peer support

Who Gets to Define ā€œPeer Support?ā€

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The definition of ā€œpeer supportā€ should be straightforward. But over the years, ā€œpeer supportā€ seems to have morphed into ā€œpeer specialistā€Ā ā€” or, to put it more bluntly, psychiatric survivors’ experiential knowledge has been co-opted by the system. How does peer-developed peer support differ from theĀ peer staff model? And what can we do about this?

Study Finds Heavy Metal Music Beneficial to Mental Health

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A new study highlights the role heavy metal music plays in the mental health of adolescents facing adversity.

How Online Forums Offered ‘Lifeline’ for Sufferers

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FromĀ The Times: In an age in which benzodiazepine dependence is increasingly becoming a global problem, online forums serve as a lifeline for numerous benzodiazepine...

5 Ways to Address a Mental Health Crisis Without Calling 911

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FromĀ The Body Is Not An Apology: For many people, calling the police during a mental health emergency can result in brutality. Here are five...

Challenging the Relentless Rise of Depression in Young People

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In this piece, Dave Traxson discusses the social and cultural factors contributing to the rise of depression among young people in Britain, arguing that...

Study Investigates Factors that Foster Posttraumatic Growth in Prison

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Emotional support, religion, and searching for meaning are positively correlated with posttraumatic growth among prisoners.

Psychiatrist Calls for Increased Attention to Therapeutic Alliance

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Sandra Steingard, writing in the journal Psychiatric Services, reviews a recent article finding that the quality of the therapeutic relationship impacts the efficacy of medication treatment.

Interventions that Promote Disclosure Among Voice-Hearers

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The perspectives of the voice-hearers featured in the research underscore that stigma and negative perceptions of voice hearing present significant obstacles within early intervention programs.

Social Recovery Therapy for First Episode Psychosis

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Social Recovery Therapy shows promising results for individuals who experience first-episode psychosis.

Students With Mental Health Conditions Find Support at BU

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FromĀ STAT: For the past three years, Boston University has offered one of the few programs in the nation dedicated to teaching students who have...

How Psychology Undermines Feminist Activism

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In this pieceĀ for theĀ Feminist Current, Tove Happonen argues that the therapy model pathologizes women's responses to systemic injustice, aiming to change their emotional reactions...

Researchers Present Structural Competency Training Model for Psychiatrists

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Researchers argue that a structural competency and social determinants of health approach must be made central to psychiatry training.

It’s Time for Full Legal Equality for People With Diagnoses

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In this piece for theĀ National Survivor User Network, Liz Sayce argues that people with mental health conditions will continue to stay silent about their...
fire celebration

Human Connection is the Antidote to a Culture of Isolation

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We need to burn through some darkness before we collectively see the light. The light is a palpable shift toward reaching for human connection; toward opening our hearts and our minds and intentionally focusing on the positive future that wants to emerge.

How Loneliness Affects Our Health

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FromĀ The New York Times: The potentially harmful impact of loneliness and isolation on our health and well-being have been well documented over the past...

Mad Pride: Making a Truce With the Voices in Your Head

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In this piece forĀ Vice, Tess McClure describes New Zealand's Mad Pride movement, a movement that seeks to destigmatize, normalize, and celebrate experiences of voice-hearing...

When the Mad Research the Mad

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In this piece forĀ Asylum Magazine, Sue Phillips, Penny Stafford, and Shirley Anne Collie discuss their involvement in a participatory action research project evaluating the...

Anyone Can Be Trained to Hallucinate

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FromĀ Flipboard: In a recent study on auditory hallucinations, all participants — not just those who had been diagnosed with psychosis — experienced conditioned hallucinations. The study...

The Club Where You Bare Your Soul to Strangers

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FromĀ The Atlantic: A new movement called Authentic Relating is hosting events across the country where people participate in exercises and games to learn the...

Study Challenges Assumption that Schizophrenia Impairs Cognitive Ability

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Secondary factors may impair performance on cognitive tasks, making it difficult for individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia to perform to the best of their ability.

Screen Time Linked to Increased Depressive Symptoms Among Teens

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New study examines how increased screen time and social media may be contributing to depressive symptoms and suicide risk in teens

A Lazy Person’s Guide to Happiness

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FromĀ The Atlantic: According to author Dan Buettner, who studies the healthiest people in the world, improving our surrounding environment has a much greater impact...

Inside Croatia’s Pioneering Mental Health Center

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FromĀ The Guardian: The oldest asylum in the Balkans has now been transformed into an unlocked mental health center. The patients have begun living in...

The Link Between Poor Mental Health and Low Income

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FromĀ Metro: Poverty can have a dramaticĀ effect on people's mental and physical health, as it can impact diet, healthcare access, sleep, and socialization. "There are plenty...

Review Reinforces Social Connection as Protective Health Factor

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Is a lack of social connection in the US harmful to health? In a review of social connection and health literature, researcher calls for a societal shift in values towards interdependence.