(7-1-16) The House is expected to vote on Rep. Tim Murphy’s Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act early next week. I’m publishing two blogs about the bill, which is being called the first major reform in decades of our mental health system. D. J. Jaffe initially strongly supported the bill but had doubts after it was revised — although he still backs it. On Monday, we will hear from an advocate who initially opposed the bill but later endorsed it after it was redrafted.) 

Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act

An Analysis by D. J. Jaffe, director of Mental Illness Policy Org.

I have been asked whether people should support the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015 (H.R. 2646)  which will shortly come to a vote in the House. At this point, the decision is not, “how does this bill compare to previous versions of the bill?” It is clearly very much weaker. The question is: what is the net impact on “adults” with “serious” mental illness, the population we advocate for? Positive or negative?

I do come down on the side of supporting.

Others may disagree with our conclusion because they are focused on different populations. Mental Illness Policy Org is focused on the 4% who have the most serious mental illnesses, primarily schizophrenia and treatment-resistant bipolar. Most community programs refuse to serve these ‘high-needs’ patients. The seriously ill are the ones most likely to become victimized, incarcerated and homeless. Put another way: throwing money at mental health does little for the seriously ill. Schizophrenia and bipolar cannot be predicted or prevented. The treatments adults with them need, for example hospital care, is much different from children with mild ADHD or adults with “lived-experience” need. So that is the lens we look through to analyze the bill.

Rep. Murphy, who originally authored the bill, is a hero who never gave up advocating for the most seriously ill. But late in the process, Energy and Commerce Committee chair Fred Upton, allowed Ranking Member Frank Pallone to insert numerous provisions–some merely wasteful, others problematic– at the behest of the mental health industry and to remove numerous provisions that would require them to serve adults with serious mental illness. But there are still provisions that are very helpful to the seriously ill.

Rep. Murphy’s bill will be voted on by the entire house after July 4^th recess. No news on when or if the Senate will consider The Mental Health Reform Act (S. 2680), a semi-companion bill.

Following are provisions still in the bill that could affect adults with serious mental illness grouped into four subjective categories which you may agree or disagree with.

1. Definitely good provisions
2. Potentially beneficial provisions that really can’t be judged
3. Useless provisions
4. Potentially harmful provisions

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(6-30-2016) A mutual friend, Alisa Bernard, recently introduced me Kevin Hines, a suicide survivor with a dramatic story of recovery.  I asked him to share it with you.)

Brick, by Brick, by Brick    By Kevin Hines 

A single, circular, black and white-colored analog clock adorned the off-white wall. Groggy, my eyes strained then refocused. It was 4 a.m. I had been in limbo overnight waiting for an in-demand, overbooked, cheap wood-framed, rather uncomfortable single bed. It was an early, solemn San Francisco morning: May 1st, 2004. I was 23 years young. My father and I had been in the filthy sock-smelling emergency room overnight.

It wasn’t our first time in this predicament. He waited anxiously near the door of my linoleum-floored, white-walled room. It was the third floor of the locked down unit within the St. Francis Hospital Psychiatric Ward. We had been here before, three times in fact. So often that when a moment of levity passed, I referred to it as my exotic hotel stay. Time and again, I had to live in place like these — to equalize, to heal, and to regain a semblance of sanity. You did not misread the title. I was in my third psychiatric hospital stay. I would see the inside of a place like this four more times over the course of the next 7 years.

Why?

Well the answer is not as simple as “I lost my mind.” or “I just went nuts.” No, those self-berating descriptions are vague and quite frankly offensive to someone who has suffered mentally like I have, and like I do. The answer is much more complex and quite detailed.

“Number 26, I was number 26 of the 34 people who attempted to take their lives by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge and survived. “

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(6-29-16) An Open Letter to Fairfax Board of Supervisor Pat Herrity

The Washington Post recently quoted you voicing your objection to quickly releasing the names of police officers involved in shootings because: “There are a lot of crazy people out there.”

I realize you were expressing your concern about protecting officers from retribution and will assume that your choice of words was not ill intended.

Sadly, they were.

My adult son is one of those “crazy people out there.” When he was in college, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a mental illness. He did not do anything to bring this illness upon himself anymore than someone who has a heart attack or cancer. Yet for the next seven years, he was repeatedly hospitalized, arrested after breaking into an unoccupied house to take a bubble bath while delusional, and shot twice with a taser by the Fairfax County police. Part of the reason why he couldn’t get help is because of significant budget cuts in Fairfax for crucial community mental health services.

Today, my son has been stable seven years. He works as a peer to peer specialist on a diversion team that helps Fairfax residents with mental illnesses avoid jail and get help for their illnesses. He pays taxes, is enrolled in graduate school, and is doing great.

Your reference about “crazy people out there” promotes stigma. It unfairly links persons with mental illness with violence. It warns the public that “crazy” people are dangerous and you need to be careful to avoid them. This language reminds those with mental disorders that they are different and not valued by society. Stigma has been shown as a reason why many of the 57.7 million Americans with a diagnosable mental illness do not seek help.

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(6-28-16) If you are one of the 71,000 readers who follow my author’s page and Facebook posts, you know that my main focus is on mental health reform, with an occasional blog (let’s be honest – sales pitch) about my newest book.

But today, I am posting a personal message: Happy Birthday to Patti, my wife and best friend.

We will celebrate our 18th anniversary later this year. I met her after her first husband, Steve, died much too young from cancer. My first marriage ended in divorce. Her loss of Steve and my divorce made both of us more appreciative of each other when we met and (I’m not kidding) fell instantly for each other. We realized how precious love is — and our’s has been a fairy tale (or Hallmark) romance ever since.

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(6-27-16) Let’s begin with news and then readers’ reactions.

1. Virginia State Police officials announced last week that they will investigate the horrific death of Jamycheal Mitchell , the 24 year-old inmate with schizophrenia who died in the Hampton Roads Regional Jail while waiting 101 days for an open bed in a state hospital. The investigation will be the first  by outside investigators into how a prisoner who was supposed to be under continual watch and daily care by a nurse suffered a heart attack brought on by starvation.

2. During a meeting last week, the Fairfax -Falls Church Community Services Board did not reverse its decision to defund the top peer job in the county.

3. The Boston Globe’s Spotlight investigative team, made famous for its Pulitzer Prize winning expose about sexual abuse inside the Catholic Church, launched the first in a series of stories  last week called the Desperate and the Dead about our broken mental health system. The first installment was about violence in families.

Reaction by Readers to recent blogs

Blogs that I posted about the tepid response of the disAbility Law Center in Virginia to Jamycheal Mitchell’s death and the need for peers in Fairfax sparked a flurry of email responses. Here are snippets worth reading.

Lots of Lawyers at disAbility. Millions of $$ But Little To Show For Virginians.

I have long wondered what the disAbility Law Center (DLCV), formerly VOPA, actually accomplished on behalf of the Commonwealth’s citizens with mental illness and developmental disabilities. Your blog posting this morning caused me to drill down to learn about the organization and what I found was not encouraging. Most surprising is the observation that the DLCV has a huge staff and a large budget, but few genuine accomplishments on behalf of mentally disabled Virginians.

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(6-22-16) I asked Mike Gaeta to share a blog with my readers that he had written about caring for his mother.) 

Benevolent Neglect: My Mom and Her Serious Mental Illness 

By Mike Gaeta

This week marks a month since my mom moved in with me. I knew it’d be challenging. In actuality, it has been damn near overwhelming.

On top of being her caretaker seven days a week, I also play the role of counselor, social worker, case manager, advocate and her main peer and family support person. Among other things, I’ve spent countless hours just trying to find a clinic or doctor for her (Many are not accepting new Medi-Cal patients, due to the increase in insured people from Obamacare.).

Interpersonally, challenges also abound. I’ve been trying to bond and build trust with my mom. That has been made exceedingly difficult, though, due to her delusions and hallucinations. These affect her moods, comprehension ability, level of social engagement and just her ability to have a conversation with me. In my estimation, she hears voices around 80% of the time.

As is common with people who hear voices, the voices can vary in the emotions and associations they arouse. Put simply, there are “good” voices and “bad voices.” For my mom, they take a religious form. There are “godly” voices and “evil” voices. The godly voices look out for her and protect her, she says. They can be biblical figures and/or prophets, while the evil voices can be evil spirits and/or witches. The evil voices torment my mom by telling her various things like they want to kill her, that she is getting ugly and old and even sexual things.

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