Recovering Your Mental Health

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has provided a series of self-help guides entitled Recovering Your Mental Health. This series provides facts, strategies, and ideas that consumers/survivors have found helpful in exercising best practices in promoting wellness and preventing illness. The information in this series supports recovery in conjunction with health care treatment. You can order hard copies of these publications free of charge from the National Mental Health Information Center. See below.

Recovering Your Mental Health Self-Help Guides:

• Speaking Out for Yourself (Inventory Code SMA02-3719)
  People with mental illnesses have the same rights as other people. These rights include being treated with dignity and respect, asking for what they need or desire, and making or participating in making decisions that affect them. Being a good self-advocate involves healthy self-esteem and a sense of personal responsibility. This booklet describes the step-by-step process of effective self-advocacy.
  
  View the full guide  (opens in a new browser window)
  
  
  
• Recovering Your Mental Health (Inventory Code SMA05-3504)
  This publication identifies activities and strategies to help consumers manage their mental illnesses. Based on the extensively-reported day-to-day experiences of persons with psychiatric symptoms, and how they get well and stay well, the information enhances the nationwide focus on self-help for recovery from mental health problems.
  
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• Building Self-Esteem (Inventory Code SMA05-3715)
  This booklet affords insight into the development of self-esteem. The recommendations reflect the ideas of persons who recognized their own impaired self-esteem and took steps to improve their feelings about their own worth and dignity.
  
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• Making and Keeping Friends (Inventory Code SMA05-3716)
  Making new friends can be exciting or intimidating, depending on your personality and your circumstances, but ultimately it is rewarding. This booklet guides the process of engaging new people who may become friends - visiting gathering places, overcoming feeling of social reluctance or ambivalence, and approaching people for the first time.
  
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• Dealing with the Effects of Trauma (Inventory Code SMA05-3717)
  This booklet explores traumatic life experiences that may be causing some or all of the difficult symptoms that accompany distress. It provides guidance about how to relieve these symptoms, posing simple and safe actions that facilitate healing from the effects of trauma.
  
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• Developing a Recovery and Wellness Lifestyle (Inventory Code SMA05-3718)
  Many aspects of life - place of residence, friends, daily activities, etc. - contribute to a sense of well-being. People with mental illnesses may feel better when they make changes that support wellness choices. This booklet examines areas of life that may need to be changed and suggests possible changes that could be helpful.
  
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• Action Planning for Prevention and Recovery (Inventory Code SMA05-3720)
  The action plans for prevention and recovery described in this booklet were devised by people who experience emotional or psychiatric symptoms. They address the importance that structure can play when actively pursuing recovery. Suitable for use regarding any kind of health concern, the plans are simple, low-cost, and modifiable, and can be introduced over time according to the consumer's readiness.
  
  View the full guide  (opens in a new browser window)
  
  

You can order these free publications:

   By mail from:  National Mental Health Information Center
  PO Box 42557
Washington, DC 20015

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   By phone at 1-800-789-2647, Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 12:00 am EST

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   By fax to 240-221-4295

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   By email to nmhic-info@samhsa.hhs.gov

Download an order form at http://download.ncadi.samhsa.gov/ken/pdf/catalog-orderform.pdf