The Jonathan O. Cole Mental Health Consumer Resource Center is a consumer to consumer

Peer support

Peer support occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other. It commonly refers to an initiative consisting of trained supporters, and can take a number of forms such as peer mentoring, listening, or counseling...

 mental health

Mental health

Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...

 organization. It was named for Jonathan O. Cole, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....

, and a senior consultant in psychopharmacology

Psychopharmacology

Psychopharmacology is the scientific study of the actions of drugs and their effects on mood, sensation, thinking, and behavior...

 at McLean Hospital

McLean Hospital

McLean Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.It is noted for its clinical staff expertise and ground-breaking neuroscience research...

, and the founder of the Manic-Depressive

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...

 & Depressive

Clinical depression

Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...

 Association (MDDA)-Boston. It is located in the deMarneffe Building at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts

Belmont, Massachusetts

Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. The population was 24,729 at the 2010 census.- History :Belmont was founded on March 18, 1859 by former citizens of, and land from the bordering towns of Watertown, to the south; Waltham, to the west; and Arlington, then...

.

The Cole Resource Center provides information about a wide range of mental disorders, as well as consultation on housing, health insurance, low cost medications, volunteer employment, and legal advocacy for mental health consumer

Mental health consumer

A mental health consumer is a person who is under treatment for a psychiatric illness or disorder. The term was coined by people who use mental health services in an attempt to empower those with mental health issues, usually considered a marginalized segment of society...

s. It was co-founded by Everett Page, Evie Barkin and Anne Whitman, Ph.D. Barkin and Whitman have publicly revealed that they have bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...

, in line with the Center's efforts to reduce the stigma of mental illness.

The Center has helped to develop news stories, including collaborations with the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, the Boston Globe, and the Harvard Business Review

Harvard Business Review

Harvard Business Review is a general management magazine published since 1922 by Harvard Business School Publishing, owned by the Harvard Business School. A monthly research-based magazine written for business practitioners, it claims a high ranking business readership among academics, executives,...

. They have contributed to television segments on psychiatric issues for the Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...

, "20/20" and Good Morning America

Good Morning America

Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...

.

See also

• Psychiatric survivors movement
  Psychiatric survivors movement
  The psychiatric survivors movement is a diverse association of individuals who are either currently clients of mental health services , or who consider themselves survivors of interventions by psychiatry, or who identify themselves as ex-patients of mental health services...
  
  
• Recovery model
  Recovery model
  The Recovery Model as it applies to mental health is an approach to mental disorder or substance dependence that emphasizes and supports each individual's potential for recovery...
  
  
• Self-help groups for mental health
  Self-help groups for mental health
  Self-help groups for mental health are voluntary associations of people who share a common desire to overcome mental illness or otherwise increase their level of cognitive or emotional wellbeing. There are several international mental health self-help organizations including Emotions Anonymous, the...