Research Shows the Value of Peer Support Groups
Research has shown that peer support groups like those provided by the Bay Area Hearing Voices Network, are effective in engaging people into care, reducing the use of emergency rooms and hospitals, and reducing substance abuse.
Our groups have also been found to increase participants’ sense of hope, control, and ability to effect changes in their lives. They also increase self-care, sense of community, belonging, and well-being, with fewer hospital stays, larger support networks, and better self-esteem, confidence, and social skills.
Here are some comments made by some BAHVN group participants about how the groups have changed their lives:
“The group has helped me by allowing me to share with group members my experiences and connect me with others that share the same experiences and provide resources as well as personal experiences.”
“My growth is recognized in the group by those who know me and have seen the changes in myself. The greatest part has been the facilitators setting examples of courage that we can do whatever we put in our minds to, even our biggest challenges.”
“This group has made me feel like I’m not alone and that I have a safe place to go.”
“The group has changed my life by making me more social and helping me understand my voices.”
“I get to learn from the experience of others. I get to share and be heard, and I get feedback along with a sense that I‘m okay.”
“I realize I am not alone in the world. I feel proud to be a person who can deal with my voices with the help of my peers.”
One study of peer-led groups notes: “When people find others who have had similar challenging experiences, there is almost instant connection (finally someone who really gets it). But the real gift in peer support goes beyond initial affiliation. The real gift lies at the intersection of true reciprocity and the exploration of new meaning and possibility.”
The World Health Organization in 2021 also recognized hearing voices support groups as one of the few dozen worldwide examples of key rights-based approaches. This is in the face of comments made by Tom Insel in 2015, who, at the time, was director of the National Institute of Mental Health. He described mental health treatment in this country as broken. Unfortunately, In the ten years since Mr. Insel made those comments not much has changed in mental health. In our country depression afflicts nearly a tenth of all Americans and is the leading cause of disability, but often goes untreated. The mental health system reaches only a fraction of the people suffering from mental health challenges, most of who are discouraged from seeking treatment by its cost, social stigma or ineffectiveness.
In 2023 there were more than 50 thousand suicides in America, an all time high, more than the number of deaths from either breast cancer or auto accidents, yet only about half of the people who take their lives have ever receive mental health treatment. I think we are long overdue for a new paradigm and a new approach, led by peer run organizations like BAHVN.
