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Facts About Mental Illness
(Source: NAMI, the Nation's Voice on Mental Illness; 2004; www.nami.org)

· Mental illnesses are biologically based brain disorders. They cannot be overcome through "will power" and are not related to a person's "character" or intelligence.

· Mental disorders fall along a continuum of severity. The most serious and disabling conditions affect five to ten million adults (2.6 - 5.4 percent) and three to five million children ages five to seventeen (5 - 9 percent) in the United States.

· Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability (lost years of productive life) in the North America, Europe and, increasingly, in the world. By 2020, Major Depressive illness will be the leading cause of disability in the world for women and children.

· Mental illnesses strike individuals in the prime of their lives, often during adolescence and young adulthood. All ages are susceptible, but the young and the old are especially vulnerable.

· Without treatment the consequences of mental illness for the individual and society are staggering: unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, inappropriate incarceration, suicide and wasted lives; The economic cost of untreated mental illness is more than 100 billion dollars each year in the United States.

· The best treatments for serious mental illnesses today are highly effective; between 70 and 90 percent of individuals have significant reduction of symptoms and improved quality of life with a combination of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments and supports;

· Early identification and treatment is of vital importance. By getting people the treatment they need early, recovery is accelerated and the brain is protected from further harm related to the course of illness.

· Stigma erodes confidence that mental disorders are real, treatable health conditions. We have allowed stigma and a now unwarranted sense of hopelessness to erect attitudinal, structural and financial barriers to effective treatment and recovery. It is time to take these barriers down.

Important Contact Numbers

If you are in need of mental health services, contact Waukesha County Mental Health Services at (262) 548-7666.

If you are in need of advocacy, contact the Mental Health Association of Waukesha County at (262) 547-0515.

If you have a family member affected by mental illness and are looking for more information, contact the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) in Waukesha County at (262) 524-8886.

You Can Recover from Mental Illness

"Recovery is a deeply personal, unique process of changing one's attitudes, values, feelings, goals, skills, and/or roles. It is a way of living a satisfying, hopeful, and contributing life even with limitations caused by illness. Recovery involves the development of new meaning and purpose in one's life as one grows beyond the catastrophic effects of mental illness."
-- William A. Anthony, Ph.D.

Finding the road to a satisfying and hopeful life and building a system that enhances and supports mental health recovery.

Recovery in Action

Friendships Unlimited and Spring City Corner Clubhouse are Recovery-Oriented systems and services, meaning they:
· Believe there is more to life than mental illness
· Address the impact of severe mental illness on one's life, and
· Promote crisis intervention, rehabilitation, enrichment, rights protection, and individualized treatment to relieve symptoms.

Recovery is about:
· An individualized journey and process
· It emerges from within and takes place over time
· Recovering what may have been lost such as rights, valued roles, responsibilities and potential
· Rediscovering the goodness and wholeness within us
· Learning to look at life with a sense of hope and anticipation
· Realizing that achievements are not determined by limitations but by courage and inner strength

Recovery allows:
· Choices and options in your treatment plan
· Learning about your potential
· Input on the medications you take
· Employment opportunities and integration into the community
· Friends and peers to share happiness, hope, as well as pain
· Being treated as a person instead of being treated as a patient
· Hope and dreams and the ability to achieve them; to address others as an equal
· To achieve a new state of health from which to grow

Friendships Unlimited and Spring City Corner Clubhouse believe in Procovery as a model of recovery that allows you to:
· Have hope
· Make change
· Try new things
· Become empowered

Procovery allows the passionate embrace of that which energizes, inspires, and heals you. It allows you to accept that you are the world's greatest authority on you.

For more information on Procovery visit www.procovery.com or call Friendships Unlimited at (262) 549-6123.