The Field of Hope

iFred (International Foundation for Research and Education on Depression) is working to eliminate the stigma of depression since the launch of the Field of Hope in Ghana in 2009. This creative and unique initiative is designed to shine the spotlight on depression in Africa, and to raise money for depression reseach and advocacy efforts worldwide. Africa was chosen to host the field to highlight and educate just how poorly the disease is understood.

iFred has also chosen the sunflower as the international symbol for depression, and has launched a major ad campaign showing the relationships of sunflowers to depression survivors. According to their website:

"•A recent study by Rutger’s, the State University of New Jersey, showed that flowers have an immediate positive impact on happiness (100% of time, both males and females), that they have a long-term positive effect on moods, and that they make intimate connections. The study also said sunflowers are said to enhance alertness, as yellow light waves stimulate the brain.
•A recent study by Texas A&M also found that placing flowers and plants in offices led individuals to be more creative, better problem solvers, and more productive.
•A sunflower is the color yellow, often associated with joy and happiness.
•Sunflowers flourish with sun and light. Humans do as well.
•Sunflowers and depression both have lifecycles.
•Sunflowers grow from a small seed and can get bigger, as can a depressive episode when left untreated."

For more information on iFred, please visit www.ifred.org and www.depression.org or email: foh@ifred.org.

International Diploma on Mental Health Law and Human Rights

ILS Law College, University of Pune, India, in partnership with the World Health Organization launched the first ever one-year International Diploma in Mental Health Law & Human Rights in 2008. Based on materials and tools developed by WHO, the diploma provides the law students with essential knowledge and skills for a career in the area of mental health, human rights and legislation. The fourth class is currently underway at ILS.

This unique Diploma is designed to appeal to a wide range of people interested in mental health including health workers, legal professionals, policy makers, and service users and family members.

The main objectives of the Diploma are: to equip students with the knowledge and understanding of international human rights standards for people with mental disorders; to apply these standards to mental health legislation; to understand the role of legislation in promoting and protecting the rights of persons with mental disorders; to understand how mental health policy and services can work to improve the human rights of people with mental disorders; and to equip the students with a broad contextual knowledge of the law and apply the same in the process of drafting, amending and implementing mental health legislation.

It is expected that the Diploma will equip the students to undertake advocacy work in this area and equip them with the knowledge and skills to actively support countries to drafting and amending mental health laws in line with international human rights standards such as the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The course begins with a 2 week onsite session at the ILS Law College at the University of Pune, India, with another one week at the end of the course for exams and project presentations. In between students are required to complete online lectures, study exercises, essays or other homework assignments. In addition, students will complete 1 extended essay (4000-5000 words each) and a research project (15000 words). The cost is 5500 Euros and scholarships are available. Please visit http://www.mentalhealthlaw.in/html for more information. For more information on the host institution, ILS Law College, please visit www.ilslaw.edu.

NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)

For three decades, NAMI has established itself as the most formidable grassroots mental health advocacy organization in the country. Dedication, steadfast commitment and unceasing belief in NAMI's mission by grassroots advocates have produced profound changes. NAMI's greatest strength is the dedication of our grassroots leaders and members. We are the families, friends and individuals that serve to strengthen communities across the country.

Due in large part to generous individual, corporate, and foundation donations, NAMI is able to build on its success and continue to focus on three cornerstones of activity that offer hope, reform, and health to our American community: Awareness, Education, and Advocacy.

If you are in need of immediate help, please call the NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-NAMI. This resource is an important tool when crisis beckons! Save it in your phone just in case it's needed one day.

Visit www.nami.org for more information on this very important organization.

Bring Change 2 Mind

BringChange2Mind.org is a not-for-profit organization created by Glenn Close, the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation (CABF), Fountain House, and Garen and Shari Staglin of IMHRO (International Mental Health Research Organization).

The idea of a national anti-stigma campaign was born of a partnership between Glenn Close and Fountain House, where Glenn volunteered in order to learn about mental illness, which both her sister and nephew suffer from.

The main goals of Bring Change to Mind are to:
1. Provide people who have misconceptions about mental illness quick and easy access to information that combats stigma.
2. Provide people who have mental illness, and those who know them, quick and easy access to information and support.

This is the first effort of this magnitude in U.S. history. Ron Howard generously donated his time in directing our first PSA that features Glenn Close and her sister, Jessie Close. John Mayer generously donated his song, Say, which serves as an anthem for this movement.

The campaign has the support of major mental health organizations, including Active Minds, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), International Mental Health Research Organization (IMHRO), the Jed Foundation, Mental Health America (MHA), National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), NARSAD, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Please visit http://www.bringchange2mind.org/ for more information.

SPOTLIGHT on Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC)

Mission
The Treatment Advocacy Center is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illnesses. The Treatment Advocacy Center promotes laws, policies, and practices for the delivery of psychiatric care and supports the development of innovative treatments for and research into the causes of severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

The Treatment Advocacy Center is engaged in a wide-range of activities and projects aimed at increasing treatment for people with severe mental illnesses. Over the next twelve months key initiatives will focus on:

*Seeking to bring assisted outpatient treatment and other treatment reforms to several key states
*Implementing Laura's Law in California
*Expanding the Treatment Advocacy Helpline
*Building a larger and better equipped army of treatment advocates across the U.S.

For more information, please visit the organization's website at www.treatmentadvoacycenter.org.

Faces and Voices of Recovery

Faces & Voices of Recovery is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to organizing and mobilizing the millions of Americans in long-term recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs, our families, friends, and allies to speak with one voice. The organization is working to change public perceptions of recovery, promote effective public policy in Washington, D.C. and in all 50 states, and demonstrate that recovery is working for millions of Americans. It is our mission to bring the power and proof of recovery to everyone in the nation.

Faces & Voices of Recovery is a national network of over 20,000 individuals and
organizations joining together to speak out and support local, state, regional and national recovery advocacy by:
• Being a national rallying point for recovery advocates
• Linking advocates to organizing, policy, and research support
• Building advocacy skills through hands-on training and technical assistance
• Improving access to policymakers and the media

Organizational activities include:
• Creation of the first ever “Recovery Bill of Rights,” a declaration stating that all Americans have a right to be free from addiction and to build new lives. Part of this effort is a call for federal, state, and local officials to implement public and private policies to get individuals and their families the help they need
• The Online Advocacy Action Center which harnesses the power of the Web to keep
recovery advocates informed and make activism easier than ever
• A multi-faceted, one-stop recovery Web site with information for activists, families, and those in long-term recovery on how to get involved in their communities
• The Addiction Recovery Insurance Equity Campaign, working to end discrimination against people with addiction
• The Recovery Voices Count Campaign, an effort to register voters, educate candidates and get-out-the vote
• A bi-monthly advocacy eNewsletter and quarterly publication called Rising!
Faces & Voices of Recovery is supported in this effort by a growing membership, foundations, government agencies and the many friends of addiction recovery around the nation.


What Can You Do?
There are many ways that you can take action and be a face and a voice for recovery. The level of action that you take will depend on the stage of your recovery and your personal circumstances. If you don’t want to be public about your recovery, you can work as an advocate behind the scenes, providing financial and other support to our growing national movement. The important thing is, there’s something that you can do to support recovery today!

Speak out as a person in long-term recovery or as a family member. Use our Recovery Messaging or Power of Our Stories video to practice ways of talking about recovery and what it’s meant to you. Use our Advocacy with Anonymity brochure to learn how to tell your story without violating the traditions if you are in recovery using a 12-step program. Share your story with friends, neighbors, co-workers and policymakers.
Educate yourself and others about Faces & Voices’ campaigns and the issues that are important to the recovery community. We have advocacy tools for you to use for specific campaigns like sample letters to the editor. Use our Recovery is a Reality powerpoint and ask to talk to PTA, Rotary Club, inmates at your local jail, Medical Society or other group. Subscribe to our eNewsletter for electronic updates.
Hone your advocacy skills by participating in webinars and trainings. Faces & Voices and allied organizations host trainings that you can use to increase your effectiveness as an advocate. Educate your elected officials about pending issues. You can use our Online Advocacy Action Center to send emails to federal policymakers about national issues of importance to the recovery community. Invite your mayor, council member, state and federal elected officials to attend your events and activities.

Join a local, regional or state-wide recovery community organization. Coming together with others to speak with one voice as an organized constituency increases the effectiveness of your advocacy voice. If there isn’t an organized recovery community organization where you live, we can help you get one started!
Stay in touch with recovery advocates in your regional through Faces & Voices’ regional listservs. There’s a lot going on in communities around the country and we can learn from one another about new strategies and campaigns to get the word out about actions to take to support long-term recovery.

Information taken directly from the organization's website at www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org.

Mental Health Month Blog Party

In honor of Mental Health month, the American Psychological Association hosted a Mental Health Blog Party on May 18, 2011 to spread the word on mental health. Visit http://www.yourmindyourbody.org/mental-health-month-blog-day-may-18/ for links to amazing and often hilarious posts on mental health issues.

SPOTLIGHT on Time to Change

In England, a collaborative effort has been launched by three major mental health charities - Mental Health Media, Mind, Rethink and will be evaluated by the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College in London. The effort is funded by the English public, through the National Lottery Fund and Comic Relief, who have made this vital work possible. Their mission is to inspire people to work together to end the discrimination surrounding mental health. The project is funded with £16m from the Big Lottery Fund and £2m from Comic Relief, and evaluated by the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College, London. The project features local community projects, a national high-profile campaign, a mass-participation physical activity week, legal test cases, training for student doctors and teacher, and a network of grassroots activists combating discrimination.


Time to Change is England’s biggest ever attempt to end stigma and discrimination and improve well-being. The program will measure their success by evaluating their impact on the experience people actually have of discrimination, with the aims of:
1.) Creating a 5% positive shift in public attitudes towards mental health problems
2.) Achieving a 5% reduction in discrimination by 2012
3.) Increasing the ability of 100,000 people with mental health problems to address discrimination
4.) Engaging over 250,000 people in physical activity
5.) Producing a powerful evidence base of what works

It will be interesting to follow this project and monitor its results. Stakeholders in the U.S. and other countries could potentially use such a model in the future for a major national public education campaign.

Please visit their channel at www.youtube.com/user/ttcnow2008 and visit the Time to Change website at www.time-to-change.org.uk

'In The Rooms' online networking for people in recovery across the globe!

In The Rooms - an Online Social Networking Site for the Recovery Community

Join 'In The Rooms'- the webs newest and most comprehensive social networking site for the worldwide Recovery community. In The Rooms provides resources for people seeking help or treatment; for people in recovery; and for friends, family and allies of those in recovery. You can join online meetings and affinity groups; browse the library for articles; connect with other resources for Recovery; and take an active role in promoting recovery.
Join here: http://www.intherooms.com

SPOTLIGHT on CMHS National GAINS Center

The Center for Mental Health Services' National GAINS Center was founded in 1995 and serves as a national focal point for gathering and disseminating information about effective services for people with co-occurring disorders involving mental health and substance abuse problems in contact with the criminal justice system. The GAINS Center operates under the auspices of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The TAPA (Technical Assistance and Policy Analysis) Center for Jail Diversion and the Center for Evidence-Based Programs in the Justice System, funded by the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) in 2001 and 2004 respectively, make up the National GAINS Center.

The GAINS Center's work focuses on expanding access to community based services for adults caught up in the criminal justice system and diagnosed with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders. Emphasizing the provision of consultation and technical assistance to communities, the Center aims to achieve integrated systems of mental health and substance abuse services.

To accomplish this, the GAINS Center has developed a comprehensive plan of information dissemination, knowledge application and technical assistance strategies to further the implementation of evidence-based programs in the justice system. The GAINS Center supports and engages in creative initiatives and collaboration with public and private organizations to effectively address the evolving needs of state and local planning and coordination.

Examples of the GAINS Center's work includes:

1.) Consumer Perspectives Exhibit, In Our Own Words: Our Experience with Mental Illness in the Criminal Justice System is a museum quality exhibit featuring consumers and peer specialists involved in the development and implementation of jail diversion programs, participants in jail diversion programs, participants in drug courts, and other individuals with histories of justice involvement. This exhibit has been displayed since 2008 in various locations around the country including the National CIT Training Conference in 2008. If you are interested in contributing to the exhibit or hosting the exhibit, please contact Latrease Moore at the National GAINS Center, (518) 439-7415 ext. 280 or lmoore@prainc.com.

2.) CMHS Jail Diversion and Trauma Recovery Program: Priority to Veterans 2008
Combat veterans are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD and other mental illnesses. Many of these veterans suffering with mental health issues won't be diagnosed and therefore will not receive treatment untreated, resulting in a arrest and incarceration. Communities struggle with providing adequate supports to ensure that these veterans successfully reintegrate back into community life. In an effort to counteract this, SAMHSA awarded six Jail Diversion and Trauma Recovery Program grants in the fall of 2008 to support local implementation and statewide expansion of trauma-informed jail diversion programs for people with post traumatic stress (PTSD) and other trauma-related disorders. Grants were awarded to organizations in Vermont, Georgia, Arizona and other states and the CMHS GAINS Center will provide support by assisting states with infrastructure development, offering aid in program design, action planning, and overcoming barriers among many other areas of technical assistance. For more information, please visit the GAINS Center website.