Mental Health News You Can Use...

November 2006

Issue 14

This electronic update is written by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA's) Resource Center to Address Discrimination and Stigma Associated with Mental Illness (ADS Center), a program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, SAMHSA, Center for Mental Health Services* (CMHS). We invite you to share this information with your friends and colleagues who share your interest in confronting stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness and to post this information in your own newsletters or listservs. Visit the ADS Center on the Web at www.promoteacceptance.samhsa.gov.

In this issue...

November 2006 Spotlight

Archived SAMHSA ADS Center Training Teleconference:
Art Works! Using the Arts to Counter Stigma and Discrimination

Online Resources

Research

Models, Programs and TA Tools

"The Awakenings Project"

"Nothing to Hide: Mental Illness in the Family"

In My Experience...

"Change Artists" by Victoria Maxwell

*The contents of this informational update do not necessarily represent the views, policies, and positions of CMHS, SAMHSA or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

November 2006 Spotlight

Archived SAMHSA ADS Center Training Teleconference

Art Works! Using the Arts to Counter Stigma and Discrimination

One of the causes of discrimination and stigma associated with mental illnesses is a misperception that people who have mental illnesses lack the same interests and abilities as everyone else. Art, including the visual and performing arts, can be a powerful force in correcting this misperception. Using music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, theater and more, people with mental illnesses can demonstrate their creativity, insightfulness and intelligence. Through art, they send the message that "I work, live and play, just like you," which can lead individuals to question and ultimately reject stigmatizing myths. Also, the confidence-building and peer support that can be found in arts programs can be powerful forces in recovery from mental illnesses.

On November 14, 2006, the SAMHSA ADS Center brought together a national audience of mental health consumers, artists, program organizers, researchers, friends and family members to discuss and explore how the arts can be used to counter stigma and discrimination. Our guest speakers talked about the history of the arts movement, shared their personal experiences and highlighted successful strategies for creating and sustaining arts projects.

You have an opportunity to hear the speaker presentations and listen to the audience discussion through our Training Archive. Visit the SAMHSA ADS Center's Web site at http://www.promoteacceptance.samhsa.gov/archtel.htm to obtain instructions on accessing teleconference recordings and downloading the accompanying presentations.

Online Resources

American Art Therapy Association, Inc.
Art therapy is an established mental health profession that uses the creative process of art making to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well-being of individuals of all ages. Art therapy integrates the fields of human development, visual art (drawing, painting, sculpture and other art forms) and the creative process with models of counseling and psychotherapy.

Art Against Stigma
This project, based in Spain, aims to counter prejudice and stigmatization that affect patients with mental illnesses and their families. In addition to the Web site, Art Against Stigma has a book that focuses on eliminating stigma through art.

Childhood Revealed: Art Expressing Pain, Discovery and Hope
The New York University Child Study Center produced the "Parent and Teacher Exhibit Guide" to artwork created by children who have mental illnesses. The exhibit and its corresponding book aim to help end the suffering of children who have mental illnesses; to reassure their parents that there is hope; and to guide each child toward a happier, richer life.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Utah Artists' Project
This project provides opportunities to artists with mental illnesses. It ensures that the voices and ideas of artists who have mental illnesses are present to confront negative stereotypes that persist in the community. NAMI Utah Artists' Project also supports the recovery of artists with mental illnesses through further development of their talents and provides opportunities to market and display art in the community.

Reaching Across With the Arts
"Reaching Across With the Arts" is a resource guide and manual that explains how to create self-help arts programs and activities. Written especially for mental health consumers, it also offers ideas about how to bring creativity into regular, everyday routines. The manual uses self-help as the model for developing new arts activities and programs.

Survivors Art Foundation
Dedicated to encouraging healing through the arts, Survivors Art Foundation is committed to empowering trauma survivors with effective expressive outlets via an Internet art gallery, outreach programs, national exhibitions, publications and development of employment skills. They endeavor to raise public awareness through the arts by eradicating abuse and creating an atmosphere of acceptance for survivors with disabilities.

The Arts-Reaching Hearts and Minds to Counter Discrimination Associated With Mental Illnesses
This booklet provides inspiration and guidance in using the visual and performing arts to counter discrimination and stigma. It begins with synopses of some of the many programs that offer consumers of mental health services opportunities to perform or to display their artwork to the public. Next, it offers insight into ways that these and other arts programs combat discrimination and stigma-building confidence among participants and educating the public about mental illnesses and the talents of people with mental illnesses. The booklet concludes with some tips about starting arts programs that address discrimination and stigma.

Research

Hacking, S., et al. (2006). "Mental health and arts participation: The state of the art in England." Journal of the Royal Society of Health, 126(3):121-7. [NLM/Pubmed abstract]

Hacking, S., D. Foreman & J. Belcher (1996). "The descriptive assessment for psychiatric art. A new way of quantifying paintings by psychiatric patients." The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 184(7):425-30. [NLM/Pubmed abstract]

Heaney, C.J. (1992). "Evaluation of music therapy and other treatment modalities by adult psychiatric inpatients." Journal of Music Therapy, 29(2):70-86. [NLM/Pubmed abstract]

Jamison, K. R. (1993). Touched With Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Kivnick, H.Q. & J.M. Erikson (1983). "The arts as healing." The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 53(4):602-18. [NLM/Pubmed abstract]

Koplewicz, H. & R. Goodman (1999). Childhood Revealed: Art Expressing Pain, Discovery & Hope. New York: Harry N. Abrams.

Ludwig, A.M. (1996). The Price of Greatness: Resolving the Creativity and Madness Controversy. New York: Guilford Press.

Panter, B.M., M.L. Paner, A.T.R. Virshup & B. Virship (Eds.) (1995). Creativity and Madness: Psychological Studies of Art and Artists, Burbank, CA: Aimed Press.

Pratt, R.R. (2004). "Art, dance and music therapy." Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America, 15(4): 827-41, vi-vii. [NLM/Pubmed abstract]

Spaniol, S.E. (1990, July). "Exhibiting Art by People With Mental Illness: Issues, Process and Principles," Art Therapy, pp.70-78.

Webster, S., A. Clare & E. Collier (2005). "Creative solutions: Innovative use of the arts in mental health settings." Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 43(5):42-9. [NLM/Pubmed abstract]

Models, Programs and TA Tools

"The Awakenings Project"

"The Awakenings Project" ("Awakenings") is a grassroots initiative run by and for artists with mental illnesses. It began in 1996 as an art exhibit in which individuals with mental illnesses could display their artwork. Since then, it has steadily grown to include many art forms. "Awakenings" raises public awareness of the important contributions that individuals with mental illnesses make to the larger community. It also helps people with mental illnesses to develop and enhance their creativity.

Many people living with mental illnesses also are forced to live with stigma and discrimination. They may feel that society views them differently and that they are not seen as valuable, contributing members of their communities. Art has the power to change perceptions. The understanding and acceptance of people with mental illnesses can be raised through art projects like "Awakenings." Research also shows that creative expression may help people with mental illnesses in other ways. According to the American Art Therapy Association, "The creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people to resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self-awareness and achieve insight."

"Awakenings" enables and empowers individuals with mental illnesses by helping them to develop their chosen craft. "Awakenings" offers opportunities for expression in many different art forms-visual arts (art exhibits), literary arts ("The Awakenings Review"), music (performances and "jam sessions") and dramatic arts (readings and publication of short plays). All forms of creative expression are exhibited in the "Awakenings" gallery and studio. Currently, approximately 30 artists work closely with the project.

"The Awakenings Review" (AR), mentioned above, is another outlet for creative expression. The publication accepts writings by individuals with mental illnesses, family members, friends and professionals who have experience with mental illnesses. Submissions for inclusion in AR have been received from around the United States and other foreign countries.

"Awakenings" staff members also have developed a manual that may be used as a model for the creation of similar projects.

For further information about "Awakenings", you may access the project Web site at www.theawakeningsproject.org or contact Irene O'Neill, President, Board of Directors, at 5 Forest Hill Drive, #201, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137; e-mail: info@theawakeningsproject.org.

"Nothing to Hide: Mental Illness in the Family"

"Nothing to Hide: Mental Illness in the Family" is a touring photo exhibit that was developed by Family Diversity Projects, a nonprofit educational organization based in Amherst, Mass. The exhibit presents a collection of 20 museum-quality photographs and the text of interviews that tell poignant stories of courageous individuals and their families whose lives are affected by mental illnesses. The exhibit also is available in book form, featuring portraits and stories of 44 families who defy the stigma of mental illness by speaking candidly about their lives.

Family Diversity Projects began developing plans for the "Nothing to Hide" exhibit in response to growing national concern about mental health and the experiences of people with mental illnesses. The exhibit helps dispel harmful stereotypes, myths and misconceptions about mental illnesses by presenting first-person accounts from families in which one or more persons have been diagnosed with a psychiatric illness. By hosting "Nothing to Hide," organizations can connect with and educate members of the public in an intimate and personal way. The net effect of this connection is the reduction (and hopefully the elimination) of stigma in communities throughout the country. Multiple copies of the exhibit are available for travel nationwide to schools, universities, workplaces, public libraries, houses of worship, mental health centers, corporate headquarters, statehouses, hospitals, museums, community centers and conferences.

The exhibit has provided opportunities for approximately 250 to 300 organizations to convene panel discussions or presentations by mental health professionals, mental health advocates and mental health service consumers and their families. It also has brought media attention to other stigma reduction programs, mental health support services and mental health conferences around the United States. As a testament to the power of its message, the book "Nothing to Hide: Mental Illness in the Family," based on the touring exhibit, won the 2003 Kenneth Johnson Research Library's Ken Book Award.

For more information about the "Nothing to Hide" exhibit, contact Family Diversity Projects, P.O. Box 1246, Amherst, MA 01004, phone: 413-256-0502, e-mail: info@familydiv.org, Web site: www.familydiv.org.

In My Experience.

Change Artists
By: Victoria Maxwell, Bachelor of Fine Arts/"Bipolar Princess"

When I ran down the street naked during an episode of manic psychosis, I had no intention of writing, let alone acting, in a play about it. I had no intention period. But years later, three plays have been born-all revolving around my "adventures" with bipolar disorder, anxiety and psychosis.

The plays chart my experiences with leather cuffs and hospital greens, the shame-albeit misplaced-of having a mental illness, the struggle to take medication, the loss of my beloved career as an actress, my return to work and, most important, how I reclaimed my sense of self.

I started writing my first play, "Crazy for Life," because.well, after being at "Club Medication" several times (a.k.a. the psych ward), I wasn't getting auditions like I used to. And to be frank, I was shy about the whole business of acting. I didn't exactly leave at my peak.

With trepidation, I began writing about what happened. Lo and behold, when I read excerpts at a disability arts festival, the segments took on a life of their own. My voice was no longer only my voice. It was the sound of others struggling to come to terms with the lurid label of mental illness. People, just like me, craved to be heard, hungered to see themselves reflected accurately among their peers and their communities.

All art forms give expression to the personal and universal, but "stigma-busting" art also illuminates the forbidden, the outlawed and the unspoken. It works in powerful ways: unearthing prejudices, dismantling stigmas, offering information and challenging deeply entrenched perceptions. Art changes societies-one person, one conversation at a time. There is no other way.

Humor is a major ingredient in my art-it puts people at ease, making awkward dialogues more comfortable. Humor and the arts have amazing capacities to heal and inspire.

How does it feel to take medications that sound like characters from a bad "Star Trek" sequel? You know those guys: Captain Zoloft and Lieutenant Paxil, who negotiate with the Lithium Liberation Army and the Prozac Nation?

There's a collective hunger to have mental illnesses brought out of the proverbial closet, to exchange information and share stories. There is also a fear of it.

To draw attention to psychiatric disorders with storytelling, painting and film-to name only three-encourages people to reveal their own journeys and create their own recovery. It entices the public, who might otherwise turn away, to look more closely.

And in the words of the eminent educator and philosopher Marshall McLuhan, "The medium is the message." When those of us with a mental illness use the arts to tell our story, we become the medium that triggers a change in how people see us, not just because of the stories we tell, but because the audience sees us doing things they thought we couldn't. That is the power. That is the inspiration. Attitudes shift because we conflict with the social status quo of what it means to be mentally ill. "The medium is the message," and here we become both the medium and the message.

Artists can give potent form to the "insider's" experience of mental illness and lift some veils of shame. In turn, it supports people to reach out for help earlier-or reach out period, for that matter. People who don't live with a mental illness are forced back upon themselves, to ask themselves questions about this still-taboo subject.

As artists who happen to have mental illnesses, our work is always personal, and whether or not we like it, I believe it is also educational. The power of art is that it compels us to explore, question and reflect on long-held beliefs.

Like any artist, I have no control over what conclusions people come to after they see my shows, but I can offer persuasive and authentic glimpses into my "lived" experience of mental illness. People will make up their own minds, but perhaps with more accurate information than before.

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.