Fall 2002 • Vol

The KeyFall 2002 • Vol. 7, No. 2 “Knowledge is the key to open new doors” N ATIONAL M ENTAL H EALTH C ONSUMERS’ SELF-HELP C LEARINGHOUSE N EWSLETTER 1211 Chestnut Street, Suite 1207, Philadelphia, PA 19107 www.mhselfhelp.org (800) 553-4KEY [email protected] NEW FREEDOM COMMISSION SOLICITS INPUT FROM CONSUMERS/SURVIVORS new advisory group created by three consumer-run national technical health system to recovery-based services President George W. Bush to assistance centers that support the con- guided by hope, empowerment, and maxi- ensure “that the cracks are sumer/survivor self-help movement. mal involvement of consumers/survivors closed” in the mental health At the New Freedom Commission’s first at the federal, state, and local levels in Asystem and other systems serving people meeting, on June 18-19 at the Ritz Carlton areas of policy, services, training, and who have mental illnesses gives con- Hotel in Pentagon City, Va., several people research.” sumers/survivors and other mental health spoke about the importance of incorporat- Among the other movement activists stakeholders a chance to provide informa- ing the points of view of those who have who spoke was Lawrence Plumlee, M.D., tion and advice to those who potentially “been there.” representing Support Coalition have the President’s ear. “IAPSRS deeply regrets that the International. Plumlee, formerly on the On April 29, 2002, Bush talked about Commission membership is not more rep- faculty of Johns Hopkins Medical School, closing the cracks in the system as he resentative of people who have noted the importance of informed consent. announced the creation of The President’s experienced firsthand the failures, and the “Consumers should have full disclosure New Freedom Commission on Mental successes, of the public mental health about the risks of proposed psychiatric Health. Its goal is “to recommend system,” said Paul Seifert, director of treatments, and choice from a range of improvements to enable adults with a seri- government affairs for the International alternatives,” he said. ous mental illness and children with a Association of Psychosocial Rehabilita- ...continued on p.10 serious emotional disturbance to live, tion Services (IAPSRS). “The Commission work, learn, and participate fully in their can and should make up for this short- communities.” coming by inviting consumer input and In This Issue The Commission, chaired by Michael F. participation at every step.” Message from Hogan, Ph.D., director of the Ohio Toward this end, Fisher, the only com- Program Director....................2 Department of Mental Health, includes missioner who has identified himself as New Anti-discrimination/ mental health professionals, administra- having been diagnosed with a mental ill- stigma Resource.................... 3 tors, academics, researchers, and repre- ness, has been actively seeking input from sentatives drawn from the executive, leg- a broad array of consumer/survivor LGBT Movement .................. 4 islative, and judicial branches of the fed- activists. “I am making every effort to be Clearinghouse to Launch eral and state governments. Among its as inclusive and informative as possible Regional Branch Office ........ 7 members are Charles G. Curie, M.A., because I see ‘nothing about us without us’ New Freedom Testimony ...... 8 A.C.S.W., administrator of the Substance as a central value of our movement,” he Abuse and Mental Health Services wrote in a recent e-mail. 2 NIMH Studies ....................10 Administration (ex-officio); and Daniel In his opening remarks Fisher said, “I Research Tips for Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of the would like to see this commission recom- Proposal Writers ................11 National Empowerment Center, one of the mend the transformation of the mental Page 2 • National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse • Fall 2002 Message from the Program Director CONSUMER MOVEMENT CAN OVERCOME HARD TIMES veryone . is entitled to . the tunity for disadvantaged minority groups economic, social and cultural BY TOM LEIBFRIED such as African-Americans, Spanish- rights indispensable for his speaking people, and women. They dignity and the free develop- should do the same for people who have Ement of his personality.” — Article psychiatric disabilities. The U.N. 22, Universal Declaration of Human Declaration of Human Rights states that Rights, adopted by the U.N. General governments must recognize that Assembly in 1948 without dissent “[e]veryone has the right to a standard of <http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html> living adequate for the health and well- I first encountered the Universal being of himself [or herself] and his [or Declaration of Human Rights during its her] family, including food, clothing, 50th anniversary, when I was the National housing, and medical care and neces- Mental Health Association’s director of sary social services, and the right to consumer advocacy. Seeing the aspira- security in the event of unemployment, tions of the consumer movement so clear- sickness, disability, widowhood, [or] old ly grounded as international aspirations age . .” for human rights inspired me. But making a statement of principles The Declaration moved with me to Tom Leibfried is not enough. Even Thomas Jefferson, graduate school in Michigan and then Clearinghouse Program Director the principal author of the Declaration of back to Washington, D.C. Over the past Independence, which articulated the two years, as I lobbied for increased fed- promising practices. In an effort to com- inalienable rights of Americans to “life, eral funding of mental health and addic- ply with broader federal initiatives to liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” tions treatment services, the arid envi- “reduce redundancy,” SAMHSA has failed to liberate the slaves he owned. It ronment of statistics and legalese often proposed to shift its services research took public pressure, mounted over the made me think of my work as and development activities to the course of almost a century following the Clearinghouse program director from National Institute of Mental Health, signing of the Declaration, to free 1995 to ’97. I missed the energy that which has not yet budgeted to pick up enslaved Americans. comes from working in solidarity to these activities. Innovative consumer- Every time minority groups have ensure that consumers’ voices are heard. run programs are left in jeopardy. gained greater opportunities to partici- As I rejoin the Clearinghouse, the When we consider the future of these pate in society, social movements have movement is at a critical juncture. After programs, more than science is at stake; led the way. As the federal government two decades of progress in which the there is also principle. threatens to abandon consumer-run pro- value of consumer-run programs and the Millions of Americans diagnosed with grams, the people must lead so that the recovery concept have gained wider mental illnesses are routinely discrimi- leaders will follow and recognize the recognition, competition for resources nated against: thousands are locked up human rights principle at stake. and shifting federal priorities have left in prisons and jails or languish in anti- The Clearinghouse and the other con- “alternative” consumer programs vul- quated state hospitals; private mental sumer/survivor-run national technical nerable. Ironically, the uncertain future health insurance coverage does not assistance centers stand ready to help of funding for consumer-run programs guarantee effective treatment; people the consumer movement as it works comes just as data pointing to their with psychiatric disabilities are often toward realizing its goals, which are effectiveness and cost-effectiveness — unable to assert their right to reasonable directly related to our American ideal of through research funded by the Center accommodation in the workplace; and equality. I look forward to helping pro- for Mental Health Services of the too many clinicians fail to understand mote the science and egalitarian princi- Substance Abuse and Mental Health that it is the consumer’s ability to live a ples of consumer-run programs, and feel Services Administration (SAMHSA) — full life that is at stake. confident that national networking and is being published. Federal and state governments have information-sharing efforts will be suc- Now, SAMHSA is shifting away from implemented successful programs to cessful in helping these programs weath- its role of identifying and researching help break down barriers to equal oppor- er difficult times. Fall 2002 • National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse • Page 3 NEW RESOURCE CENTER TO ADDRESS DISCRIMINATION AND STIGMA OPENS he Center for Mental Health year, estimates indicate that half of peo- ing services of Dr. Otto Wahl, a prominent Services of the Substance ple with severe mental illnesses received researcher and advocate,” Rogers said. Dr. Abuse and Mental Health no treatment in the past 12 months. Wahl, a clinical psychologist and professor Services Administration rec- Aside from keeping people from seek- of psychology at George Mason University Tently created a resource center to coun- ing help, the consequences of discrimi- in Fairfax, Va., has published and lectured teract the discrimination and stigma nation and stigma for adults who have extensively on the subject of stigma. “In that accompany the experience of men- mental illnesses include lowered self- addition, Vanguard Communications, a tal illness. esteem;

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