Sonoma County, California 94952, United States
National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI)
Mental Health By the Numbers
Mental Illness is Common!
Know the Numbers As You Talk to Family and Friends
1 in 5 U.S. adults experiences mental illness each year.
1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experiences a mental health disorder each year.
1 in 25 U.S. adults experiences serious mental illness each year.
Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among people aged 10-34.
Millions of people in the U.S. are affected by mental illness each year. That's why it's important to understand how common mental illness is, as well as the magnitude of its physical, social, and financial impact.
Read about Mental Health by the Numbers online.
Peer Support is an Evidence based practice (ebp)
Additional Information
- Definition of an EBP: A treatment, practice or approach that is backed by a strong body of research evidence. —SAMHSA
- In 2007, the U.S. Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services declared peer support an EBP in behavioral health -CMS
- Downloadable from SAMHSA
➢Consumer Operated Services EBP Provider Kit LINK
➢ Other SAMHSA EBP Kits LINK
➢ Finding BH Evidence-Based Programs & Practices--SAMHSA LINK
- Downloadable from Ctr on Integrated & Self-Directed Care https://www.center4healthandsdc.org/impl ementing-ebp-mh-sdc.html
- Research Supports Hearing Voices Network Groups “Group attendance was credited with a range of positive emotional, social and clinical outcomes. Aspects that were particularly valued included: opportunities to meet other voice hearers, provision of support that was unavailable elsewhere, and the group being a safe and confidential place to discuss difficult issues. Participants perceived HVN groups to facilitate recovery processes and to be an important resource for helping them cope with their experiences.(Longden, Read & Dillon, 2018)
hearing voices network (hvn)
History of the Hearing Voices Movement
HVN Began in 1980’s when a psychiatrist realized that therapeutic techniques were not helping a patient , Patsy Hage, manage her voices and wondered if other voice-hearers might be better able to help her, which turned out to be true. Patsy and the psychiatrist cofounded the Hearing Voices Network (HVN) in 1987.
“The HVN is a peer-to-peer, nonclinical support group based on the radical idea that voice-hearing is not automatically a sign of pathology. Unlike traditional methods that encourage voice hearers not to engage with or listen to their voices, the HVN takes the opposite approach: voice-hearers are encouraged to explore and discover for themselves what their voices mean. The groups also provide social support and acceptance– something that is vitally important given the social distancing and isolation often reported by voice hearers. And the groups offer practical strategies for living with and managing voices.” (Harris, Foundation for Excellence in MH Care, 2020)
There are 100’s of groups all over the world but only 14 in CA, mostly in the Bay Area Region (Berkeley & Oakland)
Pool of Consumer Champions (POCC): Corinita Reyes, Singer corinitareyesaudio@gmail.com
CA Hearing Voices Network Peer Support Groups
Guidelines include acknowledging 3 freedoms:
- Freedom to interpret experiences in any way, not just an illness framework.
- Freedom to challenge social norms-- including gender norms or other ideas about how we are “supposed to be” in the world.
- Freedom to talk about anything-- not just voices and visions.
Hearing Voices Movement is a part of a social justice movement that intersects with other movements and marginalized experiences. People’s experiences with systemic oppression are accepted as real, and there is a commitment on the part of the group to interrupt words or actions rooted in racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, psychiatric oppression and other types of systemic oppression when they come up.
See all guidelines at: http://www.hearingvoicesusa.org/hvn-usa-charter
Research Supports Hearing Voices Network Groups
“Group attendance was credited with a range of positive emotional, social and clinical outcomes. Aspects that were particularly valued included: opportunities to meet other voice hearers, provision of support that was unavailable elsewhere, and the group being a safe and confidential place to discuss difficult issues. Participants perceived HVN groups to facilitate recovery processes and to be an important resource for helping them cope with their experiences.(Longden, Read & Dillon, 2018)
Hearing Voices Network USA http://www.hearingvoicesusa.org/
Hearing Voices Network http://www.hearingvoices.org/ Video by Western MA Recovery Learning Community & Mt Holyoke College
Beyond Possible: How the Hearing Voices Approach Transforms Lives https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk5juEgi1oY &feature=youtu.be (22 minutes)
Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care funds Hearing Voices Research, Article: https://www.mentalhealthexcellence.org/the-hearingvoices-network-hits-the-mainstream/
Longden, E., Read, J., & Dillon, J. (2018). Assessing the Impact and Effectiveness of Hearing Voices Network Self-Help Groups. Community Mental Health Journal, 54(2), 184-188. Retrieved 8 11, 2020, free access at: https://southbayprojectresourcedotorg.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/assessing-the-impactand-effectiveness-of-hvn-self-help-groups-06-2017.pdf
The Hearing Voices Network Hits the Mainstream! March 8, 2020 By Leah Harris, Foundation For Excellence In Mental Health Care
https://www.mentalhealthexcellence.org/the-hearing-voices-network-hits-the-mainstream/
Hearing Voices support groups connect and heal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQnoVdKkWvQ&feature=youtu.be
Lost In Reality: Hearing Voices | Adrianne Roberts | TEDxChilliwack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKIgFCoEVA4
Hearing Voices : an Insiders Guide to Auditory Hallucinations | Debra Lampshire | TEDxTauranga https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjL2dqONIqQ ( New Zealand)
Adverse Childhood Events (ACES)
Background
The original study to explore the concept of ACEs was that of Felitti et al in 1998.
Felitti, V., Anda, R., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D., Spitz, A., Edwards, V., Koss, M. and Marks, J. (1998) Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults (The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study. American Journal of Preventative Medicine Vol 14 (4), pp.245-258.
Resilience: The biology of stress and the science of hope (movie)
Film maker James Redford, son of actor Robert Redford, came across an article disseminating the research findings and thought the ideas within it should be raised more prominently within the public eye (Cocozza 2017). In order to achieve this he made a film entitled Resilience: the biology of stress and the science of hope which has now been widely distributed across the western world.