A common foundation: our collective beliefs form the foundation for unified, consistent messages about the treatment of mood disorders and the people who live with them.
DBSA believes:
- Mood disorders, while life-threatening, are highly treatable, and people living with a mood disorder can and do thrive.
- The lived experience of people should inform everything DBSA does.
- DBSA recognizes several pathways to treatment including peer support, personal wellness strategies, therapeutic and medical interventions. All individuals have the right to direct their own treatment.
- Peer support is a powerful wellness tool and can be beneficial to both peers and their supporters.
- Having the peer perspective at the center of conversations about mental health results in better outcomes.
- Wellness encompasses an individual’s whole life, and each person’s wellness journey is unique.
- DBSA provides support for all individuals living with or affected by mood disorders at all points in their wellness journey.
- Clinicians should collaborate with peers to provide options when developing personalized treatment plans that target complete wellness, not merely improvement.
- Researchers should work to provide treatment options that target complete wellness, not merely improvement.
- All people should have access to quality mental health care.
