Key Update, June 2019, Volume 15, Number 12

June 23, 2019 Susan Rogers

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

It’s Not Too Late to Register for Alternatives 2019!

The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR) will host Alternatives 2019—“Standing Together, Celebrating Our Gifts, Raising Our Voices”—at The Catholic University in Washington, DC, July 7-11! The Alternatives Conference, now in its fourth decade, “is renowned for offering the latest and best information in the peer recovery movement, and a chance for peers to network with and learn from one another,” the NCMHR writes. “Now the People’s Alternatives once again, this conference is funded entirely through registration fees and donations.” Alternatives 2019 will include a two-day Public Policy and Education Academy, including advocacy training and a “Hill Day,” when peer advocates will meet, by appointment, with the staff of their U.S. senators and congressional representatives. To watch a short video about a past Alternatives conference, click here. For information about the keynote speakers, click here. For the workshop schedule, click here. For additional information, visit www.alternatives-conference.org. To register (for one day or the entire conference), click here.

Twitter Chat on “Challenging the Destructive Impact of Prejudice, Discrimination, Sanism, and Ableism” on July 15 at 2 p.m. ET

Join Nev Jones, Inside Our Minds (IOM), and the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse for a one-hour Twitter chat on “Challenging the Destructive Impact of Prejudice, Discrimination, Sanism, and Ableism” on July 15 at 2 p.m. ET. Nev Jones, Ph.D.—who has lived experience of psychosis and is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, and an internationally recognized advocate and expert in the mental health arena—will respond to questions and comments. In an 11,000+-word Pacific Standard article about her, she asks: “What would it look like if we focused on the social obstacles people face, instead of just their symptoms? How would it change things if we put people through school instead of telling them to settle for jobs shelving books? What if we listened to what it feels like to be mad, instead of telling people their experiences are just sound and fury meaning nothing?” For more about Inside Our Minds, click on www.insideourminds.org and follow @insidemindspgh on Twitter. For more about Alyssa Cypher, founder of Inside Our Minds, visit www.alyssaecypher.com and follow @lyss_cypher on Twitter. For more about Nev Jones, click here and click here and follow @viscidula on Twitter. The Twitter chat hashtag is #IOMchat.

Free Webinar Series on “Peer Workforce and Mental Health System Change”; First Webinar June 25!

Three free one-hour webinars on “Peer Workforce and Mental Health System Change: Promise and Practice” will be offered at 11 a.m. ET on June 25, July 16, and July 30 via The Central East Mental Health Technology Transfer Center. The webinars were developed by Jessica Wolf, PhD, Senior Advisor, Yale Group on Workforce Development. The topics are “Is the Past Prologue? From Insane Asylums to Peer Support Workforce” (June 25), “The Logic of Scientific Revolutions: Peer Support Workforce and Mental Health System Transformation” (July 16), and “Chop Wood and Carry Water: Key Elements in Progressive Peer Workforce Practice” (July 30). To register for the June 25 webinar, click here. Registration for, and access to, the two later webinars will be available on The Central East Mental Health Technology Transfer Center website (click here), which is recording and archiving all three webinars.

BRSS TACS to Offer a Free Virtual Event on Employment Support Strategies on June 27

A free, interactive, one-hour Recovery LIVE! virtual event—“Employment Support Strategies: Approaches to Assist People in Recovery from a Serious Mental Illness or Substance Use Disorder”—will be hosted by SAMHSA’s Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) on June 27 at 2 p.m. ET. You are invited “to join national experts in a conversation about employment support strategies for people living with serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or both. Presenters include Sean Johnson, Thresholds; Teesha Kirschbaum, Washington State Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery; and Len Statham, New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS).” To register, click here.

Courtesy of Judene Shelley

Tune In on June 27 at 3:30 p.m. for a Free Webinar on “Providing Mental Health Care to People Without Shelter”

On June 27, at 3:30 p.m., SAMHSA’s Homeless and Housing Resource Network will present the third webinar in the three-part Spotlight Series, Taking Mental Health Care to the Streets. This 90-minute webinar—“Outside the Box: Providing Mental Health Care to People Without Shelter”—“will focus on the provision of mental health services to people living in encampments,” the sponsors write. “Participants will learn strategies for providing care to individuals with serious mental illness, substance use disorders, or co-occurring disorders who are in unsheltered environments, both to address immediate needs and to provide foundational support for community-based permanent care that can continue through a person’s transition from living in an encampment to permanent housing.” For more information and to register, click here.

Courtesy of Jacek Haciak

NYAPRS Is Seeking Proposals for Its 37th Annual Conference—Deadline: July 1!

The New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS) is seeking presentations for its 37th annual conference—“Integrate, Innovate, Advocate, Celebrate: Keeping our Eyes on the Prize!”—to be held September 24-26, 2019 at the Villa Roma Resort & Conference Center, Callicoon, NY. “This year,” NYAPRS writes, “we’re especially interested in presentations that focus on new service designs and choices and pathways to wellness and healing that are available across the diversity of New Yorkers with mental health and substance use related needs.” For more about the conference—known for attracting nationally known presenters as well as participants from around the country—and for the criteria for the 75-minute presentations, including multiple potential topics, click here.

Psych Ward Greeting Cards Let People in Psych Wards Know Others Care

“Psych Ward Greeting Cards makes it easy for empathic and compassionate people to let patients in the psych ward know that people, even strangers, care about them and support them,” writes ForLikeMinds, which “created and manages this program to deliver greeting cards from strangers to psychiatric patients at participating hospitals. As insignificant as it may seem, sharing a card can have a wonderful impact when a patient is at their lows—offering help, encouragement, and hope.” For details, click here.

Courtesy of Ann Kasper

Older People Taking Antidepressants Could Triple Their Risk of Developing Dementia

“A new study suggests that people taking antidepressants in middle or old age could have triple the risk of developing dementia,” the Toronto Sun reports. “Researchers found that the rate of dementia was 3.4 times higher among people who took antidepressants after the age of 50.” The study, published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, evaluated more than 71,000 participants between 2002 and 2012. None had been diagnosed with dementia before the study. Eleven percent of the antidepressant-takers developed dementia, compared to 2.6% of the people who didn’t take such medications. For the article, click here. A related story, published in 2018, found that “people who used certain types of anticholinergics, such as those used to treat depression, Parkinson's and urinary incontinence, for a year or more had about a 30% increased risk of developing dementia down the road.” For that article, click here. And in 2015 (covered in the Key Update then), researchers also reported that common anticholinergic drugs—such as Benadryl, tricyclic antidepressants, and other medications—were linked to an increased risk of dementia. For that article, click here. For the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden Scale, click here.

HSRI Publishes “Making Self-Direction a Reality”

“Self-direction is a fast-growing platform for the delivery of community-based services and supports to people who need long-term care, and many states are choosing to use individual budgeting to make it a reality,” writes the Human Services Research Institute (HSRI). “Basing budget amounts on assessed need can help ensure that people have equal access to services across a service population. To better understand the methods that states use to create individual budgets, the benefits and risks of these approaches, and their level of alignment with principles of self-determination, we examined 260 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Service waivers from across the nation.” For a link to download the free, 12-page publication, click here.

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.

MindFreedom International Creates “Voices for Choices” Videos About Force and Coercion

On the Voices for Choices YouTube channel, MindFreedom International has posted videos where “courageous individuals speak out about their experience with the mental health system’s use of force and coercion. They share about alternative approaches and healing modalities they have explored and their effective approaches to organizing and activism. Depression and anxiety are gaining media acceptance, but for people attempting suicide or experiencing intense emotional distress, resulting in a diagnosis of psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, or other DSM labels, the stigma is stronger than ever…It is our goal to break the silence, connect with one another, heal, and organize to drive a nonviolent revolution in the mental health system. This is the journey of the healer and the activist.” For the Voices for Choices videos, click here.

Free Webinar on Disaster Preparedness Training for Community Organizations to Be Held July 9

A free, 90-minute “training webinar to assist community organizations in building long-term capacity to meet the needs of the people they support before, during, and after a disaster” will be sponsored by SAMHSA’s BRSS TACS (Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy) on July 9, at 2 p.m. ET. “Participants will receive organizational disaster preparedness resources and templates and learn how to utilize these resources in their own work. A second session, on July 16, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET, will provide support for using the resources.” To register, click here. (Editor’s Note: In September 2018, the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion published The Roles of Peer Specialists Before Disasters Strike: Helping People with Mental Health Conditions Prepare for Disasters—Trainer’s Guide. The manual was a collaboration between the Temple University Collaborative and the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse. To download the free 33-page trainer’s manual, 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.

The Five Federally Funded National TA Centers Collaborate on a Free Webinar Series

The Peer-Run Organization Learning Collaborative will host a free 90-minute webinar on July 24th at 2 p.m. ET on “Fundraising and Sustainability: Building Your Organization by Telling the Right Story to the Right Audience.” The presenter will be Jeremy Countryman of The Cafe TA Center. The webinar is part of a “series to assist leaders of peer-run organizations, emerging leaders, board members, staff, and advocates to gain essential skills to develop, strengthen, and sustain their organizations,” the Café TA Center writes. The next two webinars will be on August 21 and September 26, also at 2 p.m. ET. The Peer-Run Organization Learning Collaborative is a joint effort of the five federally funded National Consumer/Consumer Supporter Technical Assistance Centers: the CAFÉ TA Center, Doors to Wellbeing, the NAMI STAR Center, the National Empowerment Center, and Peerlink. The centers take turns presenting the webinars. To register, click here. To respond to a brief survey “to learn about the needs and priorities of peer-run organizations,” click here.

“Are We Over-Medicalizing Poverty?” Researchers Say Yes.

“Researchers behind a study called ‘Poverty, Pathology and Pills’ say we are over-medicalizing poverty,” the BBC News reports. “They have been looking at how depression is treated in impoverished communities in the south west of England. [The study] found that the stresses of life on a low income are too often treated as a purely medical problem, and that social problems like unemployment or cuts to services added to mental stress. The report is a product of the Destress project, a collaboration between Exeter and Plymouth Universities.” For an article about the study, click here. For the Destress website, including a link to the final report of the study, click here.

Climate Resistance Handbook Has Lessons to Teach All Grassroots Movements

The Climate Resistance Handbook, created to help climate-crisis activists, has lessons for any grassroots movement organizer. “It starts with breaking social myths about how social movements win,” says the website of 350.org, an anti-fossil-fuel organization founded by environmentalist Bill McKibben. The handbook includes “campaign tools and frameworks you can use. It closes with how to grow your group and use creative, impactful actions and tactics…It’s filled with practical wisdom and inspiration to make you more effective, more active, and ready for what’s next.” McKibben writes, “If you’re wondering, ‘How can I help change the world?’ this book will give you some powerful answers.” To download the free 67-page handbook, click here.

Music Can Replace Psych Meds for People Locked Up in Psychiatric Hospitals, Study Finds

“Listening to music appears to reduce the need for medication to treat agitation” in people locked up on an acute inpatient psychiatric unit, according to a new study by SUNY (State University of New York) Upstate Medical University. Not only did music reduce the “need” for antipsychotics, “it also cut the length of hospital stay,” the researchers reported. “We’re trying to reduce the number of anti-agitation medications that patients on an acute inpatient psychiatric unit are exposed to. There are a lot of side effects associated with these medications,” the study’s lead author told Medscape Medical News. Study participants could choose from many musical genres, including classical, hip hop, and top 40 hits. The most common diagnoses among the subjects, who ranged in age from 18 to 82, were substance abuse (61%), depression (50.6%), psychosis (28.5%), and trauma (26.2%). For the article, click here.

The June 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 June 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 “AP Investigation: Many US jails fail to stop inmate suicides,” click here. For “‘Somebody owes me lunch!’: Prison guards bet on an inmate’s suicide. Then, choking sounds came from her unit,” click here. For “‘Books and Brotherhood’: Her club aims to help prisoners start new chapters in their lives,” click here. For “Evaluation of North Carolina’s Pathways from Prison to Postsecondary Education Program,” click here. For “Work Forced: A century later, unpaid prison labor continues to power Florida,” click here. For “Fields of Blood: My life as a prison laborer,” click here. For “Jury Duty Is the Next Big Step for Felons’ Rights,” click here. For “Special Feature: The Fight for Life in Massachusetts,” click here. For “New Hampshire abolishes death penalty after lawmakers override governor,” click here. For “The Pathological Politics of Criminal Justice,” click here. For “Force Feeding Is Cruel, Painful, and Degrading—and American Prisons Won’t Stop,” click here. For “The latest YouTube craze? Videos that show you what it’s like to live in prison,” click here. For “What Do Abolitionists Really Want?” click here. For “Bridging the Communication Gap for Incarcerated Families,” click here. For “What does ‘reentry’ into society after prison mean? Here’s what people living it have to say,” click here. For “Is ‘Abolish Prisons’ the Next Frontier in Criminal Justice? Closing jails is a radical idea now gaining momentum as a way to replace broken institutions,” click here. For “Pleading Guilty to Get Out of Jail,” click here. For “How jails stay full even as crime falls,” click here. For “Cruel confinement: Judge halts use of solitary cell for mentally ill teen; says 17-year-old suffered ‘irreparable harm,’” click here. For “Liberating criminal justice data: How a Florida law provides a blueprint for the nation,” click here. For “After prison, I changed my life. But these discriminatory laws still punish me,” click here. For “Justice Wears a Different Style at the Cambridge Homeless Court,” click here. For “The ‘Death Penalty’s Dred Scott’ Lives On,” click here. For “We need to fix forensics. But how?” click here.

FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

Free Webinar on “Using Social Media to Build Rapport with Peers” on June 25

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free, one-hour webinar. On June 25, 2019, the topic will be “Using Social Media to Build Rapport with Peers.” “This webinar will discuss ways in which youth leaders and advocates can use social media to their advance peer mental health work with peers,” Doors to Wellbeing writes. “Social Media helps build rapport, increase engagement, and spread awareness for different campaigns and events. We will also discuss things to keep in mind such as boundaries, cyberbullying and developing social media agreements with your peers.” 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

What Is a Peer Support Specialist? Your Opinion Is Wanted

“On behalf of iNAPS, a national workgroup has developed a proposed definition for peer support specialist to submit for federal standard occupational classification through the U.S. Department of Labor,” iNAPS writes. “We are asking you to complete this short survey regarding the proposed definition...The proposed title, Peer Support Specialist, does not prevent the use of other job titles, such as Recovery Coach, Peer Bridger, Peer Navigator, etc.” To complete the survey, click here.

New 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.

Save the Date! NARMH Conference in Santa Fe, NM, August 26-29, 2019

The 2019 National Association for Rural Mental Health (NARMH) annual conference will be held in Santa Fe, N.M., August 26-29, 2019. The conference will focus on “Surviving to Thriving, Workforce Issues, Innovations in Service Delivery, Dilemmas in Addressing Trauma, Rural and Frontier Workforce Development Strategies, Embracing the Reality of Behavioral Health in Rural Communities—Struggles, Responses and Successes, Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders and Other Topics.” For more information and/or to register, click here.

Save the Date! NARPA Annual Rights Conference September 18-21 in Hartford, Connecticut

“For more than 30 years, NARPA [National Association for Rights Protection & Advocacy] has provided an educational conference with inspiring keynoters and outstanding workshops. We learn from each other and come together as a community committed to social justice for people with psychiatric labels & developmental disabilities.” For more information, 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 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 15, No. 12, June 2019. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com. Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, May 2019, Volume 15, Number 11

May 27, 2019 Susan Rogers

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

Vote to Help Choose Hill Day Priorities for Alternatives 2019!

Whether you can attend the Second Public Policy & Education Academy at Alternatives 2019 or not, the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery needs your input to determine the legislative priorities of our movement for social justice—both to effectively advocate on Hill Day, July 9, 2019, and for national and state-level advocacy during the year ahead. The Academy—July 8-9, before Alternatives 2019, which will continue through July 11 at The Catholic University, in Washington, DC—provides an important opportunity for people with lived experience to unite and learn about how to be included in the political process, share resources to support their local activism, strengthen our collective voice, and express our concerns to Congress. And more good news: The deadline has been extended to May 31 both for Early Bird registration and to honor a peer leader in your community! The conference theme is “Standing Together, Celebrating Our Gifts, Raising Our Voices.” For more information, click here. To rank your top legislative priorities, click here.

HHS Seeks Members for Interdepartmental Substance Use Disorders Coordinating Committee

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is seeking nominations for a new committee “to identify areas for improved coordination related to substance use disorder (SUD) research, services, supports, and prevention activities across all relevant federal agencies…[T]he committee will be composed of both federal and nonfederal members.” For the press release, click here. For more information and to learn how to nominate someone to serve on the committee, click here. Applications for the limited spots are due by 11:59 p.m. [ET] on June 14, 2019.

Courtesy of Kevin Fitts

ACLU Website Offers Tips on How to Stand Up for Your Rights

“Everyone has basic rights under the U.S. Constitution and civil rights laws,” the ACLU says. “Learn more here about what your rights are, how to exercise them, and what to do when hour rights are violated.” The many topics covered include Disability Rights: “People with disabilities face discrimination, segregation, and exclusion. But federal disability rights laws provide protection.” Other topics include Prisoners’ Rights, Protesters’ Rights, LGBTQ Rights, Stopped by Police, and more. For details, click on www.aclu.org/know-your-rights.

Free Webinar on “Using Social Media to Build Rapport with Peers” on June 25

“Mental Health Apps Are Sharing Data Without Proper Disclosure”

“A study of 36 mental health apps (not named in the public release) has revealed that 29 of them were sharing data for advertising or analytics to Facebook or Google, but many of them weren't disclosing that to users,” reports Engadget. “Only six out of 12 Facebook-linked apps told users what was happening, while 12 out of 28 Google-linked apps did the same. Out of the entire bunch, just 25 apps had policies detailing how they used data in any form, while 16 described secondary uses. A handful of these apps (which revolved around issues like depression and quitting smoking) shared particularly sensitive data like health diaries and voluntary substance use reports…” You should “verify that an app has a privacy policy, and check to see where your data is going before you use the app in earnest. Study co-author John Torous also suggested sticking to apps from more trustworthy sources, like health care providers and the government.” For the Engadget article, click here. For the study, published in JAMA Open Network, click here.

And for the Risk-Takers Among Us…(Please See the Item Above Before Reading This One)

As “8 Consumer-Friendly Digital Tools to Support Behavioral Health,” published in MobiHealthNews, notes, “From virtual therapy to mindfulness and meditation aids, there’s little shortage of digital tools catching investors’ eyes and breaking into the crowded behavioral health market. Although a number of these services are positioning their business to focus on payers and employers, many others are taking their products directly to consumers via monthly subscriptions, one-time retail purchases or outright free downloads…MobiHealthNews has compiled a selection of eight such consumer-friendly behavioral health tools that have recently been making headlines with new launches, funding or major product updates.” For the article, click here.

Courtesy of Kevin Fitts

Free Curriculum on “Building Financial Wellness” Is Available

“Building Financial Wellness,” a six-part curriculum available for free download, “helps people to develop money management skills that can promote their overall recovery, well-being, and health,” writes the Center on Integrated Health Care & Self-Directed Recovery, at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “It guides participants in recognizing what triggers spending, how using credit leads to debt, and ways to cope with challenging feelings about money. Participants also learn to set attainable financial goals. Learning occurs in a context of acceptance and encouragement aimed at increasing participants’ sense of control over their personal finances.” A free instructor guide and participant workbook are included. For details, including how and why to teach the course, click here.

Courtesy of Jacek Haciak

Can Songs Show What It’s Like to Hear Voices? Producers of a New Album Try.

“The British Columbia Schizophrenia Society has launched a campaign entitled ‘Songs of Schizophrenia,’ allowing people to experience a glimpse of what living with schizophrenia is really like,” according to a recent Daily Hive article, which includes a strong trigger warning: “The song in this story is an immersive experience designed to emulate some possible symptoms of schizophrenia. Some may find the content disturbing. Listener discretion is advised.” Another article, in The Message, reports: “Seemingly normal songs are broken up by messages from an incongruous voice, simulating the ‘auditory hallucinations’ experienced by those living with schizophrenia.” The voices’ messages range from relatively benign to extremely disturbing. For the Daily Hive article, which includes a link to a song, click here. For The Message story about the album, click here. The entire album is available on YouTube, Apple Music, and Spotify, the Daily Hive says.

Volunteers Sought for Advisory Group to Help with Research on Community Participation Efforts in CSC Programs for Transition-Aged Youth with Early Psychosis

The Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion seeks 20 volunteers for “a national advisory group to aid us in using a stakeholder-driven approach to identify and validate criteria that can be used to evaluate coordinated specialty care (CSC) programs in terms of their community participation-orientation.” Volunteers must be a transition aged-youth (aged 18-30) with early psychosis who has been/is involved with a CSC program, a family member of such an individual, and/or a “CSC thought leader.” Participants will be involved in the study for nine months over a 20-month period and can earn up to $600. If you qualify and are interested, contact research staff at 215-204-1699 or at tucollab@temple.edu. For details, click here.

Another Way Inc. in Vermont Seeks Executive Director

Another Way, a community center in Montpelier, Vermont, is seeking an executive director. “Another Way grew out of the psychiatric survivor movement to counter oppressive systems of control, and we continue to advocate for freedom and self-determination of care. Another Way promotes equal rights, participation, and protection of the needs and interests of the peer mental health community; [and] provides advocacy, outreach, information, referrals, crisis intervention, access to housing resources, peer support, supported employment, and educational opportunities, holistic health opportunities and classes. The Executive Director has administrative responsibility for the operation of the program with an annual budget of $430,000 and management of three full-time and 17 part-time staff. Candidates with lived experience of involvement with the mental health system and/or peer community are strongly encouraged to apply. Ability to integrate conflicting perspectives, foster collaboration, and inspire participation across diverse viewpoints and stakeholder interests is a must. Responsibilities include oversight of daily operations, management of personnel, oversight of major improvements to physical plant, management of multiple grants and contracts, and maintaining strong involvement with coalitions. Financial management and budgeting experience is crucial, as is familiarity with peer values and organizations. The salary is $55K - $65K plus full benefits.” To apply, send a cover letter and resume to ED.Search@AnotherWayvt.org with the subject line “ED Search” by June 15, 2019.

Half of People Diagnosed with Schizophrenia Did Not Have Schizophrenia, a Small Study Finds; and African-Americans with Severe Depression Are More Likely to Be Misdiagnosed with Schizophrenia

In a small study, “Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report that about half the people referred to the [Johns Hopkins Early Psychosis Intervention Clinic] with a schizophrenia diagnosis didn’t actually have schizophrenia… People who reported hearing voices or having anxiety were the ones more likely to be misdiagnosed.” In a report in the Journal of Psychiatric Practice, the researchers say that the findings “suggest that second opinions at a specialized schizophrenia clinic after initial diagnosis are wise efforts to reduce the risk of misdiagnosis, and ensure prompt and appropriate patient treatment.” In a related story, a recent Rutgers study has confirmed previous studies, going back decades, saying that African-Americans with severe depression are more likely to be misdiagnosed as having schizophrenia. “Inaccurate diagnosis can have serious consequences,” including sub-par treatment, putting people at risk for getting worse—including as a result of the serious side effects of medication prescribed for schizophrenia—or for suicide, the study’s lead author said. The researchers recommend requiring screening for major depression when assessing black people for schizophrenia. For the article about the Johns Hopkins study, click here. For the article about the Rutgers study, click here.

“As Suicides Rise, Insurers Find Ways to Deny Mental Health Coverage,” Bloomberg Businessweek Reports

“Failures of the mental health system contributed to trends that have lowered U.S. life expectancy over the past three years,” according to a recent article in Bloomberg Businessweek. “From 2008, when Congress passed the parity act, to 2016, the rate at which Americans died by suicide increased 16 percent. The rate of fatal overdoses jumped 66 percent in the same period. ‘The health insurers are not following the federal law requiring parity in the reimbursement for mental health and addiction,’ President Trump’s commission on the opioid crisis wrote in November 2017. ‘They must be held responsible.’” The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Act “requires insurers to provide comparable coverage for mental health and medical treatments,” Bloomberg Businessweek notes. “Even so, insurers are denying claims, limiting coverage, and finding other ways to avoid complying with the law.” For the article, click here. For the report from the president’s commission on the opioid crisis, click here.

Watch Psychiatrists at 2019 APA Annual Meeting React to Psychiatric Survivors’ Videos; And Watch Survivors’ Videos

A coalition of mental health social justice organizations—comprising MindFreedom International, the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights, the Network Against Psychiatric Assault, the Opal Project, and MindFreedom Ireland—invited psychiatric survivors to create short videos describing their negative experiences with psychiatry, and shared them with psychiatrists at the 2019 annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in San Francisco. Some of the psychiatrists watched the videos, which detailed people’s experiences with involuntary treatment, coercion, psychiatric abuse, courts, forced drugging, ECT, insulin coma, involuntary outpatient commitment, and more. Click here to view both psychiatrists’ reactions and survivors’ videos.

Courtesy of Amy Smith

“Are Strangers’ Mental Health ‘Recovery Narratives’ Helpful?” The Short Answer Is Yes.

“Researchers at the University of Nottingham in U.K. have reviewed dozens of articles analyzing the helpfulness of other people's ‘recovery narratives’ and found that they can help people overcome their own mental health problems,” Medical News Today reports. The research, part of the Narrative Experiences Online study, “screened hundreds of books and articles from 2000–2018 and identified 45 studies that focused on the therapeutic impact of 629 recovery narratives… The researchers wondered whether recovery stories might help “people who find it difficult to access other forms of mental health treatment, such as people living in rural locations or experiencing social anxiety.” The short answer is yes, “‘as long as possible negative impacts are managed carefully.’ That said, the researchers note that not all recovery narratives will be 100 percent helpful, and some may even do more harm than good. For example, stories that include detailed personal accounts of self-harm— especially those that are related to eating disorders—may trigger further trauma in people dealing with similar problems.” For the article, click here.

Report on How “Medication Overload” Is Harming Older Americans Is Available for Free Download

“The United States is in the grips of an unseen epidemic of harm from the excessive prescribing of medications. If nothing is done to change current practices, medication overload will lead to the premature deaths of 150,000 older Americans (original emphasis) over the next decade and reduce the quality of life for millions more,” according to a Lown Institute press release about its report on the crisis: Medication Overload: America’s Other Drug Problem—How the Drive to Prescribe Is Harming Older Adults. For a link to the press release, which includes several takeaways as well as links to the executive summary and the full report, click here.

Courtesy of Rebecca Miller

“FDA Puts Tough Warning Label on Ambien, Lunesta, Other Sleep Aids” After Deaths and Severe Injuries

After 20 people who had taken prescription insomnia medications died as a result of “complex sleep behaviors,” the Food and Drug Administration has ordered a prominent warning label on “eszopiclone (Lunesta), zaleplon (Sonata) and zolpidem (Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar, Intermezzo and Zolpimist),” U.S. News reports. Forty-six other reports “involved serious but nonfatal injuries among people who took prescription sleep meds and then engaged in sleepwalking, sleep driving and other activities while not fully awake.” “’This warning is likely to affect a lot of people, as millions take hypnotics—sleep aids—at least occasionally,’ said Dr. Steven Feinsilver, who directs the Center for Sleep Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.” For the article, click here.

Growing Up in Poverty Increases Diagnoses of “Psychosis-Spectrum” Mental Health Disorders, Study Finds

“Growing up in impoverished urban neighborhoods more than doubles your chances over the average person of developing a psychosis-spectrum disorder by the time you reach middle adulthood, according to a new UC Davis and Concordia University study of nearly 4,000 families who were monitored over 30 years,” Science Daily reports. “The results of the study[—published in Development and Psychopathology—]suggest that intervention through social policies and investment in neighborhood improvements, as well as identifying those most in need of help by observing certain child behaviors, could prevent future debilitating illnesses and the societal and personal costs associated with them, said the study's authors.” For the Science Daily article about the study, click here. For more about the social determinants of mental health, click here.

“Disability” Is Not a Dirty Word, Psychologists Say

“Erasing the term ‘disability’ from the collective vocabulary is misguided and has harmful sociocultural implications, according to a new article by leading scholars and rehabilitation psychologists in the field of disability identity. The article is part of a special issue of the journal Rehabilitation Psychology that explores disability and social justice in rehabilitation research,” according to a recent Vanderbilt University press release. The paper, whose six authors are all psychologists who identify as having a disability, “outlines the rationale behind, and importance of, the broader #SaytheWord movement, a social media call to embrace disability identity.” “Disabled people are reclaiming our identities, our community, and our pride,” the authors say. “We will no longer accept euphemisms that fracture our sense of unity as a culture.” For the Vanderbilt University press release, click here.

“Ex-Patients Tell of Force, Trauma, and Sexual Abuse in America’s Mental Hospitals”

In a Mad In America survey of people who had been patients in mental hospitals, “more than half of the [486] respondents described their psychiatric ward experience as ‘traumatic.’ Thirty-seven percent said they were physically abused in some way (with forced treatment included as an example of physical abuse). Seven percent said they were sexually abused. Only 27 percent said they felt ‘safe and secure’ while on the psych ward. Only 17 percent said they were ‘satisfied with the quality of the psychiatric treatment’ they received.” “‘If it is within my power, I will never ever allow myself to be coerced into going to one of those places ever again,’ said one female respondent, who, most recently, had been in a California hospital in 2013. ‘My God, what horrific things go on in those places.’” Although the respondents were self-selected, not a random sampling, “the experiences reported in this survey echo findings from other investigations of the treatment of patients in mental hospitals…” For the article, click here.

The New Yorker Reviews Mind Fixers, a New Book on “The Troubled History of Psychiatry”

In Mind Fixers: Psychiatry’s Troubled Search for the Biology of Mental Illness, “Anne Harrington, a history-of-science professor at Harvard, follows ‘psychiatry’s troubled search for the biology of mental illness,’ deftly tracing a progression of paradigms adopted by neurologists, psychiatrists, and psychologists, as well as patients and their advocates,” writes Jerome Groopman in The New Yorker. His article—subtitled “Challenges to the legitimacy of the [psychiatric] profession have forced it to examine itself, including the fundamental question of what constitutes a mental disorder”—is more of an essay about psychiatry than a mere book review. For the New Yorker article, click here. For a related NPR story about Mind Fixers, “How Drug Companies Helped Shape a Shifting Biological View of Mental Illness,” click here.

The May 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 May 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 “Solitary confinement worsens mental illness. A Texas prison program meant to help can feel just as isolating,” click here. For “He’s Living with Severe Mental Illness. Should He Face the Death Penalty?” click here. For “Law Enforcement Mental Health Learning Sites,” click here. For “New York Prisons Offer ‘Tough Love’ Boot Camp Programs. But Prisoners Say They’re ‘Torture’ and ‘Hell,’” click here. For “It’s time to end the callous policy of inmate Medicaid exclusion,” click here. For “Ending Mass Incarceration: Ideas from Today’s Leaders,” click here. For “How people with mental illness become prisoners in Alabama,” click here. For “Who’s Legally Responsible for Prison and Jail Suicides,” click here. For “Crime Victims Get Chance to Confront Perpetrators Through Special Program,” click here. For “‘Cooking Them to Death’: The Lethal Toll of Hot Prisons,” click here. For “A pregnant inmate came to term in jail. Lawyers say she was forced to give birth there—alone,” click here. For “Landmark Study Compiles Data on Pregnant Women in Prisons,” click here. For “People in Prison Are Way More Likely to Have Dyslexia. The Justice System Sets Them Up to Fail,” click here. For “‘No One Feels Safe Here’: Life in Alabama’s Prisons. Four men inside diagnose a hellscape the Department of Justice called cruel and unusual,” click here. For “A bill to increase parole for ‘elder’ inmates now has the Brooklyn DA’s support,” click here. For “The Supreme Court’s Death Drive: Five conservative justices are bent on defending a policy that is unpopular, expensive, and cruel,” click here. For “Where ‘Returning Citizens’ Find Housing After Prison,” click here. For “How Jails Are Replacing Visits with Video,” click here. For “Drawing from Memory: A Former Prisoner Creates Art from Pain and Loss,” click here. For “Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind,” click here. For “Whistleblowers describe culture of abuse, racism and coverups at Florida prison,” click here. For “No One Should Be Forced to Give Birth Alone in a Jail Cell,” click here. For “America must face and fix its unjust prison system,” click here. For “Juvenile Lifers Struggle to Navigate Reentry After Release,” click here. For “Insult to Injury: Arizona Inmates Get Billed for Prison Health Care,” click here. For “Suing from Prison,” click here. For “Five Myths About Prisons,” click here. For “From police to parole, black and white Americans differ widely on their views of criminal justice system,” click here.

FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

If You Have Experienced Psychosis, “Psychosis Beyond the Box” Wants to Hear From You.

“Experiences with Hospitalization” Survey Wants to Hear from You

Thanks, Leah Harris

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin Seek Participants for Depression Study

Mental Health First Aid Australia Seeks Research Participants to Update MHFA Guidelines

International Survey on Antipsychotic Medication Withdrawal Seeks Respondents

What Is a Peer Support Specialist? Your Opinion Is Wanted

Virtual Group Is Launched to Advance Peer Research Capacity, Leadership, and Involvement

Save the Date! NARMH Conference in Santa Fe, NM, August 26-29, 2019

Save the Date! NARPA Annual Rights Conference September 18-21 in Hartford, Connecticut

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 15, No. 11, May 2019. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com. Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, April 2019, Volume 15, Number 10

April 17, 2019 Susan Rogers

Key Update, April 2019

Volume 15, Number 10

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

Honor Peer Leaders in Your Community at Alternatives 2019! (Early Bird Registration Deadline Extended to May 15!)

The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR), which will host Alternatives 2019—July 7-11 at The Catholic University in Washington, DC—has extended Early Bird Registration to May 15! The Early Bird rate is $295 for the full conference, $95 for one day. And you have until May 3 to nominate a deserving peer leader for one of six different awards! Are you curious about the conference? The workshop titles have just been posted on the website! Alternatives 2019 will also feature a two-day pre-conference, including advocacy training and a “Hill Day,” when peer advocates will meet, by appointment, with the staff of their U.S. senators and congressional representatives. The theme is “Standing Together, Celebrating Our Gifts, Raising Our Voices.” For more information, including links to the award nomination form and the workshop titles, click here.

Five-Week “Treating Trauma Master Series” Features Expert Advice

In each one-hour session of the Treating Trauma Master Series—sponsored by the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine—“the experts unpack the most important ideas, strategies, and applications for treating trauma. When you register for free, you can tune into the scheduled broadcasts every Wednesday and Thursday. (New modules are broadcast multiple times each Wednesday and Thursday, from April 17 through May 16.) You can join any time during the run of the series—each module is a stand-alone session.” (“Gold Subscribers” pay $197 for “downloads of each module to watch at any time…and more.”) For more information and to register for free, click here. For more about NICABM, click here.

Courtesy of Amy Smith

CDC EPIC Webinar on April 24 at 1 p.m. ET: “Cultural Competence in Preparedness Planning”

“When a disaster strikes a community, it affects people of various cultural backgrounds—sometimes disproportionately. Cultural competency can help public health communicators reduce this disparity,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) writes. The presenter “will discuss why cultural competency matters during emergencies, the potential consequences of being culturally incompetent, and resources to help build your understanding.” For more information and a link to join the webinar, click here. And for “Helping People with Mental Health Conditions Prepare for Disasters,” a publication of the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion and the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse, click here.

Courtesy of Lynn Keltz

Free Virtual Event: Increasing Access to Treatment and Recovery Supports for People with Disabilities

Join this free, interactive Recovery LIVE! virtual event on Thursday, April 25, from 2:00 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET. SAMHSA’s Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) invites you to be part of this conversation about how organizations and service providers can engage and support people with disabilities. Specific focus will be devoted to individuals seeking treatment and recovery support services for serious mental health conditions or substance use disorders. Presenters include John de Miranda, National Association on Alcohol, Drugs and Disabilities; Anastasia Edmonston, Maryland Behavioral Health Administration’s Federal Traumatic Brain Injury State Partnership Grant; and Sterling Johnson, Legal Science. Bring your questions and, to register, click here!

Courtesy of Judene Shelley

Free Webinar: A Learning Session for Youth and Young Adult Leaders
On April 25 at 2 p.m. ET, the STAR Center will host a free online learning session for youth and young adult leaders with lived experience in the behavioral health system. “Are you an active youth leader in your organization or community? Are you looking for ways to step up your game? This session will focus on strategies to turn your leadership into action with the introduction of action and strategy tools.” The presenter is Johanna Bergan, executive director of Youth Move National. For more information and to register, click here.

Free Webinar: “Reconnecting with the Earth for Personal and Global Healing, Part II: The Calling”

On April 25, 2019, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. ET, Oryx Cohen of the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery will moderate Part II of a webinar series that “explores ways of healing for our bodies, minds, and spirits and weaves connections for repair—not only on the personal, but also on a larger global and environmental scale. Through efforts showcased in the webinar series, a supportive infrastructure is emerging, and very much needed for resilience, empowerment, connection to the earth, and sustainable wellness in our communities.” For more information and to register, click here.

CSGJC Publishes Free Framework to Improve Police-Mental Health Collaborations

“Police-Mental Health Collaborations: A Framework for Implementing Effective Law Enforcement Responses for People Who Have Mental Health Needs,” published by the Council of State Governments Justice Center in April 2019, is “intended to help jurisdictions advance comprehensive, agency-wide responses to people who have mental illnesses…The framework is organized around six main questions that law enforcement executives should consider to be successful in implementing or improving police-mental health collaborations (PMHCs) in their jurisdiction.” For more information and to download the free 24-page publication, click here. (For more about the criminal justice system, in which many people with mental health conditions are incarcerated, see the criminal justice digest, below.)

Have You Been Harmed by Psychiatry? Share Your Story by April 30 as Part of the 2019 APA Protest.

“Share your story as part of the 2019 protest of the American Psychiatric Association on May 18, 2019. We’re collecting videos of people's experience with involuntary treatment, coercion, psychiatric abuse, courts, forced drugging, electroshock, insulin coma, outpatient committals, and more. Submit your three-minute video by April 30 to be included.” Sponsors include the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights, MindFreedom International, and the Network Against Psychiatric Assault. For more information and/or to submit your video, click here.

“Five Myths About Psychology: No, Talking About Difficult Things Isn’t Always Helpful.”

“Psychological discoveries continue to sharpen and refine our understanding of human suffering and of the human condition more broadly. Nonetheless, many myths about psychology persist,” according to a recent column in the Washington Post. For example, the author writes, “…About 10 percent of psychotherapy patients get worse during treatment, and only about half get better. One reason: Many therapists do not use evidence-based techniques and procedures shown to be effective in clinical trials.” Another myth challenged by the author involves the role of medication in treatment for mental health issues. For more about these two myths and the others that the author has identified, click here.

Free Webinar on “Understanding Trauma and Post-Traumatic Growth” on April 30

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free, one-hour webinar. On April 30, 2019, the topic will be “Understanding Trauma and Post-Traumatic Growth.” “Trauma can have a serious impact on our mental health and wellbeing, but many trauma survivors also report positive growth as a result of their experiences,” Doors to Wellbeing writes. “This webinar will explore the impact of trauma and post-traumatic growth (PTG) and how peer specialists can use the research on PTG in their own recovery and work with others.” To register, click here.

Mental Health America Offers Free “May Is Mental Health Month” Toolkit

“In 2019,” Mental Health America writes, “we are expanding upon last year’s theme of #4Mind4Body and taking it to the next level, as we explore the topics of animal companionships (including pets and support animals), spirituality, humor, work-life balance, and recreation and social connections as ways to boost mental health and general wellness.” For more information and to download the free toolkit (available after you provide your name, address, and email address), click here.

If You Have Experienced Psychosis, “Psychosis Beyond the Box” Wants to Hear From You.

Nutritional Psychiatrists Counsel People Toward Achieving Better Mental Health

The field of nutritional psychiatry focuses on helping people eat better to help ease their depression and anxiety, The New York Times reports. According to a researcher at the Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, “‘Our imaging studies show that the brains of people who follow a Mediterranean-style diet typically look younger, have larger volumes and are more metabolically active than people who eat a more typical Western diet.’” People are advised to “cut out processed foods, minimize meat and dairy and eat more whole foods like fatty fish, vegetables and whole grains and legumes to cut the risk of developing degenerative brain diseases associated with aging.” At the same time, “a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School cautions that a plant-only diet may carry some risks…[and that] strict vegetarians and vegans may have somewhat higher rates of depression and eating disorders than those who eat a more varied diet. Those on a meat-free diet may also need to take supplements to provide missing nutrients.” For the article, click here.

Save the Date! NARMH Conference in Santa Fe, NM, August 26-29, 2019

A Growing Number of Video Games Tackle Mental Health Issues, The New York Times Reports

“[A]s a cultural conversation around mental health grows louder, makers of [video game] content are responding,” according to a recent article in The New York Times. “Some makers are now developing games to explicitly promote better mental health.” A game called Celeste “explored depression and anxiety through a protagonist who had to avoid physical and emotional obstacles. In 2017’s fantasy action-adventure video game Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, a young Celtic warrior deals with psychosis. Other games in recent years, including Night in the Woods and Pry, have delved into self-identity, anger issues and post-traumatic stress disorder. All followed the 2013 interactive fiction game Depression Quest, which asked players to step into the shoes of a character living with depression.” To read the article, click here.

Prejudice Against Voice Hearers Varies, Depending on an Array of Factors, Researchers Find

According to a new study, the prejudice associated with the experience of hearing voices “depends upon what the voice is saying and perceptions about the cause of the voice.” “One hundred forty-three nonclinical participants were presented with vignettes describing people who heard voices that were attributed to either ‘God’ or ‘Abraham Lincoln’ and were described as either complimentary/encouraging or insulting/ threatening. For each vignette, participants were asked about the likelihood that the voice-hearer had schizophrenia or mental illness…Stigma was measured by perceived dangerousness and desire for social distance.” The researchers—including individuals with lived experience—write, “This research suggests that public causal models of voice-hearing experiences vary substantially depending upon the specific contents of the voice (positive, negative, religious, nonreligious) and characteristics of the perceiver (religious vs. nonreligious) and that these variations affect stigma reactions.” For the study, published in Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal in April 2019, click here.

Research Debunks the Existence of “Depression Genes”

A “new University of Colorado Boulder study assessing genetic and survey data from 620,000 individuals found that the 18 most highly studied candidate genes for depression are actually no more associated with it than randomly chosen genes,” according to an article in MDLinx Internal Medicine. “‘This study confirms that efforts to find a single gene or handful of genes which determine depression are doomed to fail,’” said the lead author. “‘We are not saying that depression is not heritable at all. It is,’” said a second researcher. “‘What we are saying is that depression is influenced by many, many variants, and individually each of those has a minuscule effect.’” The researchers “set out to see if any of the genes, or gene variants, were associated with depression either alone or when combined with an environmental factor like childhood trauma or socioeconomic diversity.” “‘It's like in “The Emperor Wears No Clothes.” There’s just nothing there,’” said the second researcher. For the article about the study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, click here.

Courtesy of Fran Hazam

“Psychosis: What Is It?” A Free Course and a Free Book Try to Answer This Question

A brief course sponsored by Integrative Mental Health for You (IMHU)—“a not-for-profit online resource for exploring effective options to optimize wellness”—is aimed at “anyone with lived experience and their loved ones, and trained therapists who want to explore new viewpoints.” IMHU writes: “Watch a variety of compelling videos, read select articles, and rethink extreme states, how to label and navigate them. Listen to reflections of those with lived experience as well as qualified support people who evaluate the risks of anti-psychotics and conventional care.” For more information, click here.

Courtesy of Lauren Spiro

“Can We Get Better at Forgetting?” The Answer Is Yes.

“Some things aren’t worth remembering,” The New York Times writes. “Science is slowly working out how we might let that stuff go…A new study, published this month in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggests that some things can be intentionally relegated to oblivion…To intentionally forget is to remember differently, on purpose…[I]ntentional forgetting also may be an ability that can be practiced and deliberately strengthened.” This is because “activating a memory also makes it temporarily fragile and vulnerable to change. This is where intentional forgetting comes in. It’s less about erasing than editing: incrementally revising, refocusing and potentially dimming the central incident of the memory.” For the New York Times article, click here.

The April 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 April 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 “He’s Living With Severe Mental Illness. Should He Face the Death Penalty? A South Dakota case reflects the national debate on whether execution should be banned for the mentally ill,” click here. For “National Inventory of Collateral Consequences of Conviction,” click here. For “The National Registry of Exonerations: Exonerations in 2018,” click here. For “Introducing News Inside: The Marshall Project launches a print publication that will be distributed in prisons and jails,” click here. For “The Everyday Brutality of America’s Prisons,” click here. For “[Canadian] government ordered to pay $20M for placing mentally ill inmates in solitary confinement,” click here. For “New Orleans Wants to Make Its Notorious Jail Bigger: Activists Say the Sheriff Is Trying to Add Jail Beds Under the Guise of Mental Health Treatment,” click here. For “Prison Arts Programs Produce Change That No Audit Can Measure,” click here. For “Who Belongs in Prison? A truly just system must do more than protect the rights of the innocent; it must also respect the humanity of the guilty,” click here. For “John Jay’s Prisoner Reentry Institute Maps [New York] State Prison Education Programs,” click here. For “21 more studies showing racial disparities in the criminal justice system,” click here. For “Massachusetts Mental Health Court Serves As Alternative To Jail time,” click here. For “SC inmate’s baby died in toilet: Lawsuits allege rampant medical neglect in prisons,” click here. For “Meet the Grown-Ups Keeping Kids Out of Prison: The Youth Correctional Leaders for Justice will help guide towns, cities, and states on how to close youth prisons for good,” click here. For “Five years on, Carnegie Hall’s Lullaby Project is going strong,” click here. For “Making musical connections at Sing-Sing Prison,” click here. For “If Prisons Don’t Work, What Will? The Democratic presidential candidates should look at what a growing number of prosecutors are doing to end mass incarceration,” click here. For “A Unique Approach to Career-Focused Prison Reentry Programming,” click here. For “My jail stopped using solitary confinement. Here’s why,” click here. For “A Father’s Story: How Shoplifting Led to My Son Spending 7 Months in Solitary,” click here. For “Addressing mental health in criminal justice system requires training, systemic changes, visiting professor says,” click here. For “These Men Are Fighting to Abolish the Death Penalty—From Death Row,” click here. For “When ‘Violent Offenders’ Commit Non-Violent Crimes,” click here. For “Inside America’s Block Box: A Rare Look at the Violence of Incarceration: Would we fix our prisons if we could see what happens inside them?,” click here. For “Designing in Prison: Part Three,” click here. For “German-Style Program at a Connecticut Maximum Security Prison Emphasizes Rehab for Inmates,” click here. For “Six Necessary Principles for Successful Decarceration,” click here. For “Promoting a New Direction for Youth Justice: Strategies to Fund a Community-Based Continuum of Care and Opportunity,” click here. For “Criminal Justice Legislation Means Nothing Without Follow-Through: Sentencing disparities and felon disenfranchisement can end on paper, but the stigmatization that comes with incarceration remains,” click here. For “Psychological Restorative Solutions, P.C., Presents T.A.S.T.E.,” click here. For “Even Very Short Jail Sentences Drive People Away from Voting,” click here.

FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

“Experiences with Hospitalization” Survey Wants to Hear from You

Thanks, Leah Harris

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin Seek Participants for Depression Study

Mental Health First Aid Australia Seeks Research Participants to Update MHFA Guidelines

International Survey on Antipsychotic Medication Withdrawal Seeks Respondents

What Is a Peer Support Specialist? Your Opinion Is Wanted

New Virtual Group Is Launched to Advance Peer Research Capacity, Leadership, and Involvement

Save the Date! NARPA Annual Rights Conference September 18-21 in Hartford, Connecticut

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 15, No. 10, April 2019. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com (and please note that this is a new email address). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, March 2019, Volume 15, Number 9

March 22, 2019 Susan Rogers

Key Update, March 2019

Volume 15, Number 9

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

Free Manual on “Tackling Mental Health Prejudice and Discrimination” Is Hot Off the Virtual Press

The Temple University (TU) Collaborative on Community Inclusion and the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse have written and published “Tackling Mental Health Prejudice and Discrimination.” The free manual offers information on anti-prejudice and anti-discrimination initiatives that people with lived experience, particularly those involved in peer-run programs, have successfully implemented in the past. “The goal is to provide useful guidance for new peer-based efforts to tackle prejudice and discrimination.” For the manual, and links to other information from the TU Collaborative, click here.

Early Bird Registration Deadline Extended for Alternatives 2019 (Deadline: April 26)! And You Can Still Nominate a Keynote Speaker (Deadline: March 28)!

The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR), which will host Alternatives 2019—July 7-11 at The Catholic University in Washington, DC—is extending the deadline for Early Bird Registration to April 26! The Early Bird rate is $295 for the full conference, $95 for one day. And the deadline for nominating a keynote speaker has been extended to March 28! The NCMHR writes that the Alternatives Conference, now in its fourth decade, “is renowned for offering the latest and best information in the peer recovery movement, and a chance for peers to network with and learn from one another. Now the People's Alternatives once again, this conference is funded entirely through registration fees and donations.” Alternatives 2019 will feature a two-day pre-conference, including advocacy training and a “Hill Day,” when peer advocates will meet, by appointment, with the staff of their U.S. senators and congressional representatives. The theme is “Standing Together, Celebrating Our Gifts, Raising Our Voices.” For more information, click here.

Free Webinar on “Benefits of Recovery Environments” on March 26

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free, one-hour webinar. On March 26, 2019, Doors to Wellbeing will present “Benefits of Recovery Environments. “As mental health peer specialists, how do we create an environment that fosters recovery and growth? Ahmad Abojaradeh will discuss best practices for creating an environment for enhancing mental health and personal empowerment to make changes in one’s life.” The learning objectives are: “Recognize the foundations of recovery environments, list at least three steps to create an inclusive recovery environment, and identify at least three ways in which creating a recovery environment enhances workplace wellness.” To register, click here.

Free Interactive BRSS TACS Event on Engaging People from Latinx Communities in Treatment and Recovery Support Services

“Join this free, interactive Recovery LIVE! virtual event on Thursday, March 28 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET. SAMHSA’s Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) invites you to be part of this conversation about providing culturally responsive services to individuals and families from Hispanic and Latino communities to improve engagement and retention. Presenters include Diliana DeJesús, Casa Esperanza, Inc.; Jamie Bailey, Project Vida/Recovery Alliance of El Paso; and Luis Rosales, Trilogy Recovery Community. Bring your questions and register today!”

Thanks, Judene Shelley.

Webinar on “How to Launch a Podcast That Makes a Difference” on March 28 at 3 p.m. ET

On March 28, p.m. at 3 p.m. ET, for the ticket price of just under $7, “Bo Hammond, CEO and founder of Tours for Humanity, a DC-based walking tour company, will teach the basics of launching a powerful podcast that can spread your message…Podcasts have quickly become one of the newest tools for delivering your message and expanding your support, but where does a company or an individual even begin to create one? How do you post it? Edit it? Market it? Get funding? This webinar seeks to answer all these questions and more.” For information and to register, click here.

Thanks, Fran Hazam.

“Experiences with Hospitalization” Survey Wants to Hear from You

Thanks, Leah Harris.

“28 Ways to Make the World Less Hostile to Mad, Neurodivergent, and Psychiatrically Disabled People”

In a recent piece in Radical Abolitionist, five authors who identify as “Mad, neurodivergent, and psychiatrically disabled people” (MNPD) suggest 28 ways to make the world less hostile to them and others like them. Among the suggestions: “Research the impact that coercive treatments and practices have had on MNPD individuals.” “Radically reconsider what constitutes expertise. If you believe that mental health professionals know more about a person’s experiences, wants, desires, and needs than that person themselves, examine some of the prejudices and biases that may be underlying this belief.” “Advocate for policies that increase the resources and social safety nets for MNPD people.” And 25 more! For the article, click here.

Thanks, Stephanie Jamison.

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin Seek Participants for Depression Study

“FDA Approves First Drug for Postpartum Depression,” NY Times Reports; But Some Experts Question Its Use

The first drug to treat postpartum depression was recently approved by the FDA, The New York Times reports. The reportedly fast-acting drug, called brexanolone—a 60-hour infusion which requires a stay in a certified medical center—will be expensive; “insurers said this week that they are evaluating the drug,” according to the story in the Times. A more-accessible pill “is showing promise in its clinical trials.” For the article, click here. However, in “PostPartum Depression: Is Brexanalone the Answer,” in Mad In America, the author, a holistic women’s health psychiatrist, paints a less optimistic picture: “In September of 2017, brexanolone failed its clinical trial as a treatment for super-refractory status epilepticus, but just two months later, the drug was being touted as a cure for postpartum depression, gaining fast-track status from the FDA. That’s despite the fact that the more trials were conducted, and the larger the sample of women they tested became, the less statistical significance the drug’s effect showed… compared to an ordinary placebo.” For the Mad In America article, click here. And, in an opinion piece in the Times, the authors write: “It’s worth pointing out that the Zulresso study was small, involving 247 women, and that the drug maker was involved in its design and interpretation…we fear that Zulresso [the brand name for brexanalone] is just a stopgap, and yet another instance of pathologizing a very sane reaction to our very insane culture….More research is needed before we can be sure that this is not just the latest in a long line of drugs offered to women as a quick fix of middling efficacy, with the potential for unexpected side effects.” For the op ed, click here.

Raise the Minimum Wage and Decrease Suicide, a New Study Reports

A “new study shows that increases in state minimum wages have been associated with decreases in suicide rates in recent years,” according to the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. The authors of the study, in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, “studied retrospective data for all 50 states to determine the relationship between changes in state minimum wages and suicide rates between 2006 and 2016...With 432,000 reported deaths by suicide in the time period, the team found that a one-dollar increase in the real minimum wage was associated on average with a 1.9 percent decrease in the annual state suicide rate, or nearly 8,000 fewer deaths by suicide…[T]his recent study shows how reversing increases in suicide deaths requires more than improved access to health care. Policy makers must consider poor social, economic, housing and labor conditions and their impacts on suicide rates.” For the article, click here.

Thanks, Bethany Lilly.

“Mental Health Apps Lean on Bots and Unlicensed Therapists.” Are They Effective?

“Mental health care services are going through a quiet revolution, fueled in part by the widely acknowledged problem of access to therapists and other licensed professionals,” according to a recent article in Nature. This revolution includes mental health “apps” that offer help that may be provided by people who are not licensed. For example, Sibly, based in San Francisco, uses smartphone instant messaging provided by four to six unlicensed “coaches.” But some experts question whether such new online services “will actually have a positive impact, or whether offering mental health care without involving licensed therapists has the potential to cause real harm. ‘Is the technology being used to just reduce the quality of mental healthcare? I think that’s a concern,’ says John Torous, director of the digital psychiatry division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.” At the same time, there is a growing body of evidence for the effectiveness of peer support, i.e., support by people who have lived experience of the mental health system but may not have any formal training (click here). For the Nature article, click here.

More Evidence Confirms That Gun Access Is the Major Cause of Gun Violence

“Despite the public, political, and media narrative that mental health is at the root of gun violence, evidence is lacking to infer a causal link,” according to a recently published article. The data were from a longitudinal study in Texas; the 663 participants had an average age of 22 and were 61.7 percent female. “…individuals who had gun access were 18.15 times and individuals with high hostility were 3.51 times more likely to have threatened someone with a gun, after controlling for demographic factors and prior mental health treatment…Counter to public beliefs, the majority of mental health symptoms examined were not related to gun violence. Instead, access to firearms was the primary culprit. The findings have important implications for gun control policy efforts.” For the abstract, click here.

A Peer Specialist Training Manual in Spanish Can Expand Such Training to the Latinx Community

A training manual entitled “Peer2peer: Curso de formación professional” is available to help train peer support specialists whose preferred language is Spanish. For the free 180-page manual, click here.

Thanks, Maria Ostheimer.

The Atlantic Calls BS on Psychiatry in “Psychiatry’s Incurable Hubris”

“The biology of mental illness is still a mystery, but practitioners don’t want to admit it.” This is the teaser on an article in the April 2019 edition of The Atlantic, which calls into question the science behind psychiatry. Reviewing a new book—Mind Fixers: Psychiatry’s Troubled Search for the Biology of Mental Illness—the article’s author notes: “…it’s a tale of promising roads that turned out to be dead ends, of treatments that seemed miraculous in their day but barbaric in retrospect, of public-health policies that were born in hope but destined for disaster.” For the article, click here.

You Have a Right to See Your Medical Records but Not Your Psychotherapist’s Notes

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “The Privacy Rule gives you, with few exceptions, the right to inspect, review, and receive a copy of your medical records and billing records that are held by health plans and health care providers covered by the Privacy Rule.” However, “[y]ou do not have the right to access a provider’s psychotherapy notes. Psychotherapy notes are notes that a mental health professional takes during a conversation with a patient. They are kept separate from the patient’s medical and billing records. HIPAA also does not allow the provider to make most disclosures about psychotherapy notes about you without your authorization.” For more, click here.

“6 Reasons Why Comics Can Improve Mental Health”

“Comics have the power to improve mental health and here are six reasons why: 1. They have relatable characters. 2. Comics are inspirational. 3. Comics help to build relationships. 4. Cosplaying is awesome. 5. Graphic novels will encourage you to read. 6. You’ll be exposed to a different way of thinking.” For more, click here.

The March 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 March 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 “The Jail Health-Care Crisis,” click here. For “Critical Voices on Criminal Justice: Essays from Directly Affected Authors,” click here. For “It’s Official: First Jail Accredited As A Mental Health Facility. Need Help? Get Arrested! Outrageous!” click here. For “The insanity defense isn’t available in every state. It should be,” click here. For “‘Medicare for All’ Is Missing a Vital Group: The Incarcerated,” click here. For “Two recent opinions by Justice Clarence Thomas should alarm us all,” click here. For “NYPD’s Mental-Illness Response Breakdown,” click here. For “Reimagining Prison with Frank Gehry: Prison as college campus. Prison as wellness center. Prison as monastery,” click here. For “It’s reasonable to want to rid the world of evil. But the death penalty can’t do that,” click here. For “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2019,” click here. For “Seriously Ill Federal Prisoners Freed As Compassionate Release Law Takes Effect,” click here. For “Companies pledge to hire more applicants with criminal backgrounds,” click here. For “Philly probation violators are finally getting real hearings. Many are being released,” click here. For “RESCALED aims to thoroughly reform detention as a form of punishment in Europe. All prisons should be replaced by detention houses…embedded in their immediate environment and community,” click here. For “Why Reimagining Prison for Young Adults Matters,” click here. For “ACLU disputes Corrections’ solitary confinement numbers,” click here. For “Without access to credit, ex-cons may return to lives of crime,” click here. For “After 40 years in solitary, activist Albert Woodfox tells his story of survival,” click here. For “Building Justice/Impact Justice,” click here. For “The Case for Expunging Criminal Records,” click here. For “After 21 years in prison, an ex-offender has a job—and a better future,” click here.

FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

Mental Health First Aid Australia Seeks Research Participants to Update MHFA Guidelines

International Survey on Antipsychotic Medication Withdrawal Seeks Respondents

What Is a Peer Support Specialist? Your Opinion Is Wanted

New Virtual Group Is Launched to Advance Peer Research Capacity, Leadership, and Involvement

Save the Date! NARPA Annual Rights Conference September 18-21 in Hartford, Connecticut

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 15, No. 9, March 2019. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com (and please note that this is a new email address). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, February 2019, Volume 15, Number 8

February 24, 2019 Susan Rogers

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

Registration Is Open for Alternatives 2019! Submit a Workshop Proposal! And Learn How You Can Get Involved!

The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR) will host Alternatives 2019—“Standing Together, Celebrating Our Gifts, Raising Our Voices”—at The Catholic University in Washington, DC, July 7-11! The Early Bird rate—$295 for the full conference, $95 for one day—will be available through March 30. The deadline for submitting a workshop proposal is March 20. And there are opportunities to participate in the planning! The NCMHR writes that the Alternatives Conference, now in its fourth decade, “is renowned for offering the latest and best information in the peer recovery movement, and a chance for peers to network with and learn from one another. Now the People's Alternatives once again, this conference is funded entirely through registration fees and donations.” Alternatives 2019 will include a two-day pre-conference, including advocacy training and a “Hill Day,” when peer advocates will meet, by appointment, with the staff of their U.S. senators and congressional representatives. For more information, click here.

FDA Panel Recommends Controversial Treatment for Depression; Prominent Psychiatrist Urges Caution

“In a move that may clear the way for the first new treatment in years for depression, an expert panel [recently] recommended that federal regulators approve a nasal spray that delivers the active ingredients of ketamine, a popular club drug in the 1980s and 1990s,” according to The New York Times. “The new drug…is aimed at people with severe depression, particularly those with suicidal thinking. The panel…was nearly unanimous in deciding that the drug’s benefits outweighed its risks…The federal agency has until March 4 to decide whether to approve the drug.” However, in 2016, Dr. Allen Frances, chair of the DSM-IV Task Force, critic of the DSM-V, and author of Saving Normal, wrote: “Ketamine is a classic case of commercial hype and exploitation racing far ahead of scientific proof.” On February 17, 2019, he tweeted: “#FDA is making tragic mistake prematurely approving #ketamine for #depression. Reminds me of its rush 20 yrs ago to OK #Oxycontin…FDA buys hype/misses risks/serves #pharma.” For the New York Times article, click here. For the article by Dr. Frances, click here. For a related article, “Prominent Psychiatrist Tells CNN Why Antidepressants Are So Dangerous,” click here.

What Is a Peer Support Specialist? Your Opinion Is Wanted

“On behalf of iNAPS [International Association of Peer Supporters], a national workgroup has developed a proposed definition for peer support specialist to submit for federal standard occupational classification through the U.S. Department of Labor,” iNAPS writes. “We are asking you to complete this short survey regarding the proposed definition...The proposed title, Peer Support Specialist, does not prevent the use of other job titles, such as Recovery Coach, Peer Bridger, Peer Navigator, etc.” To complete the survey, click here.

A New Approach to Supporting Social Workers Who Have a Mental Health Condition, by the TU Collaborative

“Social workers with mental [health conditions] offer unique contributions to service delivery, but also face unique challenges,” according to a new article published in Social Work in Mental Health. “They must weigh the risks and benefits of disclosing their condition in the workplace and are more susceptible to burnout. Past efforts made by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) to support social workers with personal concerns have had limited success. This article sets forth a new approach to supporting these social workers which involves one-on-one peer support, peer education, advocacy opportunities, assistance with requests for job accommodations, a speaker’s bureau, and organizational consultation on peer issues within agencies.” For the article, click here.

“Peer Support Tied to Fewer Repeat Mental Health Hospitalizations,” Study Finds

“Adults who have been hospitalized for psychiatric problems may be less likely to be readmitted when they get support from other patients who went through similar experiences, a UK study suggests.” Reuters, reporting on a study published in The Lancet in August 2018, continued: “Researchers followed 441 patients for one year after they were discharged from the hospital. All of them received personal recovery workbooks to help them manage their own care. Half of them also received 10 sessions with a peer support worker with a history of mental illness. One year after they left the hospital, patients who received peer counseling were 34 percent less likely to have a repeat admission than people who didn’t get this type of support, the study found.” For the Reuters article, which includes a link to the Lancet study, click here.

“A Quick Guide to Research and Evidence on Peer Support” Is Available

“Peer Support: Evidence and Experience,” a free two-page brochure including definitions, history, and select references, is available for free download. The brochure, subtitled “A Quick Guide to Research and Evidence on Peer Support,” is authored by Rebecca Miller, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the Yale School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry; and Laura Van Tosh, a longtime activist in the movement for social justice of individuals with lived experience, and a consultant with Companis Seattle, which matches volunteer professionals with nonprofit agencies in need of staffing assistance. For the free brochure, click here.

Save the Date! NARPA Annual Rights Conference September 18-21 in Hartford, Connecticut

“Listening to the Music You Love Will Make Your Brain Release More Dopamine, Study Finds”

“A new study has found that dopamine—a neurotransmitter that plays an important role in our cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning—plays a direct role in the reward experience induced by music. The new findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.” For the article, click here.

“Teenagers Say Depression and Anxiety are Major Issues Among Their Peers,” New York Times Reports

A Pew Research Center survey of 920 teenagers aged 13 to 17 “found that 70 percent of teenagers saw mental health as a big issue. Fewer teenagers cited bullying, drug addiction or gangs as major problems; those from low-income households were more likely to do so,” according to a recent story in The New York Times. For the story, click here. A related Times story—“As Students Struggle with Stress and Depression, Colleges Act as Counselors”—notes that “[m]ore than 60 percent of college students said they had experienced ‘overwhelming anxiety’ in the past year, according to a 2018 report from the American College Health Association. Over 40 percent said they felt so depressed they had difficulty functioning.” For that story, click here.

“Exploring Alternate Pathways to Voice-Hearing”

In a new study published in Schizophrenia Bulletin the authors “suggest that trauma can play a major role in some hallucinations, a minor role in many, or no role in other hallucinations. They write that ‘there is enough evidence to conclude that trauma is a significant risk factor for psychosis and for voice-hearing in particular. Yet the finding that trauma increases the risk for hallucinations and for psychosis is quite different from the claim that trauma is necessary for either to occur.’” For an article about the study in Mad In America, , click here.

“Comics Can Help You Understand Mental Health!”

“Art can be a way to explain to your loved ones what you are feeling, and if you do not have the emotional energy needed to enter a big conversation, maybe directing them to some comics could help! Not only can art help to destigmatize mental illnesses, but it can also lend a hand to those who may be struggling,” writes the author of this article, which includes examples of mental health-related comics. Among the artists featured are Charles Schulz, Allie Brosh, and Gemma Correll. For the article, click here

“The Impact of Isolation” on Mental Health Is Explored by NPR

“Humans are social animals, equipped with brains hard-wired to connect with those around us,” according to a podcast on NPR about “The Impact of Isolation.” “We rely on relationships for safety and survival, as well as love and fulfillment. And when we’re deprived of those connections, we suffer—both psychologically and physically. On this episode, we explore what happens to our health and our minds when we’re faced with isolation. We hear stories about dealing with the isolation of solitary confinement, medical quarantine, and even the lonely journey to another planet.” To listen, click here.

“Conversations About Intimacy and Sexuality: A Training Toolkit” Is Offered Free by TU Collaborative

The latest newsletter of the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion offers a link to its groundbreaking publication “Conversations About Intimacy and Sexuality: A Training Toolkit Using Motivational Interviewing.” “Forming intimate relationships and expressing sexuality can be challenging for anyone, including people with mental health conditions. This toolkit contains information related to preparing direct service personnel for discussions on topics of intimacy and sexuality with persons with mental health conditions. Informed by the Motivational Interviewing technique, this toolkit includes experiential exercises with instructions, evaluation forms, hyperlinks to resources, and references to be used by trainers.” For the newsletter, click here.

“For Valentine’s Day, Try Being Nice to Yourself,” The New York Times Advises

Although Valentine’s Day 2019 has come and gone, this New York Times article offers some advice without an expiration date: “Numerous studies have shown that self-compassion is strongly linked to overall well-being. Practicing self-compassion can reduce depression, stress, performance anxiety and body dissatisfaction. It can lead to increases in happiness, self-confidence and even immune function.” For the article, click here.

The February 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 February 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 Held Past Release Dates, Lawsuit Claims,” click here. For “The Safety Net Is Broken: How Police Became Mental Health First Responders,” click here. For “Costly, ineffective, cruel: How Oregon snares mentally ill people charged with low-level crimes,” click here. For “Mother sues Texas Prisons after ‘egregious’ failure to prevent son’s suicide,” click here. For “No one should have to lose a son the way I lost my son,” click here. For “Report: Public Defender Represents 1,200 Clients in One Year,” click here. For “‘I’m Going to Die Here,’ She Told the Guards. They Didn’t Listen,” click here. For “Jail or Bail? There’s a New Option,” click here. For “Most Inmates with Mental Illness Still Wait for Decent Care,” click here. For “In landmark move, L.A. County will replace Men’s Central Jail with mental health hospital for inmates,” click here. For “Psychiatric Patients Need Hospital Beds, Not Jail Cells,” click here. For “Opinion—Alabama executions: strictly a Christian affair,” click here. For “John Jay’s PRI Advocates to Expand Alternative-to-Incarceration and Reentry Services in New York State,” click here. For “State of Phone Justice: Local jails, state prisons and private phone providers,” click here. For “Psychiatry on Death Row: Interviews From the Inside,” click here. For “How the Federal Government Undermines Prison Education,” click here. For “Finding College by Way of Prison,” click here. For “Prisons Across the U.S. Are Quietly Building Databases of Incarcerated People’s Voice Prints,” click here. For “The Supreme Court Just Struck a Huge, Unanimous Blow Against Policing for Profit,” click here. For “Do Jails Kill People?” click here. For “For Cops, Stress May Be the Biggest Danger. This City Is Trying New Ways to Improve Their Mental Health,” click here. For “Barbaric and Excessive: Two Books on Punishment in the United States,” click here. For “When Going to Jail Means Giving Up the Meds That Saved Your Life: How the Americans with Disabilities Act could change the way the nation’s jails and prisons treat addiction,” click here.

FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

Mental Health First Aid Australia Seeks Research Participants to Update MHFA Guidelines

UK Researcher, Together with World Dignity Project, Seeks Your Input on “Patient Experience”

If you “have ever consulted a medical professional about a mental health or psychological issue,” you are invited to participate in “a study about the patient experience relating to mental health.” The researcher, Claire Brooks, writes: “The results of this study will be used to open up important discussions with Mental Health Professionals about how to create dignity in patient experience, relating to mental health. The study asks you to tell me about two patient experiences relating to mental health. You can tell your story in writing online or by posting a 2-3 minute video from your mobile phone. We will also ask for your own opinions on how the patient experience can ensure dignity...” For more information and/or to participate, click here.

Thanks, Global Mental Health Peer Network Newsletter, via Elizabeth R. Stone

International Survey on Antipsychotic Medication Withdrawal Seeks Respondents

Do You Hear Voices? OurVoicesRaised Wants Your Story!

OurVoicesRaised.org, “a collective of people who have found support through the Hearing Voices Movement,” is conducting “a research project investigating Hearing Voices Groups in the United States. We’re interested in gaining a better understanding of how Hearing Voices groups work and what essential elements of hearing voices groups make them effective for people who hear voices, see visions or have other unusual or extreme experiences…This project is committed to sharing its findings with the community that has generated them (and beyond), and to create opportunities for the hearing voices community to expand its work in new ways.” Gail Hornstein, a psychology professor at Mount Holyoke and author of Agnes’s Jacket: A Psychologist’s Search for the Meanings of Madness, is principal investigator. For more information and/or to participate, click here.

New Virtual Group Is Launched to Advance Peer Research Capacity, Leadership, and Involvement

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 15, No. 8, February 2019. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com (and please note that this is a new email address). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, January 2019, Volume 15, Number 7

January 23, 2019 Susan Rogers

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

“Psychiatric Hospitals with Safety Violations Still Get Accreditation,” WSJ Reports

“More than 100 psychiatric hospitals are still fully accredited by the Joint Commission, despite significant safety violations, including care lapses associated with patient deaths and abuse, a database investigation by The Wall Street Journal found. The nonprofit accrediting organization revoked or denied full accreditation to less than 1 percent of psychiatric hospitals it reviewed in fiscal year 2014 and 2015, according to the most recent federal data available. About 16 percent of those hospitals each year (about 140 institutions) operated with such severe safety violations that they jeopardized their federal funding, state inspectors found. But troubled hospitals use their continued accreditation to attract new patients, even after some facilities lost Medicare funding due to ongoing safety incidents. For the WSJ article, click here. For another article about the WSJ report, click here.

FDA Reclassifies ECT Equipment into Lower-Risk Category Despite Controversy about ECT’s Risks

Despite a decades-long effort by mental health advocates to prevent the FDA from reclassifying the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) device, as well as information from prominent researchers about the dangers of this controversial treatment (see below), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reclassified ECT equipment “for use in treating catatonia or a severe major depressive episode associated with major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder in patients age 13 years and older who are treatment-resistant or who require a rapid response due to the severity of their psychiatric or medical condition” from Class III to Class II. The order became effective on December 26, 2018. Class III medical devices “present potential unreasonable risk of illness or injury”; only 10 percent of medical devices fall under this category. Class II medical devices (43 percent of devices) are considered to pose a lesser risk (click here). For the Federal Register announcement, click here. For critical praise for “Doctors of Deception: What They Don’t Want You to Know About Shock Treatment,” click here. For “Electroconvulsive Therapy Being Used on Teens in NHS Trusts”—in which Dr. Joanna Moncrieff of University College London says, “We just don't have enough research on what ECT does to the brain and the developing brain in younger people. We know it can cause permanent memory loss, so it suggests it may do permanent damage”—click here. For testimony by Daniel B. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., about the damaging impact of ECT, click here. For an article in Neuropsychopharmacology by Harold Sackeim, Ph.D., a proponent of ECT, in which he nevertheless concludes, “this study provides the first evidence in a large, prospective sample that adverse cognitive effects can persist for an extended period, and that they characterize routine treatment with ECT in community settings,” click here.

National Center on Advancing Person-Centered Practices and Systems Is Launched

The Administration for Community Living and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have announced the launch of the National Center on Advancing Person-Centered Practices and Systems (NCAPPS). “The goal of NCAPPS is to promote systems change that makes person-centered principles…a reality in the lives of people who require services and supports across the lifespan…Activities will include providing technical assistance to states, tribes, and territories; establishing communities of practice to promote best practices; hosting educational webinars; and creating a national clearinghouse of resources to support person-centered practice. NCAPPS will be administered by the Human Services Research Institute (HSRI).” For details, click here.

Parents with Mental Health Conditions Are 8 Times as Likely as Parents without Mental Health Conditions to Have Contact with Child Protective Services, National Survey Shows

A national survey of 42,761 adults recently published in Psychiatric Services found that parents with a serious mental health condition “were approximately eight times more likely to have CPS [Child Protective Services] contact and 26 times more likely to have a change in living arrangements compared with parents without a serious mental [health condition]. Even when the analysis was limited to parents who had CPS contact, [these] parents were at greater risk of custody loss compared with parents without [a] mental [health condition]….Efforts to reduce CPS involvement would likely reduce stress and enhance recovery and mental health for parents and their children.” For the abstract, click here. For “Preventing Custody Loss: Suggestions for Parents with Psychiatric Disabilities,” published by the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion, click here.

Mental Health First Aid Australia Seeks Research Participants to Update MHFA Guidelines

Save the Date! Alternatives 2019 to Be Held in Washington, DC, July 7-11!

Mark your calendars! Alternatives 2019 will be held at The Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C., July 7-11, 2019! The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, which is organizing and sponsoring the event, writes: “Last year we returned to our roots: We held Alternatives 2018 at a university for the first time in decades, without relying on federal funding, the way our movement for social justice first began… Alternatives 2019 will include a two-day pre-conference, July 8 and 9, with advocacy training on Monday and a ‘Hill Day’ on Tuesday, when peer advocates will meet, by appointment, with the staff of their U.S. senators and congressional representatives. Now more than ever, it is important for us to participate in the national debate.” For the conference announcement, which includes additional information, click here.

“‘Circles’ Could Offer Promising Outcomes After Incarceration for People with Serious Mental [Health Conditions]”

To address the special needs of people with mental health conditions and a criminal justice history, the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion has devised a program that would support these individuals after they are released. The program involves creating “circles of support and accountability”: a regular group session in which friends, neighbors, and/or peers—i.e., others with mental health conditions who have been incarcerated—get together to talk about the challenges they face after prison. They might talk about how someone can find a job, build or rebuild relationships, or become involved in community activities. Group members then agree to help the person achieve a specific goal, which might be as simple as accompanying him or her to an event he or she wants to attend. For the article, click here. For more about the criminal justice system, in which many people with mental health conditions are incarcerated, see the monthly digest, below.

“Psychosis 365” Video Podcast Is Available for Free!

You can watch and listen to “Psychosis 365—Voices, Visions, and Other Realities”—for free! The daily video podcasts for the first seven days of January are by Matt Ball, who describes his own experiences with psychosis and mentions how connections can be key to restoring balance; Noel Hunter—“Trauma is real, discrimination is real, oppression is real... just because people are suffering with these doesn't mean they have a brain disease”; Oryx Cohen, who “talks about how understanding the meaning behind our experiences is a way of being less distressed by them”; Laura, who “talks about the value of her lived experience, the value of the voices and her communication with them”; Ross, who “talks about his experiences of being labelled”; Louisa Dent Pearce, who “talks about how psychosis is a normal part of spiritual evolution for many people”; and Debra Lampshire, who “talks about psychosis as a normal response to extreme anxiety or distress.” And there’s much more! For the video podcasts, a project of HUMANE Clinic in Adelaide, Australia, click here.

“Child Abuse Linked to Risk of Suicide in Later Life”

“Children who experience physical, sexual, and emotional abuse or neglect are at least two to three times more likely to attempt suicide in later life, according to the largest research review carried out of the topic,” Medical Xpress recently reported. “The analysis of 68 studies by psychologists at the University of Manchester and University of South Wales revealed that suicide attempts were: three times more likely for people who experienced sexual abuse as a child; two and a half times more likely for people who experienced physical abuse as a child; [and] two and a half times more likely for people who experienced emotional abuse or neglect as a child.” The research team leader noted, “Around one adult in every three has experienced abuse as a child.” For the article, click here. For the video of Billy Joel’s “You’re Only Human (Second Wind),” which is aimed at preventing youth suicide, click here.

“Abandoning Restraint and Seclusion Has Unexpected Benefits, Study Finds”

“When a large service provider for people with developmental disabilities decided to move away from using restraint and seclusion, a new study finds safety improved and costs went down,” Disability Scoop recently reported. “Over a 12-year period, restraints decreased 99 percent and seclusion was eliminated at the Virginia-based Grafton Integrated Health Network, which serves more than 3,200 people with intellectual, developmental and psychiatric disabilities in residential and community-based settings. At the same time, the provider saw a 64 percent decline in client-induced staff injury and an estimated savings of $16 million in associated costs from overtime, turnover and workers’ compensation. Clients, meanwhile, were far more likely to achieve mastery in their goals.” For the article, click here. For more about seclusion and restraint, click here.

Clutter Is Bad for You, Researchers Say

Clutter increases your stress and cortisol levels, according to DePaul University researchers, who also noted that procrastination is closely tied to clutter. As The New York Times, writing about the 2017 study, recently reported: “The findings add to a growing body of evidence that clutter can negatively impact mental well-being, particularly among women.” An earlier study, by researchers at the University of Southern California, recommended that people who want to declutter take a “hands-off approach.” “Have somebody else hold [the item] and say, ‘Do you need this?’ Once you touch the item, you are less likely to get rid of it.” For the New York Times article, click here. For Times subscribers, the article includes a link to The Tidy Home Challenge: “Our subscriber-exclusive program will help you organize your home, step by step and room by room,” the Times promises. For 15 de-cluttering tips from tidying expert Marie Kondo, click here.

NACBHDD 2019 Legislative and Policy Conference to Be Held in Washington, DC, March 4-6

The 2019 Legislative and Policy Conference of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors (NACBHDD) will be held in Washington, DC, March 4-6, 2019. The conference theme is “Taking Stock of Key Developments.” Topics include “Progress on Medicaid and Affordable Care Act Update,” “National Response to the Opioid Epidemic,” “Solving Workforce Issues at the State Level,” “Key Developments in the Medicaid Program,” “State Brain Drain,” “Update on Federal Mental Health and Substance Use Initiatives,” “Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Training for Providers,” and “Discussion of 2019 NACBHDD Legislative Agenda,” as well as a Hill Day. NACBHDD executive director Ron Manderscheid, Ph.D., writes: “…Assistant Secretary Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz will be joining us for the latest on SAMHSA and its programs. NACBHDD has arranged a block of sleeping rooms at the Cosmos Club [2121 Massachusetts Avenue, NW] for the nights of March 3-5. Reservations can be made by calling 202-387-7783 and identifying the NACBHDD room block.” To register, click here.

Mental Health Cartoons Take a Light Approach to a Serious Topic

For some “[c]artoons and comics that show mental health problems with sensitivity, honesty and humour,” click here.

Doctors in Shetland, Scotland, Can Now Prescribe Nature to Their Patients

Doctors in Shetland, Scotland, are now authorized to prescribe nature to their patients. “It's thought to be the first program of its kind in the U.K., and seeks to reduce blood pressure, anxiety, and increase happiness for those with diabetes, a mental [health condition], stress, heart disease, and more,” Big Think reports. “If you spend 90 minutes of your day outside in a wooded area, there will be a decrease of activity in the part of your brain typically associated with depression. Spending time in nature not only reduces blood pressure, anxiety, and increases happiness, but it reduces aggression [and] ADHD symptoms, [and] improves pain control, the immune system,” and more. For the article, click here. For a related story, “It’s Official: Spending Time Outside Is Good for You,” click here.

The January 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 January 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 “St. Paul Police Expanding New Mental Health Unit,” click here. For “US Sentencing Commission introduces big new report on ‘Intra-City Differences in Federal Sentencing Practices,’” click here. For “Locked Up for Three Decades Without a Trial: A New York City Man has been shuffled between Rikers Island and mental hospitals for 32 years,” click here. For “Prisons are housing mental health patients who’ve committed no crimes,” click here. For “An Atlas of American Gun Violence. Five Years. More than 150,000 Shootings. How Has Gun Violence Marked Your Corner of the Country?” click here. For “Prison Food Is Making U.S. Inmates Disproportionately Sick,” click here. For “How Solitary Confinement Drove a Young Inmate to the Brink of Insanity,” click here. For “Out from the Holocaust: Germany reckoned with its past to build a better justice system. America should too,” click here. For “Rethinking Incarceration: What needs to be done to end our half-century long incarceration nightmare?” click here. For “‘Punishment Without Crime’ Highlights the Injustice of America’s Misdemeanor System,” click here. For “113 million adults in America have had an immediate family member incarcerated and, right now, 6.5 million adults have an immediate family member currently incarcerated in jail or prison,” click here. For “Jazmine Barnes Case Shows How Trauma Can Affect Memory,” click here. For “Congressional report: Misconduct by federal prison leaders ‘ignore’ and ‘covered up’ on a regular basis,” click here. For “For years, L.A. prosecutors failed to disclose misconduct by police witnesses. Now the D.A.’s office is trying to change that,” click here. For “The Supreme Court Said No More Life Without Parole for Kids. Why Is Antonio Espree One of the Few to Get Out of Prison?” click here. For “Chicago’s Jail Is One of the Country’s Biggest Mental Health Care Providers. Here’s a Look Inside,” click here. For “Why today’s criminal justice reform efforts won’t end mass incarceration,” click here. For “Illinois Agrees to Federal Oversight of Troubled Prison Health Care System,” click here. For “American Bar Association Death Penalty Representation Project Year End 2018” articles, click here. For “Cops Charged with Manslaughter After Two Mental-Health Patients Were Left to Drown in Sheriff’s Van During Hurricane Florence,” click here. For “A Road to Ending Mass Incarceration?” click here. For “Sent to a Hospital, But Locked in Prison,” click here. For “‘Ignored to Death’ in the Bexar County Jail: Janice Dotson-Stephen’s death is another tragic example of how bad the criminal justice system is at dealing with mentally ill people who enter it,” click here. For “U-M student podcast helps former prisoners tell their stories,” click here. For “We Are Witnesses,” by the Marshall Project, click here. For “Ex-Inmate Describes Nine Years in Georgia Solitary Unit—‘I’ve Seen People Go Crazy,’” click here. For “Inmates battling addiction get an unlikely ally: a puppy,” click here. For “Bad forensic science is putting innocent people in prison,” click here. For “From A Cell To A Home: Newly Released Inmates Matched With Welcoming Hosts,” click here. For “The FBI Says Its Photo Analysis Is Scientific Evidence. Scientists Disagree,” click here. For “A Funder Helps L.A. Use the Arts to Advance Juvenile Justice Reform,” click here. For a recent newsletter of the National Reentry Resource Center, click here.

FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

2019 NARMH Conference Invites You to Submit a Proposal

The National Association for Rural Mental Health (NARMH) is inviting you to submit a proposal to present at the 2019 annual NARMH conference, August 26-29 in Santa Fe, New Mexico! The theme is “From Surviving to Thriving: Embracing Connections.” For more information, and/or to submit a proposal (deadline “February 1, 2019, or until the agenda is filled”), click here.

Should the HIPAA Rules Be Loosened? Your Opinion Is Wanted.

Do you think the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Rules, which protect individuals’ privacy and security, should be relaxed? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), wants to know. “[I]n recent years, OCR has heard calls to revisit aspects of the Rules that may limit or discourage information sharing needed for coordinated care or to facilitate the transformation to value-based health care,” OCR writes. So do you think that any of the Rules “may present obstacles to these goals without meaningfully contributing to the privacy and security of protected health information (PHI) and/or patients’ ability to exercise their rights with respect to their PHI”? One example OCR offers is “facilitating parental involvement in care.” Another is “Changing the current requirement for certain providers to make a good faith effort to obtain an acknowledgment of receipt of the Notice of Privacy Practices.” Public comments are due by February 11, 2019. For details and for the comment link, click here.

Thanks, Elizabeth R. Stone

UK Researcher, Together with World Dignity Project, Seeks Your Input on “Patient Experience”

Thanks, Global Mental Health Peer Network Newsletter, via Elizabeth R. Stone

International Survey on Antipsychotic Medication Withdrawal Seeks Respondents

Do You Hear Voices? OurVoicesRaised Wants Your Story!

Virtual Group Is Launched to Advance Peer Research Capacity, Leadership, and Involvement

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 15, No. 7, January 2019. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com (and please note that this is a new email address). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, December 2018, Volume 15, Number 6

December 19, 2018 Susan Rogers

Key Update, December 2018

Volume 15, Number 6

The National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse is now affiliated with the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion!

Please don’t forget to check out the “From Previous Editions of the Key Update but Still Fresh” Department, under the monthly digest of stories about the criminal justice system!

TO CONTACT THE CLEARINGHOUSE: SELFHELPCLEARINGHOUSE@GMAIL.COM

TO CONTACT SUSAN ROGERS: SUSAN.ROGERS.ADVOCACY@GMAIL.COM

TO CONTACT JOSEPH ROGERS: JROGERS08034@GMAIL.COM

Should the HIPAA Rules Be Loosened? HHS Wants Your Opinion

Thanks, Elizabeth R. Stone

“Ivy League Schools Fail Students with Mental Illness,” a New Study Confirms; Active Minds Offers Five Ways to “Transform the Mental Health Conversation on Your Campus”

A new “White Paper on Mental Health in the Ivy League,” recently published by The Ruderman Foundation, “investigates the practice of imposing leaves of absence on students who are experiencing mental illness. The study grades the leave of absence policies of all eight [Ivy League] universities, none of which received higher than a D+.” According to the Ruderman website, “While a leave of absence is potentially useful to both the student and the school, many schools also use the leave of absence as a tool for discrimination, pushing students out of school who are entitled by law to receive accommodations and support which would enable them to stay…The paper also illuminates stories from several high-profile cases in which courageous students from Ivy League schools have told their stories of struggle and discrimination.” For details and to download the paper, click here. For Active Minds’ “5 Ways to Transform the Mental Health Conversation on Your Campus,” click here.

Guardianship: “The Most Punitive Civil Penalty…With the Exception of the Death Penalty”; Jenny Hatch Project Offers State-by-State Information on Guardianship Laws

A recent New York Times article highlights the evils of guardianship, which the late Claude Pepper—who championed the rights of older adults during his long career in Congress—called “the most punitive civil penalty that can be levied against an American citizen, with the exception, of course, of the death penalty.” The article focuses on Phyllis Funke, a 77-year-old journalist who has “a master’s degree from Columbia University, a pilot license and—she believes—several hundred thousand dollars in investments.” But this cut no ice with Adult Protective Services, called by her building’s managers, who had been trying to evict her for hoarding. The city’s psychiatrist “testified that she suffered from ‘unspecified bipolar and related disorder, rule out bipolar II disorder, hoarding disorder and unspecified personality disorder.’” But Funke countered with “a letter from a psychiatrist declaring her stable and ‘perfectly competent to handle all her affairs.’” The Times asks, “In a country that guarantees the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, at what point does a person forfeit the right to make bad decisions?” To read more, click here. For state-by-state information on guardianship laws from the Jenny Hatch Project, click here.

Nearly Half of People Are Expected to Take Prescribed Drugs Longer Than Needed, Study Says

“Nearly half of primary care patients were prescribed antidepressants, bisphosphonates, or proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for longer than necessary, according to findings of a study published in Annals of Family Medicine…The analysis included 50,813 patients aged 18 years or older seen from 2010 through 2016…For each of the three commonly prescribed drug classes (antidepressants, bisphosphonates, and PPIs), the researchers identified cases in which the prescription duration exceeded the recommended time for treatment, using conservative…evidence-based inclusion criteria.’ For antidepressants, that meant including prescriptions for 15 months or longer when drug treatment is recommended for six months after resolution of an acute mood episode…” For the article, which includes a link to the study, click here. For an article about medication-free psychiatric treatment in Norway, from the March 2017 edition of the Key Update, click here.

CMS Invites Comments on Proposed Changes to Medicaid and CHIP Managed Care Regulations; Deadline: January 14, 2019

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is inviting public comment on proposed changes to Medicaid and CHIP managed care regulations. “The changes reflect a broader strategy to relieve regulatory burdens; support state flexibility and local leadership; and promote transparency, flexibility, and innovation in care delivery,” according to a CMS press release. Read more and draw your own conclusions. For details and a link to comment, click here.

Thanks, Amy Smith

Free Webinar on “Peer-run Crisis Respite Homes: Tips for Rural Areas” on January 29

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free, one-hour webinar. On January 29, 2019, Doors to Wellbeing will present “Peer-run Crisis Respite Homes: Tips for Rural Areas.” “Learn about the journey of creating Rhonda’s House, a new peer-run crisis respite home in the rural town of Dewitt, Iowa (population of 5,000). This webinar will touch on how key stakeholders collaborated on Rhonda’s House and were able to gain non-profit status, build a board of directors, hire peer staff, and find creative funding strategies…” For more information and a link to register, click here.

“In ‘Game-Changer,’ Hawaii Given Approval to Use Medicaid Dollars to Help Chronically Homeless”; CHCS Policy Brief Offers Strategies to Expand Access to Housing and Related Services for People Who Are Homeless

“Hawaii is one of the first states in the country given the go-ahead to use federal Medicaid dollars—typically reserved for health care costs—to help homeless people move into housing,” Hawaii News Now reports. While Medicaid traditionally covers doctors’ visits and hospital stays, “it will now pay for services in Hawaii like job training and transportation to look at apartments.” Said the Lt. Governor-elect, a medical doctor, “This is a game-changer in many ways.” For the article, click here. In a related story, in 2016 the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) Inc. published a 10-page brief highlighting “strategies for expanding access to housing and related services for Medicaid beneficiaries who are chronically homeless.” Among the eight strategies are “Design incentives for health plans to invest in housing-related services,” “Target limited resources to a specific subset of the homeless population,” and “Engage advocacy efforts at the federal level.” For “Supportive Housing for Chronically Homeless Medicaid Enrollees: State Strategies,” click here.

MindFreedom International Has an Elegant New Website and a Distinguished New Executive Director

MindFreedom International (MFI) has hired Ronald Bassman—a psychiatric survivor, licensed psychologist, and a past president of the National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy (NARPA)—as its new executive director. The newly revamped MFI website has additional information about the new MFI head; a Save the Date announcement for the May 18, 2019, protest of the American Psychiatric Association; a library of resources about mental health, psychiatry, human rights, involuntary treatment, organizing and activism, and alternatives; historic photographs; and more! For the brand-new MFI website, click on https://mindfreedom.org.

Thanks, Amy Smith

SAMHSA Now Offers an “Early Serious Mental Illness Treatment Locator”; NASMHPD Has an Early Intervention in Psychosis Virtual Resource Center

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has launched an Early Serious Mental Illness Treatment Locator, “a confidential and anonymous source of information for persons and their family members who are seeking treatment facilities in the United States or U.S. Territories for a recent onset of serious mental illnesses such as psychosis, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder and other conditions. These evidence-based programs provide medication, therapy, family and peer support, assistance with education and employment and other services…[T]he earlier that an individual receives treatment, the greater likelihood that these treatments can lead to better outcomes and enable people to live full and productive lives...” For the locator, click here. (This item came from the November 29, 2018, edition of the NRI Newsletter, which has other items of interest. For the NRI newsletter, click here.) For the Early Intervention in Psychosis virtual resource center of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), click here.

Thanks, Anthony Fox

2019 NARMH Conference Invites You to Submit a Proposal

“Why Denver Voted to Fund Mental-Health Treatment”

“A year after Colorado saw a record 1,175 suicides and an all-time high number of drug overdoses, according to the Colorado Health Institute, Denver voters…passed a .25 percent sales tax (or 25 cents on a $100 purchase) under the Caring 4 Denver initiative, raising a new stream of money to treat mental health and addiction. It’s meant to take the response out of the hands of police and jails and focus on treatment centers and therapy…‘Mental health is extremely underfunded here in Denver, in Colorado and, frankly, nationwide,’ said state Representative Leslie Herod. ‘Everybody knows someone who is affected, and everyone says we have to do better.’” For the CityLab article, click here.

World Dignity Project Seeks Support for Malta Universal Mental Health Declaration

At The 2018 Universal Health and Mental Health Congress, held in Malta, the World Dignity Project published the Malta Universal Mental Health Declaration: “It affirms our belief that services and opportunities for people with mental illness, and their families and carers, can and should be better…Mental disorders rank among the most substantial causes of death worldwide. We fight for mental health and well-being for all, with equality of treatment and dignity in experience, as a basic human right.” For details and to consider signing the declaration, click here.

PA Launches First-in-Nation TA Center to Help Counties Reduce Number of People in Jail with Mental Health Conditions

The first technical assistance center to help reduce the number of people with mental health conditions in jails was recently opened in Philadelphia. “The Stepping Up Technical Assistance Center, established by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and administered by the CSG [Council of State Governments] Justice Center, will use in-person and distance-based trainings to improve county jail officials’ ability to identify mental illnesses among those admitted to their jails, as well as strengthen their data collection and establish a baseline of performance measures to track their progress toward getting people the treatment they need,” according to a CSG Justice Center press release. “‘This problem has been decades in the making, but it’s also solvable if we take a systems-wide approach,’ said John Wetzel, secretary of the state’s Department of Corrections….‘I’m proud that Pennsylvania is the first to launch something like this.’” To read more, click here. (For more articles about the criminal justice system, in which many individuals with mental health conditions are incarcerated, please see the Digest, below.)

Temple University Collaborative Newsletter Offers Great Community Inclusion Resources

The December 2018 edition of the monthly newsletter of the Temple University (TU) Collaborative on Community Inclusion offers links to a number of TU Collaborative resources published in 2018: “the widely requested ‘Jump-Starting Community Living and Participation’ toolkit; the ‘Leisure Education Toolkit for Parents with Mental Illnesses’; a manual on using social media to increase community living and participation; and strategies to support individuals to access and use bikeshare programs, just to name a few!” For the TU Collaborative newsletter, click here.

Psychology Today Suggests “Five Ways to Keep Loneliness from Turning into Depression”

A study by researchers at Sheffield Hallam University found that people “at high risk of depression have a chronic tendency to feel lonely and isolated. These feelings, in turn, can lead people to regard themselves in a particularly harsh and judgmental way…[T]he thoughts that you are unworthy become the breeding ground for the negative thoughts that are at the core of depression.” The researchers provided five suggestions: “Work on increasing your social support. Use mindfulness to reduce the tendency to ruminate over your shortcomings. Have a little self-compassion. Try self-affirming messages. Practice emotional suppression [—pushing the negative thoughts aside—] and reappraisal [—reframing the thoughts positively]…To sum up, becoming happier with your qualities rather than distressed about them can be an important step in conquering both depressive thoughts and the feeling that you’re not interacting with people to the extent that you would prefer.” For the article, click here.

The December 2018 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 December 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 “What Is Karl Taylor Dead? Our prisons are our mental wards. One fatal case in New York shows where that can lead,” click here. For “The Force Report: Five years. 72,609 documents. Every local police department in N.J. We built the most comprehensive statewide database of police use of force in the U.S.,” click here. For “‘On the Outside’: UC Berkeley professor’s 7-year study on mass incarceration and prisoner rehabilitation,” click here. For “Programs Help Incarcerated Moms Bond with Their Babies in Prison,” click here. For “Meek Mill: Prisoners Need a New Set of Rights. Like many who are now incarcerated, I was the victim of a miscarriage of justice. I got lucky, but because of dysfunctional, discriminatory rules, most don’t,” click here. For “More Than 4,000 Prisoners with Serious Mental Illness Are Held In Solitary Confinement, Study Finds,” click here. For “For New Jersey Jails, Suicides and Overdoses, But Little Oversight. By one count, New Jersey's county jails have the highest rate of deaths in custody of the 30 largest systems in the nation,” click here. For “’I Don’t Want to Shoot You, Brother.’ A shocking story of police and lethal force. Just not the one you might expect,” click here. For “Working Their Way Home from Prison: Brian L. Frank photographs young men in a California prison camp and on their journeys home to freedom,” click here. For “I been in hell all my life,” click here. For “Punishing Poverty: How Philly’s cash bail system does more harm than good / Opinion,” click here. For “There’s a Wave of New Prosecutors and They Mean Justice. These district attorneys should make jail the exception and eliminate cash bail,” click here. For “Almost half of U.S. adults have seen a family member jailed, study shows,” click here and click here. For “Has Plea Bargaining Distorted American Justice?” click here. For “How a Dubious Forensic Science Spread Like a Virus,” click here. For “Florida Is Just a Start: How the rest of the country can take the Sunshine State’s lead and embrace second-chance criminal justice reform,” click here. For “‘Justice’ Is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year, Beating out ‘Lodestar’ and ‘Nationalism,’” click here. For “How DC’s Mental Health Community Court Is Giving the Mentally Ill a More Hopeful Future,” click here. For “An Army Vet in Crisis. A Family Calls for Help. What Happened Next, Shouldn’t Have,” click here.

FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

UK Researcher, Together with World Dignity Project, Seeks Your Input on “Patient Experience”

Thanks, Global Mental Health Peer Network Newsletter, via Elizabeth R. Stone

International Survey on Antipsychotic Medication Withdrawal Seeks Respondents

Do You Hear Voices? OurVoicesRaised Wants Your Story!

New Virtual Group Is Launched to Advance Peer Research Capacity, Leadership, and Involvement

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 15, No. 6, December 2018. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com (and please note that this is a new email address). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, November 2018, Volume 15, Number 5

November 26, 2018 Susan Rogers

The National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse is now affiliated with the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion!

Please don’t forget to check out the “From Previous Editions of the Key Update but Still Fresh” Department, under the monthly digest of stories about the criminal justice system!

To contact the Clearinghouse: SELFHELPCLEARINGHOUSE@GMAIL.COM

To contact Susan Rogers: SUSAN.ROGERS.ADVOCACY@GMAIL.COM

To contact Joseph Rogers: JROGERS08034@GMAIL.COM

SAMHSA’s All-Day ISMICC Meeting Will Be on December 11. Public May Attend by Webcast or Phone

Attn: Mental health advocates: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will hold an all-day meeting of ISMICC [Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee] on December 11, 2018. The public may attend by webcast or phone. There will be an opportunity for public comment (limited to two minutes) by phone at 1 p.m. ET. For details, including how to connect with the meeting, click here.

“What If the Placebo Effect Isn’t a Trick?” Is the Provocative Headline of a Recent New York Times Story

“New research is zeroing in on a biochemical basis for the placebo effect,” according to a recent article in The New York Times. “You don’t even have to deceive the patients,” the Times writes. “You can hand a patient with irritable bowel syndrome a sugar pill, identify it as such and tell her that sugar pills are known to be effective when used as placebos, and she will get better, especially if you take the time to deliver that message with warmth and close attention. Depression, back pain, chemotherapy-related malaise, migraine, post-traumatic stress disorder: The list of conditions that respond to placebos—as well as they do to drugs, with some patients—is long and growing.” For the article, click here.

New Grant Opportunity: Expanding the Science and Practice of Open Dialogue

“The Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care is pleased to announce a new grant opportunity, called Expanding the Science and Practice of Open Dialogue: An international collaborative multicenter research project to evaluate the effectiveness of Open Dialogue in various mental health care contexts around the world. Proposals are due January 2, 2019.” For the article, which includes a link to the Request for Proposal, click here. For questions not answered in the attachments, write info@MentalHealthExcellence.org

Two New York Times Articles—“When Will We Solve Mental Illness?” and “What’s Life Like after Depression?”—Suggest That Researchers Ask People with Lived Experience for Help

“Millions of individuals who develop a disabling mental [health condition] either recover entirely or learn to manage their distress in ways that give them back a full life,” according to a recent article in The New York Times. “Together, they constitute a deep reservoir of scientific data that until recently has not been tapped.” The author, Benedict Carey, notes that “[d]espite billions of dollars in research funding, and thousands of journal articles, biological psychiatry has given doctors and patients little of practical value, never mind a cause or a cure.” He highlights an ongoing study of people who participate in the Hearing Voices Network, and emphasizes the importance of research that is “guided by individuals who have struggled with mental [health conditions] and come out the other side.” (Note: An invitation to participate in this study is included in the “From Previous Editions of the Key Update But Still Fresh” Department, below. The headline is “Do You Hear Voices? OurVoicesRaised Wants Your Story!”) For the Times article, click here. In a related Times story— “What’s Life Like after Depression? Surprisingly, Little Is Known”—Carey writes, “In trying to understand how people with depression might escape their condition, scientists have focused almost entirely on the afflicted (sic), overlooking a potentially informative group: people who once suffered from some form of depression but have more or less recovered.” For that story, click here.

SAMHSA’s FY 2019-FY2023 Strategic Plan Is Available for Free Download

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently published its four-year strategic plan. SAMHSA’s five priority areas are “(1) Combating the Opioid Crisis through the Expansion of Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Support Services. (2) Addressing Serious Mental Illness and Serious Emotional Disturbances. (3) Advancing Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Support Services for Substance Use. (4) Improving Data Collection, Analysis, Dissemination, and Program and Policy Evaluation. [And] (5) Strengthening Health Practitioner Training and Education.” It has identified its five core principles as “supporting the adoption of evidence-based practices; increasing access to the full continuum of services for mental and substance use disorders; engaging in outreach to clinicians, grantees, patients, and the American public; collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data to inform policies, programs, and practices; [and] recognizing that the availability of mental health and substance use disorder services are integral to everyone’s health.” For the 38-page plan, available for free download, click here.

Active Minds’ Emerging Scholars Fellowship Applications Due by December 9, 2018

“The Active Minds Emerging Scholars Fellowship, generously supported by the Scattergood Foundation, provides mentorship and funding to [six] select students…[who] will receive $1,000 [plus $250 in reimbursement for project expenses] to complete projects related to the increase of help-seeking and accessibility of mental health services among…first-generation students, Greek life members, or student athletes. During the six-month fellowship, scholars will complete their projects, build a peer network, connect professionally with a national mentor, and gain experience distributing their content to the public...Apply by December 9, 2018. Preference will be given to early submissions. All [applicants] will be notified by January 11, 2019. Undergraduate or graduate students from any major may apply, and we welcome proposals that focus on research, creative expression, technology, or other modes.” For more information and to apply, click here.

New Program Helps Children Who Have Been Exposed to Trauma

“Can people be saved from a terrible childhood? UK researchers have found early intervention can help prevent negative experiences in infancy turning into long-term health risks.” So begins a recent story in the Guardian that describes a parenting program in New York “designed for carers of young children who have faced early adversity such as domestic abuse, homelessness or the loss of a parent to incarceration.” The program, called Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), “pairs parents with a coach trained in the needs of infants and toddlers who have experienced trauma.” For the Guardian article, click here. For more about ABC, click here.

Free Webinar on “Using Your Recovery Story to Connect and Inspire” on November 27

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free, one-hour webinar. On November 27, the topic will be “Using Your Recovery Story to Connect and Inspire.” “One of the greatest assets of mental health peer specialists is the ability to share our recovery stories as a way to connect with people and inspire those who may be struggling,” Doors to Wellbeing writes. “However, sometimes it is hard for us to reconcile the negative experiences of our past with the positive role model we are today. Using the ‘Hero's Journey’ as a framework to reflect on your recovery story can help you connect with your moments of heroism in your past and use them to help and inspire others. This webinar will help mental health peer specialists explore the ‘Hero's Journey’ and how to tell their story in a way that presents a healing and hopeful message.” For more information and to register, click here.

UK Researcher, Together with World Dignity Project, Seeks Your Input on “Patient Experience”

If you “have ever consulted a medical professional about a mental health or psychological issue,” you are invited to participate in “a study about the patient (sic) experience relating to mental health.” The researcher, Claire Brooks, writes: “The results of this study will be used to open up important discussions with Mental Health Professionals about how to create dignity in patient experience, relating to mental health. The study asks you to tell me about two patient experiences relating to mental health. You can tell your story in writing online or by posting a 2-3 minute video from your mobile phone. We will also ask for your own opinions on how the patient experience can ensure dignity...” For more information and/or to participate, click here.

Thanks, Global Mental Health Peer Network Newsletter, via Elizabeth R. Stone

Free Webinar on “Supporting People in Recovery to Access and Engage in Education” on November 29

BRSS TACS writes: “Join a free, interactive Recovery LIVE! virtual event on Thursday, November 29, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET. SAMHSA’s Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) invites you to be part of this conversation about assistance with identifying and pursuing educational goals that treatment and support providers, including peer-run and recovery community organizations, can provide to individuals in recovery from serious mental [health conditions] or [a] substance use disorder. The presenters are Kristen Harper, Center for Social Innovation; Anna Trevino, Texas Tech University Center for Collegiate Recovery Communities; and Jeremy Countryman, CAFÉ TA Center. Bring your questions! To register, click here.

Free “Toolkit for E-Mental Health Implementation” to Help Mental Health Professionals

The Mental Health Commission of Canada has made available a free toolkit to “support the establishment of e-mental health programs…The goal of the toolkit is to provide an introductory resource for practitioners who may not yet have any formal e-health training; evidence-informed samples and templates for e-mental health planning and implementation; a useful resource for front-line practitioners, managers and senior mental health leaders with a project implementation / quality / risk focus; a support to e-mental health champions and leaders who provide training and guidance to other health practitioners; a map of current internationally recognized e-mental health practices and trends; [and] a starting point for promoting knowledge sharing, lessons learned, successes and challenges.” For the free 114-page toolkit, click here.

Copeland Center to Host Free Webinar on Creating Workplace Wellness

On November 29, 2018, at 1 p.m. ET, the Copeland Center will host a one-hour wellness on creating workplace wellness. The webinar will be based on the OWL Project (Organizational Wellness Landscape), created by Crestwood Behavioral Health, Inc. The Copeland Center writes that Crestwood “recognizes staff must practice wellness in order to share it with the people it serves. This webinar will help you rethink how you want your workplace to look…learn how one organization is bringing wellness to all staff and is creating a healthier and more productive organization.” To register, click here.

“Peer Review: The Worst Way to Judge Research, Except for All the Others,” says The New York Times

There are flaws in the peer review system, including the fact that reviewers may be “overworked and underprepared,” the presence of bias, a lack of consistency, and the possibility that “[p]eer review may be inhibiting innovation,” according to a recent New York Times article. “How then to improve the existing system?” The suggestions include providing better incentives for reviewers to attract better reviewers; eliminating biases by moving toward “fully blinded reviews”—although there are loopholes in this solution; allowing researchers to post manuscripts online “for public judgment before formal peer review”—already a common practice in some sciences; and “a change in attitude.” For the article, click here.

“Treatment Denied: The Mental Health Crisis in Federal Prisons”

“In 2014, amid mounting criticism and legal pressure, the Federal Bureau of Prisons imposed a new policy promising better care and oversight” for people with mental health issues who were incarcerated in the prisons, the Marshall Project writes. “But data…shows that instead of expanding treatment, the bureau has lowered the number of [people] designated for higher care levels by more than 35 percent. Increasingly, prison staff are determining that [people who are incarcerated]—some with long histories of psychiatric problems—don’t require any routine care at all. As of February [2018], the Bureau of Prisons classified just 3 percent of [people who were incarcerated] as having a mental illness serious enough to require regular treatment. By comparison, more than 30 percent of those incarcerated in California state prisons receive care for a ‘serious mental disorder’…” For the article, click here. To read more articles about the criminal justice system, in which many people with mental health conditions are incarcerated, see the monthly digest, below.

“Jury Finds in Favor of [People with Mental Health Conditions] Who Were Bused Out of Nevada Psychiatric Hospital”

A Las Vegas jury recently awarded $250,000 to each member of a class-action suit comprising people who had been discharged from Rawson-Neal, a Nevada psychiatric hospital, with a bus ticket, “sometimes to places where they had never been and had no ties,” and sometimes with tragic results, the Sacramento Bee reported. The Bee had begun reporting on this “Greyhound therapy” in 2013, and “discovered that Rawson-Neal bused roughly 1,500 patients out of Nevada between 2008 and 2013, a third of them to California.” The damages total nearly $9 million, according to a report in Mental Health Weekly. “In the wake of the Bee’s reports, Rawson-Neal lost its accreditation and its treatment protocols have been the focus of ongoing reviews by state and federal agencies,” according to a Nov. 1, 2018 Bee article, available here.

Thanks, Bryce Hewlett

Court in Australia Upholds Appeal by People Prescribed ECT against Their Will

A court in Victoria, Australia, has strengthened protections for people fighting forced electroconvulsive treatment (ECT), “ruling that treatment orders cannot undermine a person’s human rights,” the Guardian reported. However, “the appeal decision did not mean an end to compulsory ECT, but people subject to involuntary treatment orders would now have greater control over their care,” according to the Legal Aid acting program manager, who said that about 700 people experienced compulsory ECT in Victoria annually. The judge who wrote the 110-page decision, available here, said, “A person does not lack the capacity to give informed consent simply by making a decision that others consider to be unwise according to their individual values and situation. To impose upon persons having mental illness a higher threshold of capacity, and to afford them less respect for personal autonomy and individual dignity, than people not having that illness, would be discriminatory.” For the Guardian article, click here.

New Podcast: “Mental Health Comics”

“This month’s episode features a recording of the Mental Health Comics Panel from MICE (Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo) 2018, moderated by A. David Lewis of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS University).” For more information and to listen, click here.

The November 2018 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 November 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 “There is nothing inevitable about America’s over-use of prisons,” click here. For “Announcing the Solitary Confinement Resource Center: A Comprehensive, Searchable Collection of Resources on Solitary Confinement in the United States,” click here. For “Why police shouldn’t transport people seeking mental health treatment,” click here. For “Reentry Matters: Second Chance Act 10th Anniversary Edition,” click here. For “Getting Back on Course: Educational exclusion and attainment among formerly incarcerated people,” click here. “How does unaffordable money bail affect families,” click here. For “In Prison, Discipline Comes Down Hardest on Women,” click here. For “Promising Practices: This Section Contains Information about Strategies Being Implemented in Prisons and Jails Around the Country to Reduce Their Use of Restrictive Housing,” click here. For “The Courts See a Crime. These Lawyers See a Whole Life. Pairing old-school defense with attention to real-life problems gets people out of jail,” click here. For “’I Can Be Free Again’: How Music Brings Healing at Sing Sing,” click here. For “Shining a Light on Life Behind Bars: In letters compiled by the American Prison Writing Archive, inmates share accounts of suicide, friendship, and solitary confinement,” click here. For “Retraining Workers for New Jobs and New Lives after Prison and Addiction,” click here. For “Third prison psychiatrist comes forward with allegations over inmate care,” click here. For “MacArthur Foundation Awards Millions to Cut Jail Populations,” click here. For “Postcards from Hell: Inmate’s manuscript describes horrors of Florida prison system,” click here. For “Freaky Friday, Prison-Style: At a Kentucky prison, inmates and staff switch places during a ‘re-entry to society’ role-playing game,” click here. For “The Drama of Pregnant Women in Prison—and the Woman on a Mission to Fix It,” click here. For “What We Learned from German Prisons,” click here. For “I deliberately sent myself to prison in Iceland—they didn’t even lock the cell doors there,” click here. For “The Newest Jim Crow: Recent criminal justice reforms contain the seeds of a frightening system of ‘e-carceration,’” click here. For “Neuroscientists Make a Case against Solitary Confinement: Prolonged social isolation can do severe, long-lasting damage to the brain,” click here. For “John Pace and His Friends Expected to Die in Prison. Then the men, who’d been sentenced to life as juveniles, were freed,” click here. For “For Death Row survivors, the fight against capital punishment starts in Philly,” click here.

FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

Survey of “Secondary Traumatic Stress in Peer Advocates” Seeks Respondents

“Fielding Graduate University is conducting research on secondary traumatic stress (STS) in peer advocates,” writes researcher Ellie Peskosky, M.S. “We hope to add to the literature to allow for better support for…peer advocates to reduce STS. If you are a peer advocate and are 18 years or older, you may participate in the online study. Participation is voluntary and there is an opportunity to enter into a raffle at the completion of the study for the chance to win one of five $100 gift cards.” Questions? Please contact epeskosky@email.fielding.edu or her supervisor, Dr. Kristine Jacquin, at kjacquin@fielding.edu. To participate or to learn more, click here.

International Survey on Antipsychotic Medication Withdrawal Seeks Respondents

Do You Hear Voices? OurVoicesRaised Wants Your Story!

New Virtual Group Is Launched to Advance Peer Research Capacity, Leadership, and Involvement

First International Trauma Summit to Be Hosted by the World Federation for Mental Health

The World Federation for Mental Health is hosting the First International Trauma Summit in Houston November 28-30, 2018. “Natural disasters and violence facing the world today are occurring at a pace which far surpasses the resources and people mobilized to deal with the health and mental health effects of the trauma,” the WFMH writes. “It is time that there be a global conversation to develop policies and best practices for governments and Non-Governmental Agencies (NGOs) to minimize the cost in health and productivity...We will start the conversation and come up with a Call to Action to begin the process of healing for our world. As global citizens, we will unite to begin developing guidelines and build awareness of the cost we are all paying by ignoring the role governments and other global entities can play in minimizing trauma and its effects.” For more information or to register, click here.

Thanks, Janet Paleo

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 15, No. 5, November 2018. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com (and please note that this is a new email address). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, October 2018, Volume 15, Number 4

October 17, 2018 Susan Rogers

Key Update, October 2018

Volume 15, Number 4

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

Uber Will Offer Free Rides to the Polls on Election Day

“On November 6, 2018, Uber will offer U.S. riders the ability to quickly find their polling place and also book a free ride. Lyft is similarly offering half-priced and free rides to polling places on Election Day. ‘Decisions get made by those who show up,’” Uber ‘s CEO wrote. For more, click here.

Thanks, Yvonne Smith

Bazelon Center Offers Updated Voter’s Rights Guide in Time for 2018 Midterm Elections

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law urges everyone to register to vote—and then to vote!—in the 2018 midterm elections. “People with mental disabilities represent millions of the U.S. population and their voices should be heard, especially for this year’s midterm elections,” said Jennifer Mathis, director of policy and legal advocacy for the Bazelon Center. For more information about Bazelon’s updated 60-page voter’s guide—Vote. It’s Your Right. A Guide to the Voting Rights of People with Mental Disabilities—as well as a link to the guide, click here. For voter registration deadlines in every state (some of which have passed), click here.

“Flooding the World with Psychiatric Drugs Could Boost the Burden of Mental Disorders”

An article published online on Oct. 22, 2018, warns of the risk of increasing the use of psychiatric medications. Citing a recent report by the Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health and Sustainable Development that called for an effort to “reduce the cost and improve the supply of effective psychotropic drugs for mental, neurological, and substance use disorders,” Robert Nikkel (Oregon’s commissioner for mental health and addictions from 2003 to 2008 and currently a noted author, teacher, and advocate) and acclaimed investigative journalist and author Robert Whitaker write: “While reducing the burden of mental disorders is certainly a laudable goal, we believe that implementing this plan will increase the global burden of mental disorders rather than decrease it.” For the STAT story, click here. (Note: In a summary of his book Anatomy of an Epidemic, Robert Whitaker wrote: “There is evidence that psychiatric medications may be helpful over the short-term, and there are some people who fare well on the drugs long term…” For the entire summary, click here. In addition, readers of the Key Update have noted that it is dangerous to overemphasize the role of medications in poor outcomes for people with psychiatric diagnoses when the social determinants of mental health (click here) affect people so profoundly. For more, see “Cross-national clinical and functional remission rates: Worldwide Schizophrenia Outpatient Health Outcomes (W-SOHO) study” click here.)

Thanks, Jacek Haciak

“Antidepressant Withdrawal Lasts Longer and Is More Severe Than We Thought”

Scientists in the UK, reviewing research comprising the experiences of around 5,000 people, “found that current guidelines vastly underestimated the likelihood of withdrawal symptoms; and, what’s more, they miss the rate at which people would experience severe symptoms,” according to a recent article in Care2. A summary of the research (in press) on the website of Addictive Behaviors notes: “More than half (56%) of people who attempt to come off antidepressants experience withdrawal effects. Nearly half (46%) of people experiencing withdrawal effects describe them as severe. It is not uncommon for the withdrawal effects to last for several weeks or months. Current UK and USA Guidelines underestimate the severity and duration of antidepressant withdrawal, with significant clinical implications.” For more, click here. For another article about the same study, click here.

“Reanalysis of STAR*D Study Suggests Overestimation of Antidepressant Efficacy”

A new study by researchers at Harvard Medical school “reanalyzes primary outcome data from the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study. Results of the study, published in Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, suggest inflation of antidepressant efficacy both in the STAR*D trial reports and in conventional clinical trials.” For more, click here.

Thanks, Jacek Haciak

Survey of “Secondary Traumatic Stress in Peer Advocates” Seeks Respondents

Thanks, Judene Shelley

Free Webinar on “Recovery Dialogues: An Avenue for Culture Change in Psychiatric Hospitals”

On Oct. 25, 2018, at 2 p.m. ET, the National Empowerment Center (NEC) will host a free, 90-minute webinar covering “how mental health peer leaders are partnering with hospitals through Recovery Dialogues in an attempt to shift the culture and enhance recovery. The webinar will feature the National Empowerment Center's work with the Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital and the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health over the past few years.” The NEC writes: “Participants will learn the basics of Recovery Dialogues and how they were implemented at the hospital, including challenges, successes, and tips for doing the same in your state. The webinar will be interactive and include audience participation, as we would like the webinar to serve as an example of an online Recovery Dialogue in action.” For more information and to register, click here.

Lancet Commission Outlines “Blueprint for Action to Promote Mental Wellbeing”

Ten years after the 2007 Lancet series on global mental health, which sought to transform the way policy makers thought about global health, a Lancet Commission “proposes that the global mental agenda should be expanded from a focus on reducing the treatment gap to improving the mental health of whole populations and reducing the global burden of mental disorders by addressing gaps in prevention and quality of care. The Commission outlines a blueprint for action to promote mental wellbeing, prevent mental health problems, and enable recovery from mental disorders.” For more information and the Lancet reports, click here. For “Report: World Support for Mental Health Care Is ‘Pitifully Small,’” published by NPR, click here. (Note: Please also see “Flooding the World with Psychiatric Drugs Could Boost the Burden of Mental Disorders,” above, or click here.)

Thanks, Elizabeth R. Stone

Do You Hear Voices? OurVoicesRaised Wants Your Story!

Lancet Plans to Include People with Lived Experience in the Peer Review Process

Lancet Psychiatry, working with the McPin Foundation in London, is launching a peer review process involving people with lived experience of mental health services—starting with 10 such individuals who have received services in the UK but “with bigger ambitions to extend the scheme worldwide.” “If psychiatry is to remain relevant and achieve the ambitions for psychiatrists to ‘stand up for the rights, dignity, and inclusion of people with mental disorders,’ then psychiatrists must recognize that service user experiential and first-hand knowledge is legitimate,” according to a challenging response to last year’s WPA-Lancet Psychiatry Commission on the Future of Psychiatry. The program is starting small, recruiting 10 people who have used mental health services in the UK as “lay reviewers.” Applications will be accepted through Oct. 19, 2018. The Lancet will review the program a year after it is in operation. For more, click here.

Thanks, Elizabeth R. Stone

Two-thirds of People Diagnosed with Schizophrenia Do Not Improve on Antipsychotic Medications, Researchers Write

“A new analysis of antipsychotic treatment of schizophrenia (published in Schizophrenia Bulletin) has found that two-thirds of patients treated this way do not experience symptom remission,” Mad In America reports. The researchers “reported finding that ‘The overall percentage of no symptomatic remission was 66.9%’—meaning that only about a third of people with schizophrenia experienced full improvement on antipsychotic medications. 19.8% of the patients in the study did not experience any improvement at all after taking antipsychotic drugs…” For the Mad In America article, which includes a link to the Schizophrenia Bulletin abstract, click here. (The abstract notes: “Nonresponse and nonremission percentages were notably high. Nevertheless, the patients in our analysis could represent a negative selection since they came from short-term RCTs [randomized controlled trials] and could have been treated before study inclusion; thus, further response may not have been observed. Observational studies on this important question are needed.”)

MePlusMe Is an Online Intervention to Help Students in Higher Education Who Need Support

Psychological and study skill difficulties can challenge students in higher education (HE) as well as institutions of higher education and their support services, according to the International Journal of Mental Health Systems. “Alternative means of support, such as online interventions, have been identified as cost-effective and efficient ways to provide inclusive support to HE students, removing many of the barriers to help-seeking as well as promoting mental health and well-being.” One such intervention, MePlusMe, “is an online multimedia system that addresses the psychological and educational needs of higher education students…Responses from almost a thousand students across the UK showed that the system was well-received and confirmed that there is a need for this kind of support.” For this case study of MePlusMe, click here.

Thanks, Elizabeth R. Stone

Free Webinar on “Community Inclusion and the Critical Role of Peers” on October 30

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free, one-hour webinar. On October 30, the topic will be “Community Inclusion and the Critical Role of Peers.” Doors to Wellbeing writes: “Exciting new research suggests that increased community participation is related to improved physical, cognitive and mental health and wellbeing. This webinar will provide mental health peer specialists and their allies a foundational understanding of the relationship between community participation and recovery and wellbeing. It will also explore the key role that mental health peer specialists can play in supporting increased community participation.” The presenter will be Mark Salzer, Ph.D., director of the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion. For more information and to register, click here.

Forbes Suggests Ways that Employers Can “Ditch Disability Bias in the Workplace”

Forbes recently noted that, according to a study by Scope—a British nonprofit that calls itself the “disability equality charity”—“people living with disabilities report that they fear telling their bosses about a mental health issue because they will be seen as weak or incompetent.” And “[a] mere 12 percent of U.S. companies have reached the Department of Labor target of 7 percent disability representation.” Among the advice to employers is to “acknowledge that disability rights are civil rights. Find opportunities to celebrate, not ‘comply with,’ the Americans with Disabilities Act.” The article also suggests consulting the 2018 Disability Equality Index (available here). For the Forbes article, click here.

Hugs May Protect Against Conflict-related Distress, Researchers Say

“A new study reveals receiving a hug on a day when you experience interpersonal conflict can be a buffer against negative mood and distress,” according to NeuroscienceNews.com, writing about a Carnegie Mellon University study. According to the article, “The researchers interviewed 404 adult men and women every night for 14 consecutive days about their conflicts, hug receipt, and positive and negative moods. Receiving a hug on the day of conflict was concurrently associated with a smaller decrease in positive emotions and a smaller increase in negative emotions. The effects of hugs may have lingered too, as interviewees reported a continued attenuation of negative mood the next day.” For more, including a link to the study, published Oct. 3, 2018, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, click here.

“How a Bench and a Team of Grandmothers Can Tackle Depression”

In Zimbabwe—with more than 16 million people and only 12 psychiatrists—an innovative program, replicated in other countries, is helping people experiencing depression. More than 400 grandmothers have been trained in “evidence-based talk therapy, which they deliver for free in more than 70 communities in Zimbabwe,” the BBC reports. “In 2017 alone, the Friendship Bench, as the program is called, helped over 30,000 people there. The method has been empirically vetted and [has] been expanded to countries beyond, including the U.S.” According to prominent Zimbabwean psychiatrist Dixon Chibanda, the program “can serve as a blueprint for any community, city or country interested in bringing affordable, accessible and highly effective mental health services to its residents”: “As Chibanda puts it: ‘Imagine if we could create a global network of grandmothers in every major city in the world.’” For the BBC article, click here. For more about the Friendship Bench, click here.

Hey, “Stigma Watch”! Let’s Needle The Argyle Sweater Cartoonist!

Scott Hilburn, who draws The Argyle Sweater—which appears to be heavily influenced by Gary Larson’s The Far Side—recently published a drawing (click here) with the caption “Did you get plain or nuts?” in which he depicts M&Ms as little “nuts” in straitjackets. If you feel so inclined, you can contact the distributor, Andrews McMeel Syndication (click here) to express your thoughts about the cartoon.

“5 Key Ways Crafting Heals Us”

Crafting can heal us, according to an article in Psych Central: “It doesn’t matter which craft we engage in. As long as we are doing something creative with our hands, we begin to heal our minds.” The article lists “five common ways that crafting heals us: Crafting distracts the mind, it feels good to be productive, crafting builds self-esteem, crafting offers community, [and] crafting stirs the imagination.” For the article, click here. And, in a related story, for “The Creative Art of Quilting: This art form is good for your health, helps you stay connected and provides purpose,” click here.

Thanks, Surviving Spirit Newsletter

“Can Green Space Reduce Risk of Schizophrenia?”

Mother Nature Network recently reported on a Danish study in which “researchers used satellite images of green spaces in Denmark captured between 1985 and 2013. These maps were compared with data from the country’s national registers for people born between 1985 and 2003 and whether or not those people developed schizophrenia. Their results…found that of the 943,027 people in the study, 7,509 of them were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Furthermore, those who lived in the areas with the least amount of green space faced a 1.52-fold increased risk of developing schizophrenia compared to those who lived in areas with the most green space.” The results were published in Schizophrenia Research (click here). For the Mother Nature Network story, click here.

The October 2018 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 “21 Best Books on Prison, Incarceration, and the Justice System,” click here. For “Prison psychiatry chief’s report accuses state of misleading court on mental health care,” click here. For “Starting a dialogue over incarcerating the mentally ill,” click here. For “Where Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Measures Are on the 2018 Ballot,” click here. For “To Fight Mass Incarceration We Need to Decriminalize Trauma: At Homeboy Industries, career, education, and mental-health services are creating a way out of poverty and violence,” click here. For “How to Leak Stories to the Marshall Project: Your guide to becoming a source,” click here. For “More Than 4,000 Prisoners with Serious Mental Illness Are Held in Solitary Confinement, Study Finds,” click here. For “The Incalculable Costs of Mass Incarceration: Prisons carry enormous, perhaps impossible to measure social costs—but when assessing the system fiscally, reformers should focus on staffing salaries instead of the number of incarcerated people,” click here. For “Carceral State Project: Project seeks to grant ‘U’ degrees inside prison,” click here. For “Cruel and Usual: The History of Lethal Injection,” click here. For “More Women Are Behind Bars Now. One Prison Wants to Change That: Connecticut’s WORTH program uses therapy, classes and mentoring to try to keep women from coming back,” click here. For “Frozen in Time: What Older People Face After Prison,” click here. For “Convicts Seeking to Clear Their Records Find More Prosecutors Willing to Help,” click here. For “Five Things You Didn’t Know About Clearing Your Record: A primer on the complicated road to expungement,” click here. For “How People on the Outside Can Support the Political Work of People on the Inside,” click here. For “Why Are So Many Pa. Prison Inmates Committing Suicide?” click here. For “Incarcerated Pennsylvanians now have to pay $150 to read. We should all be outraged.” click here. For “Washington state ends ‘racially biased’ death penalty,” click here. For “Rethinking Prison, From the Inside Out,” click here. For “Cash Bail Yields a New Casualty: A Texas jail suicide involving a woman who couldn’t make bail in a shoplifting case highlights the plight of pretrial detainees with mental illness,” click here.

FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

International Survey on Antipsychotic Medication Withdrawal Seeks Respondents

“NSF Wants to Know What You Think It Should Fund”

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is about to launch a contest called the NSF 2026 Idea Machine. According to a recent article in Science, “On August 31, NSF will begin accepting online entries for the contest. Anyone can submit an idea—from individual scientists to professional societies to a high school science class…The only real restriction is that the idea must be something NSF could support. So no proposals to cure cancer, or send astronauts to Mars.” The contest will close on October 26, 2018. The winners will be announced next summer. For more information and to enter, click here.

Thanks, Elizabeth R. Stone

Did You Write Poetry While You Were in Jail or Prison? If So…

Incarceration Nations Network is seeking submissions for an international collection of poetry by incarcerated writers around the world, to be published by Akashic Press. Selected poets will be compensated for their work. All poetry must have been written during incarceration. Submit work along with a short bio and the name and country of the prison in which you were incarcerated to psalmsfrommycell@mail.com. Deadline: October 30, 2018. (Editor’s note: Although there is nothing about this poetry collection on the Incarceration Nations Network website or the Akashic Press website, Professor Baz Dreisinger has confirmed that submissions for the collection are being sought. When she was asked why Akashic Books indicates that they are “not accepting print submissions at this time, as our small staff is overwhelmed with work on our current release schedule and forthcoming titles,” Professor Dreisinger said the poetry collection is one of their forthcoming titles.)

New Virtual Group Is Launched to Advance Peer Research Capacity, Leadership, and Involvement

National Dialogues on Behavioral Health to Be Held in New Orleans Oct. 28-31

The National Dialogues on Behavioral Health—“the oldest ongoing annual conference on mental health and substance abuse in the United States,” its organizers say—will take place in New Orleans October 28-31, 2018. Its theme: Reinventing the Behavioral Health Workforce: Implementing Innovative Solutions. “The purpose of the conference is to bring experts, administrators, providers, consumers, family members and advocates together to discuss the cutting edge in the topic of interest with a focus on implementation and ‘how to do it.’ A distinctive feature is the opportunity for extended dialogue and interaction among the participants.” For more information and/or to register, click here.

The ISPS-US 17th Annual Meeting Will Take Place in Philadelphia!

The U.S. Chapter of the International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis (ISPS_US) is holding its 17th annual meeting at the Courtyard by Marriott Downtown in Philadelphia November 9-11, 2018! The conference theme is “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Wholeness in Extreme States.” For conference information, click here.

First International Trauma Summit to Be Hosted by the World Federation for Mental Health

Thanks, Janet Paleo

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 15, No. 4, October 2018. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com (and please note that this is a new email address). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, September 2018, Volume 15, Number 3

September 19, 2018 Susan Rogers

Key Update, September 2018

Volume 15, Number 3

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

Antidepressants May Cause Antibiotic Resistance, Researchers Say

“A key ingredient in common antidepressants such as Prozac”—fluoxetine—“could be causing antibiotic resistance, according to new University of Queensland [Australia] research,” Medical Xpress writes. The researchers had previously reported that “triclosan, a common ingredient in toothpaste and hand wash, can directly induce antibiotic resistance.” That discovery led to the fluoexetine study. While calling for further studies, the researchers said, “This discovery provides strong evidence that fluoxetine directly causes multi-antibiotic resistance via genetic mutation.” Medical Xpress noted that antimicrobial resistance is estimated to cause the deaths of approximately 700,000 people a year. “Unless global action is taken now,” the article continued, the numbers are predicted to rise to 10 million people by 2050. For more in Medical Xpress, click here.

Thanks, Elizabeth R. Stone

SARTAC Offers Free Self-Advocacy Toolkit, with Webinars on September 21

SARTAC (Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center) has published a free self-advocacy toolkit “designed to make self-advocacy groups effective advocates for people with disabilities.” With the subtitle “More Power, More Control over Our Lives,” the illustrated 115-page resource is Self-Advocacy 101. SARTAC writes: “This is a toolkit where self-advocates can learn about how to start a self-advocacy group in their area or improve their current group. You will learn about the history of the self-advocacy movement, developing your value and purpose, setting goals, leadership skills, member roles, and choosing advisors.” To download the free toolkit, click here. On September 21, SARTAC will host a free hour-long webinar about the toolkit, twice: at 10 a.m. ET and again at 3 p.m. ET. To register for either of the free webinars, click here.

Inside Our Minds Wants Your Thoughts for Radical Mental Health Week (October 7-13)

“#HearOurVoices is a social media campaign that highlights perspectives and experiences that are not currently centered in community mental health conversations,” writes Inside Our Minds, whose mission is to “elevate the voices of people with lived experience of mental illness and madness.” In honor of Radical Mental Health Week (October 7-13, 2018), Inside Our Minds invites you to “tell us what’s missing from mental health awareness, from your perspective and personal experience.” For details and to submit your comments, click here.

Free Resources for Peer Worker Supervisors Are Posted on the iNAPS Website

The International Association of Peer Supporters (iNAPS) has posted an array of resources for supervisors of peer support staff. The sources of the 18 disparate resources include the Transformation Center, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), the Café TA Center, the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS), the Carter Center, the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network, SAMHSA-HRSA and the Center for Integrated Health Solutions, and other organizations and individual experts. iNAPS will hold its 12th Annual Peer Support Conference—Reinforcing our Roots: Designing Our Future—December 3-5, 2018, in Orlando, Florida. For more about the iNAPS conference, click here. For the peer support supervision resources, click here.

Thanks, NYAPRS E-News

You Can Nominate Someone for the AAPD Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Award

“Through the AAPD Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Awards, the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) recognizes outstanding emerging leaders with disabilities who exemplify leadership, advocacy, and dedication to the broader cross-disability community. Two (2) individuals will each receive $2,500 in recognition of their outstanding contributions and $7,500 to further a new or existing project or initiative that increases the political and economic power of people with disabilities. The recipients of the 2019 AAPD Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Awards will be honored among national disability leaders at the AAPD Leadership Awards Gala, held in Washington, DC, on March 12, 2019.” Deadline: October 1, 2019, at 5 p.m. ET. For the application, click here.

Free Webinar on “Mental Health Peer Specialists: Ethics and Boundaries” on September 25

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free, one-hour webinar. On September 25, the topic will be “Mental Health Peer Specialists: Ethics and Boundaries.” The learning objectives are to “identify the ethical duties of peer support specialists, describe ethics and boundaries for supporting individuals with co-occurring substance use disorders and mental health diagnoses, and discuss strategies to overcome unique challenges for peer support specialists when working with people with substance use disorders and mental health diagnoses.” For more information and to register, click here.

New Virtual Group Is Launched to Advance Peer Research Capacity, Leadership, and Involvement

Many Psychiatric Wards Have a Culture of Sexual Assault, New British Study Reports

“The idea that people, predominantly girls and women, are too mad, too bad and too sad to be believed has been used to silence people since time immemorial,” according to Independent, in an article about a new report by the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. In three months in 2017, “1,129 sexual incidents were reported— 65 per week—including 29 alleged rapes and 457 incidents of sexual harassment and assault. Two-thirds of the time the person affected was a patient. Though the figures suggest that most of the incidents were carried out by male patients, few patient groups doubt that this is a gross underrepresentation of incidents carried out by staff members, which are specifically difficult to report given the power asymmetries and gaslighting that make speaking out especially difficult once one is seen as a psychiatric patient,” the article notes. “Perhaps the most startling figure in the CQC’s report is that 97 per cent of incidents were classified by organizations as ‘no harm’ or ‘low harm.’” For the article, which includes a link to the free report, click here.

Thanks, @AnneCooke14

Free Webinar on “Creating Psychologically Safe and Healthy Workplaces” on World Mental Health Day

On October 10, 2018, World Mental Health Day, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans in Canada will sponsor a free webcast, “Creating Psychologically Safe and Healthy Workplaces in the U.S. and Canada,” featuring presenters from the American Psychological Association and Great-West Life, respectively. For more information and to register, click here.

Thanks, Judene Shelley

WHO Publishes a Free 99-page Suicide Prevention Toolkit for Communities

In honor of National Suicide Prevention Month (September), the World Health Organization (WHO) just published “Preventing suicide: A community engagement toolkit.” WHO describes the toolkit as a free, 99-page “step-by-step guide for communities to engage in suicide prevention activities, take ownership of the process and keep efforts sustained. The toolkit is not a manual for initiating specific interventions; rather, it describes an active and participatory bottom-up process by which communities identify, prioritize and implement activities that are important and appropriate to their local context and that can influence and shape policy and services.” For the free toolkit, click here. For a related story, “Designing for suicidal users: preventing suicide the modern way,” which notes that “Every month, over half a million people in the US make suicide-related searches on Google. The automated response that is supposed to stop them and save lives feels lifeless. This needs to change now,” click here.

Thanks, Elizabeth R. Stone

Mad in the UK—One of a Growing Number of Mad In America Offshoots—Has Been Launched

A new subsidiary of Mad in America (MIA) has been launched, joining a growing number of such sites, including Mad in America Hispano-Hablante, Mad in Asia, Mad in Brasil and Mad in Finland. “Acting in concert with MIA, it will carry UK-specific content and provide a voice for UK professionals, service users/survivors, peer activists, carers, researchers, teachers, trainers, lawyers, journalists, volunteers and others who are working for change in the field of what is usually referred to as ‘mental health,’” its website says. Its mission statement includes the following: “We believe that the current diagnostically-based paradigm of care has comprehensively failed, and that the future lies in non-medical alternatives which explicitly acknowledge the causal role of social and relational conflicts, abuses, adversities and injustices…” For more, go to the MITUK website at www.madintheuk.com.

Thanks, @AnneCooke14

“Researchers with Disabilities in the Academic System” Seeks Solutions to Low Representation

“With 1.5 billion people with disabilities worldwide, the percentage of academic positions filled by academics with disabilities is surprisingly low,” according to a recent article published by the American Association of Geographers. “The low number/percentage of Academics with disabilities in top class universities and other research institutions is alarming, and we have to ask why this is the case and what are possible solutions to change this situation for the better.” For the article, click here.

Thanks, Nev Jones

“Disclosure of Mental Disability by College and University Faculty: The Negotiation of Accommodations, Supports, and Barriers”

In a story related to the item above, “Disclosure of Mental Disability by College and University Faculty” reports on “a first-of-its-kind cross-institutional survey of faculty with mental disabilities…Respondents self-identified as faculty with mental disabilities, mental illness or mental-health histories. Results from 267 respondents indicated that nearly 70% had no or limited familiarity with accommodations, and even fewer used them (87%)...” For the article, in Disability Studies Quarterly, click here.

Thanks, Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion

“Half of Europe’s Clinical Trials Fail to Report Results Despite EU Rule,” According to Reuters

“Almost half of all European-registered clinical trials—in which scientists test drug treatments, interventions or therapies in humans—have breached EU rules by failing to report results,” Reuters recently reported. “[I]n work published in the BMJ British medical journal, researchers at Britain’s Oxford University found that around 90 percent of trials funded by non-commercial sponsors—such as universities, hospitals, governments and charities—and about 32 percent of trials sponsored by drug companies have not published results onto the register.” For the Reuters article, click here.

“Healing from Psychiatry: The Artist’s Perspective”

“Healing from Psychiatry: The Artist's Perspective is a compilation hardcover art book featuring the art and personal stories of 60 people from around the world,” artist and author Alison Page writes. “Each contributor was harmed by the institution of psychiatry in some way, whether by psychiatric medications, shock therapy, forced inpatient stays, or harmful and restrictive diagnostic labels. The emphasis of the book is on survivors of benzodiazepines…This book touches upon the struggle of recovering from psychiatry, but it also highlights the strength, creativity, and perseverance the journey can evoke. It highlights many encouraging stories of people who have walked through the trenches and reached full recovery.” For Alison Page’s website, which includes more information about her project, click here.

Did You Write Poetry While You Were in Jail or Prison? If So…

Incarceration Nations Network is seeking submissions for an international collection of poetry by incarcerated writers around the world, to be published by Akashic Press. Selected poets will be compensated for their work. All poetry must have been written during incarceration. Submit work along with a short bio and the name and country of the prison in which you were incarcerated to psalmsfrommycell@mail.com. Deadline: October 30, 2018. (Editor’s note: Although there is nothing about this poetry collection on the Incarceration Nations Network website or the Akashic Press website, Professor Baz Dreisinger has confirmed that submissions for the collection are being sought. When she was asked why Akashic Books indicates that they are “not accepting print submissions at this time, as our small staff is overwhelmed with work on our current release schedule and forthcoming titles,” Professor Dreisinger said the poetry collection is one of their forthcoming titles.)

“Gone, But No Longer Forgotten: The California Memorial Project”
“More than 45,000 people, including individuals with psychiatric or developmental disabilities, died while living at a California state hospital and developmental center between the 1880s and 1960s. Many were buried anonymously in unmarked or mass graves and did not receive recognition or acknowledgment in life or in death.” For a seven-minute video about the project, click here.

The September 2018 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 September 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.) The top story is “Horrific deaths, brutal treatment: Mental illness in America’s jails”: “The Virginian-Pilot tracked the cases of 404 people with mental illness who have died in America’s jails since 2010. The total number is likely much larger, but it's untraceable—what little information the federal government keeps on jail deaths does not accurately track the mental health of inmates.” So begins this recent article, which continues: “These deaths are symptomatic of a bigger problem—how the country's criminal justice system treats some of its most vulnerable citizens, those with a mental illness.” For the Virginian-Pilot article, click here. A related story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is headlined “Conditions for mentally ill women at Fulton jail called ‘barbaric.’” (For the article, click here.) For “Why We Can’t Ignore the Link Between Disability and Mass Incarceration,” click here. For “Kids with Cognitive Problems Can Be Locked Up for Years Without a Trial,” click here. For “Solitary Used More Often for Inmates with Mental Illness: Study,” click here. For “Want to write fiction in US prisons? It might be censored on ‘security grounds,’” click here. For “The Growing Movement to Grant All Prisoners the Right to Vote,” click here. For “Getting to Zero: A 50-State Study of Strategies to Remove Youth from Adult Jails,” click here. For “Report: Wrongful Convictions Have Stolen at Least 20,000 Years from Innocent Defendants,” click here.

FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

You Are Invited to Participate in a Survey of People with Lived Experience

Researchers at the University of South Florida invite you to take part in a research study called “Polyphony in Activism: Capturing the Voices of Advocates and Activists with Lived Experience of Mental Difference and/or Mental Health Treatment.” The researchers write: “We are conducting a study that aims to capture the experiences and perspectives of advocates and activists with lived experience of ‘mental difference,’ i.e., characteristics, traits, states, and phenomena that have been categorized as symptoms of mental disorders or developmental disorders, and/or lived experience of behavioral or mental health treatment. The purpose of the study is to better understand how experiences of mental difference and behavioral or mental health treatment impact activist involvement and agendas.” The survey will be open through October 31, 2018. For more information and/or to participate, click here.

International Survey on Antipsychotic Medication Withdrawal Seeks Respondents

NARPA Annual Rights Conference to Be Held in Baltimore September 26-29!

The 2018 National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy (NARPA) has an exciting lineup of speakers for its Annual Rights Conference, to be held September 26-29, 2018, at the Holiday Inn Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland. Keynoters at the conference—whose theme is Rights Still Under Siege!— include Robert Dinerstein, JD, a law professor at the American University Washington College of Law, who will give updates on recent cases affecting disability rights/mental health law; Peter Stastny, MD, “a critical psychiatrist, academic, researcher and filmmaker, peer innovator, and longtime ally of the Mad Movement”; Susan Stefan, JD, “legal scholar and professor, author, and internationally recognized disability law expert,” and more! For more information, click here. Questions? Write narpa@aol.com or call 256.650.6311. Continuing Legal Education certificates and Social Work CEUs will be available.

“NSF Wants to Know What You Think It Should Fund”

Thanks, Elizabeth R. Stone

National Dialogues on Behavioral Health to Be Held in New Orleans Oct. 28-31

The ISPS-US 17th Annual Meeting Will Take Place in Philadelphia!

First International Trauma Summit to Be Hosted by the World Federation for Mental Health

Thanks, Janet Paleo

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 15, No. 3, September 2018. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com (and please note that this is a new email address). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

The Key Update, August 2018, Volume 15, Number 2

August 24, 2018 Susan Rogers

Key Update, August 2018

Volume 15, Number 2

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

Research Confirms Peer Support’s Effectiveness in Promoting Recovery and Helping People Stay Out of the Hospital

“Training and hiring persons in recovery to provide peer support represents a win-win situation for resource-strapped systems,” according to a recent article in Psychiatric Times, whose authors include a number of distinguished researchers, including some who have lived experience. “Patients receive support from trained peers who instill hope, model self-care, and help navigate the health care system. Peer support providers are gainfully employed in a role that supports their own recovery by allowing them to do personally motivated work. Systems gain a trained, effective workforce that pushes providers beyond the basic outcomes of decreased homelessness, incarceration, and hospitalization to include other outcomes that also matter to patients and their loved ones, i.e., those associated with reclaiming a meaningful life.” To read the article, click here. In a related story, “New data, published in The Lancet, highlights the importance of peer support in reducing the risk of readmission to an acute crisis unit.” For “Peer Support Reduces Chances of Psychiatric Readmission,” which includes a link to the full text of the Lancet article at the end, click here. For a related New York Times story, “Sometimes Patients Simply Need Other Patients,” click here.

“The Effectiveness of a Peer-Staffed Crisis Respite Program as an Alternative to Hospitalization”

In a story related to those above, Psychiatric Services reported on a study that “assessed whether peer-staffed crisis respite centers implemented in New York City in 2013 as an alternative to hospitalization reduced emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and Medicaid expenditures for individuals enrolled in Medicaid.” Conclusions: “Peer-staffed crisis respite services resulted in lowered rates of Medicaid-funded hospitalizations and health expenditures for participants compared with a comparison group. The findings suggest that peer-staffed crisis respites can achieve system-level impacts.” For the abstract, click here.

Free Webinar on “Mental Health Peer Specialists and People Who Are Justice Involved” on August 28

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free, one-hour webinar. On August 28, “Mental Health Peer Specialists and People Who Are Justice Involved” will provide information about how peer-facilitated groups and peer support can reduce recidivism, how peer specialists can connect with people reentering the community after incarceration, and identify preconceived ideas and judgments of people who are justice-involved that can affect how peer specialists provide peer support. For more information and to register, click here.

Free SAMHSA Webinar on the Future of Mental Health Mobile Apps and Videoconferencing-based Telemental Health: August 29

On August 29 at 1:30 p.m. ET, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will sponsor a 90-minute webinar on “An Evaluation Framework and the Future of Mental Health Mobile Apps and Videoconferencing-based Telemental Health.” Part 1 will drill deep into the current landscape and future of such apps, including (but not limited to) evidence for and against using them. Part 2 will provide an overview of current best practices in telepsychiatry and a summary of current telepsychiatry policy changes and implications, as well as administrative, technical, and legal considerations around telepsychiatry. To register, click here.

AAPD Offers 2017 Disability Rights Storytellers Fellowship: Application Deadline Sept. 4 at 5 p.m. ET

“The Disability Rights Storytellers Fellowship, managed by Rooted in Rights and AAPD, provides the opportunity for an individual with a disability to learn and apply skills in digital media storytelling, and to connect with media professionals to prepare participants for advanced careers in media production, journalism, online advocacy, or digital design. The project combines hands-on training on cutting edge technologies with a strong foundation in developing the individual’s voice and using story-driven videos in advocacy.” Applications are due by September 4, 2018, at 5 p.m. ET. For details, including eligibility requirements, click here.

Thanks, Nev Jones

You Are Invited to Participate in a Survey of People with Lived Experience

Researchers at the University of South Florida invite you to take part in a research study called “Polyphony in Activism: Capturing the Voices of Advocates and Activists with Lived Experience of Mental Difference and/or Mental Health Treatment.” The researchers write: “We are conducting a study that aims to capture the experiences and perspectives of advocates and activists with lived experience of ‘mental difference,’ i.e., characteristics, traits, states, and phenomena that have been categorized as symptoms of mental disorders or developmental disorders, and/or lived experience of behavioral or mental health treatment. The purpose of the study is to better understand how experiences of mental difference and behavioral or mental health treatment impact activist involvement and agendas.” The survey will be open at least through September 2018. For more information and/or to participate, click here.

“Mental Health Declining Among Disadvantaged American Adults,” Study Shows

“American adults of low socioeconomic status report increasing mental distress and worsening well-being, according to a new study by Princeton University and Georgetown University.” The study is “among the first to investigate if the psychological health of Americans has worsened over time, as suggested by the ‘deaths of despair’ narrative, linking rising mortality in midlife to drugs, alcohol and suicide. The results show that distress is not just a midlife phenomenon but a scenario plaguing disadvantaged Americans across the life course. The findings should be taken into account in terms of policy and advocacy efforts, the researchers said.” For the article excerpted above, click here.

Thanks, Café TA Center.

Free Webinar on “Enhancing Skills for Peer Support Providers” on September 18

On September 18 at 1 p.m. ET, Pathways RTC will host a one-hour webinar on “Enhancing Skills for Peer Support Providers: Research on the AMP+ Skills Enhancement Training.” Pathways writes: “Research on peer support in mental health consistently cites a lack of clarity around the role and its skills as a barrier to high-quality implementation. This webinar reports on a study testing the AMP+ skills-enhancement intervention for peer support providers working with youth and young adults. AMP+ provides web-based training and video coaching that is specific to the peer role. Peers reported high satisfaction, improved their skills, and reported reduced work-related anxiety.” For more information and to register, click here.

“A Simple Emergency Room Intervention Can Help Cut Suicide Risk”

A recent study “shows that a simple intervention conducted by staff in emergency departments” with someone who has attempted suicide “can reduce the risk of future [suicide] attempts. The intervention involves creating a safety plan for each patient and following up with phone calls after discharge. ‘It reduced the odds of suicidal behavior by half,’ says Barbara Stanley, a psychologist at Columbia University and the lead author of the study. ‘That's a phenomenal difference.’” The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, “included 1,200 patients at five Veterans Affairs hospitals around the country. The findings offer a way for hospitals and clinics to help reduce the rising numbers of death by suicide across the country.” For the article, click here. For the JAMA article abstract, click here. And for “Sharp Increase in Gun Suicides Signals Growing Public Health Crisis,” click here.

Thanks, Elizabeth Stone and Kevin Fitts

TU Collaborative Publishes Manual on Helping People with Mental Health Conditions Prepare for Disasters

The Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion and the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse have issued a training manual for certified peer specialists to help them assist the people they work with in preparing for natural or manmade disasters. “Disasters—earthquakes or floods, shootings or riots, or other such natural or man-made events—often have terrible practical and emotional impacts, which can be minimized if people are better prepared: if they have thought ahead about what they can do, what they will need, and how they can respond if they are unlucky enough to face a disaster,” the manual begins. “This document is designed to increase the degree to which individuals with mental health conditions have planned to meet their needs if a disaster should strike. It also suggests that peer specialists can play an important role in helping the people they serve be better prepared.” To download the free manual, click here.

“ ‘Diagnostic Dissent’: Experiences of Individuals who Disagreed With Their Diagnosis”

From MadInAmerica.com: “Faith Forgione, a student at Fordham University, NY, recently published part of a larger study that examined the lived experiences of individuals who have received a psychiatric diagnosis that they felt to be inaccurate and invalidating. This project…gives voice to an underreported phenomenon and asks: ‘How do individuals diagnosed with psychotic disorders experience perceived misdiagnosis?’” For more information, click here.

iNAPS to Host Webinar on “Peer Support and Community Inclusion: My Story”

On September 14, 2018, at 12 p.m. ET, the International Association of Peer Supporters (iNAPS) will host a presentation by Dr. Mark Salzer, director of the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion and professor of rehabilitation sciences at Temple University. iNAPS writes: “Dr. Mark Salzer will tell his story about how he became interested in peer support and community inclusion more than 30 years ago, and the resistance he, and others, faced in those early years. He will then provide some historical background on research and policies in both areas, including the independent living movement and disability rights orientation. He will then explain why peer support and community inclusion are essential directions for enhancing mental health systems and services. He will end by briefly describing what he will be talking about at the 2018 iNAPS conference in Orlando.” For more information and to register, click here.

“NSF Wants to Know What You Think It Should Fund”

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is about to launch a contest called the NSF 2026 Idea Machine. According to a recent article in Science, “On August 31, NSF will begin accepting online entries for the contest. Anyone can submit an idea—from individual scientists to professional societies to a high school science class…The only real restriction is that the idea must be something NSF could support. So no proposals to cure cancer, or send astronauts to Mars.” The winners will be announced next summer. For more information and to enter, click here.

Thanks, Elizabeth Stone

“12 Mental Health Documentaries That Should Be Mandatory Viewing,” Says Women.Com

“From bipolar disorder to anorexia, the following documentaries about mental health open up a necessary dialogue for those who need it most and for most Americans to learn more about struggles family members, co-workers, or partners may face,” according to the women.com website. Among the dozen films are “Running from Crazy,” in which Mariel Hemingway explores her family’s legacy of suicide and seeks out information on suicide prevention, and “The Bridge,” featuring interviews with suicide loss survivors; films featuring singer Demi Lovato and actor Stephen Fry, respectively; explorations of eating disorders, autism, Tourette syndrome, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia; as well as “Happy,” in which “the filmmakers travel the world to find what makes us happy.” Note: The Clearinghouse has not viewed these documentaries; they are offered without its recommendation. For the article, click here.

“Study Identifies Factors Linked to Adverse Events, Errors During Psychiatric Hospitalization”

Older adults and those with a longer length of stay are more likely to experience an adverse event or medical error during psychiatric hospitalization, according to a report in Psychiatric Services. Researchers at the University of Amsterdam and in the U.S. “analyzed a random sample of 4,371 charts from 14 inpatient psychiatric units at acute care general hospitals in urban and rural Pennsylvania. Factors associated with a higher risk of adverse events or medical errors were being 54 years old or older, admitted during the weekend, admitted to a rural hospital, and treated at very-high-volume hospitals (more than 1,280 admissions a year). People over 54, who accounted for 23.9 percent of all adverse events, were more than twice as likely to experience an adverse event compared with people aged 18 to 30 (11.5 percent). For more information, click here.

Need Some Free Technical Assistance? Better Call BRSS TACS!

“BRSS TACS (Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy) offers free training, technical assistance, and learning opportunities on recovery supports and services. Training and technical assistance provided by BRSS TACS aims to transform behavioral health systems. The goal is to provide a diverse array of nonclinical supports, support person-directed treatment, increase access to recovery supports, and expand the peer workforce. Recovery-oriented systems are developed with an understanding that long-term recovery happens in the community. Training and technical assistance is provided in a variety of formats, including consultations, virtual and in-person events and meetings, and online resources.” For the online technical assistance request form, click here.

Thanks, Lauren Spiro

“Take a Walk in the Woods. Doctor’s Orders.”

“ ‘Forest bathing,’ or immersing yourself in nature, is being embraced by doctors and others as a way to combat stress and improve health.” So says a recent article in The New York Times, which notes that some small studies suggest that spending time in nature, specifically in lush forests, might have beneficial physical effects while improving one’s mood. "An analysis of studies from 2010 that focused on exercising in nature found improvements in self-esteem, particularly among younger participants. Overall effects on mood were heightened when there was a stream or other body of water nearby.” However, the article continued, “other studies have shown mixed results.” For the Times story, click here.

“12 Books about Mental Health Everybody Should Read,” The Reading Agency Suggests

The Reading Agency, a U.K.-based nonprofit that promotes reading, recommends a dozen books on mental health issues, Cosmopolitan reports. The books—fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and self-help—include memoirs and advice on coping with depression, anxiety, and addiction, respectively; help for those seeking to practice mindfulness; Sylvia Plath’s classic novel, “The Bell Jar,” Allie Brosh’s hilarious graphic novel, “Hyperbole and a Half,” and others. For more information, click here.

The August 2018 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 August wrap-up of stories about the criminal justice system. (Note: Some of the titles do not use politically correct language but are reproduced as written.) For “Behind Bars, Mentally Ill Inmates Are Often Punished for Their Symptoms,” click here. For “Everything You Need to Know About the Prison Strike, One of the Largest in U.S. History,” click here. For “Exclusive First Listen: 70 Million, a New Podcast about Justice Reform: Hear the trailer for this 10-part open-source series that looks at how residents are taking action locally,” click here. For “Why We Need More Journalism Courses Taught in Prison,” click here. For “Colorado Faces Growing Legal Jeopardy Over Dealing with Mentally Ill Inmates,” click here. For “The risk of replicating Rikers: Inmates with mental illness need help, not jail,” click here. For “License to Clip: A movement to let the formerly incarcerated cut hair and drive taxis is gaining ground,” click here. “Nowhere to Go: Homelessness among formerly incarcerated people,” click here. For “50-State Report on Public Safety: Tools and strategies to help states reduce crime, recidivism, and costs,” click here. For “More than 40 DC-Area Inmates Died from Suicide in Custody Since 2014,” click here. For “Police Peer Support Teams: Q&A,” click here. For “Why Silicon Valley is teaming up with San Quentin to train young people to code,” click here. For “When mental illness leads to an arrest, this court steps in,” click here. For “Inmate suicide note from Harris County jail points to systemic gaps in mental health care,” click here. “Houston’s biggest jail wants to shed its reputation as a mental health treatment center,” click here. For “Jails, prisons slowly loosen resistance to addiction meds,” click here. For “Inmates Are Getting Registered To Vote In One Of The Country’s Biggest Jails: A group in Chicago is working to extend the franchise to people detained in jail, many of whom have no idea they can vote,” click here. For “How I Befriended a Prisoner on Suicide Watch,” click here. For “Who Profits from Our Prison System?” click here. For “How Prisons Are Poisoning Their Inmates: Hundreds of U.S. prisons and ICE detention centers are built on toxic sites, and people inside are getting sick,” click here. For “Police encounter many people with mental-health crises. Could psychiatrists help?” click here. For “The Benefit of Having the Same Name as a Police Officer,” click here. For “In New York, a Harm-Reduction Organization Is Leveraging Participatory Defense to Empower Its Clients: Grassroots group VOCAL-NY is teaching people with substance use disorder how to avoid getting ensnared in the criminal justice system,” click here. For “FREE (Freedom House Reentry Education and Employment Corporation): Reentry That Works,” click on www.freereentry.org/. For “The Ballot as a Bulwark: The Impact of Felony Disenfranchisement on Recidivism,” click here. For “As we reduce the prison population, we must find ways to bring former prisoners back into our communities,” click here. For “Amid reports of sexual extortion, other horrors, feds subpoena records, tour women’s prison,” click here. For “‘Profound dehydration’: Milwaukee County sheriff’s officers charged in death of inmate denied water for a week,” click here. For “Lawmakers wrestle with prison increases, question policies,” click here. For “LAPD chief proposes a ‘radical solution’: Eliminate old bench warrants for homeless people,” click here. For “Teaching police to holster their emotions,” click here. For “A View of Tomorrow: With virtual reality, juvenile lifers practice for a world they may experience,” click here. For “‘As Long as Solitary Exists, They Will Find a Way to Use It,’” click here. For “NYC Will Stop Gouging Incarcerated New Yorkers for Calling Home,” click here. For “At Georgia’s Arrendale State Prison, women inmates forge a bond by keeping bees,” click here. For “Amazon Rekognition Falsely Matched 28 Members Of Congress With Arrest Mugshots: The false matches were disproportionately people of color, said the ACLU,” click here. For “Senators Take Aim at Bail Industry Backers: Cory Booker and Sherrod Brown, both Democrats, want answers from the insurance industry,” click here. For “Is There a Right Not to Snitch? An inmate tests a new patch of constitutional ground,” click here. For “Caught,” Reviewed: A Podcast That Captures the Voices of Incarcerated Kids,” click here. For “Cyrano Behind Bars: A prison theater program in New York offers hope for inmate rehabilitation,” click here.

FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

International Survey on Antipsychotic Medication Withdrawal Seeks Respondents

NARPA Annual Rights Conference to Be Held in Baltimore September 26-29!

National Dialogues on Behavioral Health to Be Held in New Orleans Oct. 28-31

The ISPS-US 17th Annual Meeting Will Take Place in Philadelphia!

First International Trauma Summit to Be Hosted by the World Federation for Mental Health

Thanks, Janet Paleo

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 15, No. 2, August 2018. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com (and please note that this is a new email address). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, July 2018, Volume 15, Number 1

July 7, 2018 Susan Rogers

Key Update, July 2018

Volume 15, Number 1

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

There’s Still Time to Register for Alternatives 2018!

Don’t miss the exciting keynote speakers (click here) at Alternatives 2018, July 29-August 3 at The Catholic University in Washington, DC! This year’s conference will be the first to organize a Hill Day—on July 31, with advocacy training on July 30! In addition, there will be more than 70 exciting workshops; for the complete list, click here! To nominate peer leaders who have contributed to the movement for social justice (deadline July 10), click here. Don’t miss the chance to attend! For registration information and other important details, click here. Questions? Write info@ncmhr.org. Follow @AltCon_2018 on Twitter; the hashtag is #Alternatives2018. For the Alternatives 2018 Facebook page, click here.

Psychiatric Times Publishes Call to Action to Deal with Social Determinants of Mental Health

On June 29, 2018, three psychiatrists issued a call to action. “There is a long history of professionals telling people in poverty what they need, without carefully listening to the creative ideas and strengths present in poor communities,” they wrote in “Addressing Poverty and Mental Illness,” published in Psychiatric Times. “…[T]he voices of those directly impacted need to be at the front and center. For psychiatrists, this can mean listening closely in clinical encounters, asking for community input and partnership for any new local programs, and ensuring that all advocacy efforts involve the leadership of people with lived experience, with clinicians as allies,” the three noted, and concluded: “To break the complex links between economic inequality, poverty, and poor mental health, providers need to take a multi-level, prevention-oriented approach that addresses upstream causes…” For the article, click here.

Common Drugs May Contribute to Depression, Researchers Say; Other Medications May Increase Risk of Dementia

“Over one-third of Americans take at least one prescription drug that lists depression as a potential side effect, a new study reports, and users of such drugs have higher rates of depression than those who don’t take such drugs.” A New York Times article about the study continues: “About 200 prescription drugs can cause depression, and the list includes common medications like proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) used to treat acid reflux, beta-blockers used to treat high blood pressure, birth control pills and emergency contraceptives, anticonvulsants like gabapentin, corticosteroids like prednisone and even prescription-strength ibuprofen. Some of these drugs are also sold over-the-counter in pharmacies.” For the New York Times article, click here. And, in 2015 (covered in the Key Update then), researchers reported that common anticholinergic drugs—such as Benadryl, tricyclic antidepressants, and other medications—were linked to an increased risk of dementia. For that article, click here.

SAMHSA Sponsors Three July Webinars in Its Program To Achieve Wellness (PAW)

SAMHSA will host three free webinars in July. The first, “Learning to Use Social Media to Create and Measure Behavior Change in Public Media Campaigns,” will take place on July 11 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET. (Register here.) It will be followed by “Making the Shift: From Patient Activation to Community Activation,” on July 12 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET. (Register here.) And, on July 24, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET, “Fostering Community Wellness: Addressing Toxic Stress and Adverse Community Events” will round out the trio. (Register here.)

“How Would We Know if We Really Reformed the Mental Health System?” & Multnomah County, OR, Evaluates Its Mental Health System

A 25-question scorecard to evaluate a community’s mental health system was created by Robert Nikkel, MSW, Oregon’s commissioner for mental health and addictions from 2003 to 2008. It begins: “Here are 25 indicators that, if fully implemented, would represent a comprehensive system reform.” The scale is “(0) Haven’t even thought of it; (1) It is in planning documents and scheduled for implementation; (2) It has started in operation; (3) It has been implemented so that 50% or more are gaining access to or benefitting from it; (4) It is fully implemented...” The first indicator is “1. No one is ever told they have a ‘chronic mental illness.’ Everyone is told they can expect to recover, i.e., get a life back that will be reasonably happy and productive.” For the scorecard, click here. Meanwhile, Multnomah County, Oregon, recently released a report on its mental health services. For the free 132-page report (courtesy of Kevin Fitts), click here.

TU Collaborative Publishes Free Social Media Toolkits

The Temple University on Community Inclusion has published two free social media toolkits. Building an Online Presence “examines how agencies can use websites, newsletters, and various social media platforms to: (1) connect individuals to mainstream community resources; (2) highlight instances of community participation; and (3) stay active in producing community inclusion related content on their online media.” Using Social Media to Enhance Community Participation “examines ways in which individuals with mental [health conditions] can use social media networks to enhance community participation. Social media features and functions are examined, as well as specific networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, MeetUp, and Yelp. Also reviewed are considerations and risks when using social media.” For the free toolkits, click here.

NARPA Annual Rights Conference to Be Held in Baltimore September 26-29!

“Including People with Disabilities in Your Political Campaign: A Guide for Campaign Staff”

The National Council on Independent Living has created a guide—Including People with Disabilities in Your Political Campaign: A Guide for Campaign Staff—“to help campaign staff understand why and how to include people with disabilities in their staff and volunteer positions. The knowledge in this guide comes from many interviews with persons with disabilities, including political candidates with disabilities, who have had to work around barriers in the campaign process by engineering creative and engaging ideas.” NCIL adds, “The ingenuity of people with disabilities is a resource that should not be underestimated, something you”—legislators and aides—"will learn for yourself if you include them in your campaign.” For the free 23-page guide, click here.

“John Oliver’s Guardianship Segment Picks Apart the Disturbing System So Many Senior Citizens Face”

In a recent segment on Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver demonstrated how the guardianship system “can strip people of their rights and resources…As Oliver explained, guardians have a significant amount of control over the affairs of their wards and, thus, have access to a myriad of very personal entities, like bank accounts and health records. Moreover, being placed in a guardianship often means that senior citizens are stripped of many of their rights. As Judge Steve King of Tarrant County, Texas, explained in a clip played on Oliver's show, ‘Guardianship is a massive intrusion into a person’s life…They lose more rights than someone who goes to prison.’” To watch the segment, click here.

AJPM Publishes Open-Access Issue on Behavioral Health Workforce, Including Articles on Peer Providers

The June 2018 edition of the open-access American Journal of Preventive Medicine is devoted to “The Behavioral Health Workforce: Planning, Practice, and Preparation.” Articles include “The Future of the Behavioral Health Workforce: Optimism and Opportunity,” “Peer Workers in the Behavioral and Integrated Health Workforce: Opportunities and Future Directions,” “Emerging Roles for Peer Providers in Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders,” and more. For the June 2018 edition and to download the free articles, click here.

Thanks, Laysha Ostrow

Free Webinar on “Avoidable Costs & Risks Associated with Siloed Healthcare”

On July 18 at 1 p.m. ET, the Institute for the Advancement of Behavioral Healthcare will sponsor a free webinar on “The Avoidable Costs & Risks Associated with Siloed Healthcare.” The Institute writes: “Not only does the over-utilization of emergency department services for behavioral health or addiction treatment mean higher costs for consumer care, it creates risk of 30-day readmission penalties and further pressures already strained high-value resources…Fortunately, health systems and behavioral health organizations can partner to provide value-based services that address these impacts. This integration enables providers to harness the power of networks and direct consumers to the most effective and cost-effective care.” For more information and/or to register, click here.

Free SAMHSA Webinar on "Unique Housing Needs of People with Criminal Justice Histories"

“Individuals returning to the community from jail or prison must overcome significant barriers in obtaining and maintaining housing in the community,” NYAPRS writes. “The final webinar of the People with Lived Experience Spotlight Series…will discuss strategies for stable housing. The webinar features peers with a history of involvement in the criminal justice system identifying what strategies and supports were most helpful to them in their efforts to obtain permanent and affordable housing.” The webinar is scheduled for July 25 from 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. ET. For more information and/or to register, click here.

National Dialogues on Behavioral Health to Be Held in New Orleans Oct. 28-31

Mental Health Self-Direction Modestly Boosts Employment and Housing Outcomes, Researchers Say

“What effect does self-direction have on functional outcomes like housing and employment?” A study, conducted by HSRI, Boston College, and other local universities, “looked into outcomes of housing independence and employment between individuals who participated in self-direction and those who did not. Compared with nonparticipants, self-directing participants were more likely to improve, or maintain at high levels, engagement in paid work and independent housing. The study, published online in Psychiatric Services (available in brief here), is part of a Demonstration and Evaluation of Self-Direction in Mental Health study that explores mental health self-direction in six states...” For an HSRI research brief about the study, click here. For the short article from which the above was excerpted, click here.

SAMHSA Publishes Free Opioid Overdose Prevention Toolkit

The SAMHSA Opioid Overdose Prevention Toolkit—2018 “equips health care providers, communities, and local governments with material to develop practices and policies to help prevent opioid-related overdoses and deaths. It addresses issues for health care providers, first responders, treatment providers, and those recovering from opioid overdose.” To download the free toolkit and other information about opioid abuse, click here.

WARM Network Offers Support Groups for People Hoping to Taper, and Recover from the Effects of, Drugs

“The Withdrawal and Recovery Meeting (WARM) network of groups are confidential support groups for people interested in tapering and recovering from the effects of prescribed medications. While we recognize that drugs have their place, our focus here is on the awareness of risks, on reducing dosages, and on utilizing various alternatives. Many of us have taken medications as prescribed only to experience problems as a result. Some of us are still on medication, while others are tapering, or have finished tapering…The only requirement for participation is a desire to learn about the effects of prescribed medications and how to safely manage withdrawal.” For more, go to https://warmnetwork.net/

Thanks, Jacek Haciak

“Criminalizing Homelessness Violates Basic Human Rights”

“In December [2017], Philip Alston, the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty, toured the United States to observe and report on poverty in the world’s richest country,” a recent article in The Nation begins. “Alston released his report last week, and his assessment was unsparing. He said the ‘immense wealth’ in this country ‘stands in shocking contrast with the conditions in which vast numbers of its citizens live.’ In the United States, he writes, about 40 million people live in poverty, 18.5 million in extreme poverty, and 5.3 million in ‘absolute poverty.’ He described conditions, including high infant-mortality rates, exposure to raw sewage, lack of basic medical care and sanitation, and malnutrition. He said that deliberate policy decisions by local, state, and federal governments are part of the cause.” For the article, click here.

“Peer Specialists’ Techniques for Suicide Prevention, Crisis, and Transformation” Is Doors to Wellbeing’s July Webinar

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free, one-hour webinar. In “Peer Specialists’ Techniques for Suicide Prevention, Crisis, and Transformation,” on July 31, the learning objectives are to “understand the connections of crisis, suicidality, personal growth and recovery; describe the expanding role of mental health peer support and lived experience in suicide prevention nationally; and identify the key concepts related to suicide prevention practices.” To register, click here.

Coffee and Psychosis, A Mental Health Podcast, May Not Be Everyone’s Cup of Tea

“This [British] podcast is an exploration of where the human mind can go. The fathomless rabbit hole. ‘Coffee and Psychosis’ is a collection of human stories around the subject of madness. What society neatly calls ‘mental health.’ Should you lend your feet, the path is lit with curiosity for what lies behind the doors labelled: Schizophrenia, Psychosis, Bipolar, depression, anxiety—and so forth. This is an attempt to unearth a deeper humanity behind the sometimes saccharine view of ‘unwell-being.’ The story behind the script. The death of metaphor. This has nothing to do with coffee.” It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but noted British psychologist Anne Cooke, editor of Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia, called it “Brilliant.” To listen, click here.

Thanks, @AnneCooke14

“How Do We Design Workplaces That Support Mental Health and Well-Being?”

“Physical design has been shown to affect our mental health and happiness,” according to a June 24 article in Forbes. A review of existing research and literature in design of workplaces to support mental health and well-being…showed that there is still a huge gap in literature that explicitly measures and analyses workplace design...Research in Environmental Psychology has long argued that physical environments play a key role in promoting mental and physical health.” For the Forbes article, click here.

“8 of the Best TED Talks for Understanding and Discussing Mental Illness”

“From psychologists who treat mental illness to those struggling with it themselves, speakers have been appearing on stages across the country to inform others of the realities of psychological disorders and to encourage those grappling with them to hold onto hope,” writes Michelle Dreyer of Southern New Hampshire University. Dreyer has compiled what she believes are “8 of the Best TED Talks for Understanding and Discussing Mental Illness.” To find out if you agree, click here.

“Drexel Student Combats Suicide by Pairing People with Online ‘Buddies’”

Responding to the need she saw to help people who were contemplating suicide, Gabby Frost established “Buddy Project, a peer support system that provides companions to people seeking to make friends. The idea was to pair people with an online ‘buddy’ who shared similar interests, with the broader goal of preventing suicide and self-harm…Five years later, the nonprofit Buddy Project has paired more than 219,000 people and raised more than $40,000 to support mental health facilities across the United States.” For more, click here.

Is Someone You Care About Very Depressed? Here Are Some Ways to Help, as Well as Additional Articles About Suicide

“What do you do when a friend is depressed for such a long time that you’ve started to feel that that nothing you can do will make a difference, and your empathy reserves are tapped out?” The New York Times writes. “There are no easy answers. But here are some tips from experts: Don’t underestimate the power of showing up…Don’t try to cheer him up or offer advice…It’s O.K. to ask if she is having suicidal thoughts…Take any mention of death seriously…Make getting to that first appointment as easy as possible…Take care of yourself and set boundaries…Remember, people do recover from depression.” For “What to Do When a Loved One Is Severely Depressed,” which includes more about each of these suggestions, click here. And for “How to Talk About Suicide Without Adding to Mental Health Stigma,” click here. Other articles about suicide include “How Cognitive Therapy May Help Suicidal People,” click here; “This teen, who attempted suicide seven times, builds apps that saved her life and others,” click here; “Suicide Rates Are Rising. What Should We Do About it?” click here; “Five Takeaways on America’s Increasing Suicide Rate”—including that “[s]tates with the lowest suicide rates have stricter gun laws”—click here; “Kate Spade’s suicide: Another example of how the media fails people with mental health issues,” click here; “Why Predicting Suicide Is a Difficult and Complex Challenge,” click here.

The Latest Edition of the Prisoner Support Directory Is Available for Free Download

The Prison Activist Resource Center (PARC) writes: “PARC corresponds with and mails this resource packet to [people incarcerated in the criminal justice system], their friends and family members. We are often the first point of contact for people to connect with prisoners’ rights organizations, community organizations, prison literature and arts projects, family and visiting resources, health care and legal resources, parole and pre-release resources, and the prison abolition movement. If you are an organization that will use this directory to support [people who are incarcerated] who contact you, please send us a 65 cent stamp with your request and we will send you an original copy.” Or to download a free copy of PARC’s latest 24-page directory, published in June 2018, click here.

The July 2018 Digest of Articles about the Criminal Justice System, in Which Many Individuals with Mental Health Conditions Are Incarcerated

Here is the July wrap-up of stories about the criminal justice system. (Note: Some of the titles do not use politically correct language but are reproduced as written.) For “Empowering People with Criminal Records to Change Policy: A Legal Advocate’s Guide to Storytelling,” click here. For “Reimagining Prison,” click here. For the 113-page “The Prison Industrial Complex: Mapping Private Prisons,” click here. For the 44-page “The New Dynamics of Mass Incarceration,” click here. For “For journalists covering prisons, the First Amendment is little help,” click here. For “Prison Abolitionists Rally for Human and Environmental Health at Pittsburgh Polluters’ Offices,” click here. For “The solution to stopping stop-and-frisk problems in Philly: Abolish it,” click here. For “CAP’s Neera Tanden, Gov. Tom Wolf (D-PA), and Co-Founder of the Players Coalition Malcolm Jenkins on Enactment of Pennsylvania’s Bipartisan Clean Slate Legislation,” click here. For “Everywhere and Nowhere: Compassionate Release in the States,” click here. For “The Silencing of Prison Legal News,” click here. For “The Human Toll of Jail,” click here. For “A Dumping Ground for the Poor, the Criminal, and the Mad,” click here. For “Another Hurdle for Former Inmates: Their Teeth,” click here. For “What life is like for the U.S.’s increasingly aging prison population,” click here. For “Vermont becomes first state to Include 18- and 19-year-olds in youth court: Research indicates new law will improve public safety,” click here. For “The Danger of Automating Criminal Justice: Advocates in Philadelphia say a new tool to assist judges in sentencing could perpetuate bias,” click here. For “Peace Officers: How One American city chose to tackle crime, combat racism, and reckon with the legacy of police brutality,” click here. For “Training the Brain to Stay out of Jail: How one ambitious program aims to reduce crime by changing how repeat offenders think,” click here. For “Not Guilty—But Not Free,” click here. For “Prisoners Endure a Nightmare ‘Gulag’ in Lower Manhattan, Hidden in Plain Sight,” click here. For “The Long Way Home: Each step in the transition from prison to community is an opportunity for either social integration or isolation,” click here. For “David and Goliath: A Small City Police Department Takes Aim at a Monster Epidemic,” click here. For “Supreme Irrelevance: The Court’s Abdication in Criminal Procedure Jurisprudence,” click here.

FROM THE JUNE 2018 KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

iNAPS Is Seeking Proposals for Presentations at Its 12th Annual Conference

The International Association of Peer Supporters (iNAPS) is seeking proposals for its 12th annual international peer support conference. The theme of the conference—to be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotels in Orlando, Florida, December 3-5, 2018—is Reinforcing our Roots: Designing Our Future. “We will be looking ideally for proposals on advanced-level approaches to peer support and innovative programming,” the organizers write. “We are always seeking diverse experiences and fresh ideas. ‘Repeat’ workshops on the same or similar topics given by the same individual(s) from previous years are not likely to be selected. If you have presented before, we welcome your offering of something new.” All proposals must relate to the National Practice Guidelines, available here. The deadline for submissions is August 10. For details and the call for proposals, click here.

5th World Congress of Cultural Psychiatry to Explore Unjust Mental Health Disparities

The Fifth World Congress of Cultural Psychiatry will be held at Columbia University in New York City October 10-13, 2018. The theme is Achieving Global Mental Health Equity: Making Cultural Psychiatry Count. “At a time of increasing awareness about the unjust mental health disparities in developing and developed countries, researchers, practitioners, and advocates will come together to exchange experiences on how best to implement culture-focused interventions and policies to overcome health and healthcare disparities and promote global mental health equity in access, engagement, and quality of care for diverse populations.” For more about the Congress or to register, click here.

The ISPS-US 17th Annual Meeting Will Take Place in Philadelphia!

First International Trauma Summit to Be Hosted by the World Federation for Mental Health

Thanks, Janet Paleo

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 15, No. 1, July 2018. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com (and please note that this is a new email address). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, June 2018, Volume 14, Number 12

June 8, 2018 Susan Rogers

Key Update, June 2018

Volume 14, Number 12

NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS: The National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse is moving to the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion! To keep receiving the monthly Key Update, please write to selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com with the subject line SUBSCRIBE.

Alternatives 2018 to Host Pre-conference Advocacy Training Followed by First Hill Day! For Inspiration and Information, There’s a Free Webinar on June 13!

“This year, we have an opportunity to make our voices heard in our nation’s capital—at the first Alternatives conference Hill Day, on July 31!” says the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR), which is organizing and hosting Alternatives 2018. The 2018 “people’s Alternatives”—July 29-August 3 at The Catholic University in Washington, DC—offers an exceptional opportunity for legislative advocacy in the national arena. And to inspire and inform you, NCMHR is hosting a free webinar June 13 at 2:30 p.m. ET! To register for the webinar, click here. To help prepare participants, NCMHR is hosting a pre-conference advocacy training on Monday, July 30. “On Monday, we will agree on several primary objectives of our movement for social justice, and we will provide coaching (including role plays) and logistical support on how to convince legislators and their staff,” the organizers write. “On Tuesday, we will put it all into practice!” In addition, there will be more than 70 exciting workshops on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday! For the complete list of workshops, click here. Don’t miss the chance to attend! Award nominations are due June 30: To nominate someone, click here. For registration information and other important details, click here. Questions? Write info@ncmhr.org. Follow @AltCon_2018 on Twitter; the hashtag is #Alternatives2018. For the Alternatives 2018 Facebook page, click here.

Promoting Biological Nature of Mental Health Conditions Inflames Prejudice, Some Experts Say

If you call mental health conditions “illnesses,” does it combat prejudice—or promote it? In a June 2nd piece in the Baltimore Sun, Patrick D. Hahn of Loyola University, Maryland, takes the latter view. He writes: “Teaching people that mental illness is an illness like any other makes attitudes toward it worse, Professor [John] Read, of the University of East London, told me. [Dr. Read said,] ‘These approaches are not evidence-based. They are ideologically based. It’s not an accident that a lot of them are funded by drug companies.’” For “Prejudice and Schizophrenia: A Review of the ‘Mental Illness Is an Illness Like Any Other’ Approach,” by J. Read et al., click here. For the Baltimore Sun article, click here.

NYAPRS Is Seeking Proposals for Its 36th Annual Conference: Deadline, June 20

NYAPRS is seeking proposals for its 36th Annual Conference: Dignity, Recovery and Social Justice for All! The NYAPRS Annual Conference—to be held September 12-14, 2018, at Honor’s Haven Resort, Ellenville, NY—“is widely regarded as one of the nation’s finest training opportunities and a unique celebration of advances in personal and professional strategies and public policies that advance the recovery, rehabilitation, rights and full community inclusion of people with psychiatric disabilities and/or diagnoses,” the organizers write. For conference information and the call for papers (deadline: June 20), click here.

“Living Well with the Trauma of Chronic Illness” Is Doors to Wellbeing’s June Webinar

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free, one-hour webinar. In “Living Well with the Trauma of Chronic Illness,” on June 26, “learn about how people with chronic illnesses use wellness planning to overcome the issues and challenges associated with HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, and other life-threatening illnesses. In addition, learn how mental health peer specialists are best able to support people with chronic illness and the associated trauma.” For more information and to register, click here.

iNAPS Is Seeking Proposals for Presentations at Its 12th Annual Conference

International Survey on Antipsychotic Medication Withdrawal Seeks Respondents

National Forum on the Human Right to Housing on June 27 in Washington, DC

The National Forum on the Human Right to Housing, organized by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, will take place at Sidley Austin LLP, 1501 K Street NW, Washington, DC, on June 27, 2018, from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The organizers write, “It is imperative to have those with lived experience leading the fight to end homelessness and poverty. If you are unable to purchase a ticket due to your income level, please register for a complimentary ticket here.” For the agenda or to register, click here. For “Tent City USA: The Growth of America’s Homeless Encampments and How Communities Are Responding,” a 124-page report by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, click here.

TU Collaborative Publishes Free Leisure Education Toolkit for Parents with Mental Health Conditions

“This toolkit is an evidence-based guide that will help parents better understand the importance of family leisure and develop strategies to participate in meaningful family leisure,” the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion writes. “This user-friendly guide provides worksheets and activities that parents can use with their children to make the most out of family leisure. For individuals who want to receive additional support, each section also provides an opportunity to summarize goals and issues that can be shared with a mental health professional. Download now to learn more about: (1) the benefits of family leisure; (2) core and balance family leisure; (3) strategies to assess family leisure interest; (4) barriers to and facilitators of family leisure; (5) planning and making time for family leisure; and (6) using leisure to talk with your kids about mental illnesses.” To download the free 111-page toolkit, click here.

“Self-Employment for People with Psychiatric Disabilities: Advantages and Strategies”

The latest Live & Learn newsletter highlights an article on self-employment for people with psychiatric disabilities: “…Advantages of self-employment for people with psychiatric disabilities, who may have disrupted educational and employment histories, include opportunities for self-care, additional earning, and career choice…This commentary elucidates the positive aspects of self-employment in the context of employment challenges experienced by individuals with psychiatric disabilities and provides recommendations based on larger trends in entrepreneurship.” For the article, click here. For the Live & Learn newsletter, click here.

“U.S. Mental Health Industry Should Embrace Choices Beyond Medication,” Says Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health

“The current public mental health system has evolved to a place that it’s very heavily weighted with a medical model. We miss the story behind what happened to the person and how they got there,” says Yana Jacobs, LMFT, of the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health in a recent three-minute video. Urging informed consent, she says, “We’re never against somebody wanting to take medication. It’s really more the educational piece that often is missing.” Jacobs also stresses the importance of input from people with lived experience. Calling them “our experts,” she says, “If we don’t include them and build programs with their leadership and their voice at the table, we’re going to go off in the wrong direction.” For the video, click here.

Don’t Ask “What Happened to You?” Instead, Ask “What’s Right with You?”

“A healing-centered approach to addressing trauma requires a different question that moves beyond ‘what happened to you’ to ‘what’s right with you’ and views those exposed to trauma as agents in the creation of their own well-being rather than victims of traumatic events.” This is the provocative thesis of an article by Shawn Ginwright, Ph.D., in “The Future of Healing: Shifting from Trauma Informed Care to Healing Centered Engagement.” For the article, click here.

Thanks, Karen Escovitz

“Mad Studies: An Introduction to Philosophical, Social, and Cultural Perspectives on Madness

”In this series of eight online webinars, hosted by Mad In America (for a registration fee of $100) “participants will be exposed to a variety of perspectives within the mad studies field, including Mad Pride, which embraces and celebrates the traits and states categorized as madness, as well as neurodiversity, which views mental and neurological differences as forms of human diversity, rather than disorders that need to be cured. Participants will learn how they can incorporate the ideas of mad studies into their practice as mental health providers.” For more information or to register, click here.

5th World Congress of Cultural Psychiatry to Explore Unjust Mental Health Disparities

“Right to Emotional Support Animals in No-Pet Housing” from the Bazelon Center

“Emotional support animals provide therapeutic nurturing and support and have proven extremely effective at ameliorating the symptoms of psychiatric disabilities, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder,” according to a fact sheet by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. The fact sheet includes tips about reasonable accommodations for people with emotional support animals, relevant laws, and other useful information. For the fact sheet, click here.

“Americans with Serious Mental Illnesses Die 15 to 30 Years Earlier than Those Without”

“Americans with depression, bipolar disorder or other serious mental illnesses die 15 to 30 years younge r than those without mental illness—a disparity larger than for race, ethnicity, geography or socioeconomic status,” according to a May 30, 2018, New York Times column, citing a study published in 2006. (Editor’s note: This information has been widely reported.) “It’s a gap, unlike many others, that has been growing, but it receives considerably less academic study or public attention. The extraordinary life expectancy gains of the past half-century have left these patients behind, with the result that Americans with serious mental illness live shorter lives than those in many of the world’s poorest countries.” For the New York Times column, click here. At the same time, suicide rates continue to surge. According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Suicide rates increased significantly across most states during 1999–2016. Various circumstances contributed to suicides among persons with and without known mental health conditions.” For the CDC report, “Trends in State Suicide Rates—United States, 1999–2016 and Circumstances Contributing to Suicide—27 States, 2015,” click here.

“A Cartoonist’s Playful and Pragmatic Mental Health Guide”
“When cartoonist Ellen Forney published Marbles, her 2012 graphic memoir on bipolar disorder, readers reached out in droves thanking her for the insights her story provided into mental illness. In response, Forney started working on Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice from My Bipolar Life…which explains what happens when a person starts to recover, or at least stabilize, from mental illness.” For a review and a preview, click here.

The June 2018 Digest of Articles about the Criminal Justice System, in Which Many Individuals with Mental Health Conditions Are Incarcerated

Here is the June wrap-up of stories about the criminal justice system. (Note: Some of the titles do not use politically correct language but are reproduced as written.) For “The ‘Insane’ Way Our Prison System Handles the Mentally Ill,” click here. For “For Mental Health Month, a New Initiative Focused on Serving Safely: In their role as first responders, police officers interact frequently with people with mental illnesses and/or intellectual and developmental disabilities,” click here. For “U.S. County Jails Step Up Mental Health Screening to Keep Inmates from Coming Back,” click here. For “‘Human Frailty’ is a Byproduct of Mass Incarceration,” click here. For “Special Report: In Louisiana Jail, Deaths Mount as Mental Health Pleas Unheeded,” click here. For “This Place Is Crazy: Our mental-health-care system is broken. Ten of every eleven psychiatric patients housed by the government are incarcerated. Here’s what this crisis looks like from the inside—a series of lost lives and a few rare victories—as reported by a prisoner-journalist,” click here. For “Is the ‘First Step Act’ Real Reform? Congress and criminal justice, a score card,” click here. For “When inmates die: Georgia’s jails fail mentally ill: Dozens of jail deaths tied to mental illness, and many are preventable,” click here. For “Illinois DOC Keeps People with Disabilities in Prison Beyond Release Dates,” click here. For “The Prisoners Who Care for the Dying and Get Another Chance at Life,” click here. For “America’s Shadow Criminal Justice System: How the ‘supervised release’ program pulls tens of thousands of former inmates back into prison without a fair trial,” click here. For “Meet Our Prisoners: A study lingers on the lives of those we incarcerate,” click here. For “US State of Connecticut sees success implementing Germany-style prison reform,” click here. For “The $580 Co-pay: In prison, seeing the doctor can cost up to a month’s salary,” click here. For “Despite His Mental Illness, Devon Davis Spent 1,001 Days in Solitary at Central Prison,” click here. For “Rethinking Restrictive Housing: Lessons from Five U.S. Jail and Prison Systems,” click here. For “After prisoners debate parole before Illinois lawmakers, state halts class,” click here. For “Strategies to Engage Employers in Conversations about Hiring Applicants with Criminal Records,” click here. For “Connecticut Will Be the FIRST State to Officially House Trans Inmates by Gender Identity,” click here. For “Larry Krasner: Time to Rethink Probation and Parole,” click here. For “Columbia Justice Lab: Probation and Parole,” click here. For “Impacted Advocates Use Their Experience to Raise Awareness Around Female Incarceration,” click here. For “People in Prison 2017, a collection of year-end 2017 prison population data,” click here. For “Report Calls Out ‘Nickel-and-Diming’ at Prison Commissaries,” click here. For “They’re Out of Prison. Can They Stay Out of the Hospital?” click here. For “How the Push to Close Rikers Went from No Jails to New Jails,” click here. For “Help Crime Victims by Committing to Restorative Justice,” click here. For “Black defendants receive longer prison terms from Republican-appointed judges, study finds,” click here. For “Transforming Juvenile Justice Systems to Improve Public Safety and Youth Outcomes,” a 36-page page white paper published in May 2018 by the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform and the Council of State Governments Justice Center, click here. For “States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2018,” click here. For “We Are Witnesses” a video project by the Marshall Project, click here. For the “Safety and Justice Challenge” by the MacArthur Foundation, click here. For the May 2018 edition of the National Reentry Resource Center Reentry and Employment Roundup, click here.

FROM THE MAY 2018 KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

Applications for SAMHSA's Recognition of Excellence in Wellness Are Now Due on June 22

SAMHSA’s Recognition of Excellence in Wellness “recognizes organizations and communities for their exemplary wellness efforts that improve the health and wellness of those living with mental illness and/or substance use disorders. If your organization works to improve the health of individuals with mental and/or substance use disorders, [SAMHSA] encourage[s] you to apply for the 2018 Recognition of Excellence in Wellness! To learn more…stream our past honoree announcement webinars!” For the 2017 webinar, click here. For the 2016 webinar, click here. For more information and to apply, click here.

First International Trauma Summit to Be Hosted by the World Federation for Mental Health

Thanks, Janet Paleo

The ISPS-US 17th Annual Meeting Will Take Place in Philadelphia!

Disclaimer: The Clearinghouse does not necessarily endorse the opinions and opportunities included in the Key Update.

About The Key Update

NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS: The National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse is moving to the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion! To keep receiving the monthly Key Update, please write to selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com with the subject line SUBSCRIBE.

The Key Update is the free monthly e-newsletter of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse. Volume 14, No. 12, June 2018. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com (and please note that this is a new email address). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

The Key Update, May 2018, Volume 14, Number 11

May 15, 2018 Susan Rogers

Key Update, May 2018

Volume 14, Number 11

Alternatives 2018 to Host Its First Hill Day!

Located in our nation’s capital, this year’s “people’s Alternatives”—July 29-August 3 at The Catholic University in Washington, DC—offers an exceptional opportunity for advocacy. To take advantage of this opportunity, the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, which is hosting the conference, is holding a pre-conference advocacy training day on July 30, followed by the conference’s first Hill Day, on July 31. “On Monday, we will agree on several primary objectives of our movement for social justice, and we will provide coaching and logistical support on how to convince legislators and their staff,” the organizers write. “On Tuesday, we will put it all into practice!” In addition, there will be more than 70 exciting workshops on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday! For the complete list of workshops, click here. Don’t miss the chance to attend! Early Bird registration has been extended through May 23! Award nominations are due June 30: To nominate someone, click here. For registration information and other important details, click here. Questions? Write info@ncmhr.org. Follow @AltCon_2018 on Twitter; the hashtag is #Alternatives2018. For the Alternatives 2018 Facebook page, click here.

“Is Shock Therapy Making a Comeback?”

On May 13, 2018, “60 Minutes” on CBS-TV aired a segment about electroconvulsive treatment (ECT): shock treatment. The segment only presented one side of the debate about the serious risks and potential benefits of this controversial procedure; it largely focused on individuals who felt that they had benefited from ECT, and on a psychiatrist who works at the National Institute of Mental Health, who recommends it. The psychiatrist is also working on an alternative to ECT: Magnetic Seizure Therapy. (“60 Minutes” correspondent Anderson Cooper gamely tried it out on the show.) In one of the few allusions to the possible dangers of ECT, the show noted that “[o]ne study in 2015 that compared ECT and the magnetic treatment found that ‘ECT-induced acute memory disruption…is absent after MST.” For the “60 Minutes” segment on ECT, click here. For testimony about the dangers of ECT by Daniel B. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., presented to the FDA in 2011, click here. For information about “Doctors of Deception: What They Don’t Want You to Know About Shock Treatment”—called “brilliant analysis” by the International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine—click here.

“Ask Me Anything” Employment Webinar, Hosted by National Resource Center on Employment, on May 16

On May 16, 2018, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET, in a free, online, interactive webinar, employment expert Lou Orslene, co-director of the Job Accommodation Network, will answer questions related to disclosure and accommodations. “For example, you could ask: When do I need to disclose to an employer that I need an accommodation? How do I disclose? Verbally? In writing? Who do I disclose to at work? What mental health accommodations do employers typically approve? How do I know if a company is progressive and will respond positively to my disclosure?” For more information or to register, click here.

“Empowering Youth as Mental Health Peer Specialists” Is Doors to Wellbeing’s May Webinar

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free, one-hour webinar. In “Empowering Youth as Mental Health Peer Specialists,” on May 29, “you will hear from leaders in the youth movement about how to engage youth as mental health peer specialists.” The presenters will also “explore the history and development of the youth-to-youth peer support movement led by transitional age youth (TAY) leaders from around the country. Participants will be offered interactive activities that are appropriate for mental health peer specialists to use with youth and young adults, as well as ideas for implementing innovative approaches into various youth peer support programs. This webinar will include a preview of the Peer Generation Curriculum developed by the Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery.” For more information and to register, click here.

Free Webinar: “Reconnecting with the Earth for Personal and Global Healing”

“We are at a pivotal time in human history. Please join the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR) and the International Association of Peer Supporters (iNAPS) in the first in a series of webinars where we explore the relationship between ecology, how we relate to one another and the Earth, and healing from crisis. We have gathered experts from around the globe, including indigenous peoples, to speak to this topic, share best practices, and propose some solutions to the very complex problems we face.” Date: June 8, 2018. Time: 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. To register, click here.

First International Trauma Summit to Be Hosted by the World Federation for Mental Health

Thanks, Janet Paleo

“Mental Health Care on College Campuses Is Broken—This Group Aims to Change That”

“…By training peers—students who have experienced mental [health conditions] themselves—to help students access resources, Project LETS is creating student networks of support and advocacy, rather than relying on already unreliable campus services or expensive and inaccessible off-campus aid. With 10 college chapters across the country, Project LETS aims to make it easier for students with mental-health issues to get the help they need.” For the article, click here. In a related story, for “Planning Ahead for Your Mental Health Care as You Transition to College” (via the CAFÉ TA Center), click here.

“Should We Bring Back Asylums?” Airs on Public Radio

On May 2, 2018, WNPR in Connecticut aired a debate about whether asylums should play a role in the mental health service continuum. “Should we bring back institutions to care for the seriously mentally ill (sic) who otherwise bounce between emergency rooms, prison, and the streets? Some think so. Others fear a return of the abuses that led to their destruction. Today, we talk about the history and future of asylums and a person who spent time in one and doesn't want to go back.” Joseph Rogers, founder and executive director of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse and a guest on the show, opposes the return of asylums. “The thing that we find that helps,” Rogers said, “and what we do here in Pennsylvania…[is] outreach in the community, working with people where they’re at, not forcing them into treatment, finding ways to engage.” To listen to the archived broadcast, click here.

Two Upcoming Free Webinars Are Sponsored by SAMHSA

Two free SAMHSA-sponsored webinars are coming up in early June. “Peer Specialists and Police as Partners Preventing Behavioral Health Crises,” a Mental Health America webinar, will take place June 5, 2018, at 11:30 a.m. ET. For more information and to register, click here. And “Enhancing Recovery through Lived Experience,” hosted by NAMI, will take place on June 7, 2018, at 2 p.m. ET. For more information and to register, click here.

Thanks, Judene Shelley

“Cultural Confusion: The Shifting Line between Sane and ‘Unsane’”

In an article published by STAT on May 8, 2018, the author raises the question of where “sanity” ends and “mental illness” begins. She writes: “It’s a shifting boundary, one based as much on culture as it is on our understanding of the brain and mental health…In the U.S., academics and the public have begun expressing concern that diagnostic categories like depression and anxiety are more and more often being used to organize and label ordinary behaviors and characteristics that are deemed socially undesirable. In their 2012 book, ‘The Loss of Sadness: How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow into Depressive Disorder,’ Allan Horwitz and Jerome Wakefield assert that not being happy all the time has become depression, and worrying or feeling stressed is quickly labeled anxiety. Renowned Harvard psychologist Jerome Kagan recently joined the debate on ADHD, a diagnosis shared by 6.4 million children in the U.S, questioning whether the disorder is even ‘real.’” For the article, click here.

“Workshop on Women’s Mental Health across the Life Course through a Sex-Gender Lens”

“The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, DC, recently hosted a workshop that explored how environmental, sociocultural, behavioral, and biological factors affect women’s mental health across the life course and across different racial/ethnic groups. Presentations and archived video from the workshop are now available for viewing”: click here. For more information about this project, click here.

Applications for SAMHSA’s Recognition of Excellence in Wellness Are Now Due on June 22

Vermont Psychiatric Survivors Seeks an Executive Director

“Vermont Psychiatric Survivors Inc. (VPS) seeks a dynamic, visionary Executive Director with proven experience in advocacy, financial management, and inspiring staff. The Executive Director is responsible for managing day-to-day operations to fulfill VPS’s mission...Candidates should have personal, lived experience of mental health issues/diagnosis and an understanding of the resulting losses and marginalization. Political advocacy, administrative, management, financial and budgeting experience and understanding of peer values and peer organizations are crucial. An ability to integrate conflicting perspectives, foster collaboration and inspire participation across diverse viewpoints and stakeholder interest is also essential. This is a full-time, exempt position with a salary between $50,000 and $60,000, plus benefits. Some travel required. To apply, send a cover letter, resume and references to vpsexecutivesearch@gmail.com by May 31, 2018.” For a complete job description, click here.

Many Older Adults Are Admitted to Psychiatric Hospitals Due to Alcohol or Drugs

About 10 percent to 15 percent of people don’t start to drink heavily until they are older in age, according to research—and the number of people with alcoholism who are also older adults is expected to rise as the senior population grows to 80 million by the year 2050, according to a guide on alcohol abuse among older adults. The guide notes that 20% is the rate at which older adults are admitted to psychiatric hospitals due to alcohol or drugs. For the guide, click here.

“Psychiatric Medication Withdrawal: Survivor Perspectives and Clinical Practice”

“New understandings of madness and medications support an emerging reconsideration of what constitutes the very definition of ‘health,’ where measuring the absence of disease symptoms gives way to a systems-based focus on self-management, social relationships, and adaptability.” For a link to the complete article, click here. For a related story, “Is Society or Psychiatry to Blame for the ‘Seriously Mentally Ill’ Dying 25 Years Prematurely?” (via @_innercompass), click here.

“Can Peer Health Coaches Boost Patient (sic) Engagement in Drug Recovery?”

“Boston Medical Center (BMC) has launched a new program to improve patient (sic) engagement during opioid abuse recovery. The program, titled Project RECOVER (Referral, Engagement, Case management and Overdose preVention Education in Recovery), will use peer wellness coaches to help better engage [individuals] during the various aspects of substance abuse disorder treatment…Specifically, peer wellness coaches will be in charge of developing recovery plans, [individual] engagement, and addressing the social determinants of health, including housing and food security and child care.” For the article, click here. For three related stories: “Text Messaging Tool May Help Fight Opioid Epidemic,” click here. “More Than 4 Million People Left the Workforce Because of Opioid Addiction, According to Study,” click here. “Doctors Receive Opioid Training. Big Pharma Funds It. What Could Go Wrong?” (via Elizabeth R. Stone), click here.

“‘Failing Patients’: Baltimore Video Highlights Crisis of Emergency Psychiatric Care”

“A viral video from Baltimore is drawing attention to a crisis that’s unfolding in emergency rooms across the country: Surging numbers of [individuals] with psychiatric conditions aren’t receiving the care they need…Imamu Baraka's video, which has been viewed more than 3 million times, shows security guards walking away from a bus stop next to the emergency room of University of Maryland Medical Center Midtown Campus. One is pushing an empty wheelchair. The woman they left there is wearing a thin yellow hospital gown and socks. ‘Wait, so you're just going to leave this lady out here with no clothes on?’ Baraka asks the guards. They continue walking away…” To listen to the archived NPR story, click here.

Thanks, Elizabeth R. Stone

“7 Webcomics about Mental Health We Can All Relate To”

“These artists have used webcomics as platforms to help connect with viewers to tell them that [mental health conditions]—whether depression, anxiety, addiction, or even everyday stress—can be difficult to deal with, as we often feel alone in our struggle to feel better. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There are many people who have experienced the same struggles you have, and some have even taken the time to share their stories—some funny, some sad—online. These artists have used webcomics as platforms to help connect with viewers to tell them that [mental health conditions]—though tough to handle—can be overcome, and life can get better through the power of perspective (among other things).” For the webcomics, click here.

The May 2018 Digest of Articles about the Criminal Justice System, in Which Many Individuals with Mental Health Conditions Are Incarcerated

Here is the May wrap-up of stories about the criminal justice system: For “Using the Americans with Disabilities Act to Reduce the Incarceration of People with Mental Illness,” click here. For “N.J. Bill Calls for Treatment over Jail Time for Criminal Defendants with Mental Illness,” click here. For “Deadly Force: Police and the Mentally Ill,” click here. For “Allegheny Co. Jail Partnership Continues to Be a Success,” click here (via Fran Hazam). For the “National Reentry Resource Center Funding and Training Opportunities,” click here. For “What Care for the Criminally Insane (sic) Can Teach Us about Mental Health Treatment,” click here. For “Big Jump Seen in Number of Inmates Prescribed Psychiatric Drugs in California,” click here. For “The Connecticut Experiment: Young brains are still evolving. One prison is trying to take advantage of that,” click here. For “‘Insane’” America’s 3 Largest Psychiatric Facilities Are Jails,” click here. For “Is There Such a Thing as ‘Good’ Prison Design?” click here. For “Report Finds San Diego Jails Are Failing Inmates with Mental Illness,” click here. For “More Criticism of Prison-Reform-Only Efforts, While Failing to Explain a Path Forward for Broader Federal Sentencing Reforms,” click here. For “Sentencing Reform Is Moving in the Wrong Direction,” click here. For “A New Approach to Incarceration in the U.S.: Responsibility,” click here. For “‘Human Frailty’ Is a Byproduct of Mass Incarceration,” click here. For “Solitary Injustice: Solitary Confinement in Virginia” (a 67-page report on “the negative impacts of solitary confinement as practiced in Virginia…and the State’s failure to exclude individuals with serious mental health problems from solitary confinement despite the existing law and science establishing the especially damaging impacts of isolation on this vulnerable group of people”), click here. For “Why Meek Mill’s Release Matters More Than You Think,” click here. For “How Over-Incarceration Is Driving a Push for Criminal Justice Reform,” click here. For “‘If We Let Everybody Go, There’d Be Nobody in Prison,’” click here. For “Jared Kushner’s Prison Reform Plan Has Some Glaring Flaws: Civil Rights Groups Are Not Impressed,” click here. For “The Cursed Island Before Rikers: Learning from the Story of Blackwell’s Island,” click here. For “LJAF Awards $4.1 Million for ‘Frequent Utilizer’ Initiative” (via Elizabeth Stone), click here. For “From Bondage to Bail Bonds: Putting a Price on Freedom in New Orleans,” click here.

“This Post Is For You, the You Who Might Feel Broken and As Though You Don’t Shine.”

“…You're not broken; you’re finding your feet. And you do shine! Your kindness, support and encouragement shine brighter than the twinkliest of stars. We appreciate you; thank you for being you.” For the rest of the message and the illustrated Instagram post, click here.

FROM THE APRIL 2018 KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

You Are Invited to Apply to Present at the ISPS-US 17th Annual Meeting, in Philadelphia!

Disclaimer: The Clearinghouse does not necessarily endorse the opinions and opportunities included in the Key Update.

The Clearinghouse Is No Longer Operating under a Grant from SAMHSA

The National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse is no longer operating under a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). However, for the time being we are continuing to publish our monthly e-newsletter (the Key Update) and answer queries by email and phone.

About The Key Update

The Key Update is the free monthly e-newsletter of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse. Volume 14, No. 11, May 2018, http://www.mhselfhelp.org. If you find it of interest, you can check the following link at the end of every month, where each new issue is posted: http://www.mhselfhelp.org/the-key-update-latest/ For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at srogers@mhphope.org – please note that this is a new email address – or 800.553.4539 x3812, 267.507.3812 (direct). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, April 2018, Volume 14, Number 10

April 23, 2018 Susan Rogers

Key Update, April 2018

Volume 14, Number 10

“Many People Taking Antidepressants Discover They Cannot Quit,” The New York Times Reports; Readers Tell Their Stories

“Many who try to quit [antidepressants] say they cannot because of withdrawal symptoms they were never warned about,” writes Benedict Carey in The New York Times. “…Yet withdrawal has never been a focus of drug makers or government regulators, who felt antidepressants could not be addictive and did far more good than harm.” For the article, which includes links to more information, click here. For “Readers Tell Their Stories,” click here. At the same time, as reported in the July 2017 edition of the Key Update, a survey by Live & Learn Inc. of 250 long-term users of psychiatric medications who chose to discontinue the medications found that more than half succeeded in discontinuing usage, despite having little professional support while experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms. Eighty-two percent of those who discontinued use reported being satisfied with their choice. For more information, click here. For “The Corruption of Evidence Based Medicine—Killing for Profit,” click here. [Editor’s note: For the free Harm Reduction Guide to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs, click here.]

Alternatives 2018 Early Bird Registration Deadline Has Been Extended! And You Can Still Nominate Keynote Speakers and Enter the Logo Design Contest!

If you have been kicking yourself for missing the Alternatives 2018 Early Bird registration deadline, you’re in luck: The deadline has been extended through May 23! To register, click here. Even better, there’s a Group Discount: If you register 10 people, you get one free registration! And would you like to see your design on the Alternatives 2018 T-Shirts and bags? Then enter the Alternatives 2018 Logo Design Competition! The winner will be acknowledged at the conference and will receive one free registration, currently a $295 value (at the Early Bird rate)! Submit your design to info@ncmhr.org by April 30, 2018. For more information, click here. And do you know someone who would make a great keynote speaker? To nominate that person—deadline April 30—click here! (You must contact your nominee in advance to ensure that they are available on the scheduled dates.) The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery will host the conference July 29-August 3 at The Catholic University in Washington, DC. For more information, click here.

“Understanding Cultural Inequalities for Mental Health Peer Specialists” Is Doors to Wellbeing’s April Webinar

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free, one-hour webinar. “Understanding Cultural Inequalities for Mental Health Peer Specialists,” on April 24, “will focus on cultural inequalities, individual human rights, and how these topics intersect from the perspective of mental health peer specialists. This webinar will discuss strategies that are being used in Arlington County, Virginia. Participants will learn how to help peer clients understand cultural inequalities and how to navigate the mental health and criminal justice systems by understanding their rights and using self-advocacy.” For more information and to register, click here.

Protest Planned at the APA Annual Convention on May 6! Come to NYC to Make Your Voice Heard!

An array of human rights advocacy organizations and individual activists invite you to participate in the 2018 Protest of the American Psychiatric Association. When? Sunday, May 6, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Where? The Javits Center, 11th Avenue between West 36th and West 37th Streets, in New York City. Among the organizers are MindFreedom International and its affiliates in New York, Florida, and Ireland; The Network Against Psychiatric Assault; The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights; The Opal Project; and others. “The theme of the protest is #FirstDoNoHarm,” the organizers say. “We demand that psychiatry be held accountable to truth and science.” The speakers—all of whom have lived experience and have had psychiatric labels—include Dan Fisher, M.D., Ph.D.; Laura Delano; Dorothy Dundas; Nikomeh Anderson; and Jim Flannery; others will be announced when they are confirmed. You are also invited to participate in the next planning call, on April 29, 2018, at 4 p.m. ET: phone 218.339.7808, access code 5104044#. For more information, join the Facebook group (click here) and/or write mindfreedomny@gmail.com.

Virtual Forum on “Peer Support and Working with Peer Professionals” on April 26

On April 26 at 11:45 a.m. ET, the Center for Public Service Psychiatry, in collaboration with the American Association of Community Psychiatrists, will host a virtual 75-minute forum on “Peer Support and Working with Peer Professionals.” The learning objectives are to describe: “challenges that peer professionals encounter in mental health settings, specific ways in which peer professionals contribute to mental health services, obstacles to peers’ full integration into mental health teams, and approaches that can be taken by clinicians and team leaders to facilitate peer integration.” For more information, click here.

“Can You Get Mentally Healthier Simply by Willing It to Happen?” Researchers Say Yes

“In a study recently published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, researchers analyzed data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey of more than 2,500 people and found that rating your mental health as ‘good’ or ‘positive’—even if you meet the criteria for having a condition like depression— could mean you’ll have strong mental health down the road. And the coolest part? Those positive thinkers didn’t even need treatment to get those results. During the study, 62 percent of those who screened positive for depression or psychological distress said their mental health was good. Then, during a follow-up a year later, those individuals were 30 percent less likely to have a mental health problem than those who rated their state as ‘poor.’” For an article about the study, click here.

Virtual Event on Supporting Underrepresented College Students Experiencing or at Risk of Serious Mental Health Conditions or Substance Use Disorders; and Bazelon Offers Free Fact Sheet on Rights

On April 26 at 2 p.m. ET, SAMHSA’s Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Strategy (BRSS TACS) invites you to join national leaders in a one-hour conversation about treatment and recovery supports for the approximately 1.8 million of the nation’s college students who meet the medical criteria for substance misuse or dependence, and the increasing numbers of students who report high levels of anxiety, hopelessness, and other symptoms of a mental health condition. Presenters will review data on the prevalence of serious mental health and substance use conditions among college students, highlight an array of collegiate recovery support models to help these students, and discuss opportunities for colleges and communities to provide recovery support services to help at-risk students. To register, click here. And for “Campus Mental Health: Frequently Asked Questions,” from the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, which covers the legal rights of students with mental health challenges, click here.

You Are Invited to Apply to Make a Presentation at the ISPS-US 17th Annual Meeting, in Philadelphia!

The U.S. Chapter of the International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis (ISPS-US) is holding its 17th annual meeting at the Courtyard by Marriott Downtown in Philadelphia November 9-11, 2018! The conference theme is “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Wholeness in Extreme States.” The deadline for the call for proposals is May 21, 2018. For conference information and a link to the call for proposals, click here.

Free Resource Guide for Parents of Students with Disabilities

The Community for Accredited Online Schools offers a free online “Resource Guide for Parents of Students with Disabilities.” “Students with disabilities face unique challenges, and there are laws in place to ensure that school districts give them the assistance they need,” according to the guide. “To determine if these needs are being met, parents should familiarize themselves with the laws and know their rights if their children aren’t being given the protections they’re entitled to. In this guide, readers will find information about the rights of students who have disabilities and what schools are required to provide so they have equal opportunity for academic success.” For the free guide, click here. In a related story, for the proceedings from the Transitions to Adulthood Center for Research 2018 State of the Science conference, click here.

Presentations from 2017 HHS Federal Partners Integrated Care Meeting

“Now available, presentations from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 2017 virtual meeting, ‘State of the Art: Research, Models, Promising Practices, and Sustaining Integrated Care.’ National experts from HHS and federal grantees spoke about best practices in primary and behavioral care integration, including presentations on key topics such as models of integrated care, key findings from the research community, examples of diverse grantee practices regarding service delivery, and resources to support and build integrated systems of care. To watch the presentations, click here.

Thanks, Jacek Haciak

MHA Offers Free “May Is Mental Health Month” Toolkit; SAMHSA Also Offers Free May Materials

Mental Health America writes: “Since 1949, Mental Health America and our affiliates across the country have led the observance of May Is Mental Health Month by reaching millions of people through the media, local events and screenings. We welcome other organizations to join us in spreading the word that mental health is something everyone should care about by using the May Is Mental Health Month toolkit materials and conducting awareness activities.” To download the free toolkit, click here. For more information about May Is Mental Health Month, from SAMHSA, click here.

AAPD’s April Newsletter Includes a Rich Variety of Resources and Action Alerts

The April edition of the AAPD newsletter, Disability Download, includes a wide array of useful information, including resources such as the National Disability Voter Registration Week (July 16-20) Toolkit, scholarship opportunities, action alerts, and conference announcements! For the AAPD newsletter, click here.

Free “Bikeshare Intervention: Improving Wellness and Community Access” Manual and Webinar

The Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion just published a manual called “Bikeshare Intervention: Improving Wellness and Community Access.” To download the free 64-page manual, click here. The TU Collaborative writes: “On May 3, 2018, at 1pm EST, we will host a [free] webinar to discuss bike programming and ways to encourage [people] to ride for health and transportation. This webinar will outline the benefits of bike programming and how to design and run a similar bike program in your community.” To sign up for the webinar, click here.

National Stepping Up Day of Action Planned for May 16

“Stepping Up was launched in May 2015 to address the prevalence of people who have mental [health conditions] in jails and provide counties with resources to create sustainable, data-driven plans to impact this crisis…On May 16, 2018, Stepping Up is hosting a national Day of Action, during which counties are encouraged to hold an event or participate in local activities to share with constituents the progress they have made toward reducing the number of people who have mental illnesses in their jails, raise public awareness and understanding of this important issue, and emphasize their commitment to creating data-driven, systems-level changes to policy and practice to achieve their Stepping Up goals…More details and a toolkit to help you plan your Day of Action are available at StepUpTogether.org.” For more information, click here.

Webinar: “The Value of a Peer Workforce in the Homelessness System”

On May 23 at 1 p.m. ET, SAMHSA’s Homeless and Housing Resource Network will host a 75-minute webinar on “The Value of a Peer Workforce in the Homelessness System.” SAMHSA writes: “The May 23 webinar will feature three members of the peer workforce talking about their experiences working in the homelessness system, along with the transformative roles peers play in supporting housing and reducing homelessness…It is immensely valuable for individuals with mental and/or substance use disorders who are experiencing homelessness to receive support from someone who has walked in their shoes.” For more information and to register, click here.

Gentrification May Be Bad for Your Mental Health

“Gentrification can be hazardous to your health, according to a team of New York City researchers. Their recently published study finds that hospitalization rates for mental illness—including schizophrenia and mood disorders—are two times as high in displaced people versus those who remain in their neighborhood. It is one of the first U.S. studies to quantify the hidden mental health consequences of gentrification. According to the conclusions of a recently published study, ‘These findings suggest negative impacts of displacement on healthcare access and mental health, particularly among adults living in urban areas and with a history of frequent emergency department visits or hospitalizations.’” For the story, with a link to the study, click here.

Does the Way the Media Report on Suicide Have an Impact on Suicide Rates? A Researcher Says Yes

A study of the impact of a bridge barrier that limited access to one particular way to die by suicide found that “[i]n the long run, barriers can reduce suicide rates,” according to a report by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). The study also found that “[n]egative media coverage related to suicide can increase suicide rates,” and that “[h]opeful messages in the media can help reduce suicide rates.” For an article about the study, click here. [Editor’s Note: For “The Gun Lobby Is Hindering Suicide Prevention,” in which the AFSP is criticized for its partnership with the gun lobby (reprinted from the March 2018 edition of the Key Update), click here. For the AFSP’s position on this issue, click here.]

Police and Firefighters Are More Likely to Die by Suicide than in the Line of Duty, Researchers Say

“A white paper commissioned by the [Ruderman Family] Foundation has revealed that first responders (policemen and firefighters) are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty. In 2017, there were at least 103 firefighter suicides—which the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance estimates may be only 40 percent of the total number—and 140 police officer suicides. In contrast, 93 firefighters and 129 police officers died in the line of duty…The white paper also goes on to lay out several barriers that prevent first responders from accessing necessary mental health services to help them cope with trauma…Additionally, of the 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States, approximately 3%-5% have suicide prevention training programs.” For more information and to download the report, click here.

P&A/CAP Annual Conference in Baltimore June 18-21

The National Disability Rights Network conference will be held in Baltimore June 18-21, 2018. “Each year P&A staff, board members, PAIMI Council members, colleagues, disability advocates, attorneys and our federal partners gather together for a week of intense training, hard work, collaboration….and a bit of fun!” For more information, click here.

Remembering Tragedy, Celebrating Resilience: Coping with Disaster Anniversaries

“Anniversaries of traumatic events are a time for remembrance and reflection and to celebrate the resilience of a community,” SAMHSA writes. “They also can revive feelings of unease, anxiety, and sadness among disaster survivors. Even the anticipation of the anniversary may cause some people to worry about how they will react when the day arrives. The following resources offer insights and practical tips for supporting survivors, responders, and others affected by natural and human-caused disasters and their anniversaries.” For the resources, click here.

“Measures for Justice” Seeks to Support Criminal Justice Reform; U.S. Sentencing Commission Issues Report on 2017 Federal Sentencing Statistics

“Missing data is at the core of a national crisis,” writes Amy Bach of Measures for Justice in The New York Times. “With nearly 5 percent of the planet’s population and almost a quarter of its prison population, the [U.S.] has invested a tremendous amount of money in the corrections system without the statistics necessary to tell us whether that money is actually reducing crime, improving fairness or lessening recidivism.” Measures for Justice aims to assess and compare the performance of the entire U.S. criminal justice system. For The New York Times article, click here. At the same time, the U.S. Sentencing Commission has issued a report on 2017 federal sentencing statistics. “These reports examine federal sentencing statistics from each judicial district, the districts within each judicial circuit, and the districts within each state. Each report compares the statistics from the respective district, circuit, or state to the nation as a whole.” For the report, published in April 2018, click here. (Editor’s note: Someone once said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” This quote has been attributed to both Mark Twain and Benjamin Disraeli. However, whoever said it or wrote it did so in a different era.)

The Arts Help People Heal from Trauma, Mental Health Conditions, and Other Challenges

Two recent stories are a powerful testament to the healing power of the arts. “Jacksonville [Florida] advocates: arts, peer support crucial to help mentally ill (sic)” reports on “TheStudio:Jax, which will be Jacksonville’s first arts-based peer support center for mental health wellness…It will focus on providing meaningful activity, escape from isolation and to encourage advocacy and volunteerism in a community of peers, according to Jeanine Hoff and Carmen Joyce, the respective founders of Where is the Sunshine and I Still Matter,” both of whom are peer supporters. For the article, via @JudgeWren, click here. The second story is a first-person video about the Creative Vision Factory (CVF), in Delaware, in which Michael Solomon talks about finding CVF when he was struggling after his wife’s death. In his powerful monologue, he talks about being asked to take the lead on a CFV mural project and all that that entails: “It’s a really good feeling to know that I can give back.” For the video, via @CI_Salzer, click here.

The April 2018 Digest of Articles about the Criminal Justice System, in Which Many Individuals with Mental Health Conditions Are Incarcerated

Here is the April wrap-up of stories about the criminal justice system: For “A ‘Hellish World’: The Mental Health Crisis Overwhelming America’s Prisons,” click here. For “Prisons and Jails Are Not a Mental Health System,” click here. For “Short Book Excerpt: Prisons Are the New Asylums,” click here. For “ABA launches clemency information clearinghouse for death penalty cases,” click here. For “Shutter Island: At Rikers, People with Mental Illness Fall Through the Cracks Over and Over Again,” click here. For “Rikers Island jail complex could be closed by 2024,” click here. For “A Lesson from Camden: Fixing Jails and Health Care Together,” click here. For “Integrated Health Care and Criminal Justice Data: Lessons from Camden, New Jersey,” click here. For “Top Trends in State Criminal Justice Reform 2017,” click here. For “If I hadn’t called [911], he would be here,” click here. For “Philly to close crumbling House of Correction as jail population declines,” click here. For “Rikers Doesn’t Put Teens in Solitary. Other New York Jails Do,” click here. For “When Bail Feels Less Like Freedom, More Like Extortion,” click here. For “How to Keep Innocent People Out of Prison: Limit Mistaken IDs,” click here. For the “Second Chance Act Statewide Recidivism Reduction Program,” click here. For “Second Chance Act Grantees: Highlights and Successes,” click here. For “The Epidemic of Wrongful Convictions in America,” click here. For “The high cost of taking away prisoners’ (sic) Medicaid coverage,” click here. For “Vague Criminality and Mass Incarceration: Will Dimaya End the Insanity?” click here. For “The Formerly Incarcerated (sic) Are Becoming Opioid-Overdose First Responders,” click here. For “Inside a Private Prison: Blood, Suicide and Poorly Paid Guards,” click here. For “The Uncertain Fate of College in Prison,” click here. For “Churches Take on Prison Reform, Remembering That Jesus Was a Convict (sic),” click here. For “‘Smarter Justice,’ Bail Reforms Make Headway Across U.S., Advocates Say,” click here. For “California’s Prison Education System Is Yielding Impressive Results,” click here. For “Beyond ‘law and order’: Criminal justice reform looks like a winning issue in 2018,” click here. For “Instead of focusing on Starbucks, Philly politicians should look to fix police practices,” click here. For the most recent edition of the Council of State Governments Justice Center’s Justice Reinvestment Roundup newsletter, click here. For the most recent edition of the National Reentry Resource Center newsletter, click here. For “How businesses can help reduce recidivism,” click here. For “Cascade of Overturned Cases May Emerge in Wake of Philly DA’s ‘Bad Cop’ List,” click here.

“Sometimes, my mind can be a dark and scary place…

…But then my friends show up with flashlights and help me to build a blanket fort. There’s this really horrible side of depression which makes us pause before we reach out for help. So even if we’re lucky enough to have friends who rock up and make a blanket fort with us, we may never let them know that they’re needed. At the same time, we know that we wouldn’t hesitate to help someone who was in need; after all, we’d hate to think of someone else going through the pain we’re going through. Asking for support when we need it, whoever that support may be from (friends, family, GP, The Samaritans) is absolutely not a sign of weakness. When we’ve recovered, recuperated and recharged, we’ll give again too.” To see this on Instagram, click here.

Disclaimer: The Clearinghouse does not necessarily endorse the opinions and opportunities included in the Key Update.

National Technical Assistance and Networking Teleconferences Are on Hiatus for Now

The National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse is no longer operating under a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Although we are keeping our doors open—including publishing our monthly e-newsletter, the Key Update—we are suspending our monthly national technical assistance and networking calls for the time being. We will keep you posted.

About The Key Update

The Key Update is the free monthly e-newsletter of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse. Volume 14, No. 10, April 2018, http://www.mhselfhelp.org. If you find it of interest, you can check the following link at the end of every month, where each new issue is posted: http://www.mhselfhelp.org/the-key-update-latest/ For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at srogers@mhphope.org – please note that this is a new email address – or 800.553.4539 x3812, 267.507.3812 (direct). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, March 2018, Volume 14, Number 9

March 16, 2018 Susan Rogers

Key Update, March 2018

Volume 14, Number 9

Psychiatric Labels Can Do More Harm than Good, Researchers Say

Labeling people with psychiatric diagnoses can lead to less effective treatments, according to researchers at the University of Bath in the UK. Tagging people with conditions such as schizophrenia or borderline personality disorder can create a self-fulfilling prophecy, which could exacerbate symptoms and impede recovery. Such labels can lead professionals to “wrongly judge a book by its cover”—offering treatments based on diagnoses without considering someone’s specific needs. The lead researcher urged treatment providers “to be extremely cautious both in the use of diagnostic labels to describe a patient and mindful of the influence that such labels can have on their own clinical judgments.” For more information, including a description of the research, click here.

Enter the Alternatives 2018 Logo Contest! And/or Nominate Keynote Speakers! And the Workshop Application Deadline Has Been Extended!

The Alternatives 2018 Planning Committee is offering two great opportunities: Design the official logo and/or nominate keynote speakers! (And the workshop application deadline has been extended to March 21!) Would you like to see your design on the Alternatives 2018 T-Shirts and bags? Then enter the Alternatives 2018 Logo Design Competition! Your creation should convey the conference theme, “On Our Own: Transforming the Future Together,” and include the name of the conference: Alternatives 2018. The winner will be acknowledged at the conference and will receive one free registration, currently a $295 value (at the Early Bird rate)! Submit your design to info@ncmhr.org by April 30, 2018. For more information, click here. And do you know someone who would make a great keynote speaker? To nominate that person, click here! (You must contact your nominee in advance to ensure that they are available on the scheduled dates to attend the conference.) The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery will host the conference July 29-August 3 at The Catholic University in Washington, DC. For the Call for Presentations (deadline extended to March 21!) and an online submission link, registration information, and other important details, click here.

PCORI Is Accepting Applications for 2018 Advisory Panels

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is accepting applications for its 2018 advisory panels. Applications and third-party nominations are due March 30 by 5 p.m. ET. To find out which panels are seeking applications, how to submit an application, the review and selection process, and how to apply, click here. Consumers United for Evidence-Based Healthcare (CUE) offers resources to help people understand what is expected of advisory panel members and how to communicate effectively on the panels. For the CUE resources, click here.

SAMHSA-sponsored Webinar on “Diversion & Access to Mental Health Services in Prisons & Jails" on March 20!

A free SAMHSA-sponsored webinar, “Diversion and Access to Mental Health Services in Prisons and Jails,” developed by the National Disability Rights Network, will take place March 20, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. ET. The webinar description reads in part: “Recently there has been an increased focus on diversion of individuals with mental illness to community services rather than incarceration. One part of this webinar will discuss this change in focus and ways systems have changed to accommodate diversion. In addition, while we have seen increased access to mental health services in prisons and jails, there are still times where problems occur...A second part of this webinar will focus on processes that police departments can have in place to address these problems, how advocates can be involved, and ways to improve the system.” To register, click here.

SAMHSA Solicits Applications for Statewide Consumer Network Grants

SAMHSA has issued a request for proposals for statewide consumer network grants. “The goals of the SCN [Statewide Consumer Network] Program are [to] improve quality of and access to statewide peer support and recovery-oriented, integrated, and coordinated treatment, services, and supports; emphasize and build statewide consumer leadership within consumer-operated organizations and in the community; [and] build capacity and sustainability of statewide consumer networks.” Up to nine grants will be awarded. “Eligibility is limited to domestic public and private non-profit entities, tribes, and Urban Indian organizations that are mental health consumer-operated organizations for at least two years and are not operating under the umbrella of another organization.” The deadline to apply is April 23, 2018. For more information, click here.

The TU Collaborative Offers a Free Toolkit for “Promoting Participation in Community Life”

The Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion is offering a new publication entitled “Jump-Starting Community Inclusion: A Toolkit for Promoting Participation in Community Life.” “This toolkit contains 66 practical first steps that community mental health providers can take to more effectively support their service recipients’ participation in everyday community life,” the TU Collaborative writes. “This compendium of simple strategies—drawn from 15 years of research and training activities…—focuses on policy changes, programming shifts, and practice innovations that can quickly give new life and relevance to your agency’s operations. The Toolkit offers a set of do-able strategies, along with links to over 100 publications and products to support your work.” To download the toolkit, click here. To register for a webinar about the toolkit on April 12 at 1 p.m. ET, click here.

“Do Antidepressants Work? A People’s Review of the Evidence”

In response to a new “meta-analysis” recently published in Lancet which purported to prove, “once and for all,” that “antidepressants work,” award-winning investigative journalist Robert Whitaker has published “Do Antidepressants Work? A People’s Review of the Evidence.” Whitaker writes: “Psychiatry relies on a particular slice of evidence—RCTs [randomized controlled trials] in a carefully selected group of patients—to support its ‘antidepressants work’ message. But a review of the evidence regarding their effectiveness in real-world patients, over both the short term and long term, tells a different story, and this is precisely the evidence most germane to patients.” To read more, click here. Another writer, published in Frontier Psychiatry, notes, “The strong reliance on industry-funded research results in an uncritical approval of antidepressants. Due to several flaws…the efficacy of antidepressants is systematically overestimated, and harm is systematically underestimated. Therefore, I conclude that antidepressants are largely ineffective and potentially harmful.” For the article, click here. For a third article on the same subject, click here.

British Psychologists Introduce the “Power Threat Meaning Framework”

The “Power Threat Meaning Framework” has been developed by leading British psychologists “as an alternative to more traditional models based on psychiatric diagnosis.” According to the British Psychological Society News, the Framework, which is rooted in the social determinants of mental health, has “important implications for social policy and the wider role of equality and social justice.” “The Power Threat Meaning Framework can be used as a way of helping people to create more hopeful narratives or stories about their lives and the difficulties they have faced or are still facing, instead of seeing themselves as blameworthy, weak, deficient or ‘mentally ill,’” said Dr. Lucy Johnstone, one of the lead authors. “…It also shows why those of us who do not have an obvious history of trauma or adversity can still struggle to find a sense of self-worth, meaning and identity.” For more information and to download the free materials, click here.

Thanks, @AnneCooke14

New York Times Covers Debate on Call for Building More “Asylums”

On March 5, 2018, The New York Times published “Trump Wants More Asylums—And Some Psychiatrists Agree,” which covered both sides of the debate. “When people are going back and forth from prisons to hospitals, that’s a sign they might have benefited from longer-term treatment options,” said Dominic Sisti of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. But Jennifer Mathis of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law took strong exception. “Locking people up long-term is no treatment at all. The idea that we could be going back to those days—we did this before, and it failed and failed badly—it’s crazy and discriminating,” she said. Joseph Rogers, founder and executive director of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse, who has been locked up in state hospitals for up to six months at a time, said, “It is hard to describe the smell. I guess it is the smell of caged humans. Someone once told me that part of the smell comes from the medication everyone is on.” He added: “You’re told when to go to bed, where to go, what to eat and when. They take all your freedom away, and in my eyes they’re not placed where you get any help.” For the article, click here.

“Building a Strong Mental Health Peer Specialist Workforce” Is Doors to Wellbeing’s March Webinar

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free, one-hour webinar. “Building a Strong Mental Health Peer Specialist Workforce,” on March 27, “will include an introduction to a successful internship program as well as examining the challenges and possible solutions for mental health peer specialist career development. It will also look at a unique initiative through FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) grants for mental health peer specialists.” For more information and to register, click here.

ICYMI, the Bazelon Center’s Webinar on Criminal Justice, the ADA & People with Mental Health Conditions Is Available

If you missed the Bazelon Center’s SAMHSA-sponsored webinar “Criminal Justice, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and People with Mental Illnesses,” which took place on February 26, 2018, you’re in luck! The recording, transcript and PowerPoint slides are now available! The webinar covered how mental health, criminal justice, and correctional programs can work together to meet ADA obligations and ensure an array of services that reduce the likelihood that people with mental health conditions will enter the criminal justice system. To view the webinar, click here.

The National Empowerment Center Has Launched a New Website

The National Empowerment Center writes that they “are pleased to launch what is hopefully a more contemporary website, logo, and look that is much more accessible and easy to navigate via smart phones. Please take a look at www.power2u.org.” The new Featured Video section of the Home Page—you have to scroll down—offers a link to a five-minute “Introduction to Emotional CPR” video. Or you can access the video directly if you click here.

Free Report on a Survey of Attitudes toward Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Is Available

A recent survey of people’s attitudes toward direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising seems to report conflicting results. “The survey’s findings show that investment in DTC may be increasing but its effectiveness is decreasing,” the Executive Summary notes. “Pharma’s approach to DTC is also decoupled from patient needs, causing patients to disengage from traditional tactics and, in some cases, become actively hostile to the medium.” However, the survey later notes, “An overwhelming majority of respondents (76%) reported feeling positive or neutral on the question of whether DTC was helpful to them. Only 24% reported that they believed DTC to be harmful.” You can download the free 24-page publication and draw your own conclusions if you click here.

Thanks, Fran Hazam

2017 Report Counters Prejudice about People Who Use Drugs

The Global Commission on Drug Policy has issued a free 44-page report entitled “The World Drug (Perception) Problem.” “For too long, drugs have been considered as substances that must be avoided at all cost; people who use drugs have been rejected by society and perceived as asocial, depraved or deviant,” the Foreword states. Adding that “[g]overnments waste great amounts of public money on repression rather than financing efficient prevention, treatment and harm reduction measures,” it continues: “Prejudices and fears surrounding drugs are expressed in stigmatizing language, stigmatization leads to social discrimination and repressive laws, and prohibition validates fears and prejudices. This vicious cycle must be broken.” To download the free report, click here. For a state-by-state overview of opioid prescribing guidelines, click here.

French Documentary Portrays People in a Psychiatric Institution Asking for Their Freedom

“12 Days studies the hearings that anyone involuntarily institutionalized in a mental hospital in France is entitled to after twelve days of treatment,” the Village Voice writes. “[M]ost of them [are] trying to project calmness and certainty. By the end of their interviews, however, many are swallowing back outrage. They have lives to get back to, jobs and kids and cats.” For an article about the documentary, click here. For the trailer (in French), click here.

Excellent AFSP Article Debunking the Myth of Violence Is Undercut by AFSP’s Connection with NRA

On March 7, 2018, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) published an excellent article entitled “Debunking the Myth of Violence and Mental Illness.” “…it must be pointed out that the linkage between mass violence and mental illness is a red herring—misleading and grossly distorted,” the AFSP’s chief medical officer writes. The article, which includes many good resources, makes a number of important points, such as that “[s]tudies have found that of all violent acts in the U.S., less than five percent of violence in the U.S. is attributable to mental illness,” and that “[p]eople with mental health conditions are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators of violence.” For the article, click here. However, a story published on December 26, 2017, in The New York Times—“The Gun Lobby Is Hindering Suicide Prevention”—shows the AFSP in a different light. The latter story reveals a connection between the AFSP and the National Shooting Sports Foundation—a gun industry trade association—that the AFSP is spinning as an educational partnership. However, according to the writer, after the AFSP announced the partnership, “AFSP staff told the board that volunteers who wanted to talk about the documented higher risk for suicide deaths for those who keep firearms in the home had to keep quiet about gun control…” For that article, click here. At the same time, a Reuters press release, “Strict state gun laws linked to fewer suicides and murders,” makes the importance of gun control to suicide prevention (and prevention of homicides) clear. For the press release, click here.

The March 2018 Digest of Articles about the Criminal Justice System, in Which Many Individuals with Mental Health Conditions Are Incarcerated

Here is the March wrap-up of stories about the criminal justice system: For “The State of Justice Reform 2017” by the Vera Institute, click here. For “Dwindling Oversight Heightens Concern over Medical, Mental Health Care for Inmates,” click here. For “How iPads Changed a Police Force’s Response to Mental Illness,” click here. For the Brennan Center’s “Charging Inmates Perpetuates Mass Incarceration,” click here. For “A Revolution of Values in the U.S. Criminal Justice System,” published by the Center for American Progress, click here. For “How much do incarcerated people earn in each state,” by the Prison Policy Initiative, click here. For the recent Juvenile Justice Roundup published by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, click here. For “North Dakota Launches Recovery Services Program,” click here. For “Anxiety for People in Prison: A Self-Help Guide,” a 30-page manual published by the National Health Service Foundation Trust in the U.K., click here. For “Mass incarceration: The whole pie (2018)—Can it really be true that most people in jail are being held before trial?...” click here. For “Philadelphia’s New Top Prosecutor Is Rolling Out Wild, Unprecedented Criminal Justice Reforms,” click here. For “Radically Reforming America’s Parole and Probation Systems,” published by NPR’s “The Takeaway,” click here. For the National Reentry Resource Center’s “Reentry and Employment Roundup,” click here. For “Heated floors and pillow-top mattresses…in prison,” click here. For “How Lenders Are Turning Low-Level Courts into Dickensian ‘Debt Collection Mills,’” click here. For “Back to Nothing: Prisoner Reentry and the ‘Virtual City’ of the Disenfranchised,” click here. For “Inside the Deadly World of Private Prisoner Transport,” click here. For “The Treatment Industrial Complex: As California transitions away from mass incarceration, a notorious private prison company has landed a multimillion-dollar state contract to provide inmate reentry services,” click here. For “New tool helps juvenile lifers navigate reentry to a dramatically different world,” click here.

Disclaimer: The Clearinghouse does not necessarily endorse the opinions and opportunities included in the Key Update.

National Technical Assistance and Networking Teleconferences Are on Hiatus for Now

About The Key Update

The Key Update is the free monthly e-newsletter of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse. Volume 14, No. 9, March 2018, http://www.mhselfhelp.org. If you find it of interest, you can check the following link at the end of every month, where each new issue is posted: http://www.mhselfhelp.org/the-key-update-latest/ For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at srogers@mhphope.org – please note that this is a new email address – or 800.553.4539 x3812, 267.507.3812 (direct). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, February 2018, Volume 14, Number 8

February 14, 2018 Susan Rogers

Key Update, February 2018

Volume 14, Number 8

Peers Can Help Others with Mental Health Conditions Manage Their Physical Health, Research Shows

A randomized study of 400 individuals with serious mental health conditions and at least one long-term general medical condition has found that those involved in the Health And Recovery Peer (HARP) program, a self-management program for general medical conditions led by certified peer specialists, achieved better results than those in the “business as usual” group. According to the study, published online by Psychiatric Services on February 1, 2018, the HARP program was associated with improved physical and mental health-related quality of life. This suggests the potential benefits of more widely disseminating peer-led disease self-management for people with mental health conditions. For more information, click here.

Thanks, @HarveyRosenthal

Webinar on “Redefining Risk in Peer Support Relationships” This Friday, February 16, at 12 p.m. ET

The InterNational Association of Peer Supporters (iNAPS) and Optum are sponsoring a one-hour webinar on “Redefining Risk in Peer Support Relationships” on February 16 at noon ET. The presenter is Chris Hansen, director of Intentional Peer Support (IPS). The webinar will be interactive and will include a demonstration role play. At the appointed time, click here to join the meeting. The meeting number (access code) is 642 950 604; the password is optum. Or you can join by phone: 763.957.6300.

Alternatives 2018 Is the People’s Alternatives! Don’t Miss Your Opportunity to Present a Workshop!

Applications for workshop presentations at Alternatives 2018 are now being accepted! For more than 30 years, the Alternatives conference has been organized and hosted by peers for peers (people with lived experience of the behavioral health system, emotional distress/crisis, trauma, or substance use/addiction). The conference is famous for offering the latest and best information in the peer recovery movement, and provides an invaluable opportunity for peers to network with and learn from one another. “This will be a ‘people’s Alternatives,’ funded entirely through registration fees and donations. We will be ‘on our own’ again, connecting to the roots of our movement,” said a representative of the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR). The NCMHR is organizing this year’s conference, July 29-August 3 at The Catholic University in Washington, DC; the theme is “On Our Own: Transforming the Future Together.” For the Call for Presentations and an online submission link, registration information, and other important details, click here. To go directly to the Call for Presentations page, click here. The deadline for submitting proposals is March 16, 2018. (Last month’s Key Update included a later date in error; we apologize!) Want to help plan the conference? Fill out the Alternatives Planning Interest Form, available here. Questions? Write info@ncmhr.org. Follow @AltCon_2018 on Twitter; the hashtag is #Alternatives2018. For the Alternatives 2018 Facebook page, click here.

New, Free Online Platform Helps Mental Health Advocates Connect with Each Other

“ICI Connect is a simple, free online platform that is designed to help people who are asking questions or thinking critically about the mental health system find and connect with each other in person,” according to the ICI Connect web page. “After creating basic profiles, members can search by location and/or interest for other members who live nearby in order to connect, share information, spark new friendships or collaborations, provide mutual support or advocacy, organize public learning events or groups, set up crisis networks, or begin to build grassroots community alternatives to the mental health system.” For more information and to connect, click here. For more about the Inner Compass Initiative, click here: www.theinnercompass.org

NARPA Invites Workshop Proposals for Its Annual Rights Conference

The National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy (NARPA) is seeking workshop proposals that address strategies, ideas, programs, and emerging practices that support and promote NARPA’s mission and commitment to individual rights, liberty, freedom, and dignity. The conference will be held September 26-29, 2018, at the Holiday Inn Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland. The proposal deadline is February 28, 2018; selected presenters will be notified via e-mail by April 15. For more information, including possible topic areas, and for the application for presentations, click here. Questions? Write narpa@aol.com or call 256.650.6311. Electronic submissions via narpa@aol.com are preferred, or mail proposals to NARPA, P.O. Box 855, Huntsville, AL 35804.

SAMHSA’s VOICE Awards Are Seeking Nominations

“The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Voice Awards program honors people in recovery and their family members who are improving the lives of people with mental [health conditions] and substance use disorders in communities across the country. The awards program also recognizes television and film productions that educate the public about behavioral health, and showcase that recovery is real and possible through treatment and recovery supports. In 2018, the Voice Awards will pay special attention to individuals and entertainment productions that are raising awareness about serious mental [health conditions] and opioid use disorders. All nominations are due by Friday, March 16…There is no limit to the number of nominations an individual can submit, and self-nominations are welcome.” For more information or to make a nomination, click here.

Live & Learn Launches New Peer Respite Program Directory

Live & Learn Inc. has just launched its newly updated PeerRespite.net Program Directory. The Directory contains a listing of individual peer respites organized by state, with a “profile” of each peer respite. The profiles include a picture, map, information about staff training, guest eligibility, and links. Peer respites—operated and staffed by people with psychiatric histories and/or who have experienced trauma and/or extreme states—are voluntary, short-term residential programs that provide community-based, non-clinical crisis support. They operate 24 hours a day in a homelike environment. For the Directory, click here.

How WIOA Supports Employment and Training Programs, and How Social Enterprises Can Benefit

“The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is the largest source of federal funding for workforce development activities in the United States,” writes REDFworkshop. Their learning guide includes information about WIOA’s predecessor, WIA (Workforce Investment Act of 1998), about WIOA and the changes it implemented, how funding flows from the federal to local level, and how social enterprises can benefit from WIOA funding. To learn more and to download the free guide, click here.

Thanks, @LayshaOstrow

“Video Game” Helps People with Auditory Hallucinations Control Their Voices

A small study by British researchers has found that people who hear voices can learn to control the voices by practicing with a “video game.” The researchers asked the dozen participants to use an MRI scanner to monitor and control the activity in the part of the brain that is responsible for auditory hallucinations, while devising techniques to move a cartoon rocket, floating in the sky, back down to earth. “If they were reducing brain activity in this brain region, then the rocket would move down with it,” said one researcher. Almost every one of the participants were able to devise techniques to control the rocket—and were subsequently able to use the same techniques to control their voices. Although the research is still in its early stages, “…the potential of a non-medical intervention to manage verbal hallucinations will offer hope to many,” said one mental health advocate. For an article about the study, click here. And for another approach to helping people who hear voices—avatar therapy—click here.

Thanks, Jacek Haciak

“Decisions in Recovery” Website and Handbook Aim to Help People with Opioid Use Issues

“Are you finding it difficult to stop using?” a SAMHSA website asks. “If you’ve thought about cutting down or stopping, this site can help. If you are using narcotics, prescription pain medications, heroin, or any other opioid drug, this site has information about some of your treatment options and ways to locate a provider who can help. You can also watch videos of people who have been where you are. They found a way to succeed in recovery and reclaim their lives. So can you.” For the website, click here. SAMHSA also offers a free, 68-page handbook called “Decisions in Recovery: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder,” available here.

“In Our Own Voice—African-American Stories of Oppression, Survival and Recovery in Mental Health Systems”

“ ‘In Our Own Voice: African-American Stories of Oppression, Survival and Recovery In Mental Health Systems’ is a revolutionary act of self-love and a demand for visibility for African-American psychiatric survivors,” writes the author, Vanessa Jackson. “As we listen to the voices of the men and women who shared their stories we will hear the profound pain caused by mentalism and discrimination in our most important relationships, including our relationships with mental health providers. This guide and the sharing and connections that I hope will emerge from its use, will provide us with an opportunity as survivors to own our wounding and recovery and offer our experiences as lessons to our community on survival and triumph.” To download the free 37-page publication, click here.

Thanks @Fred_Friedman

“Why Underlying Causes of Emotional Distress Are Often Unexplored”

In a podcast, Dr. Lucy Johnstone, a clinical psychologist and author, discusses “our reliance on the concept of diagnosis and how that doesn’t fit well with psychological or emotional distress, and how a predominantly biomedical view of [mental health issues] tends to lead to a purely medication-centered approach to mental health care.” Among the topics covered are “why a psychosocial approach to mental distress would reduce psychiatric prescribing,” and “that there is more and more evidence to suggest that, overall, psychiatric drugs lead to disability in the long term rather than fix any problem.” For more information and to listen to the podcast, click here.

Thanks, @AnneCook14

SAMHSA’s “Spring Training” Covers Sleep’s Impact on People with Mental Health Conditions

As part of its Program to Achieve Wellness, SAMHSA is hosting three one-hour webinars, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET, on the importance of sleep and how to get more of it. “Creating Environments for a Good Night’s Sleep” is on March 7 (click here to register); “The Intersection of Chronic Pain, Serious Mental Illness, and Trauma on Sleep…and What to Do About It” is on March 14 (click here to register); and “Putting It All Together: Sleep Habits, Rituals, and Routines for Health and Wellness” is on March 21 (click here to register). Also, according to a 2017 study by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, “Sleep deprivation is an effective anti-depressant for nearly half of depressed patients.” For more information, click here.

Free VOICE Award-Winning Comedy Documentary

Until March 1, 2018, you can get a free copy of “Cracking Up,” the VOICE Award-winning documentary about Stand Up For Mental Health (SUFMH), which teaches stand-up comedy to people with mental health conditions as a way of building confidence and fighting prejudice and discrimination. SUFMH was founded by award-winning counselor and stand-up comic David Granirer, who himself has depression. For more information about how to get your free copy, and to see a preview, click here. To watch dozens of SUFMH comics “find the funny side of their recovery journeys,” click here. “These vid[eo]s are a great source of laughter and inspiration for anyone dealing with a mental health issue,” Granirer said.

Radio Podcast Provides Information on Harm Reduction to Help People with Substance Use Issues

On February 4, 2018, “In Your Right Mind” (a radio show available on demand at www.InYourRightMind.com) aired a program on how harm reduction can help people with substance use conditions. According to the Harm Reduction Coalition, “Harm reduction incorporates a spectrum of strategies, from safer use, to managed use, to abstinence, to meet drug users ‘where they’re at,’ addressing conditions of use along with the use itself.” To listen to the radio show, click here. For more information about harm reduction, click here.

Memoir Magazine Accepts Unsolicited Submissions Year-Round

Do you have a story to tell? Memoir Magazine wants to hear from you! "Memoir Magazine is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for all persons regardless of race, sex, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and disability. All writers are encouraged to submit." For more information, including guidelines, and to submit your story, click here.

International Society for Therapeutic Jurisprudence

Therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) is an interdisciplinary field of philosophy and practice that examines the therapeutic and anti-therapeutic properties of laws and public policies, legal and dispute resolution systems, and legal institutions. TJ values psychologically healthy outcomes in legal disputes and transactions, without claiming exclusivity in terms of policy objectives. The International Society for Therapeutic Jurisprudence (ISTJ) is a non-profit, learned organization dedicated to advancing TJ by supporting legal and interdisciplinary scholarship; identifying and promoting best professional and judicial practices; sponsoring conferences, workshops, and seminars; engaging in continuing professional education and public education activities; and hosting and participating in print, electronic, social media platforms. For more information, click here.

Librarians Get Trained to Help People with Mental Health Conditions

Because libraries have become a kind of refuge for individuals with mental health conditions who are homeless, about 35 librarians in California have completed a course on how to respond to signs of a mental health or substance use condition, a Pittsburgh TV station has reported. The library hopes to train at least 50 librarians by 2019. “There’s kind of a good way and bad way to handle any situation, and the more tools we give our staff, the better off they’re going to be able to keep things positive,” said Christie Hamm, manager of youth and literacy services at the Sacramento Public Library. To watch the video, click here.

Johnson & Johnson Is Using the Prospect of Jail Time to Market an Antipsychotic Drug

Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson recently received FDA approval to promote “an unusual benefit” of an antipsychotic medication delivered by a monthly injection: “The medication, the FDA concluded, could potentially keep people with schizophrenia out of prison or jail.” Although a study of a potential side effect of the medication, Invega Sustenna—generic name paliperidone palmitate—indicated that the risk of tardive dyskinesia is low (click here), it is worth noting that this is the same company Steven Brill reported on in “America’s Most Admired Lawbreaker: Over the course of 20 years, Johnson & Johnson created a powerful drug [Risperdal], promoted it illegally to children and the elderly, covered up the side effects and made billions of dollars” (click here). For the Marshall Project story about Invega Sustenna, click here.

The February 2018 Digest of Articles about the Criminal Justice System, in Which Many Individuals with Mental Health Conditions Are Incarcerated

Here is the February wrap-up of stories about the criminal justice system: For the most recent newsletter of the National Reentry Resource Center Reentry and Employment Roundup, click here. For “Nation’s Leading Corrections Administrators Call for 50% Reduction of People on Probation & Parole to Save Money and Increase Public Safety,” a Columbia University Justice Lab press release which includes links to two new reports, click here. For the Council of State Governments Justice Center Juvenile Justice Roundup (including “Assessments Often Miss Mental Health Issues for Youth on Probation”), click here. For “Helping Moms, Dads & Kids Come Home: Eliminating Barriers to Housing for People with Criminal Records,” click here. For “Redemption for Offenders and Victims,” click here. For “National Prison Rate Continues to Decline Amid Sentencing, Re-Entry Reforms,” click here. For “How Mass Incarceration Harms U.S. Health, in Five Charts,” click here. For a selection of the Vera Institute’s “favorite justice-related podcasts, books, documentaries, and social media influencers from 2017,”click here. For “Kids in psych center say staff sexually, physically abused them. Why didn’t officials listen?” click here. For “California's mentally ill inmate population keeps growing. And state money isn't enough to meet needs, lawmaker says,” click here. For “Grand jury clears Cleveland cops in Tanisha Anderson’s death…who died while being arrested during a mental health episode in 2014,” click here. For “Is Life in Solitary Inhumane? Lawsuit Seeks to End ‘Death Row’ in Pennsylvania,” click here. For “The Effects of Pretrial Detention on Conviction, Future Crime, and Employment: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Judges”—Spoiler Alert: “Pretrial detention has no net effect on future crime, but decreases formal sector employment and the receipt of employment- and tax-related government benefits. These results are consistent with (i) pretrial detention weakening defendants’ bargaining positions during plea negotiations and (ii) a criminal conviction lowering defendants’ prospects in the formal labor market”—click here.

ICYMI: From the January 2018 Edition of the Key Update (Still Relevant)

Recovery to Practice to Host Final Webinar (as Part of a Four-Part Series)

The remaining webinar in the four-part Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy (CT-R) Webinar Series will take place from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET on February 21 (“Implementation of CT-R Across a System, Lessons of Success.” The previous three sessions were held on January 3, January 7, and February 7, respectively. “While this is a four-part series, you may attend one or all of the sessions. Registration will be necessary for each session,” the organizers write. For more information and to register, click here.

Doors to Wellbeing’s Monthly Webinar Series Continues

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free webinar. The learning objectives for “Building Community Support Groups for Improved Mental Health,” on February 27, are “to outline steps to create a community support group for mental health and wellness, to identify key leadership roles in the community to support efforts to create support groups, and to explore the benefits of healthy relationships created through support groups.” For more information and to register, click here.

Two Upcoming SAMHSA-sponsored Webinars Cover the ADA and Self-Direction, Respectively

On February 26 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law will present Criminal Justice, the Americans with Disabilities Act and People with Mental Illnesses. For more information and to register, click here. And on February 27 at 2 p.m. ET, the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery will present Self-Direction through Personalized Budgeting. For more information and to register, click here.

Thanks, Judene Shelley

Disclaimer: The Clearinghouse does not necessarily endorse the opinions and opportunities included in the Key Update.

National Technical Assistance and Networking Teleconferences Are on Hiatus for Now

About The Key Update

The Key Update is the free monthly e-newsletter of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse. Volume 14, No. 8, February 2018, http://www.mhselfhelp.org. If you find it of interest, you can check the following link at the end of every month, where each new issue is posted: http://www.mhselfhelp.org/the-key-update-latest/ For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at srogers@mhphope.org – please note that this is a new email address – or 800.553.4539 x3812, 267.507.3812 (direct). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

Key Update, January 2018, Volume 14, Number 7

January 18, 2018 Guest User

Key Update, January 2018
Volume 14, Number 7

Federal Government Publishes Report of ISMICC Committee Recommendations

The Way Forward: Federal Action for a System That Works for All People Living With SMI and SED and Their Families and Caregivers, which comes out of the work of the Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (ISMICC), “describes key advances in research and strategies to improve services to [individuals with serious mental health conditions and individuals with serious emotional disturbances] based on presentations given by the members at the first ISMICC meeting.” To download the free 120-page report, click here. For more information about ISMICC, including a link to view the December 14, 2017, press conference, click here. To read a Medpage Today analysis of the ISMICC report, click here.

Alternatives 2018 Call for Presentations and Registration Information Are Now Available!

Applications for workshop presentations at Alternatives 2018 are now being accepted—and you can register for the conference too! The Alternatives conference has a more than 30-year history as a national gathering of mental health consumers/survivors to share resources for recovery, innovative peer-run programs, and strategies for advocacy. “The Alternatives conferences have been a beacon of hope for thousands of people living with mental health challenges, motivating and empowering them to live their best lives,” said a representative of the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR). The NCMHR is organizing this year’s conference, which will be held July 29-August 3 at The Catholic University in Washington, DC; the conference theme is “On Our Own: Transforming the Future Together.” For the Call for Presentations brochure and an online submission link, registration information, and other important details, click here. The deadline for submitting proposals is March 16, 2018. To get involved in planning the conference, fill out the Alternatives Planning Interest Form, available here. Questions? Write info@ncmhr.org. Follow @AltCon_2018 on Twitter; the hashtag is #Alternatives2018. For the Alternatives 2018 Facebook page, click here.

Three Websites Offer Expertise in Disparate Spheres

Three websites offer guidance in fact-finding, recovery from substance use issues, and countering the prejudice and discrimination associated with mental health conditions, respectively. The first, Verrit.com, calls itself a portal that “contextualizes noteworthy facts, stats, and quotes for politically engaged citizens.” For instance, currently on its home page are the following facts (among others), with backup: “A quarter of Americans get their drinking water from untested or contaminated systems”; “In 2017, at least 99 bills to restrict voting access were introduced in 31 states”; and “Just eight men possess as much wealth as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity.” A second site, Start Your Recovery, offers what it describes as “Reliable substance abuse information and support,” including links to a number of people telling their recovery stories. The site does not purport to be comprehensive: It’s Substance Abuse 101, but the stories make it worthwhile. A third site, “Mind Your Language,” from the UK, is “A guide to language about mental health and psychological wellbeing in the media and creative arts.” Written by Peter Kinderman and Anne Cooke—both distinguished clinical psychologists, professors, and authors—it is a good basic guide to person-first language. (Dr. Cooke edited the British Psychological Society’s 180-page manual “Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia: Why people sometimes hear voices, believe things that others find strange, or appear out of touch with reality, and what can help,” available for free download here.

“Parents with Disabilities Face an Uphill Battle to Keep Their Children”; TU Offers Resources to Help

“Nearly one in 10 children in the United States are at risk of being removed from their home by a child welfare agency simply because their parent has a disability,” according to an article in Pacific Standard. “While parents with disabilities make up only 6.2 percent of all parents in the United States, a recent study found that 19 percent of children in foster care have a parent with a disability,” the article notes. “Bias toward parents with disabilities transcends all disability types—physical, sensory, intellectual, and psychiatric.” However, the article continues, parents who have intellectual or psychiatric disabilities experience more child custody challenges than parents with other disabilities. For the Pacific Standard story, click here. For resources from the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion about parenting with a mental health condition, click here.

“Ask Me Anything” Employment Series Continues on January 24

The National Resource Center on Employment at Boston University’s Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation is hosting a free, interactive Q&A webinar on January 24, 2018, at 2 p.m. ET. During the one-hour session, an employment expert will answer questions related to funding and policies supporting employment in mental health systems of care. Potential questions might include barriers and supports to employment in mental health systems, the respective roles of vocational rehabilitation and mental health systems in developing and funding employment for people with mental health conditions, or anything else on the topic. The expert, Joe Marrone, is a senior program manager for public policy at the Institute for Community Inclusion/UMASS Boston. For more information and to register, click here.

Volunteers Needed for C/S/X-Initiated Study of Helping-related Stress in Peer Supporters

“We hear a lot about stress in the peer workforce, but there hasn’t been much research about it,” writes researcher Stephania Hayes. “You can help change that!” She is “interested in hearing from peer support providers whether they experience stress at work or not—all responses benefit the research. Results have implications for training and service environments, as well as future research on stress experiences of mental health professionals. Everyone who completes the survey may opt to be included in a prize drawing.” The study was designed by a certified peer support specialist with input from peers and allies. It involves an online questionnaire, which takes about 30 minutes to complete. Recruitment will end once 800 responses are collected, or May 1 (whichever comes first). For more information, click here. Questions? Contact stephania@berkeley.edu.

Two Online Forums Provide Safe Spaces for Mental Health Support

Two online forums, one for youth and the other for adults, provide support for people with mental health challenges. “We have a simple mission: to provide a safe space in IRC for mental health support and information as well as just general chat,” writes the IRC Village. “We welcome those who have any form of mental illness and those who care for people who do. We are not professionals and can only offer information based on our personal experiences...” To learn more or to get started, click here. At the same time, Voice Collective, “a UK-based project supporting children and young people who see, hear or sense things others don’t, has launched the first-ever online forum dedicated to supporting young people…aged 25 and under who hear voices, see visions or have other unusual sensory experiences or beliefs, as well as their parents, carers and supporters…regardless of geographical location.” For information about Voice Collective, click here.

“If You Are a Supervisor of Peer Workers, We Want to Hear from You!”

Researchers are seeking peer support supervisors for a 16-question survey whose results will be used to create guidance on supervising peer workers. The survey—which will close on February 28, 2018—takes, on average, seven minutes to complete. If you supervise peer supporters in a behavioral health setting and would like to participate, click here. Questions? Contact Dana Foglesong at DFoglesong@magellanhealth.com.

Sci-Fi Magazine Welcomes Submissions from Writers with Disabilities

The deadline is February 15, 2018, for submissions “from writers who identify themselves as disabled” to Uncanny: A Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy. “What kinds of disabilities? All of them.” Fiction should be between 750 and 6,000 words, and is paid at $.08 a word. “We do not require stories to explore issues relating to disability,” the fiction editor writes, “but we do encourage them.” For nonfiction, “We are looking for essays which explore the relationship between disability and SFF…” Length for nonfiction: between 1,000 and 2,500 words; payment: $50 an essay. For both, writers must submit their stories (or, in the case of nonfiction, either their essay or pitch) via Uncanny’s “Moksha” submission system, not via email. For details and a link to the submission system, click here.

Survey on “Uncovering Potential Talent: Non-apparent Disabilities” Seeks Respondents

The Working Mother Research Institute writes: “The survey is being conducted…to understand how people with non-apparent disabilities (including autism, ASD [Autism Spectrum Disorder], PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder] and other cognitive and mental disabilities) feel about their experience in the workplace (or, if they are not employed, their experience in looking for employment). The results of the survey will be used to improve employers’ ability to recruit and retain members of this critical talent pool. Your participation is completely voluntary and your responses will be confidential. Results will be reported in aggregate only. The survey is intended for participants who have a disability, rather than for a relative or caregiver of a person with a disability. The survey could take up to 30 minutes to complete. You will have the ability to save your results and finish the survey at a later date if you are unable to complete it in one sitting. To participate, please click here. If you experience technical problems with the survey software, please email us at disabilitysurvey@workingmother.com. Thank you in advance for your participation.”

An Array of Information about the Criminal Justice System, in Which Many Individuals with Mental Health Conditions Are Incarcerated

Here is the January roundup of stories about the criminal justice system: The Collateral Consequences Resource Center has published a new report that shows that states across the country are continuing to expand opportunities to avoid or mitigate the adverse effects of a criminal record. For more information and a link to the report, click here. The Beyond the Bars conference, organized by the Center for Justice at Columbia University, has issued a Request for Proposals for the third day of its 2018 conference, March 1-4. The deadline to apply is January 26. For more information, click here. For “The Decline of Mass Incarceration Is Good for Everyone,” click here. For “California Examines Prison Guards’ High Suicide Rate,” click here. For “For Survivors of Prison Rape, Saying ‘Me Too’ Isn’t an Option,” click here. For “Goodbye Bail: Alaska Switches to New System of Criminal Justice,” click here. And for “The New Reformer DAs: As cities grow more progressive, a new breed of prosecutors are winning office and upending the era of lock-’em-up justice…” click here.

Two Publications Offer Help for Students with Disabilities

Two publications from the Community for Accredited Online Schools offer, respectively, information to help students with disabilities obtain scholarships and financial aid, and to help them succeed in trade school. “There are…special financial aid and scholarship opportunities for students with disabilities,” according to “Scholarships & Financial Aid for Students with Disabilities.” “The purpose of this guide is to focus on these financial aid opportunities and discuss how to take advantage of them.” For the guide, click here. “Thriving in Trade School with a Disability” notes that “[s]ome students find vocational programs to be a viable post-secondary option as they lead to meaningful, independent work in a skilled trade. The following guide highlights the benefits of vocational education, potential careers, and laws that protect both students and employees with disabilities. Employers can also find simple steps for promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace.” For the guide, click here.

Recovery to Practice to Host Two Webinars (as Part of a Four-Part Series)

The two remaining webinars in the four-part Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy (CT-R) Webinar Series will take place from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET on February 7 (“Team-based CT-R for Building Empowerment and Resilience”), and February 21 (“Implementation of CT-R Across a System, Lessons of Success.” The first session was held on January 3, the second on January 17. “While this is a four-part series, you may attend one or all of the sessions. Registration will be necessary for each session,” the organizers write. For more information and to register, click here.

New Reports Cover “State of Mental Health Care in 2018” and Americans’ Use of Drugs and Behavioral Health Services

Two recently released surveys shed light on “the state of mental health care” in the U.S., and Americans’ use of drug and behavioral health services, respectively. Mental Health America (MHA) recently released its annual collection of national “mental health facts, stats, and data.” And a SAMHSA-funded survey covers “The National Survey on Drug Use and Health [NSDUH],” which “has taken on new significance during the current opioid epidemic sweeping the United States,” according to a recent newsletter published by Development Services Group, Inc. “The annual survey of households tracks the use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs among Americans 12 years and older, providing researchers and policymakers with extensive national data on drug use and mental health,” DSG writes. For the MHA report, click here. For the newsletter, which summarizes the 2016 survey results and includes links to more information, click here.

New Guide Promotes Supportive Academic Environments for Faculty with Mental Health Conditions

Promoting Supportive Academic Environments for Faculty with Mental Illnesses: Resource Guide and Suggestions for Practice, published by the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion, “focuses on ways to make college and university campuses more accessible for faculty with mental disabilities. It provides concrete suggestions for creating a ‘culture of access’ by offering effective strategies for promoting inclusive language, managing accommodations, and revising policies around recruitment, hiring, and leaves of absence.” For more information and to download the free manual, click here.

Want to Be a Guest on Not Broken Radio?

Not Broken Radio, “an international radio show and podcast that was initiated to have open and honest discussion about mental health and disabilities,” is inviting people to apply to be guests on the show. “Not Broken Radio has already helped thousands in overcoming mental health barriers, disabilities, anxiety and stress, difficulties in business, entrepreneurship, relationships, life and health with its fluent discussion about mental health without worrying about the stigma, walking on eggshells, or political correctness.” To apply to be a guest, click here, click here.

Doors to Wellbeing’s Monthly Webinar Series Continues

On the last Tuesday of almost every month at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing hosts a free webinar. The December 2017 edition of the Key Update highlighted the January 30, 2018, webinar, on “Self-Care for the Peer Specialist.” The learning objectives for “Building Community Support Groups for Improved Mental Health,” on February 27, are “to outline steps to create a community support group for mental health and wellness, to identify key leadership roles in the community to support efforts to create support groups, and to explore the benefits of healthy relationships created through support groups.” For more information and to register, click here.

Four Upcoming Webinars Cover a Range of Behavioral Health Topics

Four SAMHSA-sponsored webinars in January and February 2018 will cover a range of topics of interest to the behavioral health community. On January 26 at 2 p.m. ET, the National Council for Behavioral Health will present Peer Support: A Critical Component in Supported Housing. For more information and to register, click here. On February 6 at 2:30 p.m. ET, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) will present Successfully Employing Peer Specialists: A Framework and Tools. For more information and to register, click here. On February 26 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law will present Criminal Justice, the Americans with Disabilities Act and People with Mental Illnesses. For more information and to register, click here. And on February 27 at 2 p.m. ET, the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery will present Self-Direction through Personalized Budgeting. For more information and to register, click here.

Thanks, Judene Shelley

“Would You Like to Contribute to an Alternative Understanding of ‘Psychosis’?”

The HUMANE—Hope/Understanding/Meaning/Acceptance/Noos (human spirit)/Empowerment— Clinic in Australia “is preparing to provide an alternative to the challenging and often unfounded perceptions of what is called psychosis in our society: Voices, visions and other realities: Psychosis 365. The intention: to share compassionate and humane ideas, views and thoughts on how we understand common human realities, often referred to as psychosis…We are asking people to record a one-minute video with their understanding of voices, visions, and other realities: Be part of the change.” For the project’s website, click here. For guidance on the content and other information required in order to participate in Psychosis 365, click here. Questions? Write to info@humaneclinic.com.au .

Thanks, Oryx Cohen

BU Program Helps Students with Mental Health Conditions Thrive; TU Collaborative Continues Recruiting for Supported Education Research Study

Programs at two universities (Boston University and the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion) are working to help students with mental health challenges. “For the past three years, Boston University has offered one of the few programs in the nation dedicated to teaching students who have had to leave college the coping skills that will give them a shot at getting back into school or work while managing severe anxiety, depression, and other serious mental health conditions,” according to a recent STAT article. “The semester-long program takes its name from the Latin word niteo: to thrive.” A recent New York Times article reports: “Niteo is a one-semester program that offers resilience, wellness and academic skills classes, as well as coaching to students from all over the county on leave for mental health reasons. It costs $8,500 per semester, and some scholarships are available.” For the STAT article, click here. For the New York Times article—most of which is a first-person “as told to” piece by a Niteo student—click here. For a BU story about the program, click here. At the same time, the Temple University (TU) Collaborative is continuing to recruit for its online study about students with mental health issues. For the TU Collaborative survey, click here.

SAMHSA’s Evidence-Based Program—NREPP—Is Terminated

SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP), launched in 1997, has been terminated by order of the federal government, a STAT article reports. STAT describes NREPP as follows: “Its website lists 453 programs in behavioral health—aimed at everything from addiction and parenting to HIV prevention, teen depression, and suicide-hotline training—that have been shown, by rigorous outcomes measures, to be effective and not quackery.” For the STAT article, click here. But a statement from Elinore F. McCance-Katz, MD, PhD, assistant secretary for mental health and substance

use, presents a different picture. She writes: “We at SAMHSA should not be encouraging providers to use NREPP to obtain EBPs, given the flawed nature of this system. From my limited review…I see EBPs that are entirely irrelevant to some disorders, ‘evidence’ based on review of as few as a single publication that might be quite old and, too often, evidence review from someone’s dissertation.” For her statement, click here.

Thanks, Janet Paleo.

ICYMI: From the December 2017 Edition of the Key Update (Still Relevant)

ResilienceCon2018 Issues Call for Conference Submissions

ResilienceCon 2018, organized by Life Paths Appalachian Research Center, is inviting presentation submissions. The goals of the conference, to be held April 29-May 1, 2018, in Nashville, include “shifting research, prevention, and intervention on violence and other adversities to a focus on strengths and resilience; and ‘disrupting’ the usual conference format to create a more interactive, forward-looking, think-tank approach.” The deadline for conference submissions is February 9, 2018. For more information and to submit a proposal, click here.

Thanks, Elizabeth R. Stone

Disclaimer: The Clearinghouse does not necessarily endorse the opinions and opportunities included in the Key Update.

National Technical Assistance and Networking Teleconferences Are on Hiatus for Now

The National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse is no longer operating under a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Although we are keeping our doors open—including publishing our monthly e-newsletter, the Key Update—we are suspending our monthly national technical assistance and networking calls for the time being. We will keep you posted.

About The Key Update

The Key Update is the free monthly e-newsletter of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse. Volume 14, No. 7, January 2018, http://www.mhselfhelp.org. If you find it of interest, you can check the following link at the end of every month, where each new issue is posted: http://www.mhselfhelp.org/the-key-update-latest/ For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at srogers@mhphope.org – please note that this is a new email address – or 800.553.4539 x3812, 267.507.3812 (direct). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

The Key Update, Volume 14, Number 6 - December 2017

December 13, 2017 Guest User

Key Update, December 2017
Volume 14, Number 6

Save the Date! Alternatives 2018 Is Planned for July 29-August 3 in Washington, DC!

The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR) is proud to host Alternatives 2018, which will be held July 29 through August 3, 2018, at Catholic University of America, in Washington, DC. “Catholic University was chosen as the location because it is in our nation’s capital, is economical, and is known to have a commitment to justice and the common good,” said conference chair Anthony Fox. The conference theme is “On Our Own, Transforming the Future Together”—as both an homage to the seminal work by the late movement leader Judi Chamberlin and in recognition of the fact that this will be a “people’s Alternatives,” funded entirely through registration fees and donations. “We will be ‘on our own’ again, connecting to the roots of our movement,” Fox said. “We will be free and empowered to express our unique voices, to learn from each other in the spirit of self-help, mutual support, and the principles of recovery in action, with the goal of living full and independent lives in the community.” College dorm rooms (with single beds and private bathrooms) will be available for an affordable price, and three buffet-style meals a day will be in the college dining hall. All meeting rooms are ADA-accessible; some accessible dorm rooms can be reserved. There is a Metro stop on campus; parking is also available. There are several hotels a few Metro stops away. More information will be available soon at www.ncmhr.org! Questions? Write info@ncmhr.org

New Issue of Journal of Humanistic Psychology Covers Alternatives to Psychiatric Diagnosis

The “current issue of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology is entirely given over to alternatives to psychiatric diagnosis. Paywall, sadly, but an open access version of our paper (on the furor surrounding the DSM-5) is available here,” writes Anne Cooke, editor of the British Psychological Society’s manual Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia. To quote from the abstract, “The idea and practice of ‘diagnosis’ in psychiatry has always been controversial. Controversy came to a head in the period preceding and immediately after publication of the latest version of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-5. There was widespread international discussion and debate…This article documents that process and outlines the issues that provoked, and continue to provoke, most controversy, from the (admittedly personal) perspective of those involved. It ends with suggestions of alternatives to diagnosis, which avoid some of these problems and outlines how these are being taken forward.” For the free article, click here. To download Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia for free, click here. In a related story, the deadline is December 22, 2017, to comment on proposed changes to the DSM-5. The changes seem a little like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, but they were approved by the DSM Steering Committee and are being posted for a 30-day public comment period. To read the five proposals and comment on any or all of them, click here.

BRSS TACS Sponsors “Gender-Responsive Approaches to Supporting Behavioral Health Recovery”

SAMHSA’s BRSS TACS invites you to “a conversation with experts about gender-responsive approaches to supporting behavioral health recovery. Research suggests that the experience, prevalence, and trajectory of mental and substance use disorders differ between gender groups, as does the effectiveness of different forms of treatment. This event will include discussions of practical approaches to providing gender-responsive recovery supports such as frameworks and vocabulary for understanding the different dimensions of gender and how to engage different gender groups.” To register for this free, 60-minute interactive virtual event, to be held December 28, 2017, at 2 p.m. ET, click here.

New Research Briefs Highlight Results of Surveys of Self-employed Individuals with Psychiatric Diagnoses

The NIDILRR-funded project on Self-Employment Starts with You has published a series of research briefs highlighting the results of surveys of self-employed individuals with mental health conditions. “Characteristics of Businesses and Business Owners” describes the survey participants, their experiences with barriers to and supports for self-employment, and the types of businesses they run. “Being and Becoming Self-Employed” provides insight into the experience and challenges of self-employment, and strategies for overcoming the challenges and reclaiming employment. The third brief, “Planning for the Future: Growth-Oriented Entrepreneurship,” presents findings related to growing a business and planning for the future. More research and resources for entrepreneurship are available from www.ReclaimingEmployment.net.

CHTI to Host Free Webinar on “Engaging Elected Officials in Your Work”

On January 17, 2018, at 9:30 a.m. ET, the Community Health Training Institute (CHTI) is offering a free 90-minute webinar on “Engaging Elected Official in Your Work: Tips, Tools, and Talking Points.” “Engaging a variety of people who can champion your work in places you may not be able to reach is an important strategy for implementing PSE (policy, systems, and environmental) change,” they write. “This webinar will explore why it is important to engage elected officials in the community work you do, and different strategies for how to engage them. The presenter will provide a brief overview of the structure of local governments, and strategies for preparing talking points that members of your coalition can use in phone calls, emails, or visits to elected officials.” For more information and to register, click here.

Temple University Offers Resources on Storytelling for Individuals with Mental Health Conditions

In July 2017, the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion hosted a storytelling event, attended by 250 activists, academics, professionals, and researchers. “The storytelling session invited nine people with lived experiences to share their stories of life in their communities,” the TU Collaborative writes. “Storytellers discussed family, friendships, volunteer work, and travels. The event was filled with laughter and excitement, which we invite you to share by watching videos captured at the session…We have developed materials which offer suggested ways to gather the stories of people, not patients. We hope this will inspire you to encourage consumers to share their stories using the StoryCorps app, hosting a storytelling event, and/or running storytelling workshops.” For links to an array of storytelling resources, click here.

Doors to Wellbeing to Host Free Webinar on “Self-Care for the Peer Specialist”

On January 30, 2018, at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing will host a free webinar on “Self-Care for the Peer Specialist.” “Workshop participants will learn to define mental health and wellness for themselves, understand how their mental health and wellness affects their work as a peer specialist, and develop personal tools for improving and maintaining mental health and wellness.” For more information and to register, click here.

ResilienceCon2018 Issues Call for Conference Submissions

Thanks, Elizabeth R. Stone

Full Disclosure: When Mental Health Professionals Reveal Their Mental Illness at Work

“Results from a survey conducted by Temple University Collaborative associates suggest that mental health staff who have mental health issues and work as therapists, counselors, case managers, etc. (i.e., non-peer-specialist roles) report positive and supportive responses from their colleagues following disclosure,” the TU Collaborative writes. “However, many also acknowledged their own fears of and/or experiences with workplace discrimination and a ‘social distancing’ of colleagues following disclosure or after requests for workplace accommodations. Take a look at this publication to review the survey results and see what policy, program, and practice initiatives you can implement to build even more welcoming work environments within our mental health community for all.” To download the free eight-page publication, Full Disclosure: When Mental Health Professionals Reveal Their Mental Illness at Work, click here.

Defective Magazine Seeks Submissions

Defective Magazine, which calls itself “an irreverent rocknroll approach to mental health awareness, peer support, arts, music, articles, resources, blah, blah, blah,” is inviting submissions. The e-zine has “no popups and no spam. No cookies and no tracking. No ads and no metrics. No Java and no Flash.” “Why use the offensive term ‘Defective’? Because we have a sense of humor and don’t take it all so seriously. Because we're a bit irreverent. Because when people use these types of playfully self-deprecating terms, we identify and think (and sometimes blurt out) ‘Me too…’” The website is www.defectivemagazine.com/. Any questions? Write defectivemagazine@gmail.com.

Thanks, Laura Van Tosh

Bail Bloc Lets You Provide Bail for People Caught in the Bronx Criminal Justice System

“Can a Social Justice App Be Art?” is about Bail Bloc, “a cryptocurrency scheme against bail.” According to the Bail Bloc website, “When you download the app, a small part of your computer's unused processing power is redirected toward mining a popular cryptocurrency called Monero, which is secure, private, and untraceable. At the end of every month, we exchange the Monero for US dollars and donate the earnings to the Bronx Freedom Fund.” For a New Yorker article about Bail Bloc, click here. For an article about the app in The Nation, click here. For the Bail Bloc website, click here.

An Array of Articles and Resources about the Criminal Justice System, in Which Many Individuals with Mental Health Conditions Are Incarcerated

The criminal justice system—and, in some of the pieces, the connection between the criminal justice and mental health systems—was the focus of the following articles and resources. Most are recent; two are from 2015: “Improving Outcomes for People with Serious Mental Illness and Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders in Contact with the Criminal Justice System” (click here); “It’s Time to End Mass Incarceration” (click here); “Why We Should Stop Calling People Who Commit Crimes ‘Criminals’” (click here); “Criminalization of Poverty” from Harvard Law School (click here); “Let’s Make 2018 the Year to Step Up for Persons with Disabilities” (click here); “Our Prison Population Is Getting Older and Older” (click here); “Reaching Inside the Jails to Break the Cycle of Homeless Arrests” (click here); “Mental Health Advisory Board Report: A Blueprint for Change” (Los Angeles, 2015) (click here); “Paroling the Mind: A College Program Opens New Doors…” (click here); “Our Criminal Justice System Perpetuates Poverty” (2015) (click here); “Screening and Assessment of Co-occurring Disorders in the Justice System” (click here); and “Demographic Differences in Sentencing: An Update to the 2012 Booker Report” (click here).

Contributors to the above include @JudgeWren and @WaqarVick; thanks!

“Selected Papers of William L. White”: A Rich Resource for People Interested in Substance Use Issues

“This site contains the full text of more than 300 articles, eight monographs, 30+ recovery tools, nine book chapters, three books, and links to an additional 17 books written by William White and co-authors over the past four decades, as well as more than 100 interviews with addiction treatment and recovery leaders. The purpose of this site is to create a single location where such material may be located by those interested in the history of addiction treatment and recovery in the United States. Those papers selected for inclusion contain all of the articles and monographs authored by William White on the new recovery advocacy movement, recovery management and recovery-oriented systems of care.” For the website, click on www.williamwhitepapers.com.

Thanks, @BrookeM_Feldman

New and Revised Webpages on Trauma, Suicide Prevention, and Intimate Partner Violence Are Launched

The SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions has launched new and revised webpages on trauma, suicide prevention, and intimate partner violence. “Each page is full of updated content and many of the best nationwide resources on these topics, tailored to behavioral health and primary care organizations. For the Trauma page, click here. For the Suicide Prevention page, click here. For the Intimate Partner Violence page, click here. Questions? Email the Center for Integrated Health Solutions at Integration@TheNationalCouncil.org .

Thanks, Judene Shelley

“The Challenge of Higher Education” Provides a Firsthand Perspective

The Café TA Center has published a new Focus, entitled “The Challenge of Higher Education for Mental Health Consumers—A First Hand Perspective.” The Café TA Center writes, “In this issue of Focus, Paul Thornton, a consumer from Alabama, shares his own experience trying to find dedicated education funding for people with mental health conditions, discusses some of the potential sources of support, and proposes his own initiative to develop funding that specifically provides for the higher education of mental health consumers.” For the publication, click here.

View the Winning Films of Changing Minds’ 2017 Young Filmmakers Competition!

Changing Minds, which organizes the New York City Mental Health Film Festival, “got more than 300 submissions from filmmakers throughout the U.S. and beyond” for its 2017 Young Filmmakers Competition. “After much careful deliberation, we settled on one winning film, and five other films that more than deserve Honorary Mentions. We’re delighted to showcase all six of these films here!” For more information and to view the films, click here.

Thanks, Elizabeth Leonard

Newsletters Offer Information on Mental Health and Criminal Justice Issues, Respectively

Two recent Mad In America newsletters and a newsletter of the National Reentry Resource Center include many resources and opportunities. For the December 3, 2017, edition of the Mad In America (MIA) newsletter, click here. For the December 10, 2017, edition, click here. For a recent newsletter of the National Reentry Resource Center of the Council of State Governments Justice Center, click here.

ThisInsider.com Highlights “7 TV Shows That Actually Get Mental Illness Right”

ThisInsider.com writes: “Not only do those who deal with mental illness have to face a society that villainizes them and prevents them from receiving adequate health care, they also have to deal with visual media that mock them or degrade them. But these seven shows are encouraging to those who may struggle with their own mental health issues, making sure that their characters are portrayed accurately and without perpetuating the stigma.” For the TV shows, click here.

Disclaimer: The Clearinghouse does not necessarily endorse the opinions and opportunities included in the Key Update.

National Technical Assistance and Networking Teleconferences Are on Hiatus for Now

The National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse is no longer operating under a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Although we are keeping our doors open—including publishing our monthly e-newsletter, the Key Update—we are suspending our monthly national technical assistance and networking calls for the time being. We will keep you posted.

About The Key Update

The Key Update is the free monthly e-newsletter of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse. Volume 14, No. 6, December 2017, http://www.mhselfhelp.org. If you find it of interest, you can check the following link at the end of every month, where each new issue is posted: http://www.mhselfhelp.org/the-key-update-latest/ For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at srogers@mhphope.org – please note that this is a new email address – or 800.553.4539 x3812, 267.507.3812 (direct). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

The Key Update, Volume 14, Number 2 - August 2017

August 21, 2017 Susan Rogers

Key Update, August 2017

Volume 14, Number 2

New Federal Committee on “Serious Mental Illness” to Hold First Meeting August 31; Public Can Join Online or By Phone

On August 16, 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the names of the 14 public members who will serve on its new committee—the Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (ISMICC)—which was established by the 21^st Century Cures Act. The ISMICC comprises senior leaders from 10 federal agencies, along with 14 non-federal public members, who represent a range of experience and opinions. Public access to the committee’s first meeting, on August 31, 2017, will be available by webcast and phone. For the HHS press release, which includes the names of the 14 public members and instructions for listening to the meeting by phone, click here. Through August 24, ISMICC accepted comments from the public. The Department of Health and Human Services writes: "Interested persons may present data, information, or views, orally or in writing, on issues pending before the committee. Email written statements to Ms. Pamela Foote, the Designated Federal Officer (DFO), at pamela.foote@samhsa.hhs.gov , or call the DFO at 240-276-1279 on or before August 24, 2017."

Deadline Extended to August 31 to Comment on Some SAMHSA Core Competencies; Slides Available from Webinar on Improving Law Enforcement Responses to People with Behavioral Health Conditions

“The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), through SAMHSA’s GAINS Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Transformation, recently convened a group of peer leaders to develop a draft set of core competencies for individuals providing peer support in criminal justice settings,” the GAINS Center writes. “SAMHSA would like the public to review and comment on each of the draft core competencies. We are particularly interested is getting responses from individuals providing peer support in criminal justice settings, supervisors, and those responsible for program implementation and evaluation.” For the draft core competencies, click here. For the public comment form, click here. The deadline has been extended to August 31, 2017. And the GAINS Center recently hosted a free webinar on Strategies for Improving Law Enforcement Responses to People with Behavioral Health Conditions. For the webinar slides, click here. (Note: In an unrelated but relevant story, for a publication entitled Reentry and Renewal: A Review of Peer-run Organizations That Serve Individuals with Behavioral Health Conditions and Criminal Justice Involvement, click here.)

August 29: Webinar on Adding Lived Experience to Research to Be Offered by Doors to Wellbeing

On August 29, 2017, at 2 p.m. ET, Doors to Wellbeing will host a free webinar entitled Can I Get the Recipe? Adding Lived Experience to Research. The workshop will be presented by Laysha Ostrow, PhD, CEO of Live & Learn, Inc. The objectives of the presentation are to provide participants with real-life examples of research that supports the value of peer workers, to highlight the importance of lived experience in research, and to relate research approaches to documenting knowledge about peer support. To register, click here.

August 31 Is Int’l Overdose Awareness Day; NSC Calls States’ Prevention Procedures Inadequate

August 31 is annual International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD). It aims to raise awareness that overdose deaths are preventable, and reduce the prejudice associated with such deaths. It also acknowledges the grief felt by families and friends for those who have died or been permanently injured due to a drug overdose. For more, click here. At the same time, a report from the National Safety Council—Safety First: A State-by-State Report—says “no state goes far enough to protect its residents from the leading causes of preventable deaths and injuries, commonly known as ‘accidents’…It offers a bird's-eye view of safety policies and legislation that can help us reduce preventable deaths from things like distracted driving, prescription painkillers and falls.” For the report, click here.

There Are Two Important Conferences in September!

September 2017 will see two great conferences! The first, organized by the National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy (NARPA), will be held in Portland, Maine, September 6-9. For a full schedule, including several exciting keynote speakers, and two workshops by prominent rights expert Susan Stefan, JD, visit the NARPA website: www.narpa.org. Next will be the conference of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS), September 13-15 in Kerhonkson, New York. NYAPRS writes that the conference “features a timely program packed with over 60 workshops that help attendees to best address themes relating to advances in peer support, health, healing and recovery, empowerment and advocacy, cultural competence, community inclusion, healthcare integration, criminal justice reforms and trauma-informed approaches,” and more! To review the “near-final” program, click here. For more information and to register, click here.

AAPD Newsletter Includes Call for Nominations for Paul G. Hearne Leadership Awards

The August 15^th edition of the AAPD’s Disability Download includes a call for applications for the 2018 AAPD Paul G. Hearne Leadership Awards, which recognize “outstanding emerging leaders with disabilities who exemplify leadership, advocacy, and dedication to the broader cross-disability community. Two individuals will each receive $2,500 in recognition of their outstanding contributions and $7,500 to further a new or existing initiative that increases the political and economic power of people with disabilities. Applications are due by October 2, 2017.” For more about the awards and to download the application, click here. For the AAPD newsletter, click here.

A New Website on “Self-Direction” in Mental Health Has Been Launched

The Human Services Research Institute and two partners—Applied Self-Direction and the National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services—have launched a new website: Mental Health Self-Direction: Choice, Recovery, Independence. “For many, the current publicly funded mental health system isn’t working,” the partners write. “But a growing body of evidence shows that a new model—self-direction, or self-directed care—can help people avoid the cycle of hospitalization and achieve better outcomes.” For more, visit the website: www.mentalhealthselfdirection.org.

Survey Seeks People Diagnosed with Schizophrenia Who Have Taken Atypical Antipsychotics

Mental Health America writes: Pillar Patient Advocates LLC is seeking individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia who have taken atypical antipsychotic medications “to participate in a survey designed to understand how negative effects of the medication have affected their physical and mental functioning and their overall quality of life.” The survey is sponsored by pharmaceutical manufacturers Otsuka and Lundbeck. To find out if you are eligible, click here. Participants who complete the 15-minute survey will receive a $40 Amazon gift card. Questions? Contact Linda Pelligra at 908.698.1038 or Lpelligra@pillaradvocates.com. The deadline is October 9, 2017, or as soon as 120 individuals complete the survey, Ms. Pelligra says.

Are You a Leader with a Criminal Justice History? “Leading with Conviction” Training May Be for You

JustLeadershipUSA, an advocacy organization of individuals with criminal justice histories who work to reform the criminal justice system, invites applications for Leading with Conviction (LwC), “an advanced leadership training for formerly incarcerated, mid-senior-level leaders with a specific and proven track record in advocacy and community organizing…LwC trainings benefit leaders by introducing them to the people and practices closely linked to successful community and regional criminal justice advocacy efforts, enabling them to take on greater challenges and to generate quantifiable impact in their work.” The deadline to apply is September 15, 2017. For more information, click here. For a link to the application form, click here. In a related story, JustLeadershipUSA recently published a free 93-page report entitled Leading with Conviction: The Transformative Role of Formerly Incarcerated Leaders in Reducing Mass Incarceration, available for download here.

Antipsychotics “Have Limited Efficacy” in Reducing Symptoms in People with Long-Term Psychosis

According a meta-analysis of 167 clinical trials, recently published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, only 23 percent of individuals experiencing an “acute exacerbation” of psychotic symptoms had a “good response” to an antipsychotic, compared to 14 percent on placebo. Another 51 percent experienced at least a “minimal” response, compared to 30 percent on placebo. (A “good response” was defined as at least a 50 percent symptom reduction; a “minimal response” was at least a 20 percent reduction.) According to a blog on the Mad In America site, “…the authors noted that critics of antipsychotics have questioned whether these drugs do more harm than good, and thus the reason for further assessment of their effectiveness in clinical studies.” According to the blog, “Studies of all antipsychotics were included, except clozapine, which the researchers explain was due to it being ‘a more efficacious drug, and so pooling it with other compounds would not have been appropriate.’” For more, click here. (Note: This study is unrelated to the research described below.)

People Diagnosed with Schizophrenia Work More Effectively When Not on Anti-Psychotic Medication

A recent 20-year study of 139 individuals diagnosed with psychosis reports that, although antipsychotics were helpful during acute hospitalizations, people who had not been prescribed antipsychotics “had significantly better work functioning than those who were,” according to a Mad In America blog. In addition, “…our research has indicated a significantly higher rate of periods of recovery for [individuals] with schizophrenia who have gone off antipsychotics for prolonged intervals,” the authors write. For more about the study, which was published in Psychiatry Research, click here. (The July 2017 Key Update featured the Psychiatric Medication Discontinuation/Reduction Study, which is unrelated but relevant. For more about the study, click here.)

New DOJ Report Notes Statistics on Mental Health Problems Reported in Prisons and Jails 2011-12

According to a June 2017 document by the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, about one in seven individuals incarcerated in state and federal prisons (14 percent) and one in four people in jails (26 percent) “reported experiences that met the threshold for serious psychological distress in the 30 days prior to a survey that was conducted between February 2011 and May 2012. Similarly,” the report continues, “37 percent of [people in prison] and 44 percent of [people in jail] had been told in the past by a mental health professional that they had a mental disorder.” For the free 16-page report, click here. For an additional DOJ report published in June 2017—Drug Use, Dependence, and Abuse Among State Prisoners and Jail Inmates, 2007-2009—click here.

Face to Face Initiative Challenges Elected Officials to Meet with Those Closest to the Justice System

“Governors from across the country and on both sides of the aisle took action [recently] to help launch the Face to Face initiative, a national call to action encouraging policymakers to personally engage with the people who are closest to the correctional system,” writes the Council of State Governments Justice Center. The Face to Face initiative—#MeetFacetoFace—challenges all elected officials to participate in a public activity through which they can interact with people who are, or who have been, incarcerated; corrections officers; survivors of crime; and others who have firsthand experience with the criminal justice system. The sponsors include the Council of State Governments Justice Center, the National Reentry Resource Center, JustLeadershipUSA, and other criminal justice reform organizations. For more, click here.

NPR Story About Nurses’ Lack of Knowledge of Postpartum Health Risks Targets Medical (Not Emotional) Risks

A recent survey of 372 postpartum nurses around the U.S.—which has the highest maternal death rate among affluent nations—found that many of the nurses lacked knowledge about the risks that women face after childbirth, according to a recent NPR story. The study, published in MCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, focused on such symptoms as “painful swelling, headaches, heavy bleeding and breathing problems that could indicate potentially life-threatening complications,” NPR reported. But NPR made no mention of the emotional risks associated with childbirth. At the same time, The Washington Post recently published an article about the spectrum of psychological distress—from depression to psychosis—that new mothers may experience, and some of the steps that have been taken to help women experiencing such symptoms. For the NPR story, click here. For the Washington Post article, click here.

Thanks, J Rock Johnson

Virtual Reality May Help People Conquer Fears and PTSD

“Exposure therapy” through “virtual reality” may help people overcome their fears, according to a recent article in The New York Times. A new firm called Limbix is offering exposure therapy through Daydream View, the Google headset that operates together with a smartphone. “It provides exposure in a way that patients feel safe,” Dr. Dawn Jewell, a Colorado psychologist, told the Times. According to the article, “the service recreates outdoor locations by tapping into another Google product, Street View, a vast online database of photos that delivers panoramic scenes of roadways and other locations around the world.” For the New YorkTimes article, click here.

Disclaimer: The Clearinghouse does not necessarily endorse the opinions and opportunities included in the Key Update.

National Technical Assistance and Networking Teleconferences Are on Hiatus for Now

About The Key Update

The Key Update is the free monthly e-newsletter of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse. Volume 14, No. 2, August 2017, http://www.mhselfhelp.org. If you find it of interest, you can check the following link at the end of every month, where each new issue is posted: /the-key-update-latest/ For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at srogers@mhphope.org – please note that this is a new email address – or 800.553.4539 x3812, 267.507.3812 (direct). Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH

TO CONTACT THE CLEARINGHOUSE: SELFHELPCLEARINGHOUSE@GMAIL.COM

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FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

Disclaimer: The Clearinghouse does not necessarily endorse the opinions and opportunities included in the Key Update.

TO CONTACT THE CLEARINGHOUSE: SELFHELPCLEARINGHOUSE@GMAIL.COM

TO CONTACT SUSAN ROGERS: SUSAN.ROGERS.ADVOCACY@GMAIL.COM

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FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

TO CONTACT THE CLEARINGHOUSE: SELFHELPCLEARINGHOUSE@GMAIL.COM

TO CONTACT SUSAN ROGERS: SUSAN.ROGERS.ADVOCACY@GMAIL.COM

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TO CONTACT JOSEPH ROGERS: JROGERS08034@GMAIL.COM

To contact the Clearinghouse: selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com

To contact Susan Rogers: susan.rogers.advocacy@gmail.com

To contact Joseph Rogers: jrogers08034@gmail.com

Disclaimer: The Clearinghouse does not necessarily endorse the opinions and opportunities included in the Key Update.

To contact the Clearinghouse: selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com

To contact Susan Rogers: susan.rogers.advocacy@gmail.com

To contact Joseph Rogers: jrogers08034@gmail.com

NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS: The National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse is moving to the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion! To keep receiving the monthly Key Update, please write to selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com with the subject line SUBSCRIBE.

FROM THE MAY 2018 KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

Disclaimer: The Clearinghouse does not necessarily endorse the opinions and opportunities included in the Key Update.

NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS: The National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse is moving to the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion! To keep receiving the monthly Key Update, please write to selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com with the subject line SUBSCRIBE.

FROM THE APRIL 2018 KEY UPDATE BUT STILL FRESH!

Disclaimer: The Clearinghouse does not necessarily endorse the opinions and opportunities included in the Key Update.

ICYMI: From the January 2018 Edition of the Key Update (Still Relevant)

Email is the only way to contact the Clearinghouse: Write to selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com or use the form below. We regret that, at this time, we cannot respond to phone messages.

If you are looking for a warmline, please go to http://www.warmline.org/