Claiming the color of shame: making hope matter

During most of the 20th century, the medical community defined severe and chronic mental illness as a lifelong process, associated with inevitable decline in function. Even after the advent of antipsychotic medications, people with chronic mental illness were routinely marginalized from essential social resources, and regarded as dangerous to the health and wellbeing of their communities. During the 1980’s however, people with mental illness began to be active in the health consumer movement, and later in the 1990’s scientific research supported the recognition that people with mental illness who receive adequate support can thrive and be active, engaged members of their communities.
The recovery model of treatment for mental illness developed, catalyzed by both researchers and consumers. This treatment model focuses on: health and wellbeing, not just suppression of symptoms; on positive sense of self; on hope and the possibility of a meaningful life. Successful implementation depends on consumer access to both formal services and peer support. Recognition of the essential importance of consumer voice and choice means that people who need mental health services have become involved in generating the language to describe their situations and their needs, and in creating the services that they need to prosper in the world. As one present-day example, Washington State’s Youth’nAction is focused on peer and professional community support for youth who need services. These youth have re-imagined the symbolism of exclusion, invoking the color green, a 19th century mark of stigma for the mentally ill, as a sign of hope and resilience in their lives.