A “peer” in the world of mental health and substance abuse lingo means a fellow person who has also been diagnosed with a mental health or substance abuse disorder. Peers come together on their own in self-help support groups (both in the local communities and online) to help one another with emotional support and the knowledge that can only come from having been there themselves.
Benedict Carey writing in today’s New York Times details the impact of peers who go one step farther and act as peer counselors, helping people with mental disorders or substance abuse disorders with training that exceeds that of another layperson patient.
Peer counselors are an important component of America’s fragmented mental health care system, filling in the many gaps (especially in the public mental health system). These gaps are especially prevalent in the U.S. because there are usually two different public systems: one that treat mental disorders and one that treats substance abuse disorders. Few public community mental health systems have integrated these two components in systematic, comprehensive “dual diagnosis” programs.
The article suggests that peer support is somehow controversial (or perhaps was decades ago), but I find that it is rarely controversial nowadays with anyone who works in community mental health. Peer support is now seen as a valuable contribution to help people through the recovery process.
The mental health care system has long made use of former patients as counselors and the practice has been controversial, in part because doctors and caseworkers have questioned their effectiveness. But recent research suggests that peer support can reduce costs, and in 2007, federal health officials ruled that states could bill for the services under Medicaid — if the state had a system in place to train and certify peer providers.
In the years since, “peer support has just exploded; I have been in this field for 25 years, and I have never seen anything happen so quickly,” said Larry Davidson, a mental health researcher at Yale. “Peers are living, breathing proof that recovery is possible, that it is real.”
The article is a little light on specific references to research, however. But it works better as a personal interest story anyway, highlighting the story of Antonio Lambert. Lambert suffers from something the profession calls “dual diagnosis” — a mental disorder diagnosis combined with a substance abuse problem.
Lambert went from down-and-out and at the end of his ropes, to finding hope and meaning in peer support. After going through a recovery program, he started doing peer support work:
It was a friend from church who told him about peer-support work, showing him an ad for peer specialists at a local mental health clinic, Envisions of Life, and he jumped at the chance, taking a pay cut in exchange for a caseload.
And when he tired of that, he moved on to his next career advancement — training peers and developing peer training programs with Dr. Steve Harrington to form a company, Recover Resources.
It’s a great, heart-warming story that demonstrates that recovery is not only possible — it’s attainable for nearly anybody who sets their mind to it and makes a commitment to it. It’s rarely an easy or quick road, but it’s one that is greatly helped by the efforts of Mr. Lambert and his fellow peer leaders.
Read the full article: Ex-Convict Uses Battle With Addiction and Mental Illness to Help Others
4 comments
I really believe i peer support because i am a certified peer specialist at the huntsville al and i am duel diagnoised since being there as a client and now a staff member it has made a diffrence for them and for me
Thank you for this positive article.
As an longterm mh activist/advocate in Australia, I am proud to be one such “peer” having lived, loved & worked with too many people touched directly and indirectly by mental ill health & suicide.
As one of the fortunate few, I have been a recipient of great mh care & support & have been able to turn my vulnerability & family history into a strength & now operate a business that works closely with workplaces to create mental health friendly, resilient & supportive environments using the lived experience to role model recovery, hope & promise.
I have a psych history as long as my arm, my late mother had bipolar and was in and out of psych hospitals having ect whilst I was a young child. Some how she managed to hold down a senior executives role in the 70’s & 80’s whilst battling her demons.
As a child living in a dysfunctional broken family, I developed anxiety , depression & yes at the tender age of 7 started having my first thoughts of suicide. It would be at 18 that I actually tried to take my life on several occasions.
Today my mental healthiness is very much a work in progress, one I need to nurture. The hardest part is now seeing & watching my young teenage daughter going through her turbulent journey with panic disorder/anxiety/depression and having her thinking about suicide. What has been a blessing is that being more informed and open has helped remove the stigma and talking about this openly, getting help we have needed earlier just that more reassuring that somehow we will get through this painful challenging time.
In giving a little of ourselves to others, I have recieved so any unexpected gifts & courage I never knew I possessed. Encouraging other, creating environments, giving people permission by “coming out” allows others to share their journey’s and experiences. This emotive ness, reality, showing that we are all human, and that talking about mental illness and suicide isn’t a weakness or flaw in character
Helps some peoplet who don’t understand to reconsider our humaness. As humans we will all experience adversity,pain, loss, grief, love, joy, stress, frustration, anger, being fragile, vulnerable, have an injury or illness…it’s all ok, it’s part of our journey. There is nothing to be ashamed of. We just need courage and compassion and learn how to have these brave conversations with those we love & work with, parking our attitudes privately to one side & focussing on the person we may be concerned about. Peers can offer so much hope & help reduce the stigma, isolation, shame and educate society and health service providers about what these complex human issues are about, what works & doesn’t work.
This is a local major public health issue that won’t go away. We are or will be all touched by this one way or another so we need to one together from all perspectives, angels & expertise to reach out and make a difference to people affected in our communities.
Dr. John Grohol, you exaplined well and stress out how important Peer counselors are in America’s fragmented mental health care system.
I completely stand by this sentiment Dr Grohol! Sometimes the best people to give support or advice are those who have experienced an issue themselves and come out of it stronger on the other end. For all readers, check out http://www.studentspill.com, where supporters respond to peers (in a college community) and can offer similar support as you are suggesting!
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