To provide mutual support, self-help, advocacy, education, information and referral services for individuals who acknowledge having significant problems in their lives due to mental illness and who are seeking to take  responsibility for their own growth and recovery while supporting each other. We actively advocate for positive change within the traditional mental health system.

 

Our Mission:

123 4th Street NW, Charlottesville, VA 22903  (434)-979-2440

 

           On Our Own of Charlottesville has its roots in The Consumer Movement.

1868:   Mental illness is believed to be the result of possession by demons. Treatment is ignored and patients are “warehoused” in horrifying conditions.

1908:  An organization is founded which later becomes the National Mental Health Association. The group sought to educate society on the horrors of those receiving public psychiatric care in state institutions. This begins a patient rights movement.

1940:  A group of former psychiatric patients begin WANA (We Are Not Alone).  Their initiatives lay the foundation for the “clubhouse model”, a day program began in the 1960’s to promote meaningful activities and work in the lives of patients with mental illness.

1950: Introduction of psychotropic drugs. The relief of symptoms through medication, opens the door for life outside of a mental “asylum”.  There is much experimentation in forced treatment though over medication, shock treatments, and lobotomies.

1960: The efforts in the late 1950’s of the civil rights movement begin a public fight for equality and social justice for all.  This movement inspires others.

1970: Advocates for mental health patients joined other equality groups such as the women’s movement, gay rights activists, and rights for those with disabilities.  Former mental health patients begin to organize with a common goal of fighting for the rights of those with mental illness.  Peer run services begin to be seen as a valuable alternative to traditional mental health services.

1980:  Former “psychiatric survivors” organize peer run services. These peer run services are based on a growing belief that those individuals who share similar mental health experiences can best help themselves and others recover through self-help and mutual support.   Peer run programs have proven themselves to be effective in both treatment and costs.  They are here to stay.

    Peer run programs continue today as an important part of the consumer movement. Consumers, survivors, and ex-patients lead the movement.  Those associated with the movement are working together to make changes in the mental health system and society.  It has evolved into a recovery model reflecting the power of peer support and self-help programs. The approach places emphasis on equality, shared experiences, personal responsibility, and individual empowerment.

    One important component of the movement is fighting the stigma that comes with being diagnosed with a mental illness.  Stigmatizing  denies access to resources and opportunities. This leads to a worsening of an already difficult situation. In order to overcome stigma, the notion of mutual support comes into play. Mutual support is the idea that individuals who have had similar experiences with problems, life situations, or crisis can effectively provide help for each other.  These individuals may be better able to respond to each other’s needs than a traditional provider.  Personal responsibility joins mutual support as consumers take control of their treatment and their recovery.  In doing this, both personal and societal changes can be made.

    Mental health consumers offer each other support based on first hand experiences with issues such as medication, over-medication, social security disability, housing, employment, human service agencies, families and friends, neglect, and many other issues. The movement creates a community in which members can reach out to each other and make those vital connections needed to recover. Emotional support, friendship, individual advocacy, information about the mental health system, and ways to improve that system are provided. The movement is meant to help consumers, survivors, and ex-patients realize they are not alone, to provide support that may not otherwise be available and to create a safe place for self-disclosure, personal responsibility, hope, and purpose.

    The Consumer Movement is improving the mental health system and in turn is improving the lives of those struggling with mental health well-being. It is a group effort, designed to bring about individual change and change within the system.

 

The Consumer Movement