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SAMHSA’s Working Definition of Recovery
For over 20 years, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has fostered recovery and social inclusion for Americans with mental and/or substance use disorders. Over the years, it has become increasingly apparent that a practical, comprehensive working definition of...
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It’s on My Plate
One morning in May of 2009 I woke up in the inpatient psychiatric ward of a regional medical center in western New Jersey. I had admitted myself through the ER the night before - after a suicide attempt. I would be diagnosed with major depression, general anxiety disorder, and substance abuse...
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Recovery from Mental Illness: Consumer Readiness as a Driving Force
In this account, I’m sharing our experience at The Bridge, the New York City non-profit mental health rehabilitation agency, to illustrate the key role that consumers play in moving service providers to a recovery/rehabilitation orientation. The Bridge was created in 1954 by a group of...
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The Evolution of Recovery-Oriented Services in NYC and at MHA-NYC
New York City has a long and proud history of providing a wide range of recovery-oriented programs for individuals with serious and persistent mental illness. Following in the activist path of Clifford Beers who started the modern mental health movement in 1909, six former psychiatric patients and...
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From the Publisher – Declining Physical Health: The Other Side of the Recovery Process
When I was struggling through my 10-year battle with depression, the most prevalent thing in the back of my mind each and every day was a silent prayer to recover and no longer suffer with the daily feelings of hopelessness and despair that were the hallmarks of my illness. Nothing else...
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In My Own Voice: The Disability of Mental Health
Mental illness is known to be a devastating disease that is well understood by the treatment community. In recent years however, we have heard more input from patients (commonly referred to as “consumers”) about their experience with mental illnesses of all types. Clinicians have known...
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New Directions in Healthcare and the Promise of Recovery
In case you didn’t notice, this is a time of radical change in the behavioral health and health fields. However, challenging the policy and fiscal landscapes have become, it’s important to remember that we’re all still in the business of helping people to recover, achieve goals, and be part...
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A Family Member’s Journey into the Depths of Bipolar Disorder
Only a few short years before leaving his cat and clothes in the covered alleyway, next to the dumpster behind the deli on 2nd Avenue, Bob was an accomplished plastics engineer. His parents, brother and sister were living back east, and his favorite aunts, an uncle and cousin lived a couple of...
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Clothes Make the Man
Stigma means “a mark of infamy.” In ancient times they used to literally brand criminals and slaves. Now we talk about the stigma of mental illness. We know how we are marked by others; that’s obvious. We’re marked by the media, the medical establishment, the ignorant and the uninformed....
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Eight Links to Recovery
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I was no stranger to the symptoms of bipolar disorder when I began having sleepless nights and racing thoughts at age 44. I worked as a counselor for adults with mental illness at a residential program and I was teaching daily living skills to clients, some who...
