Saks Institute holds symposium on Supported Decision-Making
By Gilien Silsby
USC law professor and MacArthur Genius Award recipient Elyn Saks knows what it’s like to be voiceless when planning mental health care. From the time she experienced symptoms of schizophrenia as a graduate student at Oxford, Saks was forced to sit on the sidelines while doctors and family members made decisions about her healthcare. That only changed when she demanded a say in her mental healthcare decisions, and ultimately figured out a balance of medication and talk therapy to treat her mental illness.
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| Dean Andrew Guzman with Prof. Elyn Saks |
At her recent symposium, “Supported Decision-Making: Giving Mental Health A Voice,” Saks brought together panels of mental health experts, advocates, judges, consumers and academics to discuss, analyze and explain the benefits of Supported Decision-Making. Saks also shared goals for her SDM approach, which will be unveiled in the coming year. Held at USC’s Town and Gown, 150 people attended the day-long event, which was moderated by New York Times reporter, Ben Carey.
“No one would ever say that someone with a broken leg is less than a whole person, but people say or imply that all the time about people with mental illness,” Saks said. “Giving people the ability, rights, and opportunity to plan their care is what Supported Decision Making is all about.”
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| New York Times reporter Ben Carey moderates the panel discussions. |
Saks believes stigma will diminish when people with mental illness are treated fairly and as equals. “We don’t need to be told what we should and shouldn’t do,” Saks said. “That simply drives the misconception that we are unable to make good and wise decisions.”
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