Peter Ashenden on Mental Health Recovery

1. January 2010 by admin.

Currently serving as the president of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), Peter Ashenden is a dynamic keynote speaker, a member of several mental health boards and committees, and acted as both a commissioner of the Certification Commission of the United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (USPRA) and the executive director for the Mental Health Empowerment Project (MHEP).

Simply put, Ashenden is quite the force to be reckoned with in the mental health education and advocacy world and, as cliché as it sounds, I pretty much felt like I was in the presence of greatness when I was able to speak with him last month about the DBSA’s involvement with Blueprint for Hope, the recently launched campaign the DBSA, ABC’s Paige Hemmis, and the University of Louisville’s Dr. Jesse H. Wright hope will help people develop their own “blueprints” for treating and managing depression.

Ashenden credits an “uninformed public” as being one of the biggest problems with mental health care today, so it’s really no surprise the DBSA was eager to get on board with Blueprint for Hope:

“We knew it was going to be a very important campaign. We’re creating ways for people to develop plans […] ways people can support that plan.”

Of course, this isn’t exactly a new mission for the DBSA. Founded in 1985, the DBSA is the nation’s largest consumer-run mental health advocacy organization with 17 state organizations, more than 400 chapters, and close to 1,000 support groups across the country.

From Psych Central’s Alicia Sparks:
Mental Health Month Spotlight: Peter Ashenden | Celebrity Psychings (5/22/2009)

Peter Ashenden has been diagnosed with several mental illnesses. He was institutionalized and given no hope for recovery. In August 2007, he was the keynote speaker at the Georgia Mental Health Con

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