A Dangerous Tipping Point: Hurried Laws, Increased Stigma

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I want to thank everyone who has posted a comment here since Friday about what I should tell a congressional subcommittee when I speak tomorrow (Tuesday) on Capitol Hill. I’ve  received a number of detailed and thoughtful suggestions. As I was going through them, I was reminded of just how wise many of you are. It’s one reason why I enjoy writing this blog. I hope you will share your comments with your local, state,  and national elected leaders.

I was told over the weekend that I will be given a total of  three minutes to speak. The  subcommittee will then ask questions.  Obviously, I can only make a few key points in such a short period.  However, I will  be allowed to submit written testimony and  I intend to submit  most of the comments that you have posted. I want your voices heard!

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What Should I Tell Congress?

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I generally publish a blog from my files each Friday. However, I have been invited to participate in a forum entitled “After Newtown: A National Conversation on Violence and Severe Mental Illness” on March 5th, before an investigative subcommittee of the  U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

I mentioned in last Monday’s blog that Reps. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and Diana DeGette (D-Co.) are holding the forum and I’m thrilled to report that Pat and Debbie Milam also have been invited to give testimony. I wrote about the death of their son, Matthew,  in a blog entitled: A Father Grieves: No One Listened to Parents.

Along with my formal invitation came a list of potential questions that might be asked at the forum, which will begin at 10 a.m. in Room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington D.C. and is open to the public.  I don’t know if it will be covered by C-Span but hope it will.

Okay, now is your chance to sound off.  Here are the questions:

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FACE the NATION Missed the Issue but Rep. Tim Murphy Thankfully Didn’t

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Rep Tim Murphy (R-PA)  appeared on FACE the NATION yesterday along with Michael Fitzpatrick, the executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, to discuss violence and mental illness.

Although the host kept trying to focus the discussion on whether or not video games spark mass shootings, Rep. Murphy did an excellent job explaining that the real issue that we need to address is our broken mental health system. Murphy worked as a psychologist before being elected to represent his Pittsburgh district, and he showed his mastery of the subject by explaining in a few moments how de-institutionalization and a lack of adequate community services have caused the criminalization of persons with mental disorders.

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FROM MY FILES: Psychiatric Advance Directives Can Be Helpful Tools

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From My Files Friday:  Psychiatric advance directives are more common today than they were when my son suffered his first breakdown or when I first wrote about them in early 2010. If you aren’t familiar with a PAD — you should be because it can be an important tool for a person who has a mental disorder and those who love him/her. I’d like to hear from anyone who has a PAD or has had experience using one — so please leave a comment and tell us whether or not a PAD helped in your situation.

Psychiatric Advance Directives Make Sense, first published March 23, 2010

If you have read my book, this blog, or heard me speak, then you know that the first time my son became psychotic, I raced him to a hospital emergency room. Mike was delusional, but he didn’t believe anything was wrong with him, and he was convinced that all “pills were poison” so he refused treatment. The emergency room doctor told me that he could not intervene until Mike became an “imminent danger” either to himself or others. That was the law in Virginia at that time.

Mike had a right to be “crazy.”

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We Need to Investigate These Mass Shootings and Identify the Flaws in Our System

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My parents taught me that the first step in correcting a mistake is investigating what went wrong and then not repeating that error.

Sadly, we are overlooking this rudimentary logic in the wake of the horrific Dec. 14th murders at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

President Barack Obama moved decisively when he dispatched Vice President Joe Biden to consult with a plethora of experts. However, what happened next was predictable.  Gun control proponents demanded tighter controls. The National Rifle Association circled its wagons. Mental health advocates complained about a lack of funding and community treatment services.

Was anyone surprised?

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A Psychiatrist Speaks About Gun Laws

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Jessie Close’s guest blog yesterday hit a nerve and sparked an email from Dr. Dinah Miller, a Baltimore psychiatrist and founder of SHRINK RAP, one of the most helpful mental health blogs on the Internet.

I want to share Dr. Miller’s email with you. I would encourage you to read the editorial from the Baltimore Sun that follows her note. In it, Dr. Miller points out that most of the legislation being suggested is a knee jerk reaction to the Sandy Hook shootings. There is no evidence that many of the bills being rushed through will accomplish much except further stigmatizing individuals with mental disorders.

Dear Pete,

Please thank Jessie Close for writing about guns and medical records — an issue that all of us need to monitor.  The Newtown massacre ignited legislators to propose many bills which will attempt to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.  In Maryland alone, I believe we have about 40 bills before our General Assembly. I have been writing about the intrusion that mandated reporting may have on doctor-patient confidentiality, and how that may stigmatize patients and discourage them from getting care.

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