4 ms·

This type of belief is exactly what I was referring to when I said that one of the main features of his illness is that it resists anything that we would consid

This type of belief is exactly what I was referring to when I said that one of the main features of his illness is that it resists anything that we would consider rehabilitating. Attitudes like this add to the sense of shame: "why don't you get out more and try to be normal like us. Everyone thinks it's a good idea for you." Makes me sick.

asveikau 7y ago
But it's also true. It's helpful for all people of varying states of mental health, whether you start out with a psychotic disorder or not. We all need and desire social support. So it becomes this sort of jedi trick of encouraging those things without being pushy. I don't always know how to pull that off.
DanBC 7y ago
Ann doesn't want to join a creative writing group for mentally ill people, she wants to join a creative writing group. Bob doesn't want a work-like scheme for mentally ill people, he wants to keep his current job and wants advice about disclosing mental illness to his employer and asking for reasonable adjustments. These are the things that me and my friends have been campaigning for for all these years- a socially inclusive recovery model.
- jdietrich 7y ago
  This. It's difficult to establish and maintain a sense of normalcy and social integration when you're only being offered a sort of tacit ghettoisation. Support groups can offer very useful support, but they can also become a trap of mutually-reinforcing pathology. Psychiatric inpatient units are a really difficult place to get better, precisely because you're surrounded by a lot of deeply troubled people who generally would rather be anywhere else. The Camphill Movement offers an exemplary model of how people with learning difficulties can be integrated into a genuine community. What barriers are preventing us from offering similarly strong integration for people with severe and enduring mental illness? Why are so many people with moderately severe mental health problems being excluded from society for lack of relatively modest accommodations?

asveikau 7y ago

But it's also true. It's helpful for all people of varying states of mental health, whether you start out with a psychotic disorder or not. We all need and desire social support. So it becomes this sort of jedi trick of encouraging those things without being pushy. I don't always know how to pull that off.

DanBC 7y ago

Ann doesn't want to join a creative writing group for mentally ill people, she wants to join a creative writing group. Bob doesn't want a work-like scheme for mentally ill people, he wants to keep his current job and wants advice about disclosing mental illness to his employer and asking for reasonable adjustments. These are the things that me and my friends have been campaigning for for all these years- a socially inclusive recovery model.

jdietrich 7y ago
This. It's difficult to establish and maintain a sense of normalcy and social integration when you're only being offered a sort of tacit ghettoisation. Support groups can offer very useful support, but they can also become a trap of mutually-reinforcing pathology. Psychiatric inpatient units are a really difficult place to get better, precisely because you're surrounded by a lot of deeply troubled people who generally would rather be anywhere else. The Camphill Movement offers an exemplary model of how people with learning difficulties can be integrated into a genuine community. What barriers are preventing us from offering similarly strong integration for people with severe and enduring mental illness? Why are so many people with moderately severe mental health problems being excluded from society for lack of relatively modest accommodations?