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Writing for the health of it

June 16th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (0 Comments)

From the two-minute miracle to writing your memoirs—expressive writing holds the promise of health benefits

Life Writing is an organic process—living and vital—with interrelated functions. In simple terms, it’s anything you write about your life. Life Writing’s genres and practices include autobiography, biography, memoir, diaries, letters, testimonies, autoethnography, personal essays and digital forms such as blogs and email [source: Wikipedia].

But what are the benefits of writing about your life…your experiences…your emotions…your thoughts?  Author and life writer Sharon Lippincott says that results from three decades of research are clear: expressive writing is good for you, however you go about it. And research by Chad Burton and Laura King [opens to PDF] found that—amazingly—health benefits follow from just two minutes of written expression. (more…)

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From old school to new school

June 16th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on From old school to new school)

Consensus about the value of recovery-based health systems and programs grows, but how are they best implemented?

The goal of many mental health services and treatments is now recovery. This wasn’t always the case. In the past, mental health professionals told people with mental illness and their families that most illnesses got worse over time. People were told to lower their expectations. But now recovery is the goal—and it can mean anything from the complete absence of the symptoms of mental illness to living a full life in the community while learning to live with ongoing symptoms. [Source: Canadian Mental Health Association]

What is the “recovery model” and how does it differ from old school approaches? And how can a recovery model be implemented? (more…)

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Mental health, citizenship, and inclusion II

June 9th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (0 Comments)

Austin Mardon, Order of Canada recipient, is about to receive an honourary degree for his mental health awareness work

In 1986, 24-year-old Austin Mardon was a junior field member with an international meteorite recovery expedition 170 miles from the South Pole. While his findings contributed to the advancement of science, the extreme hardships of the expedition left him mentally and physically disabled. Austin was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Since then, Austin has bravely survived many setbacks by evoking an indomitable will to make a contribution. He is recognized as a leader in advancing understanding and support for people with mental illness. (more…)

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Stigma awareness, art to travel

June 9th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Stigma awareness, art to travel)

Nanaimo artist and activist Wallace Malay will present about art, mental illness, and stigma at New York conference

A conference for organizing resistance against psychiatry will be held June 20-21, 2011 at the City University of New York. PsychOUT provides a forum for psychiatric survivors, mad people, activists, radical professionals, artists, scholars and students from around the world to share experiences of organizing against psychiatry. Collective resistance against the theories and interventions of institutional psychiatry has intensified over recent years. (more…)

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Homophobia is rampant in schools

June 2nd, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Homophobia is rampant in schools)

Verbal, physical, and sexual harassment is reported by gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, and queer school students

The terms “homophobia” and “transphobia” signify a great deal of unnecessary misery in the lives of Canadian students. Knowledge of their distress and a determination to bring it to the consciousness of educators and parents motivated members of the Education Committee of Egale Canada to conduct a ‘climate survey’ of Canadian schools. University of Winnipeg professor Catherine Taylor launched the survey in December 2007, eventually collecting information from over 3,700 students across Canada. (more…)

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Mental health, citizenship, and inclusion

June 2nd, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Mental health, citizenship, and inclusion)

A group of people diagnosed with schizophrenia conducted research about housing and its impacts on mental health

The struggle for housing stability is among the many challenges faced by people with schizophrenia. That struggle was the focus of a participatory action research project led by professor Barbara Schneider at the University of Calgary.

Participatory research involves members of a community group in meaningful participation in all stages of the research process, including developing the research question, gathering the data, analyzing the data, and disseminating and using the results. (more…)

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