April 2004 - Tracey Napa

Well over the last three months I have been busy and involved in the ongoing project of resource development, organizing helpful tools to facilitate a greater awareness of the issues surrounding mental health and mental illness.

With many of our clients, their language skills are minimal, thus visual aids are an effective means of communicating ideas. I have been given positive responses from the support workers about how effective these visual aids are in helping their clients to gain insight into their own unique conditions.

The resources available to clients include a vast selection of visual aids, which range from: depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, stress, post traumatic stress disorder, drug abuse, the symptoms of these, how anti psychotic medication helps, side effects of medication, coping skills, recovery, good and bad behaviours, counseling… the list goes on.

We discovered that recent research indicates that Deaf people are more susceptible to mental illness. The prevalence of depression and of mental illness can be partly attributed to certain psychosocial factors which Deaf people are challenged with in every day living. Such factors include: social isolation, the frustration involved coping in a hearing world, lack of positive role models, communication barriers within their hearing family, loneliness, and if they do not sign, high levels of unemployment due to language deprivation.

Early detection of schizophrenia is crucial in the recovery and treatment, and helps in the prevention of its ongoing effects. However due to language difficulties and social isolation or communication barriers within their families (if their families do not sign), many Deaf people suffer the symptoms for long periods before they are noticed by relatives and reach the stage where they are able to ask for and receive treatment from health professionals.

Hopefully my contribution in resource development can help to provide learning tools to support the process of self-understanding of clients' own mental illness, as insight is the key to healing.

So, the pictorial resources that have so far been developed will definitely facilitate the interpersonal communication between clients and the support workers here.

Helping to raise awareness and present visually recognizable information around the issues of mental illness and mental health is a vital part of supporting each person's journey to recovery.

Tracey

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