Congress Needs To Listen To Persons With Mental Illnesses

by

No_one_listens_by_toni_mayyy

From the moment I was first contacted by a House subcommittee investigating our failed mental health care system, I have urged its staff to hear testimony from persons with mental illnesses. Rep. Tim Murphy (R.Pa) has conducted two hearings and a public forum, the most recent being held last week.

Yet, the House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee still has not heard from anyone who actually has a mental disorder.

Rep. Murphy risks undercutting his subcommittee’s earlier accomplishments unless he holds another hearing — this one entirely focused on listening to persons with mental disorders.

Click to continue…

Congress Hears About SAMHSA’s Failings: Pushing an Anti-Psychiatry Agenda, Wasting $$$

by
Rep. Tim Murphy Challenges SAMHSA

Rep. Tim Murphy Challenges SAMHSA

 

Rep. Tim Murphy (R. Pa.) came out swinging hard Wednesday at SAMHSA, during a House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee.  It was the third session Rep. Murphy’s subcommittee has held about mental illnesses and it was a good one. (You can watch it here.)
 
SAMHSA has long been criticized by Dr. Fuller E. Torrey for wasting money on “feel good” programs that are not evidence based, for not paying adequate attention to severe mental illnesses, and for funding organizations that advocate anti-psychiatry and anti-medical model views.
 
Chairman Murphy relied heavily on Dr. Torrey’s past and current criticisms in his opening statement. Among his — Rep. Murphy’s — specific criticisms were that SAMHSA doesn’t focus enough of its funding and programs on helping persons diagnosed with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other severe illnesses, as evidence by the fact that it has only one psychiatrist on its staff and his expertise is substance abuse, not mental illness. SAMHSA was created to be the federal government’s main mental health agency.
 
How can the government’s number one mental health agency only have one psychiatrist on its staff of 574 employees? Murphy asked.
 
Murphy also chastised SAMHSA for its funding priorities. He specifically attacked a yearly “alternatives conference” that SAMHSA funds, which included a workshop called “Unleash the Beast” that promised to help attendees learn about mental illness by studying animal movements.
 
Rep. Murphy’s co-chair, Rep. Diana DeGette, quickly circled the wagons around SAMHSA, arguing that Congress was responsible for setting SAMHSA’s priorities and that many of its programs are worthwhile.
 
When it came to actually refuting Murphy’s (aka Dr. Torrey’s) specific criticisms,  DeGette and her Democratic colleagues seemed to struggle, even when throwing softball questions to SAMHSA Administrator Pamela Hyde.  She didn’t hit a single one into the outfield.
 
During her testimony, Hyde frequently demurred, answering that she didn’t have specific figures — such as how much SAMHSA spent funding its alternative’s conference. She refused to get specific, explaining that SAMHSA simply doles out block grants and really isn’t responsible for how states use federal dollars.
 
That’s nonsense.

BringChange2Mind Releases 2nd Stigma Fighting Ad

by

Jessie Close called to tell me that Bring Change 2 Mind has released a new public service announcement. Most of you know that BC2M is the stigma fighting non-profit organization launched by Jessie’s  sister, the six time Oscar nominee and acclaimed actress, Glenn Close, to help educate the public about mental illnesses.

This is the group’s second public service spot. The speaker who appears in it is Calen Pick, Jessie’s oldest son. Jessie can be seen sitting at a table behind Calen drinking coffee with Megan Pick, who is Calen’s wife.

Calen and Megan are an inspirational couple. Calen has schizophrenia and Megan has a traumatic brain injury that happened when a car that she was driving collided head on with a speeding semi-trailer truck. Glenn appears in the PSA too, of course, lending her considerable star power to it.

Click to continue…

HIPAA: Does It Keep Key Information From Family Members

by
Matt Milam, another casualty

Matt Milam, another casualty

FROM MY FILES FRIDAY — This blog post, which I published last year, led to Pat Milam being invited to testify before a congressional subcommittee about the difficulties that families face when trying to help a loved one who has a mental disorder. I’m happy to report that Pat has continued with his advocacy since that hearing in a tireless effort to turn a spotlight on the Health Insurance and Portability Accountability Act  (HIPAA) and how some doctors use it avoid talking to family members. Partly because of Pat, Rep. Tim Murphy held a community meeting in Pittsburg to further examine HIPAA.  At that hearing, Charles and Debi Mahoney described the suicide death of their college age son, Chuck. They said HIPAA kept school officials from telling them information that might have helped save Chuck’s life.

What’s your take on HIPAA? Does it do more harm than good? Should there be an exemption when the patient has a mental disorder? Is it important to protecting the privacy of someone with a mental disorder? Good or bad — please share your story with us.

And thanks Republican Rep. Murphy for continuing to hold hearings about our troubled mental health care system. 

A FATHER GRIEVES, NO ONE LISTENED TO THE PARENTS 

Pat Milam knows what it is like to bury a child. But it was not a gunman who murdered his son in  October 2011. It was America’s failed mental health system, the still-grieving father says.

Click to continue…

$100 Bucks for Sounding Off About NAMI’s 2013 Convention

by

national-alliance-mental-illness

Want to make a $100 bucks as a writer?

I’m still looking for two additional people to write a blog for me about “a day in the life” of the upcoming NAMI convention. It should be easy. I’m looking for 500 to 800 word blogs about your impressions of the convention based on what you did during a single day. Sorta like one of those “how I spent my summer” essays from junior high school!

Only it needs to be interesting and informative.

I’m only hiring three folks so if you are interested get back to me pronto.

The convention is June 27th to the 30th in San Antonio. I especially want to hear from parents and consumers who are representative of NAMI’s membership, versus journalists, mental health providers, or professional advocacy group members. 

Spread the word that I am looking for help. 

And thanks!

 

Dr. Insel’s DSM Bombshell: What Is A Mental Illness?

by

thomas insel

“What caused my son to get sick?” I asked.

The doctor said he didn’t know.

“Will it happen again?

The doctor said he didn’t know. It could happen or it might not.

“Do you know what is wrong with him?”

The doctor said he wasn’t certain.

Welcome to the imprecise world of psychiatry.

On May 22, the American Psychiatric Association will release its new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the so-called Psychiatrists’ Bible, that is used in making a mental health diagnosis. From the moment the APA announced it was revising its DSM, the new edition has come under attack. Most of these early criticisms have been predictable and not especially startling — until April 29th.

That is when Dr. Thomas Insel, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health and a doctor whom I personally admire, published a “director’s blog” that dropped the equivalent of a nuclear bomb into the DSM debate.

Dr. Insel wrote:

Click to continue…