Serious Mental Illness

A Great Resource for Serious Mental Illness

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Perhaps you’ve heard the term “serious mental illness” before and wondered what it means. Aren’t all mental illnesses potentially “serious”? A “serious mental illness” or “SMI” is defined as “a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder resulting in serious functional impairment, which substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities,” according to the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The three diagnoses most commonly associated with SMI are schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. The NIMH …

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Negative Effects of Using the Term “The Mentally Ill”

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I’ve written before about using “person-first language” when referring to people with mental illnesses. To remind you, person-first language literally puts the person first and then their condition. In other words you would say “people with mental illness” instead of “the mentally ill.” Person-first language has been encouraged by many advocacy groups and organizations since the 1990’s. The argument goes that person-first language is more respectful and conveys more dignity to the person. Also, it puts the primary focus on …

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My 24 Years in a Psychiatric Hospital (part 3: a new beginning)

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In two recent posts, I recounted much of my 24-year journey working as a clinical psychologist at Eastern State Hospital, a public psychiatric hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. To catch up, my early years are covered in part 1 and the development of the Recovery Mall program is detailed in part 2. Even as our recovery-based programming garnered broad positive feedback from staff, patients and external organizations, we still dealt with the physical limitations of being in an aging 185-year old …

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My 24 Years in a Psychiatric Hospital (part 2: the Recovery Mall)

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In a recent post, I chronicled the first half of my 24 years of employment as a clinical psychologist at Eastern State Hospital, a public psychiatric hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, which opened in 1824. If you would like to catch up and read part 1 first, it’s right here. In the early 2000’s, “recovery” entered the scene as a new way of thinking about treatment. The concept of recovery had primarily been used in reference to substance use concerns, but …

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My 24 Years in a Psychiatric Hospital (part 1: the early years)

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It’s probably safe to say that psychiatric hospitals have gotten a bad rap. They have often been inaccurately depicted in films, TV and other media as dark, scary institutions where deranged patients are forcibly medicated, put into straitjackets, or mistreated by cruel and sadistic staff. Even worse is the demeaning language which has been used to describe these facilities: “loony bin,” “nuthouse,” “bedlam,” or “lunatic asylum.” Just to be clear, these terms are now considered inappropriate and unacceptable. When I …

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How to Prevent Mental Health Relapses

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Guest Post by Hayden Finch, PhD I’m honored and excited to feature a guest post by Hayden Finch, PhD. Dr. Finch is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in treating severe and persistent mental illnesses. She is passionate about helping people recover from mental health conditions so they can lead purposeful, meaningful lives. Outside of the therapy room, she loves dogs, math, and travel. Connect with Dr. Finch via her blog, X (formerly Twitter), or Instagram. For most people, mental health symptoms come …

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15 Principles for Compassionate Mental Health Crisis Response

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In a recent post, I covered the ten essential values for responding with compassion to a mental health crisis. These values came from the “Practice Guidelines: Core Elements in Responding to Mental Health Crises,” published by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This time around, let’s do a brief recap of the second half of the guidelines, which outlines 15 key principles for enacting those essential values in our mental health crisis intervention practices. (As I noted before, the …

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Responding with Compassion to a Mental Health Crisis

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Having worked for many years as a clinical psychologist in a busy psychiatric hospital, I saw mental health emergencies and crises just about every day. These included a wide variety of challenging situations, including statements or actions related to self-harm or harm to others, and traumatic experiences related to abuse, victimization or other horrific experiences. In addition, drug or alcohol use, psychosis and mania were other contributing factors to many crises, and the situation sometimes became further complicated by work …

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