Patients working as peer support mentors?

[Ceke2002]

Some of you may recall I posted a while ago with an interest in doing some sort of mental health advocacy work, from a layperson's p.o.v, as a Psych patient. Unfortunately what I was originally planning to do doesn't look like it's going to be a possibility at this time. Recently my treating Psych suggested I might like to get in touch with a Borderline support group run by the clinic, and get on board as a patient mentor/peer support person.

Brief-ish history - I was formerly dx'ed with Borderline PD in my late teens and 20s, I no longer meet full diagnostic criteria. I've just restarted treatment for other issues, currently my dx is Borderline and Schizotypal PD traits, OCD tendencies, PMD, and chronic Anorexia Nervosa (30+ years, although I have been weight, to my set point at least,and nutrition restored for the past 7). I've just started doing mindfulness training (which is like the most awesome thing ever, and I'm totally loving it *blatant plug*), and am prescribed 25mgs Seroquel prn (subclinical dose in terms of hallucinations et al, I know, it's mainly being used as an anxiolytic - can Seroquel be called an anxiolitic, just out of curiosity? ). Anyway, my treating Psych also knows I find doing voluntary work very helpful (at the moment I'm working from home for an Organ Donation Charity), and that I'm keen to get into some form of mental health advocacy.

Okay, after that wall 'o' text, some questions.

How helpful are these types of 'peer support' programs in the Borderline patient population? Are they effective in helping to stimulate real change, or is this something that's going to make me feel good, and do bugger all to actually help anyone else? In other words, would my energies be better served focused elsewhere?

With my current (and past) hx, is there anything I need to be aware of to protect my own mental well being if I decide to go ahead with something like this. Any problems or issues you perceive, that I may not have thought of?

By the same token, is there anything I should be aware of when dealing with this patient population, that could be harmful to their recoveries?

Anything else you can think of.

I should probably point out that at this present time I don't feel I'm stable enough to undertake anything like this, and I've informed my treating Psych of the same. He agrees, and we're concentrating on getting me well first. This is still something I'd really like to do in the (hopefully near) future though, so any feedback/input/advice/etc from a professional in the field would be really appreciated.

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[peppy]

I don't know if there is research data regarding if these kinds of things are helpful, but I can say that my personal experience has been that patients seem to do better when they are more socially engaged and that many patients seem to benefit from talking to others who can relate to what they've been through. If our hospital had a program like this I'd be in favor of it.

It sounds like you've made a lot of progress in terms of your own health. One thing I can see that might be an issue is that you might end up identifying with the patients so much that it could be easy to become overly involved. My suggestion would be to talk to your treatment providers about ways to be sure that you are maintaining healthy boundaries with the people you'd be working with. Hope things continue to go in the right directon for you.

 

[NoNoNoNo]

There might be some information on http://www.naops.org/ (National Association of Peer Specialists) website that could be helpful for you.

 

[whopper]

Group therapy can help and that is similar to peer support. I don't know of any data specifically showing that peer support helps but I wouldn't be surprised if it did. I know some people who specialize in DBT and I can ask them.

A problem with peer support is that several patients with borderline PD are at a status where they could actually cause harm to others who are vulnerable, and seeing people in a similar situation could cause a relapse of sorts. Just from personal experience, I'd recommend that those with a mental disorder situation only start supporting others once they are well enough to do so, but if they are appropriate, the act of assisting others can be beneficial to everyone involved.

I know someone who's doing a study on group therapy and DBT and wants to incorporate peer support as a measurable variable to see how much beneficial effect it has. I'll ask her, but I don't think she' very far along in her research.

 

[NoNoNoNo]

There is data. Most that I know of is in regard to severe, persistent mental illness, particularly with regard to psychosis. http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/62/5/541 : that is an example paper (Effectiveness of Peer Support in Reducing Readmissions of Persons With Multiple Psychiatric Hospitalizations), and you can look up more by most anyone in that group.