Recovery From Schizophrenia: Psychiatry And Political Economy

TREATMENT 299when a psychiatrist and consumer spoke to a similar group of students theyproduced a measurable improvement. 90 Commonly a speakers’ bureau willcomprise some people who have experienced mental illness, a family member of amentally ill person and a mental health professional.People with mental illness can react to the stress of public speaking byexperiencing an increase in symptoms shortly after the event. To minimize thelikelihood of this reaction it is important to select consumers with good stresstoleranceand, where necessary, gradually introduce them to the speakingexperience. In the successful consumer speakers’ bureau run by the PartnershipProgram of the Schizophrenia Society in Calgary, Alberta, potential new speakersinitially observe others making a presentation, in later sessions they may speakbriefly and eventually they find themselves able to participate fully without stress.Speakers are debriefed after each presentation to see if they found the experiencestressful. A fairly large number of speakers are trained so that the demand on anyone person is not too great. The coordinator of the Calgary Partnership Program,Fay Herrick, handles many day-to-day issues such as maintaining a diary ofengagements, selecting and contacting speakers, debriefing them after eachengagement, and asking the host of the event to provide an assessment, but,importantly, she also nurtures a sense of community in the group through regularmeetings and celebratory events. Consumers appearing as public speakersdemonstrate the reality of recovery. They may educate the listeners about theexperience of the psychotic state and problems of stigma and discrimination, buttheir presence also evinces feelings of compassion and an understanding thatmental illness is a human problem that can affect anyone.A stigma-reducing campaign need not be expensive. A three-year campaign inBoulder cost around $6,000 (£4,000) and was able to have an impact on severaldifferent target groups. All the police, probation officers and judges in the countyreceived several hours of education. High-school students were reached through avariety of media including an annual anti-stigma art competition, city bus ads andslides shown in cinemas before the main feature. The editorial boards of the localnewspapers were involved in discussions about the fair coverage of mental illnessin the news media, and journalists were provided with a list of consumers whowere willing to be contacted for human interest when covering mental healthissues. The most expensive intervention was the use of cinema slides—$3,000(£2,000) for a run of three months in ten cinemas—but exit interviews indicatedthat 16 per cent of people leaving the cinema could remember one of the threemessages displayed, adding up to over 10,000 patrons who took away a messageover the course of three months. 91Similar local campaigns are feasible in any locality, and a manual on how toconduct one is available from Professor Norman Sartorius at the WorldPsychiatric Association Programme to Reduce Stigma and DiscriminationBecause of Schizophrenia, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève, Département depsychiatrie, Belle-Idée, Bâtiment Salève, 2 chemin du Petit-Bel-Air, 1225 Chêne-Bourg, Geneva, Switzerland.