchange for a phone interview of approximately 1.5 hours, each participant in the study (Protocol Number 00035193) will receive a $75 money order. Questions? Contact Dr. Jones at 813.415.5532 or by email at genevra@health.usf.edu.
Disclaimer: The Clearinghouse does not necessarily endorse the opinions and opportunities included in the Key Update.
About The Key Update
The National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse is now affiliated with the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion!
The Key Update is the free monthly e-newsletter of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse. Volume 16, No. 4, October 2019. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com. Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH