Chris McMurray is a poet and a rapper. Words are his thing.
At nine he lost his father to a fatal heart attack… and he went down a disruptive path of drug use, after which he was diagnosed with Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder.
Now at the age of twenty-two Chris uses his art to express what it’s like living with mental health problems and is looking to the future.
Share his story in the documentary this Sunday the 14th of July at 8:30 am on TV One.
Martine Abel at the Auckland Council sent a copy of this Herald Article around in a group email last week. Engage Aotearoa service director says “this story makes me wish I had an ‘Awesome’ tag for our blog posts!”
By Boris Jancic | 5:30 AM Friday Jun 28, 2013
But Mr Brown, 33, has Down syndrome, which means he is unable to do everyday things like read, write or drive.
Despite that, he now flats happily with three other adults with disabilities in Howick, and the journey he took to get there is behind a new resource aimed at helping families in similar situations.
His family set out on an ambitious project to engage a variety of charities, government bodies and private companies to create a shared, independent living space for their children.”
In 2011, Dr Sarah Gordon, a New Zealand service-user academic at the Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Wellington wrote a personal account of surviving her own suicide attempts. The Engage Aotearoa team came across it again on Facebook this week. In the article, Gordon writes of her experiences partially in the third person and notes
The psychiatrist refused to entertain any notion of immediate discharge, however, reasoning that the patient seemed to have no relationship with anyone or anything. You see, the psychiatrist argued, relating to people is absolutely fundamental to living well. So that is what the woman did with the remainder of her time with the unit, which was a further five months: she worked on relearning and practicing relationships with herself, her family, her friends, and her community. And this is what she is doing now: actively engaging in her roles as a mother and wife, working, dancing, writing, celebrating holidays, and shopping (something she particularly enjoys).
Eleanor Longden has come a long way since she was a university student and first started hearing a voice that narrated everything she did back to her in the third person.
She recently gave a talk at a TED conference, which has been shared all over Facebook this week. Eleanor is now working with InterVoice to raise awareness of voice hearing as a meaningful experience to be understood rather than something to be feared.
In one of the online threads afterwards, a Twitter user asks: Did you hear voices during your talk?
Eleanor Longden replies: Yes, they reminded me of parts of the talk I forgot.
Watch the Youtube Video Here – Eleanor Longden: Learning from the Voices in My Head.
Can’t watch the video for some reason? Read a great summary in this blog.
The latest issue of Psychosis: Psychological, Social and Integrative Approaches is out now online and in print.
Articles
Time changes everything? A qualitative investigation of the experience of auditory verbal hallucinations over time
Deborah Milligan, Simon McCarthy-Jones, Allan Winthrop & Robert Dudley
Pages: 107-118
DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2012.667438
Do voice hearers naturally use focusing and metacognitive coping techniques?
Alan Howard, Angus Forsyth, Helen Spencer, Ewa Wisniewska Young & Douglas Turkington
Pages: 119-126
DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2012.668926
Clinical characteristics of disclosed visual hallucinations in users of an Early Intervention in Psychosis Service
Robert Dudley, Daniel Collerton, Marsha Nicholson & Urs Mosimann
Pages: 127-133
DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2012.699543
Challenges to assisting with the recovery of personal identity and wellness for persons with serious mental illness: Considerations for mental health professionals
Kelly D. Buck, David Roe, Philip Yanos, Benjamin Buck, Rebecca L. Fogley, Megan Grant, Fabrice Lubin & Paul H. Lysaker
Pages: 134-143
DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2012.699544
Psychiatric diagnosis: what the recovery movement can offer the DSM-5 revision process
Yaara Zisman-Ilani, David Roe, Elizabeth H. Flanagan, Abraham Rudnick & Larry Davidson
Pages: 144-153
DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2012.699542
Incorporating psychotherapeutic methods in routine community treatment for patients with psychotic disorders
David Bridle, Rosemarie McCabe & Stefan Priebe
Pages: 154-165
DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2012.683036
Acceptance and commitment therapy for psychosis: intent to treat, hospitalization outcome and mediation by believability
Patricia Bach, Brandon A. Gaudiano, Steven C. Hayes & James D. Herbert
Pages: 166-174
DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2012.671349
Asking about trauma: the experiences of psychological therapists in early intervention services
Jane Toner, Anna Daiches & Warren Larkin
Pages: 175-186
DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2012.697484
Confirmatory factor analysis of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire – brief: An alternative models approach
David Boyda, Mark Shevlin, John Mallett, Jamie Murphy & James Houston
Pages: 187-196
DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2012.670259
Brief Report
Transdiagnostic support and education can reduce anxiety in people diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders
M.T. Larsen-Barr & R. Glynn Owens
Pages: 197-199
DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2012.686517
Opinion Piece
Borderline traits as a risk factor for adverse outcomes in psychosis
Brijesh Desai, Alison Summers & Nigel Bunker
Pages: 200-202
DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2012.703226
First Person Account
Three monologues on the personal, professional and family impact of psychosis
Amit Fachler
Pages: 203-209
DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2012.719537
Book review
Our encounters with madness
Dr Brijesh Desai
Pages: 210-211
DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2012.724698
Tune in to Take It From Us on Tuesday May 28th to hear about the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which has attracted flak internationally. Hearing Voices Network Aotearoa NZ is circulating an article from its associate in the UK. The show will discuss the essence of this article and other reaction to the launch of the DSM-5.
Listen live on 104.6FM at 12.30pm every Tuesday or online at www.planetaudio.org.nz.
OR if you missed the broadcast, listen for the next seven days @:www.planetaudio.org.nz/takeitfromus
Catch up on the last four shows online: www.likeminds.org.nz
Email takeitfromus@mail.com for any feedback and comment/suggestions for shows.
Issue 12 of the National Depression Initiative – NDI UPDATE ISSUE 12.
This issue is jam packed with lots of depression related activities happening across the country, as well as NDI specific, Pasifika radio adverts.
Please feel free to share this communication with friends, whanau/family, work colleagues and community groups.
If you would like your organisation, and the innovative work they are doing in the area of depression, profiled in an upcoming UPDATE newsletter, please email Kayte Goodward, Sector Relationship Manager at Lifeline.
Ph: +64 9 909 9216 | Mobile: +64 21 877 236
Email: kayteg@lifeline.org.nz
The latest issue of the Like Minds Newsletter is available now.
The feature article explores Richard Anderson’s experience of schizophrenia, the benefits of work and his strategies for keeping well.
They cover aspects of the Like Minds National Providers Hui and hear about the resilience focus of the Noho Wananga.
This month marks the launch of the DSM-5. Like Minds talks to a psychiatrist, an international mental health consultant and a mental health advocate to get their thoughts on the revised manual. Changing Minds Manager Tina Helm offers her full perspective as a separate document, Anticipating the DSM-5.
Journalist Robyn Yousef tells us why she waited so long to ‘seize the day’ and share her story about living with bipolar disorder.
Hikoi champion Annie Chapman is walking her way around the North Island to raise awareness about choice in mental health care. She explains what is driving her and how you can support her petition.
Mental health radio show Take It From Us recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Sheldon Brown discusses his role as host and how the show came to be.
Finally, remember to sign up for Stigma Watch and check out poetry book Smells Like Sugar and SamRB’s second album Queen Street Acoustics.
You are welcome to email your feedback and story ideas to likeminds@mentalhealth.org.nz and, if you think others would enjoy receiving this e-newsletter, please forward this email so they can subscribe.
On Take It From Us on Tuesday the 14th, hear the views of a Pacific Islander ambassador for mental health recovery. Like Minds mental health promoter Keleni Talau’s journey through life has left a few scars but this week’s guest is exploring many options to cope. Listen to her story this Tuesday the 14th of May on PlanetFM104.6 at 12.30pm.
Listen live on 104.6FM at 12.30pm or online www.planetaudio.org.nz
OR if you missed the broadcast, listen for the next seven days @: www.planetaudio.org.nz/takeitfromus
Catch up on the last four shows online: www.likeminds.org.nz
And don’t forget the Facebook page @ Facebook.com and type ‘take it from us’ in the search box
Email: takeitfromus@mail.com for any feedback and comment/suggestions for shows.
Students at Taipa Area School took part in the Cool to Korero seminar with Mike King at the beginning of March this year. Last week, Mike King of Key to Life Charitable Trust and Tai Tupou of Ripped Training returned to Taipa for their Kapahaka festival and were treated to the world premier performance of a haka for suicide awareness that the students created following the presentation.
Thanks to Tai Tupou, Engage Aotearoa is now able to share some footage of the haka here for everyone to see. The link below will take you through to a publicly available video shared on Facebook.
Click here to watch Taipa Area School’s Haka for Suicide Awareness.
Trigger alert: This is a powerfully expressive piece, created and performed by youth at Taipa Area School and they bravely take you on a journey through the full spectrum of emotion with this piece. If you have lost someone to suicide, we suggest watching this video with a friend, these kids don’t hold back for a second and there are a few explicit actions involved.
The Northern Advocate has published two amazing stories that take the Community Korero messages out to the wider community. Sharing these articles with friends and whanau might help someone you know to help themselves or help their loved ones. Please forward them around as widely as you can.
More Talk Needed on Suicide, Not Less – 22 April 2013
King: Learn to Like Yourself – 10 April 2013
Since Engage Aotearoa and Key to Life first visited the Far North, Key to Life has created a student-led suicide prevention initiative called Tu Kotahi and linked in with youth ambassadors from Kaitaia College and Taipa Area School to make sure that it’s the youth themselves who are leading the charge to prevent suicide in NZ. Ezekial from Taipa Area School and Aleisha from Kaitaia College are on board and want to hear from other youth who have suggestions or want to get involved.
Visit the Key to Life Facebook Page to link in with Zeek and Leesh!
