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Stigma and Recovery: New Approaches to Old Challenges
Thomas R. Insel, MD stated, “Psychiatry is the only part of medicine where there is actually greater stigma for receiving treatment for these illnesses than for having them” (Insel, NIMH Report 2006). There are many aspects to the stigma surrounding mental illness. It manifests itself as a...
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Successful Consumers Make Successful Providers
There is a Danish proverb that says, “He knows the water best who has waded through it.” For those who are traversing the waters of mental illness, this is particularly true, and it is with this knowledge that Federation of Organizations was among the first to begin employing individuals who...
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Finding My Voice
I was one of those folks who couldn’t decide what they wanted to be when they grew up. I knew that I wanted to do something that would give back to the community, but I couldn’t seem to find my voice. Never in a million years did I think that, one day, I’d be helping those living with mood...
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How Our Programs Are Making a Difference
Numerous consumer surveys, research projects, interviews and patient satisfaction studies confirm what most clinicians already know—behavioral health consumers want and need the same things the rest of us do; a balanced, rewarding and healthy life. The role of psychosocial rehabilitation...
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Recovery: A Participant in Life
Living one’s own life: a rather simple concept but somehow thrown on the back burner. Somewhere along the path in this journey of mental illness, we lose ourselves. Prior to the onset of my mental illness—well into adulthood—I was someone: a daughter, an educated woman, a teacher, a wife, a...
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Mental Illness: Myths and Facts
Mental illnesses are very common. They are also widely misunderstood. People with mental illnesses are frequently stigmatized by others who think it’s an uncommon condition. The truth is, mental illness can happen to anybody. Arm yourself with the facts, then use your knowledge to educate...
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Peer Run Services Playing Pivotal Roles in Promoting Health, Recovery and Full Citizenship
In the words of one of our greatest peer support leaders Shery Mead, “In peer support we come together with the intention of changing our patterns, getting out of ‘stuck’ places, building relationships that are respectful, mutually responsible and potentially mutually transforming. We...
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Quality Life Promotes Recovery
What may have been lost and left out in discussions on mental health treatment has been the importance of “a quality of life” as a tool of mental health treatment. What I have become aware of is the need for consumers to live at a standard that is not separate from what he/she sees as preferred...
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Baltic Street in NYC Shows the Power of Peer Support
The power of peer-led mental health services is at work at Baltic Street AEH in New York City, and is making a real difference. Baltic’s mission is to achieve full social inclusion for all persons living with mental illness. Its integrated network encompasses vocational, educational, social and...
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Black Teens, Especially Girls, at High Risk for Suicide Attempts
Black American teens, especially females, may be at high risk for attempting suicide even if they have never been diagnosed with a mental disorder, according to researchers funded in part by NIMH. Their findings, based on responses from adolescent participants in the National Survey of American...
