February 24, 2004

Mental illness no life sentence

Read more... Schizophrenia Coping

Mental illness no life sentence - (Tri-Valley Herald, California) "Despite the stigma and public neglect, a diagnosis of mental illness is not a life sentence of doom and decay, a prominent mental health researcher said Saturday.

The facts are that a large percentage of people with mental illness can recover, ignore the unjust, prejudiced stigma of mental illness and lead normal lives, said Dr. Courtenay Harding, a psychiatrist who is director of the Institute for the Study of Resilience at Boston University.

Harding is a pioneer in what is becoming known as the "recovery movement," which creates support groups for the mentally ill and works on building self-esteem among former mental patients.

The method has been employed with great success, Harding said.

Harding worked on two 30-year studies of the severely mentally ill, in Vermont and Maine. Researchers traced more than 500 people who had been diagnosed in the 1950s as severely mentally ill.

The follow-up results were startling. They found that 62 percent to 65 percent of the former Vermont patients and 46 percent of the Maine participants had recovered [to varying degrees]. "

Folks - I haven't seem the above-mentioned studies and to be honest I'm surprised at the claims this researcher is making. If anyone else has seen the research please foward any information you have (or add a comment here). I'll try to do some more research on this - but it seems pretty optimistic. Of course, it depends on how you define "recovery". Its great news if its as good as it sounds.

Posted by szadmin at February 24, 2004 06:44 AM

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Another fuzzy area is what specific illnesses are
the study participants diagnosed with? If they include major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and the like, then the figures might be plausible. If the only diagnosis represented was sz, then I think that rate of "recovery" is unlikely.

Also, anytime I hear that anyone is a strong supporter of the "recovery movement", I get a little nervous, since I tend to associate the phrase with anti-medication activists.

Posted by: Pat at February 25, 2004 04:09 PM

The recovery movement is not based on the disappearance of symptoms, but meeting �the challenge of the disability and to re-establish a new and valued sense of integrity and purpose within and beyond the limits of the disability; the aspiration is to live, work, and love in a community in which one makes a significant contribution�(Deegan,1988). The recovery movement has nothing to do with anti-medication activists, in fact, proper medication is as important as anything else. The posted cynicism was surprising considering my knowledge of the research supporting recovery. Check this website for more on this subject.

http://www.namiscc.org/MentalHealthRecovery.htm

Posted by: Aaron Breedlove at July 20, 2004 08:07 PM

The recovery movement is not based on the disappearance of symptoms, but meeting �the challenge of the disability and to re-establish a new and valued sense of integrity and purpose within and beyond the limits of the disability; the aspiration is to live, work, and love in a community in which one makes a significant contribution�(Deegan,1988). The recovery movement has nothing to do with anti-medication activists, in fact, proper medication is as important as anything else. The posted cynicism was surprising considering my knowledge of the research supporting recovery. Check this website for more on this subject.

http://www.namiscc.org/MentalHealthRecovery.htm

Posted by: Aaron Breedlove at July 20, 2004 08:08 PM

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