Consumer communities

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Из курса от партнера The University of Sydney

Positive Psychiatry and Mental Health

244 оценки

The University of Sydney

Positive Psychiatry and Mental Health

244 оценки

In today’s world, mental illness and distress are common and these account for a significant burden of disability within our community. At the same time, there is a growing interest in understanding and enhancing positive mental health and wellbeing; particularly from developments in the fields of positive psychology and mental health promotion. Positive Psychiatry is a new term (Jeste et al 2016) that describes a dual approach to mental health, where we build strengths, supports and healthy lifestyles as well as treating illness and distress. In this course, we will explore different aspects of good mental health as well as provide an overview of the major kinds of mental disorders, their causes, treatments and how to seek help and support. The course will feature a large number of Australian experts in psychiatry, psychology and mental health research, and we will also hear from “lived experience experts”, people who have lived with mental illness, and share their personal stories of recovery. We take an evidence-based approach to a range of strategies that anyone can use to enhance their own mental health and that of others, from exercise and relaxation techniques through to the role of love, relationships and 'good' types of work. We cover topics from creativity and yoga through to psychiatric medications and psychotherapies.

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Module 3 - Love and Work

Mental health has sometimes been described simply as the capacity to love and to work. Psychiatry still uses similar concepts today. In this module, we talk about love and work, and introduce the complementary ideas of rest and play. We hear about attachment theory, social connections and the ancient wisdom of Australian Aboriginal views on wellbeing. We discuss the importance of contributing and here you find out whether or not work is good for you.

Families and carers10:43

Aboriginal Australians: social and emotional wellbeing7:46

Social and economic participation3:22

The YES Project11:58

Consumer communities7:37

Познакомьтесь с преподавателями

Sonia Kumar
Psychiatry Course Coordinator
Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney

[MUSIC]

Throughout history,

there have been many strong voices that have spoken about mental health.

Some of these voices belong to people who worked for the mental health system.

Louder and sometimes uninformed voices spoke through the media.

People who actually experience mental health issues

have traditionally had no voice.

Then things began to change.

People who have been diagnosed mentally ill began to come together and form their

own communities, and build a combined voice that would demand to be heard.

Consumer communities fight for a fairer society that embraces and

celebrates the diversity of human experiences.

Including the eccentricities that we associate with mental illness.

Consumer communities feel that is not them who is sick, but society who is sick.

They that society erects barriers that prevent them from living contributing and

fulfilling lives.

And this has to change.

Consumer communities fight against human experiences being categorized and

medicalized.

You will hear them use different language to describe their experiences.

They describe themselves as experiencing extreme states of consciousness,

or has having the gift of emotional sensitivity.

Consumer communities also strive to open the eyes of the wider community to

the marginalization and disempowerment of people who have been labeled mentally ill.

They want the public to know what it's like in a psychiatric hospital.

How it feels to be treated against your will.

And what it is like to be stigmatized.

Consumer communities seize the slurs that are used against them, like mad,

nutter, and psycho, and reclaim them to be used with pride.

Consumer communities have taken inspiration from

other groups who have been marginalized by society.

Groups who have successfully fought stigma and oppression such as the black pride and

gay pride movements.

In 1993, consumers in Toronto, Canada, organized a MAD pride march

to protest against treatment in all aspects of their lives.

Now, Mad Pride events are held around the world in the month of July,

including in Australia.

These days, Mad Pride events are much more than a protest match,

they are month long celebrations of Mad culture,

the music, poetry and art created by Mad people.

A popular feature at the celebration is the bed push,

when people lying in hospital beds are pushed through the streets

to highlight the use of force in psychiatric hospitals.

In 2005, a new voice hit FM radio, Madness Radio.

Since then, Madness Radio has played an important role

in furthering the goals of consumer communities.

Challenging misconceptions about mental illness, and

the society that creates them.

Madness Radio presents interviews and

lectures that educate, illuminate, and celebrate madness.

What started as one hour broadcast, produced in the US,

is now played on FM radio stations around the world, and is a much loved podcast.

Around the same time, Australia formed it's own consumer community,

called Our Consumer Place.

Our Consumer Place is run by consumers, for consumers.

It is a space where diverse consumer perspectives are shared and respected.

Our Consumer Place highlights the historical struggle

of people who are labelled mentally ill.

Instead of sensationalizing mental health issues, members share stories that show

that strength and bravery of people who live with extreme distress, so

as to strengthen consumers and change the world.

Our Consumer Place uses humor to challenge the mental health system and stigma.

Community members have developed a wickedly funny dictionary

that redefines words, labels and

phrases that are commonly used by mental health practitioners.

And take the sting out of the tail of words that have previously harmed them.

Our Consumer Place strengthens the consumer community

by offering guidance to people who live with mental distress.

This includes advice on how he share their stories, challenge stigma,

become involved in committees, start consumer groups and

provide meaningful emotional support to each other.

One consumer group has caused significant controversy in the wider community.

They are known as the Icarus Project.

This community links itself to the mythical figure of Icarus, who is given

the gift of flight, but flies too close to the sun and crashes to his death.

The members of this community say that their emotional sensitivity,

insight and creativity are not an illness.

Instead, they see these as dangerous gifts that allow them to fly but

also put them at peril.

They believe that the gift of mental illness should be cultivated and

honored, not eradicated with medication.

It is a very different message and it has not always been welcomed.

The New York Times has described the Icarus Project as a resource for

those who do not want to get better.

If you visit the Icarus Project's website,

you will see that this community is very much focus on getting better.

Members post artworks, poetry, prose, and

other creative work that explores their experiences of mental distress.

They say that this brings healing and balance to their lives and

enables them to use their gifts to change the world.

I've only mentioned a few consumer communities.

There are many more.

Particularly at a local level and

they're all having a huge impact on their members and on society.

Real changes are happening.

Communities like the MAD pride movement,

Madness Radio, Our Consumer Place, and the Icarus Project,

show that people diagnosed as mentally ill are actually strong and insightful.

They show that when mad people join together,

we are a force to be reckoned with.

[MUSIC]

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