Antonio Lambert has struggled with his mental health a great deal in his life.  He has been an addict, incarcerated, and also living on the streets.  But, what is most miraculous about him is that he has recovered, become a mental health peer, and even gotten into a position where he trains other mental health peers to do their job. 

In an article on him in the New York Times entitled, "After Drugs and Dark Times, Helping Others to Stand Back Up," the importance of peer support in the recovery process is highlighted.  A mental health peer is someone with lived experience with mental illness, who has recovered, and then provides mental health services for others. In the article, the success of peers is explained: "recent research suggests that peer support can reduce costs, and in 2007, federal health officials ruled that states could bill for the services under Medicaid — if the state had a system in place to train and certify peer providers. In the years since, “peer support has just exploded; I have been in this field for 25 years, and I have never seen anything happen so quickly,” said Larry Davidson, a mental health researcher at Yale. “Peers are living, breathing proof that recovery is possible, that it is real.”

This article really explains what I have experienced as a peer providing mental health services.  Clients who see that they have a healthy person in front of them who once struggled with mental illness get much more encouraged than if they see a clinician that has "book knowledge" of mental illness but no experience in it themselves.  How can you know what truly will help people if you have not been down the road of recovery yourself?  The peer model has been used with great success in the Alcoholics Anonymous world for years.  I'm really happy to see that it is now expanding, and becoming a well-recognized form of treatment for those with mental illness as well. 

Be Well,
~Emily

According to a recent article in Reuters, more US kids are being hospitalized for their mental health.  The article sites that ,"from 1996 to 2007, the rate of psychiatric hospital discharges rose by more than 80 percent for 5-13-year-olds and by 42 percent for older teens."  Although the causes of this are unknown, it is truly a reality that parents and providers alike need to be aware of.  This statistic explains why todays parents need to be hyper-vigilant about being aware of their children's mental health, and taking them for treatment as soon as it is needed, rather than waiting for a crisis.  To read this article in full, click here. 

Be Well
~Emily 

I was extremely pleased to see that the NY Times did yet another profile on a person with a mental illness.  This one, on Joe Holt, a man with Schizophrenia, is yet more proof that those with mental illness can live highly productive lives.  Mr. Holt, who works with computers by day, and is a therapist at night, is also a husband and father.  But, more astounding is that he has learned to cope effectively with his main symptom: hearing voices.  He says that his process includes "relentless activity, passive resistance and emergency measures." Mr. Holt stays busy with his two jobs.  When he hears voices, he works extremely hard to decifer which ones are reality, and which are not.  Finally, when he is really struggling, he goes on medication to help him through the emergencies.  Mr. Joe Holt, you are brave and amazing to share all of this with the world.  You will help many!  To read more about Mr. Holt, click here. 

Be Well
~Emily

Dr. Marsha Linehan is a personal hero of mine.  She is the creator of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), the kind of therapy that saved my life and brought me to wellness.  But, in addition to this, she is also a consumer of mental health services, or someone who has suffered from a mental illness.  Linehan, who would have diagnosed her young self with Borderline Personality Disorder, was once labeled the most troubled person in the hospital that she went to.  Yet, she has not only overcome her own illness, but has helped thousands of others to do the same. 

Dr. Linehan is a beautiful example of how a consumer of mental health services, once recovered, can bea powerful provider of mental health services.  The fact that she had suffered so much and healed has helped her to develop the kind of therapy that she would have needed to recover when she was struggling.  It's hard to truly know what someone who is struggling with a mental illness needs to get well unless you have been there yourself. 

To learn more about Dr. Marsha Linehan's struggles and work, check out today's front page NYtimes article about her. 
Be Well
~Emily