Let's talk about recovery during Mental Illness Awareness Week

MONTREAL, Sept. 26, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - The Douglas Mental Health University Institute celebrates Mental Illness Awareness Week, from September 30 to October 5, by launching a new blog on recovery. Recovery is a component of mental health to which the Douglas is firmly committed.

Entitled Recovery Talks, the blog is co-authored by three women with varied backgrounds:

• Linda Lee Ross is a social worker in the Eating Disorders Program;
• Janina Komaroff is a research assistant in the Psychosocial Division of the Research Centre. She also has lived experience with mental illness, from which she is in recovery;
• For a long time, Carole lived with an eating disorder and therefore has great insight about this episode in her life.

Passionate about mental health issues, all three women firmly believe that recovery is possible and want to deliver a message of hope.

"Every day I am inspired by the strength of spirit I witness," confides Linda Lee Ross in the first blog post. "The people who offer me the great privilege of sharing their experiences lead me to be all the more hopeful. Hope is my oxygen."

"There are all kinds of things that some say stand in the way of many of us with mental health issues—poverty, lack of housing, substance use—you name it," explained Janina Komaroff. "Well, there's a way out, and if you ask us, we'll tell you how to do it."

Carole lived with an eating disorder for many years: "Recovery allows one to live without emotional entrapment. It makes the path you walk a little brighter and a lot more peaceful; it makes you well-connected and compassionate to everyone."

Recovery Talks is the latest addition to a family of 4 blogs that make up the Douglas blogosphere. Since its creation in 2006, the blogosphere has aimed to demystify mental illness and promote knowledge sharing in mental health.

"The Douglas blogosphere is an important tool to fight stigmatization. These bloggers have a true desire to reach out to the public, open a dialogue with them and listen to what they have to say," said Mimi Israël, MD, PhD, Psychiatrist-in-Chief of the Department of Psychiatry.

Mental Illness Awareness Week runs from September 30 to October 5, 2012.

About the Douglas—www.douglas.qc.ca
The Douglas is a world-class institute, affiliated with McGill University and the World Health Organization, which treats people suffering from mental illness, and offers them hope and cures. Its teams of specialists and researchers continually advance scientific knowledge, integrate it into patient care, and share it with the community to increase awareness and eliminate stigma around mental illness.

SOURCE: Douglas Mental Health University Institute

and interview requests
Anne Quirion,
Communications and Public Affairs, Douglas Institute
Phone: [phone], ext. 2717
Cell: 514-835-3236
[email protected]
www.douglas.qc.ca