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
“Rights-Based Education Could Help Resolve Global Health Inequities,” Says UN Special Rapporteur
“Many of the problems in global health stem from power imbalances in the health workforce, and these can be traced back to medical education systems,” the UN Special Rapporteur, Dainius Pūras, wrote in a Health and Human Rights Journal blog about his recent report to the UN. “In the report, I recommend that all health workforce education is reframed around human rights imperatives, and I give practical recommendations as to how this could happen. We should ensure that health-care workers have rights-based competencies and skills not only to stop violations of human rights in the care of patients but also to promote and protect their own rights, for example, rights to a decent wage and equal rights to participate in the health system. We must also acknowledge that people enter health education with their own biases; a rights-based health education helps health-care workers recognize and address their inherent discriminatory behaviors and attitudes.” For the blog post, which includes a link to the UN report, click here.
Courtesy of Keris Myrick
Doors to Wellbeing’s Next Free Webinar, on Smoking Cessation, Is on November 19
The next free, one-hour webinar in the monthly series hosted by Doors to Wellbeing will take place on November 19, at 2 p.m. ET. The topic will be “Peer Support and Smoking Cessation.” For more information and to register, click here.
A Philosopher of Science Asks: “Is Medicine Overrated?”
“Given medicine’s poor record, physicians should prescribe and patients consume far fewer medications, a new book argues.” This is the teaser on a recent Scientific American review of Medical Nihilism, published in 2018 by Oxford University Press. The book’s author, Jacob Stegenga, “presents a devastating critique of medicine,” according to the blog, by John Horgan, who directs the Center for Science Writings at the Stevens Institute of Technology. Horgan continues: “Many ‘widely consumed’ medications are ‘barely effective and have many harmful side effects,’ Stegenga writes. Examples include drugs for high cholesterol, hypertension, type-two diabetes and depression.” Although Stegenga makes some exceptions, such as antibiotics, insulin for some diabetics, treatment to repair injuries after accidents, and others, in general he believes that “[m]ost treatments…do not work very well, and many do more harm than good…Stegenga warns readers not to stop taking prescribed medications without medical supervision…But our health will improve and our costs shrink, Stegenga contends, if we resort to treatments much less often. As Hippocrates once said, ‘to do nothing is also a good remedy.’” For the blog, click here.
Have You Undergone ECT? If Your Answer Is Yes, Please Consider Taking a Four-Minute Online Survey
Have you undergone electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)? If you have, and you have four minutes to spare, please consider filling out a questionnaire for an article that freelance mental health care reporter Michael Simonson is writing about ECT. Simonson has previously written about involuntary mental health treatment laws for Mad In America. For his past articles, click here. If you have any questions or concerns about the questionnaire, you can contact him at msimonson19@gmail.com or 201.572.1030. For the ECT survey, which will close on December 1, 2019, click here.
Mental Health America Publishes Latest Report on the “State of Mental Health” in the U.S.
The new report on “The State of Mental Health in America,” recently released by Mental Health America, ranks each state on the basis of 15 measures. Based on its rankings, the Number One state, in terms of lower prevalence of mental health conditions and higher rates of access to care, is Pennsylvania; Nevada was ranked last. MHA has identified its key findings as follows: “Youth mental health is worsening. Adult prevalence of mental health is relatively stagnant, but suicidal ideation is increasing. Prevalence of substance use disorder (SUD) decreased in both youth and adults. More Americans are insured, but their coverage is lacking. There is still unmet need for mental health treatment among youth and adults. Youth are not being identified as having an Emotional Disturbance, which can keep them from accessing necessary accommodations.” For more information and/or to download the report, click here.
Courtesy of Mark Davis
SAMHSA Issues “First Episode Psychosis and Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders”
As part of its “Evidence-Based Resource Guide Series,” the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has published a free, 54-page guide entitled “First Episode Psychosis and Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders.” “For young people experiencing first-episode psychosis, reducing or stopping substance misuse yields significant improvements in psychotic symptoms, depressive symptoms, and the young person’s ability to lead a meaningful life,” SAMHSA writes. “Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC)…respects the autonomy and expertise of young people as part of the treatment process and allows young people and their families to feel better, gain hope for the future, and move towards recovery.” To download the free guide, click here.
Courtesy of the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion
Peer Support Staff Are Invited to Participate in a Job Satisfaction Survey
If you are at least 18 years old, employed for at least six months as peer support staff in a mental health-related treatment and/or recovery-oriented service, and live in the U.S. or a U.S. territory, you are invited to participate in an online survey—“Exploring Factors Associated with Job Satisfaction among Peer Support Staff Working in Mental Health Treatment Settings”—which takes about 20 minutes to complete. The purpose of this research is to inform practice in three ways: (1) strengthen peer support staff’s understanding of themselves in the context of their work relationships, settings, and tasks; (2) help organizations better understand some of the interpersonal and institutional factors that support or prevent successful integration of peer support staff; and (3) produce knowledge to help organizations cultivate a more satisfied and sustainable peer support workforce. For more information and/or to participate, click here.
“Training Health Workers in Therapy Leads to Improvements and Less Medication Use,” Researchers Say
When researchers in Nigeria compared two types of training in depression treatment, they found that (a) the providers in the “intervention” group, which received specific training in psychotherapy, were less likely to prescribe medications: Only 13 percent of their clients with depression received medication, as opposed to 32 percent of those treated by the other group, according to Mad in America. And (b), “Despite being prescribed less than half as many antidepressants, patients in the intervention group did just as well.” Twelve months later, “the researchers found that 76 percent of those in the intervention group, and 77 percent of those in the control group, had experienced ‘remission’ of depression.” Although both groups had received “psychoeducation and counseling to address stressors and active social networks, and pharmacotherapy when necessary,” the “intervention” group “also received specific training in how to administer behavioral activation and problem-solving therapy—two forms of psychotherapy that follow a manualized structure and are considered to be ‘evidence-based’ for the treatment of depression.” For the Mad in America article, click here.
“CDC: Childhood Trauma Is a Public Health Issue and We Can Do More to Prevent It”
“Americans who had experienced adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, were at higher risk of dying from five of the top 10 leading causes of death,” which include suicide, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reported by NPR (National Public Radio). “And those who had been through more bad experiences—such as abuse or neglect, witnessing violence at home or growing up in a family with mental health or substance abuse problems—were at an even higher risk…‘Preventing ACEs can help children and adults thrive and has the potential to substantially lower the risk for conditions like asthma, cancer, depressive disorder and diabetes,’” said the CDC's principal deputy director. For the NPR article, click here.
Peerpocalypse 2020, in Beautiful Seaside, Oregon, April 20-23, Will Incorporate Elements of Alternatives!
The organizers of the Alternatives Conference have decided not to hold an independent conference this year. Instead, the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR), which organized the 2018 and 2019 Alternatives conferences, is collaborating with the Mental Health & Addiction Association of Oregon (MHAAO) to host key elements of Alternatives in MHAAO’s Peerpocalypse conference, April 20-23, 2020, in beautiful Seaside, Oregon. For more information and to register, click here.
A Disturbing Trend: Researchers Analyze Social Media Posts for Clues to People’s Mental Health
Some researchers have tried, or are trying, to predict people’s mental health, or lack of it, from their social media posts, The Atlantic writes. For example, between 2012 and 2016, University of Pennsylvania researchers analyzed 400 million tweets by Pennsylvanians, looking for tweets with at least five mentions of the words lonely or alone, and compared them with a similar control group. “(The authors did not explicitly ask those who often tweeted about loneliness whether they actually were lonely.)” In another study, “researchers from the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and the Georgia Institute of Technology analyzed 52,815 Facebook posts from 51 [people] who had recently experienced psychosis. They found that the language the [people] used on Facebook was significantly different in the month preceding their psychotic relapse, compared with when they were healthy...” But such studies may be inherently flawed. “One particularly cringeworthy example,” The Atlantic noted, “came in 2014, when an app made by a British charity meant to predict suicide risk from the use of phrases such as help me on Twitter was swiftly pulled after it was overrun by trolls and false positives (for example, ‘Someone help me understand why the bus is always late’).” For the Atlantic article, click here.
“14 Hospital Systems to Collaborate in Addressing Social Determinants of Health”
“A coalition of 14 large hospital systems [recently] said they would collectively commit $700 million toward community-based initiatives aimed at addressing the social determinants of health,” Nonprofit Quarterly reports. “The money…will be used to address, among other things, housing instability, food insecurity, and economic revitalization. This effort flows from a two-year-old collaboration called the Healthcare Anchor Network, which includes 45 hospitals and health systems and is overseen by the Democracy Collaborative…‘It’s the first time that systems have acknowledged that this strategy of impact investment should be part of their overall strategy for improving health and well-being in their communities,’” said David Zuckerman, a Democracy Collaborative spokesperson. For the article, click here. At the same time, according to Open Minds, “[a] recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that social determinants are a major impediment to managing care for high-cost Medicaid beneficiaries. The biggest impediments include a lack of transportation to medical appointments, lack of stable housing, and inconsistent access to food and other basic resources.” For the Open Minds story, click here.
Free MHA Report Highlights Student-led Programs That Fill Gaps in Campus Mental Health Services
A new report from Mental Health America (MHA)—“Making Space for Mental Health on Campus,”— “showcases student-led programs that are filling gaps in traditional mental health services and supports on campuses across the United States.” Among the highlights: “Expanding campus-based mental health resources should not rely on students finding traditional resources and services…Students continue to demand and create formal peer support programs, even with pushback from universities…To make support accessible, resources need to be available 24/7 in-person, via phone, and across campus, including in living spaces…Disability cultural centers create spaces where students with disabilities can connect with one another and celebrate disability culture and identity, as opposed to emphasizing disability as an impairment.” To download the free, 27-page report, click here. (You’ll need to provide your contact information but you can opt out of receiving MHA emails.)
DBT May Provide Some Hope for Teenagers who Practice Self-Harm, Study Finds
“In a study of 800 adolescent inpatients at Zucker Hillside Hospital, in Glen Oaks, New York, a team of doctors found that those who received Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) had far fewer incidents of self-injury, spent less time on suicide watch and had shorter hospital stays, by two weeks on average, compared to adolescents who had been treated before DBT was standard,” according to The New York Times. “Another kind of standardized talk therapy, called cognitive behavior therapy, or CBT, can also be adapted to help people who habitually self-harm. Both strategies are more likely to be helpful when driven by guided or driven by the person in pain, a recent review found.” “About one in five adolescents report having harmed themselves to soothe emotional pain at least once, according to a review of three dozen surveys in nearly a dozen countries, including the United States, Canada and Britain. Habitual self-harm, over time, is a predictor for higher suicide risk in many individuals, studies suggest.” For the story, click here. For “Suicide following presentation to hospital for non-fatal self-harm in the Multicentre Study of Self-harm: a long-term follow-up study,” in The Lancet, Nov. 6, 2019, click here.
“Suicide Risk Elevated After Psychiatric Hospital Stay”; “Screening + Drug Treatment = Increase in Veteran Suicides”; and Advice to Journalists for Reporting on Suicide
“Suicide rates and attempts are far higher in patients who have had a psychiatric hospitalization, compared with the general population and even patients with similar psychiatric disorders who were not hospitalized, according to a research review in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The ‘findings underscore the need for improved monitoring and care of patients discharged from psychiatric hospitalization, researchers advised. The review included 48 studies involving 1.7 million patients. The studies were published between 1964 and 2017. The suicide rate within 12 months of discharge was 2.41 per 1000 psychiatric discharges, according to data from 41 studies. That equates to 1 suicide in every 415 discharges. Attempted suicides occurred at a rate of 1 in every 46 discharges—nearly nine times higher than the rate of completed suicides, data from six studies showed.” For the Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Learning Network article, click here. For a related story, “Screening+ Drug Treatment = Increase in Veteran Suicides,” click here. For advice to journalists on reporting on suicide, click on www.reportingonsuicide.org
A New Study “Considers the Future of ACT by Examining the Factors That Have Fueled Its Spread”
Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) includes “continuous treatment outside the hospital setting, and rigorous case management featuring individualized treatment plans and multidisciplinary care teams.” But “a growing number of critics today are calling for alternatives.” A new Milbank Quarterly article “considers the future of ACT by examining the factors that have fueled its spread…as well as factors that have constrained it, like cost concerns and the rise of a consumer-oriented ‘recovery movement.’” For more information and to download the free, 49-page article, click here. For a letter published in Psychiatric Services critiquing the ACT program, click here. For an article and two sidebars, published in 2010, about the implementation of ACT in Pennsylvania, click here.
The Milbank Quarterly article is courtesy of Marie Verna.
Survey Seeks Respondents Who Are in Administrative/Leadership Positions in the Mental Health Field
If you are in an administrative/leadership position in the mental health arena, “the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP) Committee on Psychiatric Administration and Leadership invites you to participate in the International Survey on Administrative Psychiatry. The survey has two purposes: 1. To identify the concerns and needs of mental health professionals/psychiatrists in administrative and leadership positions. 2. To determine training needs in administrative psychiatry. We ask you to complete this brief, [15- to 20-minute] questionnaire to help us in developing recommendations for action. We also want to let you know that, if you fill out this questionnaire, you permit the committee to use your anonymous data for scientific work.” Peer providers are included. For the survey, click here.
Courtesy of Orxy Cohen
2020 NACBHDD Legislative and Policy Conference in D.C. March 2-4
The National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors is holding its 2020 conference, “Building Resilience Amidst Rapid System Change,” March 2-4 at the Cosmos Club, in Washington, D.C. “This conference will provide the latest information on the status of the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, and evolving federal reimbursement models. The current human resource crisis and our field crises—opioids and suicide—also will be highlighted,” according to the conference announcement. For an online registration form, click here.
“What You Say About Mental Illness vs. What You Actually Mean”
“People often misuse words like depression and ADD. Sure you might be having a bad day, but are you really depressed? Likewise, you might sometimes struggle to concentrate, especially if you're doing something boring, but does that really mean you've got Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)? We all have our little quirks and idiosyncrasies, but does that make us all Obsessive Compulsives? In order to differentiate between what people say about mental illness and what mental illness actually feels like for those who [experience] it, Annie Erskine has created these five useful comics for College Humor.” Interested? Then click here.
Digest of Articles about Alternatives to Traditional Mental Health Treatment and Resources, and Healthy Lifestyle Advice
For “Mediterranean Diet May Help Ease Some Symptoms of Depression: A diet high in fruits, vegetables, fish, olive oil and nuts and low in sugar and saturated fat boosted mood in college students prone to depression,” click here. For “Pets Help People Manage the Pain of Serious Mental Illness,” click here. For “The Llama as Therapist: The charismatic llama is a welcome addition at some nursing homes and rehabilitation centers,” click here. For “Petal Power: Why Is Gardening So Good For Our Mental Health? 10 ways horticulture helps us heal, overcome anxiety and lift low mood,” click here. For “8 Alternative Mental Health Therapies Explained,” click here.
The November 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 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 “SC inmates with mental illness abused by staff, psychiatrist tells lawmakers,” click here. “A Jail Increased Extreme Isolation to Stop Suicides. More People Killed Themselves,” click here. For “Why Jails Have More Suicides than Prisons” (from 2015), click here. For “People with criminal records deserve a second chance—and business can help provide it,” click here. For “Imagining safety without prisons; seeking a holistic solution to violence in Detroit,” click here. For “‘The Writing on the Wall’: Voices of the Incarcerated,” click here. For “New Exhibit Challenges Beliefs About Value & Morality of Long-Term Incarceration,” click here. For “Despite Common Belief, Floridians Can’t Always Get a Free Public Defender,” click here. For “More Women Are Behind Bars Now. One Prison Wants to Change That,” click here. For “Why Handcuffing Schoolkids Is a Path to Criminalization,” click here. For “Why Prisoners Get the Doctors No One Else Wants: Even after a major class action suit required Illinois to revamp its prison healthcare system, doctors whose alleged neglect resulted in major injury or death still remain on the prison system payroll,” click here. For “The Final Five Percent: If traumatic brain injuries can impact the parts of the brain responsible for personality, judgment, and impulse control, maybe injury should be a mitigating factor in criminal trials—but one neuroscientist discovers that assigning crime a biological basis creates more issues than it solves,” click here. For “Categorical Mistakes: The Flawed Framework of the Armed Career Criminal Act and Mandatory Minimum Sentencing,” click here. For “New York’s Jails Are Failing. Is the Answer 3,600 Miles Away?” click here. For “America’s local jails have more incarcerated women than state prisons, 60% of them not convicted, says report,” click here. For “The Criminal Justice System Is Not Broken. It’s Doing What It Was Designed to Do,” click here. For “Police chiefs propose ways to reduce ‘suicide by cop’: When confronted by people in mental crisis, officers have little or no training on alternatives to pointing gun, yelling commands,” 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.
“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
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
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.
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.
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.
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 16, No. 5, November 2019. For content, reproduction or publication information, please contact Susan Rogers at selfhelpclearinghouse@gmail.com. Follow Susan on Twitter at @SusanRogersMH