Mental Illness is Common!
Know the Numbers As You Talk to Family and Friends
1 in 5 U.S. adults experiences mental illness each year.
1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experiences a mental health disorder each year.
1 in 25 U.S. adults experiences serious mental illness each year.
Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among people aged 10-34.
Millions of people in the U.S. are affected by mental illness each year. That's why it's important to understand how common mental illness is, as well as the magnitude of its physical, social, and financial impact.
➢Consumer Operated Services EBP Provider Kit LINK
➢ Other SAMHSA EBP Kits LINK
➢ Finding BH Evidence-Based Programs & Practices--SAMHSA LINK
Evidence for Peer Support May 2018 ( 9 pages)
The Case for Peer Support Peer support is an evidence-based practice for individuals with mental health conditions or challenges. Both quantitative and qualitative evidence indicate that peer support lowers the overall cost of mental health services by reducing re-hospitalization rates and days spent in inpatient services, increasing the use of outpatient services. Peer support improves quality of life, increases and improves engagement with services, and increases whole health and self-management. This document identifies key outcomes of per support services over a range of studies differentiated by program, geographic location, and year. Though many of the studies and programs listed below have some major programmatic differences, one thing is the same – they all demonstrate the value of peer support.
New ways of working in mental health services: a qualitative, comparative case study assessing and informing the emergence of new peer worker roles in mental health services in England.Health Services and Delivery Research, No. 2.19.Gillard S, Edwards C, Gibson S, et al.Southampton (UK): NIHR Journals Library; 2014 Jul.
The CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the largest investigations of childhood abuse and neglect and household challenges and later-life health and well-being.
The original ACE Study was conducted at Kaiser Permanente from 1995 to 1997 with two waves of data collection. Over 17,000 Health Maintenance Organization members from Southern California receiving physical exams completed confidential surveys regarding their childhood experiences and current health status and behaviors.
More detailed information about the study can be found in the links below or in “Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in AdultsExternal,” published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 1998, Volume 14, pages 245–258.
HVN Began in 1980’s when a psychiatrist realized that therapeutic techniques were not helping a patient , Patsy Hage, manage her voices and wondered if other voice-hearers might be better able to help her, which turned out to be true. Patsy and the psychiatrist cofounded the Hearing Voices Network (HVN) in 1987.
“The HVN is a peer-to-peer, nonclinical support group based on the radical idea that voice-hearing is not automatically a sign of pathology. Unlike traditional methods that encourage voice hearers not to engage with or listen to their voices, the HVN takes the opposite approach: voice-hearers are encouraged to explore and discover for themselves what their voices mean. The groups also provide social support and acceptance– something that is vitally important given the social distancing and isolation often reported by voice hearers. And the groups offer practical strategies for living with and managing voices.” (Harris, Foundation for Excellence in MH Care, 2020)
There are 100’s of groups all over the world but only 14 in CA, mostly in the Bay Area Region (Berkeley & Oakland)
Pool of Consumer Champions (POCC): Corinita Reyes, Singer email@example.com
CA Hearing Voices Network Peer Support Groups
Guidelines include acknowledging 3 freedoms:
Hearing Voices Movement is a part of a social justice movement that intersects with other movements and marginalized experiences. People’s experiences with systemic oppression are accepted as real, and there is a commitment on the part of the group to interrupt words or actions rooted in racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, psychiatric oppression and other types of systemic oppression when they come up.
See all guidelines at: http://www.hearingvoicesusa.org/hvn-usa-charter
Research Supports Hearing Voices Network Groups
“Group attendance was credited with a range of positive emotional, social and clinical outcomes. Aspects that were particularly valued included: opportunities to meet other voice hearers, provision of support that was unavailable elsewhere, and the group being a safe and confidential place to discuss difficult issues. Participants perceived HVN groups to facilitate recovery processes and to be an important resource for helping them cope with their experiences.(Longden, Read & Dillon, 2018)
Hearing Voices Network USA http://www.hearingvoicesusa.org/
Hearing Voices Network http://www.hearingvoices.org/ Video by Western MA Recovery Learning Community & Mt Holyoke College
Beyond Possible: How the Hearing Voices Approach Transforms Lives https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk5juEgi1oY &feature=youtu.be (22 minutes)
Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care funds Hearing Voices Research, Article: https://www.mentalhealthexcellence.org/the-hearingvoices-network-hits-the-mainstream/
Longden, E., Read, J., & Dillon, J. (2018). Assessing the Impact and Effectiveness of Hearing Voices Network Self-Help Groups. Community Mental Health Journal, 54(2), 184-188. Retrieved 8 11, 2020, free access at: https://southbayprojectresourcedotorg.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/assessing-the-impactand-effectiveness-of-hvn-self-help-groups-06-2017.pdf
The Hearing Voices Network Hits the Mainstream! March 8, 2020 By Leah Harris, Foundation For Excellence In Mental Health Care
Hearing Voices support groups connect and heal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQnoVdKkWvQ&feature=youtu.be
Lost In Reality: Hearing Voices | Adrianne Roberts | TEDxChilliwack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKIgFCoEVA4
Hearing Voices : an Insiders Guide to Auditory Hallucinations | Debra Lampshire | TEDxTauranga https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjL2dqONIqQ ( New Zealand)
ACEs Connection, an ever-growing social network, connects those who are implementing trauma-informed and resilience-building practices based on ACEs science. The network’s 35,000+ members share their best practices, while inspiring each other to grow the ACEs movement.
Contact: Gail Kenedy
In the ACEs Connection Network Resources Center, you'll find lists of basic resources such as ACE surveys (original and expanded), resilience surveys, and ACEs science presentations you can download. If you have suggestions for other resources, add them to the comments section of the resource.
Film maker James Redford, son of actor Robert Redford, came across an article disseminating the research findings and thought the ideas within it should be raised more prominently within the public eye (Cocozza 2017). In order to achieve this he made a film entitled Resilience: the biology of stress and the science of hope
The original study to explore the concept of ACEs was that of Felitti et al in 1998.
Felitti, V., Anda, R., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D., Spitz, A., Edwards, V., Koss, M. and Marks, J. (1998) Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults (The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study. American Journal of Preventative Medicine Vol 14 (4), pp.245-258.
Film maker James Redford, son of actor Robert Redford, came across an article disseminating the research findings and thought the ideas within it should be raised more prominently within the public eye (Cocozza 2017). In order to achieve this he made a film entitled Resilience: the biology of stress and the science of hope which has now been widely distributed across the western world.
Access video trainings on peer support services, youth and young adults, and other topics.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Volume 54, Issue 6, Supplement 3, June 2018, Pages S258-S266
Author links open overlay panelCheryl A.GagneScD1Wanda L.FinchMSW, MEd, LICSW2Keris J.MyrickMBA, MS2Livia M.DavisMSW