Someone Like Me – from youth research to youth action

As a provider of Like Minds, Like Mine work, the Mental Health Foundation has carried out research into the experiences of stigma and discrimination faced by young people with experience of mental illness or distress.

The research, in partnership with The Collaborative for Research and Training in Youth Health and Development  was used to set up a youth action project that builds partnerships with young leaders who provide solutions to various issues. 

While encouraging frank discussion of negative experiences, the research also asked the young people what did work for them, ie, what attitudes, what services, and why. It also asked them for their ideas about potential solutions.

Our findings paint a clear picture of the experiences of young people when identifying, and seeking help for, their emotional distress. The research also offers hope that there are ways to change attitudes and re-frame services, and that this work can, and should, be led by young people. While the research has yet to become a published document, the stories shared already form the backbone for the action group, known as Someone Like Me, as it engages in the community to find solutions.

In a short time Someone Like Me has already made a significant impact, developing the kind of forward-thinking action plan that would make grown up professionals weep with envy. The volume of work done and planned is staggering and includes: presentations at conferences, community hui, involvement in the local service user network, comic books, DVDs, school presentations and recruitment campaigns!

Certainly it is a perfect example of how young people, when given the opportunity and trust to build on their own passions and skills, will be the drivers of change and can flourish as the potential leaders of tomorrow. This work will be presented by me as part of the NZAAHD Involve 2010 conference taking place this week in Auckland. 

The presentation was developed alongside the Someone Like Me group and will include a video featuring group members Ange and Kelly. If I can’t take them to Involve with me in person, I figured I could sneak them in on my flash drive and give a true and honest representation of their individual enthusiasm and interests. These young people are the heart of the group and the story of Someone Like Me is theirs to tell: 

Watch the video

For further information on the research or the work of Someone Like Me, or to express an interest in getting involved with the group, you can contact me at steve@mentalhealth.org.nz or, better still, get in touch with the group itself at someonelikemehub@gmail.com 

Steve Carter, Mental Health Promoter, Mental Health Foundation Southern Region

Join our EPIC adventure!

If you’re a member the Foundation’s library you can now access 1000s of high-quality electronic publications, including scholarly or professional journals, newspapers, reference materials and images, for free!

It’s been an ambition of mine since I started at the Foundation to open access to this extraordinary collection of electronic resources, called EPIC (Electronic Purchasing In Collaboration).

The Resource & Information Service (RIS), joined a consortium of 170 New Zealand libraries to subscribe to EPIC, which includes a number of multidisciplinary databases that are truly new, exciting and valuable additions to our library resources.

I’m very excited because it is a free service to members that extends our capability to bring you the best and most up to date mental health information.

We subscribe to four database suites, each with unique content and focus, and  providing an incredible range of information - from general interest through to research materials - presented in a wide variety of electronic formats. Much of the content is available in full text and coverage includes both international and New Zealand specific information.

Enhanced database features offer basic to advanced search functions, as well as sophisticated options for saving and managing the retrieved information.

It is designed to be as user-friendly as possible with online search guides available but, if you need it, personal assistance is readily available from our helpful library staff.

The EPIC databases are accessible through our online catalogue.  Go to our library page and click on Search the Online Library Catalogue - OPAC Login with your user name and password, click on OPAC in the Liberty menu and look for the EPIC Databases link on the right side of the page.
 
I encourage all our library users to explore these databases, discover what lies inside and please tell us through this blog what you think!

Any feedback you might like to offer will help us monitor the popularity and use of these resources.


Sarah Knight, RIS Manager, Mental Health Foundation

Does Darth Vader have borderline personality disorder?

Star Wars villain Darth Vader (aka Anakin Skywalker) has apparently been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. That is, according to French psychiatrist Eric Bui in a letter that was due to appear in the journal Psychiatry Research 26 May 2010.

Is Anakin Skywalker suffering from borderline personality disorder?
Abstract
Anakin Skywalker, one of the main characters in Star Wars, meets the criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD). This finding is interesting for it may partly explain the commercial success of these movies among adolescents and be useful in educating the general public and medical students about BPD symptoms.

Has Dr Bui thought about the connotations for those around the world who have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, possibly the most stigmatising of all mental illnesses, to now be linked with this infamously evil character?

In my opinion, this type of ‘research’ moves us away from a humanistic, personalised, recovery model in which we see people for themselves first, rather than defining them by symptoms. But, of course, sensationalism sells – even it would seem in research journals.

Dr Bui’s letter talks about watching the Star Wars movies while teaching students about the disorder, and used Darth Vader’s (or Anakin Skywalker as he was known in the prequels) behaviour to explain the diagnostic criteria. This leads me to wonder how these students will feel when they eventually encounter someone with the diagnosis. Will they be on the look-out for a dark helmet, heavy breathing and a deftly-used light sabre? Or will they be able to see past their lecturer’s stigmatising comments, and view the person behind the diagnosis?

Dr Bui’s approach does not seem to be novel. A simple Google search brings up articles diagnosing Eeyore, from Winnie The Pooh, with mild dysthymic disorder, and the lead characters of Twilight with either psychosis or negative automatic thoughts, which they suggest can be easily treated with a course of cognitive behaviour therapy.

What do you think?  Is diagnosing fictional characters simply a good way to bring diagnostic criteria to life, or does it further stigmatise people experiencing mental distress? Or does it depend on the character being diagnosed?

Read more about Eric Bui’s letter: Is Anakin Skywalker suffering from borderline personality disorder?


Jade Caulfield, Mental Health Promoter, Like Minds, Like Mine

Low-cost approaches to promote physical and mental health: theory, research, and practice

Edited by Luciano L'Abate. (2007)

This is a useful text for those involved in health promotion and related research and who want to clarify conceptual thinking about the place and effectiveness of physical and mental health promotion.

The book argues the need to make a clear distinction between health promotion and prevention. As the title suggests it points out the opportunities that promotion programmes provide due to their low cost, lack of bureaucracy and possibilities to significantly influence outcomes for large numbers of people. Such programmes are agued as an essential 'upstream' element to improve overall health and reduce ballooning care costs in the secondary and tertiary health domains.

Physical and mental health approaches to promotion are detailed, with chapters dedicated to descriptions of specific programmes and the analysis of their effectiveness. Having physical and mental health promotion included in the same book is very relevant with the increasing evidence reinforces the symbiosis between the two. Areas explored are diverse including nutrition vitamins and herbal medicines; exercise, mindfulness and expressive movement; creative and expressive writing; relationships and spirituality.

The examples are mainly from North American but there is sufficient diversity and creativity in the programmes described to capture the imagination for possibilities in New Zealand.

Hugh Norriss, Director of Policy & Development