Monday was an intensive introduction to all the challenges/opportunities that come with mental health (or lack of).
Some key reflections from session 1:
- A good approach to mental health needs to be holistic // physical, spiritual, emotional, communal etc.
- A sense of belonging and connectedness to people and place is essential.
- Recovery is possible, people aren’t always the same but they find new ways to cope and in some cases, harness their unique gifts.
- 12 step programme's (adopted from AA) have been really helpful for getting people on a road to recovery.
We were introduced to the UN's framework for an optimal mix of services in mental health:
The gist is, those empowered to look after themselves and with lots of interaction in informal community don't end up at the top of the pyramid which costs a lot and tends to be infrequent support.
In order to support people well, it's helpful to move away from diagnostic type labels. It's really important to use language that is inclusive and respectful. For instance:
- Bob is struggling with meaning in life, rather than he's suicidal.
- Jill occasionally hears voices, rather than she's schizophrenic.
This helps mental health challenges to become more of an everyday thing. Like physical health. e.g. Mike has broken his leg, rather than he's a cripple.
Session 2 - Hearing voices
We heard stories from people who hear voices and have been through the mental health system. They then took us through an intensive exercise. We wore iPods that played a constant series of voices that are stereo typical. There was no escaping them for one hour!
Go faster! Go slower. Stop touching yourself! You stink! Why are you doing that? What’s wrong with you? gibberish gibberish and more gibberish!
While the voice were playing we had psych tests, psych exercises, a “community visit” in to town to ask a question a shop keeper where the library was. All the while the voices are making it hard to concentrate and are very tiring! Filling out forms was a lot trickier.
When referring to people that have gone through the system, one of our tutors suggested "people first" language like:
- People who have lived experience
- People who have been diagnosed with a mental illness
- People who have experienced emotional anguish
- People who have been through the system
Key reflections for me:
- My mind is so peaceful in comparison!
- The mental health system can be incredibly dehumanising.
- Having friends and family who are understanding and not freaked out by mental illness makes a big difference.
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