Personal Stories

Karen Liberman

Photo Credit:

Photo by Barry Shainbaum.

You see, for me, hope, healing and recovery are not individual attainments or life states. Like the best meal or song or spectacular view, these are most profoundly felt when shared with others. I will forever thank MOOD DISORDERS ASSOCIATION for allowing me to share this finest of all gifts.

On Tuesday morning August 27 1997, I awoke at 10:37 am on the psychiatric ward in Sunnybrook Hospital and I was well. After fifteen years of indescribable emotional, cognitive, and physical pain, I was well. After six psychiatrists, seventeen hospital stays, twenty-seven different medications, twenty-four electro-convulsive therapy treatments, countless amounts of psycho-therapy, I was well. Having experienced spontaneous remission after one dose of a new medication (that I would continue with for the next twelve years), I was well.

Do Words Hurt: Stigma & Language Focus Group Research

Submitted by Anonymous on June 10, 2013 - 12:11pm

At MDAO we have spoken many times about the use of language and the impact it may have on individuals. Recently, Lisa Hawke, Ph.D., Elizabeth Miazga, B. Sc, and Sagar Parikh, MD. FRCPC held 3 focus group discussions with 19 people at the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario, the Krasman Centre and the University Health Network to explore the relationship between stigma and language. The study confirmed that language plays a role in stigma, and that words can hurt. Participants in the study agreed that there are non-stigmatizing language alternatives that come from a people-first perspective that can be used. This means talking about a person who has a mental illness rather than a mentally ill person, for example. The formal research report is in preparation. Meantime we’ve posted a summary sheet from the Stigma & Language Focus Group Research Project, highlighting strategies for change.

stigma_language_research_summary_june_2013.pdf

Tags: