Tag Archives: Recovery
Trying to accept my life
Filed under Re-blogged
OCSC/ No Radio
The Oregon Consumer/ Survivor Coalition had it’s Strategic Planning Retreat last week. In attendance were approximately 40 individuals representing a number of consumer operated organizations and individual members. I’ll do a more involved post soon enough but I wanted to get my pictures from the retreat up while I’m thinking of it.
Also, there will be no MLBM radio show this month. We have been preempted by a Halloween Special on KBOO. Next time, then.
The meeting room before the meeting- notice that it's dark outside.
Deb and Diane prepare to facilitate a PATH plan...
This is what it looked like about halfway through the morning.
Deb worked hard to keep up with the thoughts and ideas generated by the group.
Animated discussion about chickens and the delusion of normal-
Amy and Deb- and this is my best shot of the completed plan. The others were even worse.
Now there sits a man with an open mind. You can feel the draft from here.
Groucho Marx
Father’s Day, 2010
Happy Father’s Day, all you fathers. May your day be sweet. May you forgive yourself for all the things, big and small, that cause you shame and suffering. May you be at peace.
In My Life, part 1
Father's Day has always been a little uncomfortable for me
My relationship with fatherhood is complicated. It’s complicated in origin- my dad was a good man plagued by bad demons. He could not be the father he wanted to be. It’s complicated also in it’s fruition of the parenthood experience- I am the parent of a dead girl, a suicide. I can’t claim to have been the father I wanted to be.
My dad struggled. He was deeply guilty, shamed by his mistakes. For many years I resented him. It took me a long time to see him as a “man”- subject to error and utterly worthy of absolution. I am so glad I came to understand that before he died. I am so sorry he died so quickly that I didn’t get a chance to really tell him. In the end, I was proud of him for everything he endured and overcame. I pray he is at peace.
My sons would probably disagree with my eligibility to wear the above button. I would have to say that over all, I’ve done a good job; certainly the best I knew how. Still, in my heart, I feel that I have failed deeply in ways that are both vital and obscure. 
Maybe we all fail. Maybe none of us can claim honestly
to have passed every test.
But wait! There’s more! In truth I have gained more peace as time moves along. Not just the peace of dimming memory but peace that comes from perspective. I see the essential rightness of even my worst mistakes. Like I said,
It’s complicated.
Tripler- click for full size, as usual
I was born in Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. My father was in the US Navy. He served aboard the class of ships referred to as “Destroyers”. His job, as a Gunner’s Mate and later a Chief Gunner’s Mate, eventually killed him. (He died over 30 years later from Mesothelioma). 
My dad was often gone during the first 5 years of my life. He would be “at sea”. That left my mom, bless her heart, to care for the 4 of us kids. She was tired. It was hard. 
It was probably harder and more tiring because she drank. Drinking enabled her to tune out my incessant crying (“colic”- my dad says I had the 6 month colic for 3 years but that it didn’t affect him much because he “would be at sea”.) 
My earliest memories are of standing in my crib, crying, and no one would come to pick me up or hold me. My oldest memories of my mom are of her seated at our cheap dining room table with a glass and a bottle of wine. 
Anyway, the thing is (this is the thing), I’ve been wanting to do some storytelling. As a subject, I find my life to have been extraordinarily interesting. This most likely means that it has been remarkably average. As average stories go, it has been chock full of twists, drama and dark humor; all the elements of a reasonably good strory. This is the start.
I just got a call from my oldest son. He lives near San Fransisco. He called to say “Happy Father’s Day”. I really can’t fault myself too much. He is the nicest, best, most gentle man I know. My younger son is also wonderful- smart, funny, creative and caring. They are both excellent men.
Filed under personal story, pictures
MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study
I work at Oregon State Hospital (OSH) in Salem, OR. It exists because in Oregon as well as most everywhere else, there is an assumption in the legal system (in society in general) that the people who have a mental health diagnosis are more prone to violence than others. This assumption is reflected in the functioning of the Psychiatric Security Review Board (PSRB), the primary instrument of oppression of those with a mental health diagnosis in this state. This is a direct opposite to reality/ evidence. (See also reports here and here and here. Or here– or even here.)
The best research available is the The MacArthur Community Violence Study, a gigantic longitudinal project spanning several years and thousands of people. This study included 1,136 male and female civil patients between 18 and 40 years old. The project monitored violence to others every 10 weeks during their first year after discharge from a mental institution. Patient self-reports were augmented by reports from collaterals and by police and hospital records. The comparison group consisted of 519 people living in the neighborhoods in which the patients resided after hospital discharge. They were interviewed once about violence in the past 10 weeks.
The most comprehensive study ever done regarding mental health and risk of violence found that even among the “mentally ill” who commit violent crimes, the likelihood of that person committing further violence is considerably less than an individual who has no mental health diagnosis. For individuals who simply have a mental health diagnosis, the likelihood that they will commit an act of violence is substantially less than the average person.
(The MacArthur study is so named because major funding was provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Research Network on Mental Health and the Law with a supplemental grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (grant # R01 49696) to interview the collateral informants.)
One factor is that many people who have behaviors labeled as mental illness have developed these symptoms as a result of (and a coping mechanism for) being victims of violence. Having a “mental illness” actually conveys a certain degree of immunity from any tendency towards violence.
The one variable that really messes up this finding is substance abuse. People who have both “mental illness” and active substance abuse are more likely to commit violent crimes.
Judging risk of violence by public opinion is as worthwhile as using your horoscope
It would make sense that if people have adequate support in their community they would be less likely to use alcohol or street drugs to self-medicate. In this way the mental health system as it exists in the United States today contributes to violence.
So- I propose that Oregon do the following:
- Reform the PSRB system- starting with the elimination of the PSRB.
- Eliminate the State Hospital (and quit building the new replacement facility- maybe the building could be turned into something else- another prison?).
- Use the money saved to create a system of community services that is fully funded, consumer driven and based on a compassionate, recovery oriented ethic.
- Create an emergency/ acute care system that is based on the Sanctuary model, that makes use of natural/ holistic medicine and provides a variety of choices in terms of treatment styles and settings.
Meanwhile, I won’t hold my breath. The public perception of those of us with “mental illness” is such that fear over-rides sense. A inmate escaping from the State Prison merits 2 inches of news space on page 6. A patient who leaves OSH (“absconds”) without PSRB permission is front page, lead story and a week of prominent follow-up articles.
Filed under Mental Hell Treatment, wellness and systems change
Mad Liberation by Moonlight
Re: Looney Radio 5/15/09
Mental Health consumer-talk-radio
Tonight, Friday night, 1 a.m. to 2 a.m.-
May 15th, 2009
KBOO 90.7 FM or streamed on the web: kboo.fm
Call in at 503-231-8187 to be on the radio (or show up at the studio).
Please set your alarm if you aren’t up at that time- we need your voice.
There are people listening
(all over the world, by internet)
Call in at 503-231-8187
Archived shows are available at
https://rickpdx.wordpress.com/mad-liberation-by-moonlight-archives/
KBOO 90.7 FM or on the web at kboo.fm (note the repetition)
The next Full Moon is June 7th.
With any luck at all next month’s show will be June 12th- the Friday following the full moon.
Be well,
Rick
Filed under CS/X movement, Mad Radio
Mad Radio Audio Selection
Events News Release from MindFreedom
Some of the events are already past because I was late getting this up but much of it is still useful.
MindFreedom International News – 17 July 2008
http://www.mindfreedom.org/events_listing – please forward
A Few 2008 Events About Changing the Mental Health System
The calendar of events below, in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, and UK
may be of interest to those who passionately care about human rights
and alternatives in the mental health system.
[Disclaimers: Most but not all events are organized by MindFreedom or
sponsor groups. Listing is not necessarily endorsement. The
organizers are solely responsible for their content. Date listed is
start date. This listing is not meant to be comprehensive. If your
event is not yet listed you may submit e-mail to news@mindfreedom.org ]
For more info and links for below events go to:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/events_listing
~~~~~~~~~~~~
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA:
Mad Pride Week in the City of Toronto – The Mayor of Toronto even
officially declared a Mad Pride Day! This wonderful series of events
is already underway, but there is still time to attend. A bed push
parade and party is scheduled for July 19, and a Mad Pride brunch on
the morning of July 20.
Watch for organizers from new affiliate, MindFreedom Ontario!
14 – 20 July 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOUTHWARK, UNITED KINGDOM:
BonkersFest – Poses the question ‘De-normalisation: The next civil
rights movement?’ This free event will take place on the actual area
where the infamous Bedlam was located. Past BonkersFests have drawn
three thousand participants.
BonkersFest is a showcase of mad creativity providing a day of
inspiring performance, art and music for the whole community.
19 July 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, USA:
Mad Pride Asheville – “Part of a 9-nation disorganization of similar
festivals, featuring week-long festivals in London and Toronto and
others in Portland OR, Montreal, and various other cities in the US,
Canada, Belgium, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South
Africa and Ghana.”
19 July 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, USA:
A vigil co-sponsored by MindFreedom International to remember Esmin
Green, who died so publicly while waiting in King County Hospital
Psychiatric Emergency Room:
25 July 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~
URGENT! HELIOS MATCHING GRANT ENDS
July 31, 2008 is the deadline for MindFreedom to receive a matching
grant by raising a grand total of $500.00 from first-time donors. If
we reach this goal, the Helios Resource Network will double the total
amount donated by granting MindFreedom $500.00 in matching funds.
If you would like to help us reach this goal, and support human
rights and alternatives in mental health, please become a MindFreedom
member today by donating any amount — small or large — to MFI
through the Helios Resource Network.
For information on how to make your tax-deductible donation count
toward the Helios grant, please go directly to this Helios Web page
today:
http://www.heliosnetwork.org/grantinfo.htm#MFI
Or read more about this important opportunity here:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/double
But act now! The deadline is 31 July 2008!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND:
Education Day on Human Rights & Alternatives in Mental Health –
“PRAWI of New Zealand is a sponsor group in MindFreedom
International. Director Anna de Jonge announces PRAWI is holding an
all-day educational event using DVD’s from the conferences of the
International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology.”
17 August 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~
MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM:
Asylum! Conference and Festival – From the organizers: “The
conference will bring together organisations, activists, campaigners
and academics working for radical challenge and change in mental
health. It will showcase critical work on psychiatry and psychology
(‘Big Psy’) and the pharmaceutical industry (‘Big Pharma’), and
alternatives to diagnostic medical labels like ‘schizophrenia’ and
‘paranoia’.” This event is being held on the Elizabeth Gaskell
Campus, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
10-12 September 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUSTIN, TEXAS, USA:
NARPA 2008 Conference – This year the NARPA conference will be held
at the University of Texas at Austin, and will feature speakers
Michael Perlin, Catherine Penney, and Susan Stefan, and others.
1-4 October 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~
TAMPA, FLORIDA, USA:
International Center for the Study of Psychology and Psychiatry’s
2008 conference – The ICSPP is a sponsor group of MindFreedom. This
is an excellent conference, especially to network dissident mental
health professionals critical of the current psychiatric system.
10-12 October 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~
BUFFALO, NEW YORK, USA:
Alternatives 2008 – Since the 1980’s, the US federal government helps
fund a large conference of several hundred mental health consumers
and psychiatric survivors, many of whom are leading consumer-driven
projects such as support groups and drop-in centers.
29 October – 2 November 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACTION: Please forward this events calendar!
For more info and links for above events go to:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/events_listing
~~~~~~~~~~~~
For hard-to-find books and gear go to MFI’s Mad Market here:
New DVD: “Little Brother, Big Pharma”!
http://www.mindfreedom.org/little-brother
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wherever you live, volunteer today for human rights and alternatives
in mental health!
MindFreedom International Office:
454 Willamette, Suite 216 – POB 11284; Eugene, OR 97440-3484 USA
web site: http://www.mindfreedom.org
e-mail: office(at)mindfreedom(dot)org
MFI office phone: (541) 345-9106
MFI member services toll free: 1-877-MAD-PRIDe or 1-877-623-7743 fax:
(541) 345-3737
Not thinking right and I know it…
No poetry this post, sorry. Tune in next time, soon.
Yes I take drugs.
I take 4 different psych meds, not high dosages and I’m unable to notice any annoying side-effects. There have been several times in my mentally-ill life that I have been med free and doing fine, thank-you. The last few years I have needed, or seemed to need, some chemical support to stay operational. This doesn’t count the insulins I need to survive type 1 diabetes.
Late last week I got 2 calls in one day telling me I was “not selected” for jobs I interviewed for, both were jobs I’m very well qualified for, thought I did great in both interviews. The clincher on one was when they said they found someone who was more experienced in a particular area. It just so happens that, no ego here, I am probably the very most experienced and qualified in this specific area in the state. Made me feel like a loser. Made me feel paranoid about my mental-health rep and the possibility that people I had listed as references who are so very supportive to my face may actually be undermining my job search. “Objection!”…” But Judge, this goes directly to the subjects state of mind!”… “Okay then, I’ll allow it…”
A few days back (…4?…5?) I ran out of 2 of the most important psych meds. One helps me sleep (among other things) and the other is an SSRI. Now, I know all about abrupt SSRI withdrawal, personal and observational data gained at some difficulty. But, thing is, I have been broke. Can’t afford even the co-pays. Also, 2 days back I ran out of one of my insulins; again, can’t have what ya can’t pay for. My sleep has been very odd- it;s like I’m sleeping but can’t tell if I’m awake or dreaming. I sweat very heavily (yeah,too much info, sorry).
I have been getting more and more “weird”. I have thoughts and perceptions I know aren’t right. It has become harder to carry on even simple conversations with family members because I have to keep editing myself, trying not to say something too strange or something that might worry my wife or younger son (who still lives at home).
I haven’t brought my lack of meds up at all. I know we don’t have money. I have feared that my wife would call my mother or some other family member. I am so sick of begging, being dependent. It reinforces my feeling of being a pathetic loser. BTW- I know that this is also probably an example of not thinking right.
I haven’t called anyone who might be helpful- well, I called someone but they weren’t answering and so I stopped trying. I have become more and more paranoid that people will find out how worthless, pathetic and crazy I am. I have become increasingly afraid to talk to anyone.
Friday, 4 days ago?, I was already losing it but the day went to hell way beyond what I could handle. But I tried to handle it anyway. I did everything wrong, at least in the eyes of the people around me, especially my wife. Her car broke down (I’m no mechanic) and she took my car to work, swapping it back later in the day. The bank account was overdrawn and I ended up using the last of my unemployment money to get the balance back to zero.
Thing is: I was so shocked to find the account overdrawn. I knew exactly what was in the account and the day before I talked to my wife about not using the “apparent” balance showing on the account- it was just ghost money that would soon be gone. She made 2 relatively small payments- for gas and $20 cash (perfectly legit uses for money)- and added to the two $35 overdraft fees put us a hundred bucks in the hole. I saw in our future a black hole of overdraft fees that would continue to pile up until we couldn’t do anything about it. (This is not an unreasonable fear in itself- it’s happened before.)
Comedy break:
During the day she wrote another hundred dollars in checks to cover important medical co-pays she needed to get her insurance set up with a new provider. I talked our son into getting a $100 cash advance to cover the upcoming overdraft.
She got a ride home from work after suggesting that we get a “drink” on the way when I picked her up.
She got home from a co-worker. She indicated she still wanted to go get a drink.
We’re still on Friday. Instead of taking her to get a drink I took my son to his bank to get cash and then went to our bank to deposit cash. I went home. My wife was half asleep but I could tell she was mad. Why had I prioritized going to the bank (before it closed)? Why had I spent all our cash covering the bank overdraft?
So, I made it worse. I went out and found a mechanic neighbor who said they would help me diagnose the problem with her car. We found that things were much worse than I could fix on my own (or without money to invest in a real mechanic).
By the time I got back I knew I was in the doghouse and in the very back of said animal abode.
The next day she was still mad. I was beginning to really lose it. My brain was definitely not functioning well. Being incapable of reasonable conversation, made the relationship problems worse. I was even more afraid to tell that I had no meds and was experiencing alternate reality that was more and more scary.
I didn’t go to Friends Meeting- I was too agoraphobic at this point. I didn’t wantto have to talk to anyone if possible.
Comedy break:
The saga continues: So, over the course of the weekend I got weirder and weirder. Tried to stay inconspicuous. Not a complete success.
This morning: cried from 8 am to 10. Then walked around the neighborhood trying to find cans and bottles that I could take to Safeway and get some oatmeal and toilet paper (I judged these to be the most important things I could get). Cried from 12 to 1pm, until got a call from my wife at work. She asked me what was wrong. “nothing”. She said she was going to call my mother and get money to buy meds. I begged her not to do this. She hung up. I cried some more. She called back and said that she would go to the pharmacy and write hot checks to cover the meds. I sobbed until she arrived with a bag of drugs. I had shit in my head that I will not share with you, kind strangers, but just know that it was very bad.
Now I have taken pills, even ones I don’t usually take (some sedatives). My wife has some difficulty being around me when I’m “not right”. I have stayed mostly in our room and either just kept my eyes closed or read a stupid crime novel.
Why did all this happen? How come I let it get so far? Why can’t I call on people when I need help? (Wait: I can answer that last one- Most people don’t want to hear from you when you are “not right”. They want to have you feel better, right now. When you don’t get better right away they get nervous, impatient and can’t wait to hang up. Also, I am not good on the phone. I can’t usually talk comfortably to people I can’t see.)
Comedy break:
Madness, feeling like you can’t think right, feeling pathetic/ worthless and suicidal- these are not good ways to be. I don’t go out of my way to feel like this. In fact I have put an extraordinary amount of time and thought into making sure I don’t go there. But sometimes, the best laid plans….
I know I’m not alone. I spend a lot of time with people who walk the edge. I know that slipping is common and that isolating is a very common response to the slippery slope.
Later this week I will be teaching 3rd through 5th graders at a conference in Corvallis, as part of a children’s program designed to allow parents to attend and give children a pint-sized dose of the conference topic: That of God in Everyone (It’s a Quaker conference- North Pacific Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends.
The main result of this engagement that relates to issues at hand is that I will have to postpone the monthly radio show till next week- a full week after the Full Moon. So:
Mad Liberation by Moonlight is postponed until Friday 7/25, I think.
More pictures:
Ouch, Spidey, that lookedlike it hurt…
What is it with me and comic book characters today?
BTW- this following false Advertisement was done by a woman who is “sick of the pink, flowery, sound of music” shtick that goes with feminine hygiene products.
Good luck, stay safe, do as I say, not as I do, please be as happy as the circumstances will allow, if not more so. Until next time…(soon)…
The world is so full of a number of things…
I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.
I digress….
had to post this picture:
Mental Health and Mortality
Per our last post, we reported that in Oregon one-third of people treated for mental health diagnosis die before age 50. If you add “co-occurring disorders”, 89 percent of people treated for both mental
illness and substance abuse die before age 50. These numbers are in line with but also in excess of the national data regarding mortality and mental health.
It’s important to note that the figures are based on people who are receiving treatment. It’s also key to point out that these mortality statistics are getting worse not better. Add to these findings the fact that the most significant factor involved in recovery from mental illness is the length of time one has received treatment; that is to say that the longer one receives treatment, the less likely they are to recover.
What conclusions can be drawn?
- Mental health treatment is possibly preventing people from getting well and
- Our advances in treatment (new drugs, etc.) are killing us faster and faster.
Is anybody listening? Not much, it would appear. In Oregon we are building a new state hospital system at a cost of half a billion dollars. Our mental health treatment centers and support agencies are stuck in a time warp, oblivious to the facts, ignorant of the potential for recovery and blindly pushing the drugs that are killing us at a rate unprecedented for any other major public health issue.
(Note on the incredibly simpleminded continued reliance on large public institutions: I am of the opinion that as long as we have a system that believes that “some people just have to kept in institutions”, we will have a system that incarcerates a large number of people in these settings. It is only when we say that “no one should be treated this way” that we will begin the to take meaningful steps toward an effective community approach to treatment and support. The state hospitals will continue to suck up the majority of the resources at the expense of real treatment, real recovery and real self-determination. The old arguments that we need these places because of “court mandated patients”, “public safety” and the less acknowledged factor of state employees’ unions who resist the shift to community agencies and settings are are all red herrings and scare tactics with no real value in the discussion. Between 1987 and 1999, with fits and starts, the state dismantled it’s large public institutions for people with developmental disabilities (Fairview Hospital and Training Center/ FHTC, the last and largest). The biggest factor in the process taking so long was the repeated arguments mentioned above. In the end, these all turned out to be empty threats that had no value other than their ability to slow things down. Meaningful, secure and recovery based supports can be engineered in the community. Oregon has already done it before. Some of you may say that their is no correlation or equivalence between these populations but that is also just a lie perpetrated by those who would hold back the future. Fairview held hundreds of individuals with mental illness, hundreds who were court-mandated and thousands of unionized staff. It was once a small city; It is now a field of weeds and grass. I was there. I worked at part-time Fairview in the 1970s and was involved throughout the process of it’s closure.)
The institution is not the only problem. Existing community services are often mismanaged, poorly staffed read the Annapolis Coalition report or in Oregon, the Governor’s report) and typically way behind in their acceptance of recovery and self-directed supports (compare your local clinic with the National Statement on Mental Health Recovery).
Are there any silver linings?
We have a consumer/ survivor movement that is gradually learning to work together and spread our collective wings. We have tiny (microscopic in a national sense) new programs that are consumer directed. use peer supports or embrace self-directed service models. We also have a growing emphasis (in Oregon) on “wellness” as a focus and recovery as a real possibility for all people facing mental health challenges (see: http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/mentalhealth/index.shtml).
Gradually, the public mental health system is becoming aware of the impact of trauma in the lives of people with mental health issues. While some studies show that as much as 95% of persons with a mental health diagnosis are trauma survivors, our treatment programs are remarkable for their tendency to re-traumatize the afflicted. Effective treatment for trauma has come a long way but is still not widely used. At the same time we are seeing the long term effects of mal-treatment that ignores the trauma factor and leads to greater and greater difficulty in the individual’s ability to recover.
New thoughts are emerging and new ideas slowly joining the mainstream. This from a publication from SAMHSA:
Today’s mental health system has failed to facilitate recovery of most people labeled with severe mental illnesses, leading to increasing expressions of dissatisfaction by people using services, their families, and administrators. Only a fundamental change of the very culture of the system will ensure that the changes made in policy, training, services, and research will lead to genuine recovery. In accordance with the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health report, mental health consumers and survivors, representing diverse cultural backgrounds, should play a leading role in designing and implementing the transformation to a recovery-based mental health system.
This paper provides an outline of how consumers/survivors can catalyze a transformation of the mental health system from one based on an institutional culture of control and exclusion to one based on a recovery culture of self-determination and community participation. At the national policy level, this paper recommends that consumers develop and implement a National Recovery Initiative. At the State and local policy levels, State and local recovery initiatives are recommended. On the direct service level, the paper provides a road map for developing services, financing, and supports that are based on self-determination and recovery.
A recovery-based mental health system would embrace the following values:
- Self-determination
- Empowering relationships based on trust, understanding, and respect
- Meaningful roles in society
- Elimination of stigma and discrimination
Changing the mental health system to one that is based on the principles of recovery will require a concerted effort of consumers and allies working to bring about changes in beliefs and practices at every level of the system. The building of these alliances will require the practice of recovery principles of trust, understanding, and respect by all parties involved.
(The full article re: above can be found at http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/NMH05-0193/default.asp)
Another positive sign is the increasing clinical and scholarly acknowledgement of the role of spirituality in the recovery process (see: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787947083.html, http://akmhcweb.org/recovery/rec.htm, http://www.mentalhealthworld.org/34ddnspirit.html, http://www.spiritualcompetency.com/recovery/lesson1.html to name a few resources).
Peer delivered services are supposed to be rolled out in Oregon during the coming year. The state has made necessary changes in it’s Medicaid Waiver to allow billing for peer mentors and service providers.
While the overall system seems to be riding a hand basket to hell, the growing awareness, solidarity and action emerging from the Consumer/ Survivor/ Ex Patient movement is on a collision course with the system that is, was and wishes to always be. It is either a slow motion train wreck or the harbinger of a revolution in mental health treatment.
Things are on the cusp of a change. Part of that change may need to be the collapse of the current system (including our current, mostly pitiful, community service models) under the weight of it’s own silliness. If it happens, this will not be a bad thing.
If all the case managers, therapists, pills and hospitals for treatment of mental illness disappeared over night…
On balance, would we be better or worse off?
On a completely different note:
Pictures I’ve found interesting lately-
windshield grime-art:
I has a cleaning…
Prince says “hai”
Always remember
To check the music page for new stuff.
BTW- I’d love to hear from you about your own music. Do you have any home recordings I can post? Please, no professional quality shite.
Finally,for today, a little video
Avalokiteshvara – Treasury of Compassion
Potpourri
UK study/ SSRIs
Millions of prescriptions for SSRIs are written up in the UK each year, but a major study says they’re no better than placebo. What now for the citizens of Prozac Nation?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/feb/26/ssri.study
“Perhaps the next time half a million people gather for a protest march on the White House green,” wrote Elizabeth Wurtzel in her bestselling book Prozac Nation, “it will not be for abortion rights or gay liberation, but because we’re all so bummed out.”
From the West Virginia Gazette
West Virginia disability rights groups are fuming after the owners
of a pre-Civil War mental hospital in Weston renamed the property the
"Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum."
article here-
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200803190655
Looks like Andrew is drawing on the sidewalks again
My son Andrew, who lives in the SF area, likes to draw on the sidewalk. These and other illustrations of his well-spent time are on his blog- listed to the right- Better Bees Than Bears. Click for larger picture.
Mad Liberation By MoonLight
KBOO Radio 90.7 FM
1- 2 a.m. Late Friday night
(yes, I know that it is technically Saturday morning- relax, it’s just a radio show)
June 20th, 2008
Dedicated to Everyone
who has ever been given a psychiatric label, to anyone who experiences mental health challenges and to anybody who has the misfortune (or good fortune) of being awake at that hour.
You can participate!
Call in at (503) 231-8187
Please call in! Set your alarm!
Friday nights from 1 am to 2 am usually following the full-moon, will be a segment on KBOO radio (90.7 on your fm dial, to the left of NPR), also streamed on the internet on their website, http://www.kboo.fm/index.php will be time for of Mad Lib by Moonlight. The program is part of the usual Friday night show, The Outside World.
Moon Shots
Since this Friday is Mad Liberation by Moonlight, these pictures are to help stimulate your memory so that you stay up at night to listen. Click to make larger.
Found here:
http://www.photon-echoes.com/lunar_images.htm
Mental Health and the ADA-
This is a packet I put together for a training I gave to State of Oregon Human Resource managers.
Click for doc.
BTW: Here’s how the frogs are doing:
Also, check out new recording on the music page…
Filed under CS/X movement, Free Music, Frogs, Mental health recovery, mindfreedom news, mp3, new music, pictures, Uncategorized
moon soup 