Upcoming Teleconference (June 20, 2007):
Improving Provider Attitudes, Behaviors and Practices toward People with Mental Illness
Archived Training Teleconference:
Addressing Discrimination and Stigma through Mental Health Consumer Contact
Online Resources
Research
Models, Programs, and TA Tools
What A Difference A Friend Makes
In My Experience...
"The One in the Middle Represents Me"
Young Photographers Counter Stigma
Since 1949, Mental Health Month has raised public awareness of the importance of mental health. Initiated as a weeklong public education campaign, it has since enjoyed the involvement of many mental health associations, nonprofit organizations, and other groups across the Nation. The observance soon grew into a month’s worth of activities, and as such, Congress has officially designated May as Mental Health Month.
Mental Health Month is a time to raise awareness about mental illnesses and the importance of mental wellness for all, but it does even more than that. Mental Health Month provides opportunities to counter discrimination and stigma associated with mental illnesses.
Research shows that direct contact with persons who have mental illnesses is the most effective strategy for reducing stigma; however, opportunities for direct contact to take place can be limited. Mental Health Month provides a platform for positive contact to take place. Through activities like educational discussions, walks, arts events, and health fairs, direct contact occurs and the process of reducing stigma begins.
The ADS Center salutes all of you who organized and participated in activities in celebration of Mental Health Month. We were excited to read your emails about events in your community, and we're sorry that we could not include all of them in our email messages.
If your event was part of an ongoing campaign or program, you may want to submit a summary of the campaign or program for possible inclusion on our Campaigns and Programs Map. Visit the map online at the SAMHSA ADS Center Web site and follow the instructions under "Tell Us" at the bottom of the page.
We thank you for devoting your time and energy to the promotion of mental health. We hope you'll keep up the great work in the months ahead!
The ADS Center conducts teleconference trainings on topics related to advancing knowledge about stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness and how to counter it. These events are 90-minutes in length, during which time presenters, mental health consumers, family members, and other representatives share knowledge, insights and experiences.
Improving Provider Attitudes, Behaviors and Practices toward People with Mental Illness
Mental health professionals and other health care providers are in a unique position to impact the lives of people with mental illnesses. Because of their scientific knowledge and special relationship with mental health consumers, providers have a singular opportunity through their attitudes and practices to promote self-esteem, self-efficacy, decision making about treatment, illness self-management practices, and recovery.
Sometimes providers may be unwitting sources of prejudice and discrimination associated with mental illness. These attitudes toward people with mental illnesses threaten the effectiveness of psychiatric treatment, possibly hindering the recovery process. It is well documented that stigma towards people with mental illnesses is a major obstacle to seeking treatment, better care, and improvement in the quality of their lives.
This teleconference will
- Explore the sources of stigma generated by providers and the importance of modifying these attitudes to improve treatment outcomes.
- Provide an overview of successful activities that have been conducted to improve cooperation between providers and their patients.
- Discuss tools for creating an environment that fosters the development of meaningful and effective consumer/provider relationships.
Please join us on June 20, 2007 from 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. EST for this teleconference. Register now online at SAMHSA ADS Center's Web site.
Through a toll-free number, you can access past teleconference sessions for ‘playback,' at your convenience. You also can download the training presentations in PDF or PPT form from the ADS Center Web site to follow along with the presentation.
Our featured teleconference in this issue focuses on the contact approach for reducing discrimination and stigma associated with mental illnesses. Contact with mental health consumers can help the general public reduce their fear and misperceptions about mental illnesses. This teleconference training provided participants with the theory behind this method of reducing discrimination and stigma, as well as practical information about models that they might replicate or become involved in. Speakers were Patrick Corrigan, Carmen Lee, and Ramiro Guevara.
Visit the Training Archive on SAMHSA ADS Center's Web site to obtain instructions on accessing this and other teleconference recordings.
Mental Health America
Mental Health America (formerly known as the National Mental Health Association) is one of the country's oldest and largest mental health advocacy organizations, and the sponsor of Mental Health Month.
The Carter Center Mental Health Program: Combating the Stigma of Mental Illness
Founded in 1991, the Carter Center Mental Health Program focuses on mental health policy issues with four strategic goals:
- To reduce stigma and discrimination against people with mental illnesses.
- To achieve equity for mental health care comparable to other health care.
- To advance promotion, prevention, and early intervention services for children and their families.
- To increase public awareness worldwide about mental health and mental illness and to stimulate local actions to address those issues.
Active Minds on Campus
Active Minds is a nonprofit organization that develops and supports student-run mental health awareness, education, and advocacy chapters on college campuses across the country. Each student group’s mission is to:
- Increase awareness of mental health issues.
- Provide information and resources regarding mental health and mental illness.
- Encourage students to seek help as soon as it is needed.
- Serve as liaison between students and the mental health community.
Corrigan, P., J. Larson, M. Sells, N. Niessen, & A.C. Watson. (2006). Will filmed presentations of education and contact diminish mental illness stigma? Community Mental Health Journal, 43(2): 171-181. [NLM/Pubmed Abstract]
Emrich, K., T.C. Thompson, & G. Moore. (2003). Positive attitude. An essential element for effective care of people with mental illnesses. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 41(5), 18-25.[NLM/Pubmed Abstract]
Link, B. & F.T. Cullen. (1986). Contact with the mentally ill and perceptions of how dangerous they are. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 27(4), 289-303. [JSTOR Abstract]
Mental Health America. NMHA and the History of the Mental Health Movement.
Phelan, J.C. & B.G. Link. (2004). Fear of people with mental illnesses: the role of personal and impersonal contact and exposure to threat or harm. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 45(1), 68-80. [NLM/Pubmed Abstract]
Reinke, R.R., P. Corrigan, C. Leonhard, et al. (2004). Examining two aspects of contact on the stigma of mental illness. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, (23)3: 377-389. [Guilford Publications Abstract]
Wolff, G., S. Pathare, T. Craig, & J. Leff. (1996). Community attitudes to mental illness. The British Journal of Psychiatry: The Journal of Mental Health Science, 168(2), 183-90. [NLM/Pubmed Abstract]
The opportunity for recovery from mental illness is more likely in a society of acceptance. Many Americans are misinformed about mental illness and respond negatively when confronted with a friend’s mental illness. According to one survey, less than one-third of adults believe a person with mental illness can recover, and about 1 in 4 adults age 18-24 believes a person with mental illness can recover.
To help improve awareness about recovery from mental illness, SAMHSA launched What A Difference A Friend Makes, a national anti-stigma campaign targeted to men and women 18-25 years old. The prevalence of serious mental health conditions among people between the ages of 18 and 25 is almost double that of the general population. Young adults are more likely than the general population to know someone with a mental illness. Yet young people have the lowest rate of help-seeking behaviors. This group has a high potential to minimize future disability if social acceptance is broadened and they receive the right support and services early on.
What A Difference A Friend Makes focuses on friends as a key component of mental health recovery, and delivers messages to encourage, educate and inspire 18- to 25-year-olds to step up and support friends they know are experiencing a mental health problem.
Education and support from friends not only helps individuals to recover; it also helps to counter discrimination and stigma associated with mental illness. When young adults offer reassurance, companionship, and emotional strength to their friends who have mental illnesses, they demonstrate to other people that it’s OK to have friends with mental illnesses. By maintaining the friendship, young adults become part of the “contact approach,” sending a powerful message that people with mental illnesses should be supported, not shunned.
What A Difference A Friend Makes includes television, radio, outdoor, print, and interactive elements. Visit the Web site http://whatadifference.samhsa.gov/ for information on the campaign and to learn how you can get involved.
"The One in the Middle Represents Me"
Young Photographers Counter Stigma
“…The one in the middle represents me. It’s a perfectly good snowball. Even though it’s in the middle of the other snowballs, it is still alienated. I can really relate to it.”—Cassandra, age 13.
Snow gathered at the bottom of a playground slide inspired Alicia’s words as she snapped a picture of the winter scene. Cassandra was among the hundreds of youth between the ages of 7 and 15 who participated in “Cameras in Our Hands,” a photo exhibit that was on display at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Framingham, MA throughout May, as part of Mental Health Month. The exhibit featured individual photographs and collages created by students who have mental health problems.
Wayside Youth & Family Support Network started the annual event 5 years ago to help students express their feelings, insights, and experiences through the lens of a camera. Students learn about stigma in their classrooms through a curriculum that Wayside developed to help teachers address the issue. After learning about different forms of stigma, students are asked to think about their own experiences.
Students each receive a camera, provided through a grant from Kodak’s Snap Foundation. Then, students take pictures of situations in which they felt understood, accepted and included, as well as times when they felt fear, teased and excluded. Last, students write stories about their pictures to explain what they were experiencing at the time they clicked the shutter. Through the generous support of a local commercial printer, the photos are enlarged and mounted on foam board for the exhibit.
The public display of the students’ work is a celebration of their talents and creativity, and highlights the many ways that students are moving towards recovery from mental illnesses. The exhibit opening is an exciting time for the young photographers. They are proud of their accomplishments and many clamor to have their photograph taken in front of their exhibited work!
Parents, however, sometimes take a different perspective. A number are cautious about having their children’s photos on display in a public setting. Irene Roche, Director of the Parent Partnership Program for Wayside Youth & Family Support Network, says, “Families sometimes are afraid of society knowing that their child has mental health issues. Parents are afraid of being judged, of being discriminated against.”
Media coverage can add to families’ fears. In preparation for this year’s exhibit, local media printed a story that unintentionally reinforced stigma by focusing on disability rather than on the positive tone of the event. The Wayside event organizers immediately wrote a response to the newspaper to correct them, refocusing attention on the true purpose of the event: to provide a glimpse into the strengths and creativity of young people living with mental health problems in an effort to eliminate the stigma that often isolates children and families from neighbors, schoolmates and acquaintances.
The public’s overwhelming enthusiasm and positive response to the exhibit is a sure sign of its success. People were moved by what they saw and offered complimentary feedback throughout Mental Health Month. The exhibit helped to build their sense of understanding of mental illnesses and compassion towards people who live with them.
Wayside Youth & Family Support Network also runs “PhotoVoice,” an exhibit to help young adults between the ages of 16 and 25 to successfully influence the programs and policies that affect them.
Content in the InfoUpdate is current at the date of publication. Content and technology may change after the time of publication and affect the information presented here. If you are trying to locate a specific resource or research article, please contact the ADS Center directly.
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