The National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse is affiliated with the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion.
TO CONTACT: THE CLEARINGHOUSE: SELFHELPCLEARINGHOUSE@GMAIL.COM … SUSAN ROGERS: SUSAN.ROGERS.ADVOCACY@GMAIL.COM … JOSEPH ROGERS: JROGERS08034@GMAIL.COM
THE KEY UPDATE IS COMPILED, WRITTEN, AND EDITED BY SUSAN ROGERS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH CONSUMERS’ SELF-HELP CLEARINGHOUSE.
NOTE: THE "FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!" DEPARTMENT, WHICH IS DIRECTLY BELOW THE MONTHLY CRIMINAL LEGAL SYSTEM DIGEST, INCLUDES ITEMS THAT HAD BEEN POSTED "ABOVE THE FOLD" IN EARLIER EDITIONS BUT ARE STILL RELEVANT. THESE INCLUDE ONGOING RESEARCH STUDIES THAT ARE STILL SEEKING PARTICIPANTS, AS WELL AS UPCOMING WEBINARS AND CONFERENCES, AND OTHER ITEMS OF CONTINUED INTEREST. DON'T MISS IT!
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NEWS
“Mental Health Care is Broken. Is Police Hospitalizing More People the Answer?”
“In New York City and other areas across the country, some leaders are pushing to forcefully commit more people,” the Marshall Project reports. The New York City plan is especially controversial: It involves giving police officers’ the task of deciding whether unhoused people are unable to care for themselves, despite the fact that “encounters between officers and people in crisis can easily escalate, and end in use of force, criminal charges, or even death.” In addition, locking people up against their will is traumatizing; and studies have shown that “in the week following discharge from a psychiatric hospital, people are at a dramatically high risk for suicide.” Instead, cities should invest in community-based services and supports, such as Housing First and peer-run crisis respites. For “Rethinking How Law Enforcement Is Deployed: Many major cities no longer rely solely on police to address social issues and traffic violations,” click here. For the Marshall Project story, click here. To sign a petition addressed to Mayor Adams of New York City to “Stop the Expansion of Involuntary Removal for People Living with Serious Mental Illness,” click here.
Death of Beloved Movement Leader Celia Brown Inspires Heartfelt Tributes; Her Final Presentation Was a Keynote on How “Peer Support Facilitates Change”
When Celia Brown, board president of MindFreedom International and a founder of Surviving Race: The intersection of Disability, Injustice and Human Rights, died of cancer on December 11, 2022, many of her numerous friends and colleagues posted loving memories of her. NYAPRS CEO Harvey Rosenthal wrote: “Celia was and will always be one of our movement’s most cherished and most influential leaders....” Taina Laing, CEO, Baltic Street AEH, wrote: “Celia was a pioneer and what we call a Mother of The Movement.” PsychRights.org founder and author of The Zyprexa Papers Jim Gottstein, quoted in Mad In America, noted Celia’s instrumental role in the passage of the UN’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and wrote: “There have been an immense number of accolades for Celia Brown on her passing, all deserved and none hyped.” “...it’s hard to overstate the impact she had and the void she is leaving behind,” wrote psychiatrist and activist Peter Stastny. For NYAPRS’s “In Honor and Remembrance of Celia Brown,” click here. For the Mad In America tribute, click here. For Celia’s final presentation, a keynote entitled “Peer Support Facilitates Change,” at the 2022 ISPS-US conference on November 5, 2022, click here.
Flaws, Bias, and Deception Affect the Approval Process for Drugs and Other Medical Interventions
The approval process for drugs and other medical interventions is flawed due to reporting bias and Broad Medical Uncertainty (BMU) as well as “image manipulation,” according to three 2022 articles, and a fourth study, from 2016. In “Selective publication of antidepressant trials and its influence on apparent efficacy…,” published by PLOS Medicine, the authors note that the published literature has “inflated the apparent efficacy of antidepressant drugs.” They conclude that “[r]eporting bias persists but appears to have diminished for newer, compared to older, antidepressants.” In “Broad Medical Uncertainty and the Ethical Obligation for Openness,” British researchers argue that “flaws in medical research methodologies, bias in publication practices, financial and other conflicts of interest, and features of how evidence is translated into practice” have resulted in “ ‘Broad Medical Uncertainty’ (BMU) regarding the effectiveness of many medical interventions.” And in “Image manipulation in science is suddenly in the news. But these cases are hardly rare,” published by STAT, the authors write, “Thanks to Photoshop, researchers could prettify the images in their manuscripts in ways that might cross the line into deception in an effort to clear the bar of peer review,” and that “[a] retraction for image manipulation happens about once every other day…” For the PLOS Medicine article, click here. For the BMU paper, published by Springer, click here. For the STAT article (Courtesy of Berta Britz), click here. And for “Antidepressants 'likely increase suicides in all ages' and manufacturers underreport side effects: Study” (2016), click here.
Birdwatching Is Good for Your Mental Health
British researchers used the “Urban Mind smartphone application to examine the impact of seeing or hearing birds on self-reported mental well-being in real-life contexts” on 1,292 participants between April 2018 and October 2021. They reported that “everyday encounters with birdlife were associated with time-lasting improvements in mental well-being. These improvements were evident not only in healthy people but also in those with a diagnosis of depression…” For a Nice News article about the study, published in Scientific Reports, click here.
TRAININGS, WEBINARS, AND CONFERENCES
BHN/OMH to Host a Free, Four-Part (Virtual) Series on Understanding and Reducing Stigma This Winter
“Mental Health Stigma: What Is It? Who Does It Impact? How Do We Reduce It?” Behavioral Health News and the New York State Office of Mental Health will offer a four-part (virtual) roundtable series to discuss these questions, featuring people with lived experience, advocates, policy makers, mental health providers, community leaders, researchers, and media figures. The four 90-minute roundtables, each of which will begin at 2 p.m. ET, are “Understanding the Experience of Mental Health Stigma” (January 12); “The Experience of Mental Health Stigma among Diverse Groups” (January 26); “The Role of the Media in Reducing Stigma” (February 9); and “Paths to Reduce Stigma and Promote Positive Attitudes” (March 2). For details and to register for any or all of the free roundtables, click here.
HUG ME Ink Seeks Planning Committee Members for 2024 Peer-A-Palooza
HUG ME Ink will be hosting its 2nd Annual Peer-A-Palooza Peer Summit in 2024, and is seeking members for the Planning Committee. “If you're interested in being on the Planning Committee for the 2024 PEER-A-PALOOZA, please fill out the application HERE. The deadline to apply is January 7, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. CST.” For information about the 2022 Peer-A-Palooza, click here.
MHA Issues Call for Proposals for its Annual Conference: Deadline January 9
The theme of Mental Health America’s annual conference, to be held June 6-10, 2023, in Washington, DC, and online, is Next Gen Prevention. Workshop proposals are due by January 9; Affiliate Day proposals are due by January 13. For details and to apply, click here.
“The Role of Peer Specialists in Promoting Health Equity”: A 5-Part Series
On January 19, 2023, at 1 p.m. ET, PENTAC will present the first 90-minute webinar in a five-part series; the topic will be “Understanding the Drivers of Health Inequities.” The rest of the series is scheduled for January 26 (“Racial Justice and the Mental Health Recovery Movement”), February 9 (“Helpers, Healers, and Jailers–Understanding the Difference”), February 16 (“Implementing a Framework for Culturally Relevant Peer Support Services”), and March 2 (“Putting All the Pieces Together: An Action Plan for Promoting Health Equity”). All of the 90-minute sessions will begin at 1 p.m. ET. To register for the first webinar (which will enroll you in all of the sessions), click here.
Beyond the Bars Conference 2023 Issues Request for Proposals: Deadline, January 20
Columbia University’s Center for Justice has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for its 2023 Beyond the Bars conference, to be held March 24-26, 2023. “This year's conference theme is Seeding Justice, exploring the ways in which movements for justice cultivate healing, accountability and transformation, for people and communities, as well as to hold harmful carceral systems to account.” For details about the conference, to be held at the Columbia University School of Social Work in New York City, and/or to submit a proposal, click here. The deadline is January 20 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
2023 Conference on Critical Psychiatry Issues Call for (Blogpost) Proposals
Vanderbilt University’s (Virtual/Hybrid) Conference on Critical Psychiatry (CCP), April 1-2, 2023, welcomes blogposts to be shared on the CCP website. Deadline: February 3, 2023 at 11:59PM CST. CCP writes that the conference will be “led by students + academics + practitioners + activists mostly from the US; we want to form a unified front of critiques.” The conference theme is Pluralism in Anti-oppressive Praxis. For more about the conference, click here. For details and to submit a proposal, click here.
Free Trainings Are Offered by Crestwood Behavioral Health Recovery Resilience Solutions
“Recovery Resilience Solutions offers a wide range of peer, recovery, resilience and wellness trainings, products and events.” These include “Terms of Enpeerment,” a free 90-minute workshop which “will help your team, organization, and/or system fully embrace inclusion of peer support specialists to increase recovery outcomes”; “Building Bounce Back Families,” “a free 90-minute fun, engaging, and highly interactive workshop to provide participants with concrete tools and a process to build and strengthen resilient family relationships”; and “40 Days to a Resilient Journey of Meaning and Purpose,” accompanied by a “Next 40 Days Flight Packet.” For details about these and other trainings, some of which are California-specific, and to register, click here.
Introduction to Advocacy for Youth and Young Adults: Free National Virtual Workshop
PENTAC (Peer Experience National Technical Assistance Center) is presenting a free two-part workshop on “Introduction to Advocacy for Youth and Young Adults.” In Part 1, on January 25, 2023, 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. ET, youth and young adults will explore advocacy topics to help them learn how to determine their needs, speak up to communicate, and ask for the help they need. In Part 2, March 22, 2023, 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. ET, they will also learn the basics of being able to mentor others. Exclusive to individuals 12+; minors must have the permission of a caregiver. For details and to register for the January 25 workshop, click here. (Registration for the March 22 workshop will be available later.)
“How to Live and Work with Differing Perspectives” Is the Next Doors to Wellbeing Webinar
Doors to Wellbeing will present the next webinar in its monthly series on January 31, 2023, at 2 p.m. ET. Doors to Wellbeing writes: “Wellness and recovery are self-directed and can take many different paths. However, as peer supporters, we may feel conflicts with those perspectives. This webinar will explore strategies and skills to help us navigate differing perspectives, our own judgements, and support us to meet people where they are at.” For details and to register, click here.
“The Potential Contribution of User/Survivor-led Research and Open Dialogue to PPI [Patient and Public Involvement] Research Capacity”
INTAR (International Network Towards Alternatives and Rights-Based Supports) is offering three archived webinars, held in October and November 2022, that focus on user-led research in the context of mental health. The three are “Dialogue between established Peer Leaders in the mental health field,” “Owning our Own Destiny: Survivor/Service User Research & the Implications for PPI,” and “Open Dialogue Approaches to Public/Citizen Engagement in Research–doubling roles and moving forward.” For details and to view the webinars, click here.
RESEARCH STUDIES
“Boundary Ethics in Peer Support: A Case Study”
In “Boundary Ethics in Peer Support: A Case Study,” the author, who has lived experience and a “side gig” as a peer supporter, writes: “Despite the rising prominence of peer support, little literature has explored ethics in the provision of care between people with mental illness. Drawing on a case narrative from a larger empirical study on peer support in the United States, this paper will reflect on boundary ethics: that is, the physical, emotional, and social parameters that people engaged in peer support set in relationships with one another.” For the article, published in the Journal of Ethics in Mental Health, click here.
“Perspectives from Voice-hearers and Their Voices on the ‘Talking with Voices’ Approach”
Talking with Voices (TwV) "is based on an understanding of voice-hearing as a relational phenomenon, often linked to trauma. Therapy involves facilitation of dialogical engagement between hearers and their voices…The current study explored experiences of the TwV approach from the perspectives of voice-hearers and also of their voices. Ten qualitative interviews were subjected to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.” For “ ‘It allowed us to let our pain out’: perspectives from voice-hearers and their voices on the ‘talking with voices’ approach,” click here.
RESOURCES
“A Selected Compendium of Mental Health Programs, Initiatives, and Resources on College Campuses”
The Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion has published the 55-page “Selected Compendium of Mental Health Programs, Initiatives, and Resources on College Campuses.” The author writes, “This document will highlight both the unique innovative efforts and common health promotion efforts on college campuses that assist students in maximizing their mental health and academic success.” To download the free document, click here.
Cafe TA Center Newsletter Focuses on Disaster Preparedness
“Mental Health and Natural Disasters: Including Your Disaster Plan in Your Recovery Plan” is the Page 1 headline of Focus 2.0, the newsletter of the Cafe TA Center. “Natural disasters can be traumatizing experiences that create real challenges for people in recovery from serious mental health conditions. The good news is that by making disaster prep part of your personal recovery plan, you can make sure you’re ready for whatever comes your way!” For the newsletter, click here.
International Mad Studies Journal Is Launched
Volume 1, Number 1, of the International Mad Studies Journal has been published, and is available online for free! It was founded by a psychiatric survivor in Australia “in the context of working in academia and seeing the challenges of producing alternative knowledges and ideas in mental health,” according to the Introduction. Together with “like-minded people” with lived experience as well as allies, they “wanted to challenge the dominance of traditional mental health discourse, both inside and outside the academy.” To read the Journal, click here.
Global Mental Health Peer Network Offers Many Free Resources
The Global Mental Health Peer Network offers numerous free resources “from lived experience perspectives and our collective expertise in various areas of mental health.” Among the podcasts are “A Story of Living and Thriving with Schizophrenia” and “Supporting My Mother with Her Mental Illness.” Among the free academic publications are “Testifying after an Investigation: Shaping the Mental Health of Public Safety Personnel,” “Mental Health and the City in th Post-Covid-19 Era,” and “Rights-based Mental Health Care.” For the resources, click here.
“The Politics of Service User Labour” is a Zine about the Politics of Peer Support Employment
“ ‘The Politics of Service User Labour’ talks about issues that concern service users/survivors who perform different kinds of labour (paid and unpaid) in the mental health sector…Though there have been improvements in employment and inclusion opportunities over the years, problems remain. We still need to work together to advance working conditions, wages, and benefits for service users/survivors.” For the 19-page zine, click here. (Courtesy of Ann Kasper and Karen Machin)
Disability Visibility Project Creates, Shares, and Amplifies Disability Media and Culture
“The Disability Visibility Project (DVP) is an online community dedicated to creating, sharing, and amplifying disability media and culture." Among its many activities, DVP “publishes original essays, reports, and blog posts about ableism, intersectionality, culture, media, and politics from the perspective of disabled people; builds online spaces for people to share and connect; champions disability culture and history; organizes and facilitates events, gives presentations, participates on panels; supports and amplifies the work of other disabled people and organizations in the community using social media; and partners and collaborates with other activists and organizations in various campaigns such as #CripTheVote, #CripLit, Access Is Love, and DisabledWriters.com." For the DVP website, click here.
“Therapeutic Drama Therapy Opens the Door to Healing Through Performance”
A recent article in Yes! Solutions Journalism reports on the positive impact of psychodrama, “a method of drama therapy in which the client dramatizes an inner wound or conflict by casting the rest of the group as characters in their story. The North American Drama Therapy Association describes drama therapy as an embodied, experiential practice that invites ‘participants to tell their stories, set goals and solve problems, express feelings, or achieve catharsis.’ Other methods include improvisation, masks, puppetry, and writing plays or poetry.” For the article, click here. (Courtesy of Kevin Fitts)
The January 2023 Digest of Articles Offering Healthy Lifestyle Advice
For “Small Steps to Improve Your Mental Health in 2023: Well’s most popular mental health stories of 2022 are full of insights and guidance to usher you into the new year,” click here. FOR “14 Steps to a Healthy Lifestyle,” click here. For “Need to Defuse Family Squabbles? Learn From an FBI Crisis Negotiator,” click here. For “Why Does My Sleep Become Worse as I Age?” click here.
The January 2023 Digest of Articles about the Criminal Legal System, in Which Many Individuals with Mental Health Conditions Are Incarcerated (and the Key Update continues after this Digest)
For “Jail Is a Death Sentence for a Growing Number of Americans: In Houston’s jail, where the population is at its highest in a decade, 24 people have died this year. More than half had a history of mental problems,” click here. For “Why So Many Jails Are in a ‘State of Complete Meltdown’: Overcrowding, violence and abuse proliferate at jails across the country, as staffing problems make long-simmering problems worse,” click here. For “Sentenced to Trauma: Inside the volatility and disorder of prison: ‘I have been in the penal system since 2004. I have been changed, but not for the better,’” click here. For “The Death of Daniel Prude and the Birth of a Thousand Lies,” click here. For “The Wyoming Honor Farm: Where Prisoners Learn to Train Wild Horses,” click here. For “As Police Arrest More Seniors, Those With Dementia Face Deadly Consequences: Many cities are changing how they respond to mental health calls, but less attention has been paid to the unique risks for people with Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases,” click here. For “The Crime Spike Is No Mystery: By zooming out and looking at the big picture, the question of what causes violence becomes quite answerable. Producing a sustained reduction in violence may not be possible without addressing extreme, persistent segregation by race, ethnicity and income,” click here. For “The Search for Beauty in a Prison Cell: ‘People don’t understand how many of us sought to become more than our crimes or how many of us starved for lack of a conduit to the dignity that we sought,’ writes Reginald Dwayne Betts,” click here. For “What You Need to Know About the Rise in U.S. Mass Shootings,” click here. For “Why states should change Medicaid rules to cover people leaving prison: People leaving prison have sky-high mortality rates. Most are likely Medicaid-eligible. Making sure they are covered upon release from prison would save lives and reduce recidivism,” click here. For “Eleanor Jackson Piel, Lawyer Who Fought Capital Convictions, Dies at 102,” click here. For “Troubled south Mississippi man becomes another casualty in rising number of jail suicides: People battling mental illness in Mississippi jails spend an average of 555 days in custody before a judge orders they be evaluated to determine whether they are mentally competent to stand trial. It then takes an average of another 191 days to process someone through their competency hearing,” click here. For “As fatal police shootings increase, more go unreported: Flawed FBI data has left thousands of deaths uncounted and complicates efforts to hold troubled police departments accountable,” click here. For “The Year in Books: As 2022 draws to a close, we reflect on books that informed, inspired, and empowered us to envision a world without mass incarceration,” click here. For “News Inside: Welcome to our award-winning print publication, circulating free of charge in hundreds of prisons and jails across the United States. To request a subscription for an incarcerated person, please fill out this registration form. Contact us at newsinside@themarshallproject.org with any questions.” For more information about News Inside and links to the previous issues, click here. For “Hugh Ryan on the Urgency of Prison Abolition: ‘Let’s tear down these monstrous warehouses of human misery,’” click here. For “Federal Prisons Were Told to Provide Addiction Medications. Instead, They Punish People Who Use Them. Congress directed the Bureau of Prisons to make Suboxone and other medications widely available, but only a small fraction of those who need the help have received it,” click here. For “Why Youth Incarceration Fails: An Updated Review of the Evidence” (34 pages), click here. For “Bars and Barriers: Far from a decarceral plan, 'Barred' is nonetheless a trenchant look at how the criminal system fails the innocent and guilty alike,” click here. For “Study: Federal magistrates, prosecutors misunderstand bail law, jailing people who should go free: Despite the study, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts says the federal judiciary has worked hard to make sure defendants aren't detained ‘unless the law identifies a specific need to protect the public,’" click here. For “Senate Investigation Finds Federal Prisons Fail to Prevent or Investigate Rapes: Long delays and management failures ‘allowed serious, repeated sexual abuse in at least four facilities to go undetected,’” click here. For “The United States Is Crime Sick. Health Care Is the Cure. Politicians on both sides of the aisle spent the midterms telling us that more police and prisons will make us safer. Voters didn’t bite—and perhaps they know better,” click here. For “Experience the Great Outdoors From Prison: Incarcerated men and women watch nature videos on loop in a mental health program,” click here. For “The Books Banned in Your State’s Prisons,” click here. For “Prisoners in 2021: Statistical Tables,” by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, click here. For “ ‘Suicide by Cop’: How Police Present Killings as Unavoidable,” click here. For “Some of Our Best Work of 2022: From coverage of prison violence and abuses in a juvenile lockup to investigations by our new Cleveland team, our reporters told stories that made a difference,” by the Marshall Project, click here.
FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!
CONFERENCES, WEBINARS, AND TRAININGS
“So You’re Ready to Work; Now What?”
Rebel Leadership Group LLC and CAFE TAC has launched a new, 12-part interactive employment training series! “This series will be recovery-centered and strengths-based, examining the process of finding, applying for, and succeeding in a job through the lens of recovery, helping attendees to identify strengths and skills, align the job-seeking and employment experience with their personal recovery path, and providing opportunity for discussion in a peer-centered space…Registering for any of the 12 sessions will automatically register you for all future sessions.” For details and to register, click here.
Rutgers University Sponsors Free Wellness Self-Care Program for Service Providers
The Wellness Training Learning Collaborative of the Rutgers Center of Alcohol and Substance Use Studies Is sponsoring a series of free wellness trainings, designed as stand-alone sessions, for health care professionals. They write: “Join us to engage in a series of interactive sessions to empower [health care] professionals to practice simple self-care strategies to stay well. Learn how to build these wellness self-care habits into day-to-day life.” The upcoming sessions are on Jan. 19 and Jan. 26, 2023. For descriptions and to register for one or both of the sessions, whose times vary, click here and scroll down to page 5. (Although the times say EDT, EST began on Nov. 6.)
NASMHPD’s 2014 Webinar Series on Trauma-Informed Peer Support Is Still Relevant“
SAMHSA’s National Center for Trauma-Informed Care (NCTIC) hosted a series of three 75-minute webinars in September 2014 that introduced key concepts in NCTIC’s day-long Trauma-Informed Peer Support (TIPS) training. Peer support providers are the primary audience. For more information and to listen to the recordings and download the PowerPoint slides, click here.
PsychAlive Offers a Variety of Webinars on Mental Health Topics, Many Free, Others $15
PsychAlive is a free, nonprofit resource created by the Glendon Association, whose mission is “to save lives and enhance mental health by addressing the social problems of suicide, violence, child abuse and troubled interpersonal relationships.” Psychalive.org offers a variety of upcoming and archived webinars, many of which are free, while others are available for $15. Among the myriad topics are “From Anxiety to Action: How to Stay Sane While Fighting Climate Change,” “How to Overcome Insecurity,” “Powerful Tools to Fight Depression,” and “Understanding and Overcoming Adverse Childhood Experiences.” To check out the webinars, click here.
Learning Collaborative Webinar Series Offers Several Archived Presentations
The Doors to Wellbeing website offers a number of webinars that you may find of interest: “The Importance of Policies and Procedures in Peer-run Organizations”; “Building Partnerships to Enhance the Peer Workforce,” by Kyneta Lee, Tim Saubers, and Todd Noack; “Handing Over the Keys: Leadership Succession Planning in Non-Profit Organizations,” by Elise Padilla and Maxine Henry; “How to Embed Strategic Planning into the Culture of Your Organization,” by Oryx Cohen; “Fundraising and Sustainability: Building your Organization by Telling the Right Story to the Right Audience”; “Developing a Board of Directors for Mental Health Organizations,” by Amey Dettmer and Matthew Federici; and “Conflict Management in Peer-Run Organizations: Tools for Effective Conversations.” Certificates of attendance are not available for any of these presentations. For more information and to register for any or all of them, click here.
National Safety Council Offers a Free Webinar Series Focusing on Mental Health in the Workplace
"The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will affect employees well beyond the initial crisis," the National Safety Council writes. "Employers have a unique ability and responsibility to address the mental health and wellbeing of their workers, which is a true organization-wide effort. This free Mental Health Webinar Series led by the National Safety Council, and first presented in August 2020, speaks to a variety of positions within an organization and how each one can address stress and mental health." Four of the five webinars are titled: "Supporting Employee Mental Health" and respectively subtitled "Resources for Employees," "Actions for Leadership," "Actions for Supervisors," and "Actions for HR Professionals." To view the free, archived webinars, click here.
OPPORTUNITIES TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH
Telehealth Research Study for Behavioral Health Services Providers
The Great Lakes MHTTC is seeking participants for their research study on the use of virtual behavioral health services and its benefits and challenges…If you choose to be in this voluntary study, please complete this 10-minute survey developed by the Great Lakes MHTTC to gain a better understanding of a) how telehealth is being used by behavioral health services providers, b) its benefits, c) its challenges, and d) projected use in the future. You can receive a copy of the survey results by including your email at the end of the survey. The survey results will also be available on the Great Lakes MHTTC website. Note: This survey is open to the public, regardless of location.” Take the survey here. Questions? todd.molfenter@wisc.edu
Young Adults with Psychiatric Diagnoses Are Sought for Study on Community Participation
The Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion is recruiting young adults (ages 18-30) with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression to take part in ConnectionsRx, designed to support engagement in meaningful community activities. Participants will be enrolled in the peer-led study for six months, and receive support to help meet community participation goals. Interviews (approximately 60 minutes each) will take place on Zoom. Participants will receive a $15 Amazon gift card (to a maximum of $45) for each survey completed. For the website, click here. Questions? Write to ConnectionsRx@temple.edu.
South Southwest MHTTC Launches Youth and Young Adult Peer Supporters Survey
“Are you a peer specialist who provides peer support to other people under the age of 30? We want to hear from you! Please fill out the survey to assist the South Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (South Southwest MHTTC) in learning more about youth peer support across the country! The intent is to be able to include these peer supporters in research, training, and technical assistance activities surrounding youth peer support. The form should take 5-10 minutes to fill out, and can be done from a phone or a computer browser. To take the survey, click here.” Questions? Write to southsouthwest@mhttcnetwork.org.
Are You Interested in Pursuing Graduate School and/or a Research Career? Read Below.
Stephania Hayes (UC Davis), Shannon Pagdon (Columbia/NYS Psychiatric Institute/University of Pittsburgh), and Nev Jones (University of Pittsburgh) write: “We are gathering information from people with lived experience in the Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) or early psychosis space (including peer specialists, current/former CSC participants, and CSC youth coordinators) who are potentially interested in pursuing graduate school and/or a research career. All of us identify as having lived experience, work in CSC, and are invested in supporting the next generation of scholars who also have lived experience. We would like to create a discussion group and/or other supports for people interested in this career path. The link below leads to a very brief survey that will help us understand the level of interest in such supports, as well as areas of career interest. (Please note that this is not a research study.)” To participate in the anonymous survey, click here.
“Help Us Map the Landscape of Lived Experience and Family Involvement in 988 Policy and Related Crisis Response System Planning!”
“As 988 implementation rolls out alongside additional efforts to strengthen crisis response systems throughout the U.S., it's important to gauge the extent to which direct stakeholders (i.e., individuals who use or have used mental health crisis services and their families) have been involved in related policy, implementation and evaluation at the local, regional, state or federal levels. To map out involvement nationally, Mental Health America (lead: Kelly Davis), Nev Jones (University of Pittsburgh) and Keris Myrick (National Association of Peer Supporters) have developed a survey aimed at documenting the extent of stakeholder involvement, the forms this involvement has taken, and, where available, what concerns stakeholders have raised. Any individual with knowledge of lived experience and family involvement is eligible to participate; individuals completing the survey do not have to have lived experience themselves.” For more information and to access the survey, click here.
Survey Seeks Respondents Who Have Taken Mental Health Courses Involving Their Own Diagnoses
Have you taken a mental health course that covers a diagnosis you have? If so, you are invited to participate in a brief, anonymous, online survey--designed by a University of Pittsburgh MSW student--about what it's like for students with lived experience to study their own diagnoses in a classroom. The survey covers students' experiences of studying such subjects as "abnormal psychology," "psychopathology," and diagnosis and assessment when their own diagnoses are covered. "The goal of the project is to better understand what it feels like to take courses in which someone’s diagnosis is being taught/defined/discussed. There is currently no literature or reporting on the experiences of students in the above circumstances, or the associated impact." Interested? Please click here. Questions? Please email the project lead, Charlie Clement, at cjc204@pitt.edu
Peer Support in Higher Education Survey Seeks Respondents
“Peer support programs are growing on college campuses across the U.S. Mental Health America, Doors to Wellbeing, and the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion want to better understand the availability of peer support in higher education as well as the experiences and needs of students accessing peer support programs…We hope to use this research to support the expansion of peer support in higher education, including developing a national database of peer support programs in higher education and documenting pressing issues in campus programs…You may also indicate if you are interested in having your school’s peer support program listed in a national database of peer support programs in higher education.” For more information and to complete the survey, click here.
BU Seeks Peer Support Specialists for a Research Study
The Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Boston University is developing and testing the effectiveness of a coaching service called Coaching and Advancement for Peer Providers (CAPP) “to increase organizational commitment and job satisfaction and decrease turnover among mental health peer providers.” BU CPR writes: “We need Peer Support Specialists (PSS) to participate in our study. Who can participate? People who are in a paid job as a Peer Support Specialist providing support to other people with mental health challenges, who are employed at least 10 hours per week, who have worked for the past six months in a mental health program, and who are experiencing stress because of challenges in the workplace. The study involves 16 one-hour sessions of coaching over a four-month period designed to help you with your job, meeting online (through Zoom, for example) with your coach, and filling out surveys one time before coaching starts and three additional times. You will have a 50/50 chance of getting a coach or having a one-time meeting to give you information about challenges at work. Benefits? You may learn strategies to help make work less stressful.” For more information, click here. For questions, contact Principal Investigator E. Sally Rogers, Sc.D., at erogers@bu.edu or 617-353-3549.
Supported Education Survey Needs Your Help
Do you operate a program that provides dedicated supported education services for individuals with psychiatric disabilities/mental health conditions? If so, you are invited to complete the survey at the link below. The primary goal of the survey is to help create a National Supported Education Database (NSEdD) that will be "a searchable listing of diverse supported education programs and services for individuals experiencing psychiatric disabilities and/or mental health challenges...across the US and its territories." The NSEdD project is sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and co-administered by the five SAMHSA-funded national consumer and consumer-supporter technical assistance centers, in collaboration with research partners Drs. Nev Jones (University of Pittsburgh) and Mark Salzer (Temple University). For a link to the survey, which includes a definition of supported education, click here. For a flyer with information about the survey, click here.
National Survey on Student Rights, Discrimination, and Accommodations in Higher Education Seeks Respondents
"Have you experienced psychiatric disability-based discrimination or the denial of an accommodation in a postsecondary institution in the United States? Interested in informing national advocacy focus on psych disability rights in higher ed? Mental Health America (lead: Kelly Davis) and collaborators Dr. Nev Jones (University of Pittsburgh), Stefanie Kaufman-Mthimkhulu (Project LETS) and Brit Vanneman Esq. (Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law) have developed "a survey aimed at providing a more comprehensive understanding of student experiences of campus-based discrimination, mandated leaves of absence, and/or denial of academic, administrative and/or student-work accommodations in the U.S. Data will be used to inform national advocacy efforts and future projects, and in reports, presentations and publications." For eligibility and to access the survey, click here.
If You've Had, or Been Labeled with, "Negative Symptoms" in the Context of Psychosis...
"If you have experienced or been labeled with 'negative symptoms' in the context of psychosis, please consider contributing an anonymous account of your views and experiences," Dr. Nev Jones writes. "Currently, there is nowhere one can go to find lived experience perspectives/accounts on this topic—even though 'negative symptoms' regularly feature in research and clinical trials. Help us change this!" This survey is a companion to Psychosis Outside the Box; for that survey, click here. For more information and/or to share your story about "negative symptoms," click here.
"Are You Between the Ages of 21 and 60 and Drink Alcohol?"
"Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are seeking adults--[both smokers and non-smokers]--to study whether a gene and smoking may affect drinking alcohol. Volunteers should be healthy and drug-free, and not seeking treatment for alcohol-related problems. Research participation includes three outpatient visits at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD; alcohol consumption; brain scans (MRI), blood draws, and filling out questionnaires. There is no cost to participate and compensation may be provided." For more information, click here. (Courtesy of Fran Hazam)
TU Collaborative Seeks Participants for Its Parenting Through Leisure Project; See Also the TU Collaborative's Parenting Resources, Including Information on Custody Issues
The Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion is seeking parents with lived experience of a mental health condition to participate in a paid research study. The TU Collaborative writes: "Our program, Parenting Through Leisure, focuses on helping parents with a serious mental illness participate in leisure activities with their child. We are looking for individuals who are 18 and older; are an adult parent with a diagnosis of schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, or depression; have a child who is 7 to 15 years old and is interested in participating in family leisure with you; have legal visitation rights, joint custody or full custody of the child, with at least weekly contact; and have a desire to engage in more leisure activities with their child." For details about the study and the remuneration as well as other benefits to eligible participants, and a link to sign up, click here. Questions? Please contact TUCollab@temple.edu. And for the TU Collaborative's Parenting web page--which includes links to many resources for parents with lived experience, including information about custody laws and a model family reunification statute--click here.
Survey Seeks Respondents Who Are in Administrative/Leadership Positions in the Mental Health Field
If you are in an administrative/leadership position in the mental health arena, “the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP) Committee on Psychiatric Administration and Leadership invites you to participate in the International Survey on Administrative Psychiatry. The survey has two purposes: 1. To identify the concerns and needs of mental health professionals/psychiatrists in administrative and leadership positions. 2. To determine training needs in administrative psychiatry. We ask you to complete this brief, [15- to 20-minute] questionnaire to help us in developing recommendations for action. We also want to let you know that, if you fill out this questionnaire, you permit the committee to use your anonymous data for scientific work.” Peer providers are included. For the survey, click here. (Courtesy of Oryx Cohen)
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
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES
TU Collaborative Wants to Hear Your Story!
“We are working on a project to better understand social connections among adults with significant mental health challenges,” the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion writes. “We are seeking your stories on your social connections generally” and “what those connections mean to you.” The TU Collaborative will compile these stories based on a series of brief surveys. For details and to share your story, click here.
Call for Papers: “Recovery at 30: Emancipation, cooptation, or the end of an era?”
“The year 2023 marks exactly three decades since the publication of Bill Anthony’s seminal “Recovery from mental illness: the guiding vision of the mental health service system in the 1990s" (click here)...”In this special issue of Community Mental Health Journal,” the editors write, “we are soliciting both concept pieces (commentaries, critical reviews) and empirical work (qualitative, quantitative, ethnographic or mixed methods) that explore the question of whether recovery policy remains relevant and emancipatory today or whether the psy-fields are instead in need of fresh thinking and new, more diverse values-based frameworks.” The submission deadline is September 1, 2023. For more information, click here.
Common Threads: Stories of Survival & Recovery from Mental Illness
Common Threads: Stories of Survival & Recovery from Mental Illness, a 108-page compendium, includes “tales of survival and recovery” by a number of Floridians. To quote from the Introduction, “Many of the people in these stories have lived significant portions of their lives in psychiatric institutions, and only through their strengths have they found their way back to the community…In these tales, we hear about the importance of education and peer support…” To download the free document, click here.
“Crisis Now” Offers a “Roadmap to Safe, Effective Crisis Care”
The goal of Crisis Now: Transforming Crisis Services—led by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) and developed with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, and RI International—is “to provide all communities a roadmap to safe, effective crisis care that diverts people in distress from the emergency department and jail by developing a continuum of crisis care services that match people’s clinical needs.” Among the resources offered on the website are SAMHSA’s 80-page “National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care Best Practice Toolkit” (2020), an “Overview of Crisis Funding Sources Available to States and Localities” (last updated March 2, 2022), and assessment tools, such as “How Does Your Crisis System Rate?” The Crisis Now partners write: “Are you interested in adding your organization to the list supporting Crisis Now, or do you have questions? Reach out to us at info@crisisnow.com. For the website, click here. (Courtesy of Kevin Fitts)
“What Is the Meaning of Life?” This Free Online Collection Offers Answers
Excellence Reporter offers more than “1,200 articles-interviews on ‘What Is the Meaning of Life?’ written by renowned spiritual leaders, mindfulness experts, great thinkers and authors, elders, artists, musicians, CEOs, etc.” The contributors include such renowned figures as Bertrand Russell; Carl Jung; the Dalai Lama; Eleanor Roosevelt; Epicurus; Erich Fromm; Kahlil Gibran; Buckminster Fuller; Robert Louis Stevenson; and Ron Bassman, executive director of MindFreedom International. To browse the free compendium, click here.
The UIC Center’s Solutions Suite for Health & Recovery Offers Free Tools
"The UIC Center offers tools, curricula, and implementation manuals for free use in community-based programs, peer-run programs, or one's own life. You can introduce the entire complement of products to foster improved health, wellness, and mental health recovery. Or, you can choose the ones that will work best for your program or your life. The Suite was developed in collaboration with Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey. The UIC Center is funded by NIDILRR (National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research). For the UIC Solutions Suite for Health & Recovery, click here. (Courtesy of Peggy Swarbrick via Jacek Haciak)
U.S. Surgeon General Creates Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation
"The U.S. Surgeon General’s Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation, developed in collaboration with the HHS Office of Evaluation Sciences (OES), provides specific guidance and resources for health care providers, educators, librarians, faith leaders, and trusted community members to understand, identify, and stop the spread of health misinformation in their communities." For information about the toolkit (a 22-page overview of health misinformation, and resources to stop it), and links to a “Talk to Your Community About Health Misinformation” Infographic, a “Health Misinformation Checklist” Infographic, and the Surgeon General's press release, click here.
"Psychiatrist with Philosophical Interests" leads "Conversations in Critical Psychiatry," a Psychiatric Times Series
Awais Aftab, who describes himself as a "psychiatrist with philosophical interests" in his Twitter bio, leads "Conversations in Critical Psychiatry," which, he says, "explores critical and philosophical perspectives in psychiatry and engages with prominent commentators within and outside the profession who have made meaningful criticisms of the status quo." Among those interviewed are Allen Frances, M.D., author of Saving Normal; Sandra Steingard, M.D., and G. Scott Waterman, M.D., on "Integrating Academic Inquiry and Reformist Activism in Psychiatry"; Susannah Cahalan, author of Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, on "50 Shades of Misdiagnosis"; Kathy Flaherty, J.D., executive director of the Connecticut Legal Rights Project, Inc., on "Reconsidering Care and Coercion in Psychiatry"; Nev Jones, Ph.D., on "Phenomenology, Power, Polarization, and the Discourse on Psychosis"; Dainius Puras, M.D., on "Global Psychiatry's Crisis of Values"; and many others. For the archived interviews, click here.
CNN Offers “A Guide to Helping and Getting Help During the Coronavirus Crisis”
CNN writes: “The coronavirus pandemic is overwhelming, and one of the most excruciating parts for many people is the feeling of utter helplessness in the face of widespread suffering and hardship. CNN’s Impact Your World has compiled a list of donation opportunities and tips to help those affected by the crisis. Click on a category or scroll down to browse a list of organizations, resources and ideas. Need help? Most categories also include resources for financial, emotional or social support.” For the free guide, click here.
U.S. DOL Releases Guidance on FMLA Leave and Mental Health
The U.S. Department of Labor’s newly issued Fact Sheet #280 about the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) explains when eligible employees may take FMLA leave to address mental health conditions, and new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) offers additional information. (Although the FMLA covers public and private employers nationwide, only those private employers who have 50 or more employees for at least 20 workweeks in a year are required to provide their eligible employees with FMLA leave.) For details, click here.
Hearing Voices Network Is Now Hosting Online Groups
“There are now ONLINE opportunities to connect, share experiences, and find mutual support,” the Hearing Voices Network (HVN) writes. “These groups are accessible via web-based platforms and by phone…Online groups are specifically for those with personal lived experience with hearing voices, seeing visions, and/or negotiating alternative realities. They are voice-hearer facilitated. With further questions and for details on how to access the group[s], please email info@hearingvoicesusa.org.” To read this announcement online and for more information, click here.
Virtual Group Works to Advance Peer Research Capacity, Leadership, and Involvement
Nev Jones, PhD—a strong advocate for building research capacity, leadership, and involvement among peers, survivors, and service users—leads a virtual group dedicated to this effort. Dr. Jones—assistant professor, School of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh—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.
Mad In America Invites You to Submit Your Personal Story (Within Certain Guidelines)
Mad In America writes: “A ‘personal story’ is defined as your story of being in relationship to psychiatry and/or the mental health system, whatever that means to you. It might involve your opinions and analysis of what happened to you, as well. It can be about a specific event, or about your overall journey, provided it fits the length requirements (1,500 to 3,000 words) and has a narrative arc. The piece should be about your personal experiences, not psychiatry or the mental health system in general. Submissions should fall under the theme of rethinking psychiatry and the mental health system, and should be original works not previously published elsewhere. For examples of the types of stories we publish, view our personal stories archive here.” For more information and/or to submit a personal story, click here.
Seven Ways to Keep a Digital Copy of Your Vaccination Card on Your Smartphone
“You'll need proof of vaccination to go back to work or enter many restaurants, gyms and event venues, so keep your COVID-19 card handy.” This is the advice of CNET.com, a tech support website. Besides the obvious—taking a photo of the card to store on your phone—there are six other suggestions. For details, click here. (Courtesy of Yvonne Smith)
ISPS-US Offers an Array of Archived Webinars—Free but Donations Are Welcomed
The ISPS-US (The International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis-US Chapter) is offering a whole raft of archived webinars, which are free (although donations are welcomed). Among the webinars are "Cognitive Behavioral & Related Therapies for Psychosis: Diverse Approaches to Supporting Recovery," "How Can the Uncontainable Be Contained? Paradoxes of Madness & Philosophy," "Robert Whitaker: The Rising Non-Pharmaceutical Paradigm for 'Psychosis,'" "Life with Voices: A Guide for Harmony," "COPE Project: Non-Pharmaceutical Research on Influencing Voices and Visions," "What Hurts and What Helps In Treatment For 'Psychosis': Insider Perspectives," and many others. For more information and to access the webinars, click here.
“Where DNA and Medications Meet”
Not all drugs are effective for all people; therapeutic response rates for many drugs are only 50%-75%. “OneOme, co-founded by [the] Mayo Clinic, provides evidence-based pharmacogenomic solutions that help improve patient outcomes and reduce costs through more personalized medication decisions.” OneOme’s RightMed Test is “a doctor-ordered pharmacogenomic (PGx) test that analyzes your DNA and provides your doctors with genetic information to help them determine how you may respond to certain medications. The results may help your doctors reduce medication trial and error, minimize risk of side effects, save you time and money, and make more informed prescribing decisions. Because your DNA doesn’t change over time, your doctors can use your test results to make more personalized medication decisions for you over the course of your lifetime.” For more information, click here. (Courtesy of Robin Osborne)
Doors to Wellbeing Offers “State Selfies: A Picture of Peer Services Reported by Peers”
Doors to Wellbeing’s “Peer Album” is a directory of nearly 600 peer-run organizations throughout the U.S. They invite updates and offer instructions for providing them and add, “If your entry has not made this first draft, we encourage you to re-submit.” For the 158-page directory, click here.
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 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 19, No. 7, January 2023. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com. Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH