[NYAPRS Enews] National Coalition of Individuals with MH Conditions Calls for Reasonable Response to Arizona Tragedy

[Harvey Rosenthal]

National Coalition of Individuals with Mental Health Conditions Calls
for Reasonable Response to Arizona Tragedy

 

WASHINGTON (1/10/11) - The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery
(NCMHR) http://www.ncmhr.org, an organization of statewide networks of
persons in recovery from mental health conditions as well as individual
members, joins the nation in grieving the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle
Giffords and other Arizonans. "We especially understand the impact of
violence because, contrary to popular belief, research has shown we are
no more violent than the general population and in fact are 11 times
more likely to be victims of violence," said NCMHR steering committee
member Daniel B. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D. 

 

"Let's not scapegoat and stigmatize an entire group for the actions of a
single individual," Fisher said. "A literature review has shown that the
homicide of a stranger by a person with severe mental health issues
occurs to 1 in 14 million persons. This is so rare that the authors
concluded it was impossible to predict violence by individuals with
mental health issues (Nielssen et al., Schizophrenia Bulletin, 2009
http://schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2009/10/12
/schbul.sbp112)." 

 

The NCMHR urges decision makers to focus as much on Arizona's and the
nation's climate of violent discourse and the need for gun control as on
controlling persons labeled with mental illness. "We know from our
personal experience that recovery from trauma is nurtured by respectful
dialogue and blocked by vitriolic diatribe such as we see today," Fisher
continued. "We have developed the values and skills to heal the anger we
believe causes much of our discord. We have learned that anger and
hopelessness can be transformed to a passion for life when people are
listened to and understood, especially by peers," he said.

"As usual, there are calls for forced treatment," he continued. "Yet
Arizona already has involuntary outpatient commitment (IOC)" - which
allows the compulsory treatment of individuals with mental health
conditions who live in the community - "and that did not prevent this
violence. In fact, IOC makes people afraid to seek treatment, fearing
services that are stigmatizing and coercive."

 

The NCMHR supports the provision of hopeful, compassionate services and
support, and research into holistic, non-pharmaceutical approaches
instead of the system's over-reliance on psychotropic treatment. "We
know from experience that peer support can reach isolated, frightened
persons," Fisher said. "So we call for a national initiative to provide
peer support services at colleges and high schools to help troubled
students through respectful, mutual assistance. We need to infuse
recovery and support into our mental health care systems, our first
responders and the criminal justice system through innovative programs
such as emotional-CPR http://www.emotional-cpr.org (a preventative
public health program) and peer-run alternatives to hospitalization." 

 

NCMHR member Harvey Rosenthal, a leading spokesperson for the peer
movement, was Rep. Giffords' classmate in 2003 at Harvard's Kennedy
School for Policy Leadership. "Gabby has a long record of fighting
against discrimination on behalf of Americans diagnosed with mental
health issues," said Rosenthal. "We don't believe she'd want stigma and
discrimination to be fueled by this shooting."

 

In March 2008, Giffords praised passage of the parity legislation
designed to end discrimination against persons seeking treatment for
mental health issues. "Discrimination has no place in our society," said
the Tucson lawmaker.

 

NCMHR supports the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA), which works to promote hope and recovery for
individuals with even the most severe mental health conditions. "We
appreciate the groundbreaking work SAMHSA is supporting to expand
innovative outreach and engagement services, to improve service
responsiveness and raise standards of care," said NCMHR director Lauren
Spiro.

 

The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR)
http://www.ncmhr.org works to ensure that consumer/survivors have a
major voice in the development and implementation of health care, mental
health, and social policies at the state and national levels, empowering
people to recover and lead a full life in the community.

 

Contacts: 

Daniel B. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., cell: 617-504-0832, info at ncmhr.org 

Lauren Spiro, info at ncmhr.org, 877-246-9058 

Harvey Rosenthal, executive director, New York Association of
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, harveyr at nyaprs.org, 518-527-0564

National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, 877-246-9058,
info at ncmhr.org

 

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