 |
 |
hi all the concept of developing 'standard terminology' appeals to me here as part of the attack against 'stigma' and 'shame' surrounding these issues the surgeon general's OWN report contains these terms: mental illness mental health mental disorder depressive illness psychiatric illness there are a lot of people who find the term parkinson's 'disease' uncomfortable; neurologically speaking, pd is now part of a group of 'movement disorders' in the reading that i've done in re clinical depression [cd] and suicide; psychiatrically speaking, cd seems to be most frequently termed a 'mood disorder' to my mind, 'mental' has sad overtones of 'nuts', crazy', 'loco', etc. 'illness' has the same slightly unsavoury scent about it as 'disease' 'psychiatric' has associations with 'ward', 'loony bin', 'insane asylum' yours in re-ordering my moods and my movements janet ------------------------------------------------------------- The Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent Suicide, 1999 At a Glance: Recommendations ------------------------------------------------------------- AWARENESS: 1. Broaden the public's awareness of suicide and its risk factors. 2. Promote public awareness that suicide is a public health problem and, as such, many suicides are preventable. 3. Use information technology to make facts about suicide and suicide prevention widely and appropriately available to the general public and health care providers. 4. Expand awareness of and enhance access to resources for suicide prevention programs in communities. 5. Develop and implement strategies to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, substance abuse, and suicide and with seeking help for such problems. INTERVENTION: 1. Enhance services and programs, both population-based and clinical care. 2. Extend collaboration with and between public and private sectors to complete a National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. 3. Improve ability of primary care providers to recognize and treat depression, substance abuse, and other major mental illnesses associated with suicide risk. Increase the referral to specialty care when appropriate. 4. Eliminate barriers in public and private insurance programs for provision of quality mental health treatments and create incentives to treat patients with coexisting mental and substance abuse disorders. 5. Institute training for all health, mental health, and human service professionals (such as clergy, teachers, correctional workers, and social workers) concerning suicide risk assessment and recognition, treatment, management and aftercare interventions. 6. Develop and implement effective training programs for family members of those at risk and for natural community helpers on how to recognize, respond to, and refer people showing signs of suicide risk. Natural community helpers are people such as educators, coaches, hairdressers, internet mailing list participants, and faith leaders, among others. 7. Develop and implement safe and effective programs in educational settings for youth that address adolescent distress, crisis intervention and incorporate peer support for seeking help. 8. Enhance community care resources by increasing the use of schools and workplaces as access points for mental and physical health services and providing comprehensive support programs for persons who survive the suicide of someone close to them. 9. Promote a public/private collaboration with the media to assure that entertainment and news coverage represent balanced and informed portrayals of suicide and its prevention, mental illness, and mental health care. METHODOLOGY: 1. Advance the science of suicide prevention. 2. Enhance research to understand risk and protective factors, their interaction, and their effects on suicide and suicidal behaviors. 3. Increase research on effective suicide prevention programs, clinical treatments for suicidal individuals, and culture-specific interventions. 4. Develop additional scientific strategies for evaluating suicide prevention interventions and ensure that evaluation components are included in all suicide prevention programs. 5. Establish mechanisms for Federal, regional, and state interagency public health collaboration toward improving monitoring systems for suicide and suicidal behaviors and develop and promote standard terminology in these systems. 6. Encourage the development and evaluation of new prevention technologies to reduce easy access to lethal means of suicide. For more information, please contact the following offices: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control "http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/" 404-639-3286 Health Resources and Services Administration "http://www.hrsa.dhhs.gov" 301-443-1989 National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Suicide Research Consortium "http://www.nimh.nih.gov/research/suicide.htm" 301-443-4536 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration "http://www.samhsa.gov" 301-443-8956 Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health/Surgeon General "http://www.surgeongeneral.gov" 202-690-7694 "http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/calltoaction/recommendations.htm" janet paterson 53 now / 44 dx cd / 43 onset cd / 41 dx pd / 37 onset pd tel: 613 256 8340 url: "http://www.geocities.com/janet313/" email: "[log in to unmask]" smail: PO Box 171 Almonte Ontario K0A 1A0 Canada