November/December 2001: Volume VI, Number 5
NEW YORK CITYVOICES
A Consumer Journal for Mental Health Advocacy
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Ward Stories
CINDY SOSTCHEN, Poetry Editor
"Have a happy, healthy, and well-deserved holiday season after the turbulence we have all
experienced this year."


Peer Support Helped
Me and It Can Help You
By ROBIN SIMON, Peer Advocate, Manhattan West Self Help Program
"[After] thirty-seven years ... I have come to the realization that there's life after being diagnosed with a mental illness."


Cigarette Smoking
and Mental Illness
By JANINE BUDAH, CSW, Community Relations Representative, The Holliswood Hospital
"...there is mounting evidence that smoking is a form of self-medication, since it appears to reduce anxiety..."


What Mental 
Illness Means to Me
By LINDA NAOMI BARON
"It took a while for my psychiatrist to find the right medications for me, and when he did it was like a miracle"


American Public Unaware 
of Teen Suicide Crisis
By ALAFONSO V. GUIDA, Jr, Executive Director, NMHAC
"The tendency to "downplay" suicide ... contrasts sharply with the 36% who report knowing a teen who has attempted or committed suicide."


How to Access Supportive Housing for Individuals With Psychiatric Diagnoses
By LAUREN BHOLAI-PARENTI, Policy Analyst, and DANIEL STERN, Housing Consultant, CUCS
"... think about supportive housing in terms of a spectrum of services, costs and living arrangements."


Anger Management with Severely Emotionally Disturbed Children & Teens
By DAVID M. PRATT, Ph.D., 
Psychologist, WNYCPC
"... teens and young children with severe emotional and behavioral problems can learn effective anger management skills"


Coming to Terms with Reality
By SARAH RAND
"My recovery really started when I became distraught enough to express my beliefs. ... my doctors could see what my illness was really about."
 
NYS Legislative Update
By SCOTT TRANSUE, 
Director of Public Policy, MHANYS
"An underlying and erroneous belief exists among many insurers today that mental illness is not 'curable.'"


Special Section:
WTC Recovery Resources
 
  • Managing the Impact of Tragedy
  • Peer Support Services Can Play an Important Role
  • F.E.G.S. Helping New Yorkers Recover From WTC Attack
  • OCD and the WTC Disaster
  • Hypnosis and Coping with Disaster and Trauma
  • Disaster Coping Tips for Families of Persons with Serious Mental Illness
  • The Psychological Impact of Disaster

  • To Medicate Or 
    Not to Medicate
    By DOUGLAS MUNSEY, MD, Adolescent Unit, Holliswood Hospital
    "There is no pill that can substitute for the sort of healthy human interaction that builds genuine self-confidence and self-esteem."


    More on Adult Homes
    By JEANATTE ZELHOF, Managing Attorney, MFY Legal Services' Mental Health Law Project
    "At long last public attention is being paid to conditions in adult homes."


    Mental Health Infrastructure Funding a Priority
    By MICHAEL FAENZA, 
    President & CEO, NMHA
    "The American economy is already losing an estimated $113 billion a year from untreated and mistreated mental illness."


    Using Meditation 
    To Relieve Depression
    By MARK L. BORITZ
    "I have never experienced any pill that any doctor has prescribed for me to be as effective in clearing up my Senses and thought processes as meditation"


    Peer Support Helped
    Me and It Can Help You
    By ROBIN SIMON, Peer Advocate, Manhattan West Self Help Program
    "[After] thirty-seven years ... I have come to the realization that there's life after being diagnosed with a mental illness."
     
    The Sick Me vs. the Well Me
    By WILLIAM R. JIANG, MLS
    "Sometimes living day to day is a chore when you are a mentally ill person."


    Paper Demons
    By SHEILA HAGEMAN
    "Perhaps writing is a self-healing method that the body, mind and spirit recognize as beneficial."


    The Arts and Carafes Café
    By ADELE STICH, Coordinating Editor
    "One lady raves about the crepes I make ... I had never made crepes before I worked here."


    Southeast D.C. Wonder
    By WILLIAM DARRELL PETERSON
    "Does anything good come out of Southeast Washington, D.C.? Yes, there is me."


    Mothers Postpartum 
    Mood Disorders
    By GARTH HARDING
    "Fifty to eighty percent of mothers experience "baby blues" or mild depression after delivery..."


    Personal Story: Out Of Control
    By DAVE ANDYES
    "I was scared of the insanity I knew I was going through so, after being abstinent from alcohol and drugs for a while, I began to drink again to escape the nightmare."


    Steady After 
    Life's Ups and Downs
    By DAVID C. KAPLAN
    "Even since I started working as a peer advocate in the Bronx Peer Advocacy Center, my life has been on a great upswing. I look forward to coming to work everyday."


    Why Would Anyone
    Want to Cut Themselves?
    By KURT DOUGLAS SASS
    "The problem is, this physical pain fades in only 10-15 seconds and the emotional pain returns."


    Editor-at-Large: As I See It
    By MARVIN SPIELER
    "It dawned on me as I rode home that we were on the same ward at Kings Park State Hospital."


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