Where's the coo coo's nest now? The state of mental health in america?

Question: The psych hospital I work in is closing, I want to find a new path for mental health, I.e., retreats and seminars as oposed to inpatient type units where folks are locked up. EVERY ONE of us is affected by mental illness in one way or another, what would you like to see for yourself and your loved ones?

Answers:
hey, hackerman, I like your questions... while my base of operations is NYC, there are resources for recovery-oriented services popping up all over the place...

ultimately, though possibly not in my lifetime anymore, I would love to see all mental health services be strengths based rather than deficit based... working with what's right with you (and for many of us who have been labeled/diagnosed with a MI, there's MUCH that's right with us, we are the more creative, the more sensitive and because we don't dance to the music the majority hears, because they don't see things as we do, they feel they have to pathologize and control us lest we hurt ourselves or someone)...

take heart, there's hope, my friend... one day the inmates WILL be running the asylum... after all, t'is WE that are the experts on us, not them

if you let me know more specifically where you are, I can perhaps share more specific resources with you.

have you considered taking the certification exam to become a psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner? sounds like you have the experience that would qualify you. Check out www.uspra.org and click on the certification link if you are interested

you didn't ask but if you did, it's not the state of mental health in America we need to worry about but the state of America... we are clearly going to hell in a handbasket... we are a nation of excess <supersize me!> and that alone can be stressful enough to cause symptoms that will land ya a fat whopping diagnosis

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A place where people can live on their own, but still be supervised for med management. Maybe like assisted living, where the family could pay extra for someone to come in & dole out the meds.

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