New MindFreedom's I Got Better campaign

Below is a press release from MindFreedom and an invitation to take the new "Survey on Hope in Mental Health." Please, please, please contribute your experiences to the "I Got Better" campaign to promote knowledge of resilience in mental well being. You don't have to be the person "who got better" to complete the survey, although I'm guessing that if your relative got better, so did you. You are feeling much better now because you know from experience that recovery from "schizophrenia" or "bipolar" is not all all hopeless - which you were originally told it would be.

Others need to hear your message of hope! The survey takes less than five minutes to compete.

MindFreedom International News - 14 June 2012

New MindFreedom Campaign Defies Hopelessness

Today, MindFreedom International launches the I Got Better campaign with an invitation for you to participate in this Survey on Hope in Mental Health: http://surveymonkey.com/s/mfi-igb-intro

This brief, confidential introductory questionnaire takes less than five (5) minutes to complete.

I Got Better is an ongoing project defying the all-too-common message that recovery from mental and emotional distress is impossible. The I Got Better campaign will make stories of recovery and hope in mental health widely available through a variety of media.

Your Participation Could Save a Life

Any and everybody with a stake in mental health in our society is welcome to participate, including people who have used mental health services, psychiatric survivors, as well as their friends, family members, colleagues, and mental health workers. Please share the survey link -https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/mfi-igb-intro - freely via email, facebook, twitter, blogs, etc.

Respondents to the survey wishing to share additional knowledge will be invited to take an optional follow-up survey about impressions of hope and hopelessness in mental health care, and successful strategies for recovery. Some survey respondents will be asked to share their story on video.

David Oaks, Director of MindFreedom International, said, "When I was in psychiatric care in college, I was told it was forever. Your experience of hope and hopelessness in mental health care could help youth and young adults receiving a psychiatric diagnosis for the first time. Hope could save a life."

The Story Behind I Got Better

The title of the I Got Better campaign is inspired by the successful It Gets Better viral media effort led by columnist Dan Savage that "shows LGBT youth the levels of happiness their lives will reach." While the I Got Better and It Gets Better campaigns are independent, Dan Savage has enthusiastically endorsed I Got Better.

The I Got Better campaign is funded by a grant from the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care to MindFreedom International. MFI is an independent nonprofit coalition founded in 1986 to win human rights and alternatives in mental health. For more information contact news@mindfreedom.org, or call the MFI office at 541-345-9106.

To take the brief, confidential introductory I Got Better survey, which will be active through 15 October 2012, click here now