ALEXANDRIA, Va. (May 7, 2013)—Mental Health America will present Susan Rogers of Philadelphia with its highest honor, the Clifford W. Beers Award, for her leadership and service at the Awards Banquet of its 2013 Annual Conference, Why Wellness Works: Breakthroughs and Pathways to Whole Health, on June 7 in National Harbor, MD.

Susan Rogers is Director of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse (the Clearinghouse), a consumer-run national technical assistance center funded in part by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and is Director of Special Projects of the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania (MHASP).

By Christine S. Moyer amednews staff

(http://www.mhasp.org/in-the-media/2013/4/15/doctors-urged-to-help-destigmatize-childhood-mental-illness.html)

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Unfortunately, there are still discrimination and stigma. Even though between 20 percent and 25 percent of Americans will receive a mental-health diagnosis at some point - and despite the fact that individuals with such conditions are our neighbors, friends, and family - surveys indicate many people wrongly fear those with mental illness. In reality, individuals with psychiatric conditions are more than 11 times more likely to be victims of violence than the general population, and studies have found only a small risk of violence among the mentally ill. Wanda's story helps to educate the general public, and that's much-appreciated.

William S. Dinwiddie, president and chief executive officer, Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Re: http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20130402_Letters_to_the_Editor.html, 4/2/2013

Sellersville woman speaks out about her mental illness

Wanda Lindsay says: "One day I asked God, is this all there is? Am I going to just be eating TV dinners, rocking in a rocking chair, and watching TV?" RON TARVER / Staff Photographer.

Kristin E. Holmes, Inquirer Staff Writer, POSTED: Monday, March 18, 2013, 3:01 AM

The voices inside Wanda Lindsay's head sound like muffled party chatter.  They are layers of whispers that can drown out the voice of someone standing next to her.  When they come, Lindsay tells herself they're not real, the first step in a plan to cope.

It's a routine honed after years of living with schizoaffective disorder. Lindsay has found a way to keep from drowning in the depression and paranoia that come with it: She has found her voice in the midst of it.

Lindsay, 52, of Sellersville, has taken her illness public. She talks about it at churches, community meetings, and conferences to increase understanding and combat what she calls a perception - buoyed by recent news events - that people with mental illness are to be feared.

"Yes, there are some terrible incidents that happen," Lindsay said. "But there needs to be [balance]. We need to tell our story so that people know that we can do good, and not just evil."

Abraham Lincoln battled depression. So did "the guy from World War II" (Winston Churchill), Lindsay said recently to students in a clinical pastoral-care class at the Penn Foundation, a Bucks County behavioral health services organization where Lindsay serves on the board.

Lindsay's illness surfaced more than 35 years ago after her grandmother and mother died in the same year. Lindsay moved in with an aunt and worked with her at a factory in Lansdale.

"I started to go out drinking," Lindsay said. "I think it was because of the depression I felt from my mother passing away. And then I heard voices."

She was hospitalized first at Norristown State Hospital - "hell" as Lindsay calls it.

"I remember nurses laying across my body to hold me still so that they could give me shots," she said. "I was locked in a room by myself, and all I could see was people's feet when they walked by."

She was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a condition in which neurotransmitters are dysfunctional, said Vernon Kratz, Lindsay's psychiatrist. Symptoms include depression, paranoia, hallucinations, and hearing voices, Kratz said. Treatment includes medication and therapy.

After a week at Norristown State Hospital, Lindsay was transferred to the former Eugenia Hospital in Lafayette Hill, where she stayed for a month until her insurance ran out. Later, she entered Grand View Hospital in Sellersville, where she was referred to the Penn Foundation.

Through the organization, Lindsay secured an apartment and had access to a staff of therapists, doctors, and training to help her with life skills. She has been able to work intermittently and has received Social Security disability benefits.

"In the early days, Wanda was very quiet. I thought she would learn to do the things she would need to manage her illness and live her life quietly," said Chris Shannon, residential director at the Penn Foundation. "I never thought she would become the advocate she has become."

A turning point came when Lindsay got plain sick and tired.

"One day I asked God, is this all there is?" Lindsay told the pastoral care class. "Am I going to just be eating TV dinners, rocking in a rocking chair, and watching TV?"

She decided to do more. She began speaking out.

Lindsay lives in a small Sellersville apartment decorated with pictures and items that reflect her religious faith (she attends Perkasie Mennonite Church) and "the Indian music" made with Native American flutes that calms her during the dark times.

Lindsay experiences paranoia and delusional ideas and at times becomes deeply despondent, Kratz said. The episodes are often brought on by stress. Supporting herself while managing her illness is a constant concern.

When the voices come, "I say to myself, 'Wanda go home. call your [health-care] staff. Listen to your Indian music.' It centers me," Lindsay said.

She also writes poetry. One poem, "Try," focuses on mental illness. It begins, "Try to understand me for who I am. Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."

Re: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20130318_Sellersville_woman_speaks_out_about_her_mental_illness.html, 3/18/2013

Thirty years ago, I was given a diagnosis of schizophrenia. My prognosis was “grave”: I would never live independently, hold a job, find a loving partner, get married. My home would be a board-and-care facility, my days spent watching TV in a day room with other people debilitated by mental illness. I would work at menial jobs when my symptoms were quiet. Following my last psychiatric hospitalization at the age of 28, I was encouraged by a doctor to work as a cashier making change. If I could handle that, I was told, we would reassess my ability to hold a more demanding position, perhaps even something full-time.

Then I made a decision. I would write the narrative of my life. Today I am a chaired professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. I have an adjunct appointment in the department of psychiatry at the medical school of the University of California, San Diego, and am on the faculty of the New Center for Psychoanalysis. The MacArthur Foundation gave me a genius grant.

Although I fought my diagnosis for many years, I came to accept that I have schizophrenia and will be in treatment the rest of my life. Indeed, excellent psychoanalytic treatment and medication have been critical to my success. What I refused to accept was my prognosis.  Link to full atricle by ELYN R. SAKS, Published: January 25, 2013 in the New York Times.

AS A SAX-PLAYING busker in Suburban Station ad-libbed his final bars, stores shuttered for the night Tuesday and two homeless-outreach workers scanned the underground concourse.

YONG KIM / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

• Limitless human potential lives in our existence 
• The evidence of potential comes to life in others when in the presence of those who demonstrate and transform their limitless human potential into recovery and day to day life achievements. 

Thank you for celebrating this Lifetime Human Achievement Award with Denis, it is a diligent journey of identifying our peers in PA and after each search Denis always came to the top of every list due to his commitment to recovery, his love and dedication to others.