The diagnosis of a severe “mental illness” was once thought to be a life sentence (or death sentence – depending on a person’s point of reference). Those days are numbered, and will soon be gone.
As the mental health recovery model gains momentum – with the recognition and respect it’s due – the concept of recovery will become mainstream. As this paradigm shift takes place, a hope -filled recovery will emerge as the new prognosis - for millions.
A message needs to resonate in the medical community – and in the hearts and minds of those who’ve been given a psychiatric label – Recovery is real. Recovery is possible. Recovery is often achieved. We must encourage it – and believe in it – and cheer others on!
- Duane Sherry
From the [Leader Post]:
Anne Kyle
Leader-Post
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
REGINA — Clinical psychologist Patricia Deegan reaffirmed her belief Tuesday that psychosocial rehabilitation should be based on a model that provides the individual with choices and hope.Co-founder of the Boston University Institute for the Study of Human Resilience, Deegan, who was first diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was 17, went on to make mental health transformation her life’s work.
“Through a series of events I decided I wanted to make a life for myself and I just couldn’t buy into the prognosis of doom that I would never be well,” said Deegan, who was speaking at the annual Saskatchewan conference on psychosocial rehabilitation in Regina.
“I am trying to bring a message forward that recovery is real (it is science-based) and it is not just for a few exceptional people or superstars of some sort.”
According to world literature on recovery, half to two-thirds of people diagnosed with major mental disorders like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder go on to significant recovery in their lives, Deegan noted….
….Read the rest [here].
Additional links from Discover and Recover:
Read this website’s [Dedication].
[Listen to Dr. Pat Deegan on You Tube video].
[Watch Dan Rather's 'Brain Science' series on brain "neuroplasticity"].
Learn more about the ‘Innovations Institute’ – through the Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Boston University [here].
Find out more about alternative medicine and treatment options for “mental illness” [here].
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