(6-3-21) When it comes to employee happiness, the federal agency responsible for mental illness and substance abuse programs has historically ranked at the bottom of federal polls – even years before COVID. A SAMHSA officials says it will be up to middle-management to find ways to boost morale. As with all guest blogs, the opinions are solely those of the writer. 

SAMHSA’s Important Work Can Be Strengthened with Cultural Change

Guest blog by Mitchell Berger

For a decade the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an operating division of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), has ranked near the bottom of the Partnership for Public Service’s Best Places to Work in the Federal Government which is based on data from the annually administered Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.¹

Currently, with the 2020 results pending, the Agency ranks number 417 out of 420 among Agency components and subcomponents.²

The federal government’s lead organization for mental health and substance use disorder must be at its best to effectively serve the vulnerable and traumatized populations that are the central focus of its mission. ^3,4

In my view, the ultimate key to potential improvement at SAMHSA lies with its ‘middle management’ layer– the branch chiefs, team leads, office directors, special experts, senior advisors and division directors, and their equivalents — that layer of management which is most numerous and comprises those with whom SAMHSA staff most typically and frequently interact. ^5,6

It is to these mangers whom many staff look day-to-day for guidance and leadership.

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(5-28-21) One of my favorite advocates recently talked on an Ohio television station about his bipolar diagnosis and suicidal thoughts.  Gabe Howard, is a certified peer specialist, dynamic public speaker, and popular podcast host. He recently wrote  Mental Illness Is An Asshole, about incidents in his life.

Gabe is a frequent contributor to this website. Recently, he expressed his frustration when confronted by people who treat him differently because of his diagnosis.  From “I’m Tired”:

For the purposes of understanding and professionalism, I call myself a mental health advocate. That description is not inaccurate, but it’s not the job I actually have.

My actual job is to wake up every morning and attempt to prove to the world that my life has value. That my needs are important. That helping me, and others like me, is a worthwhile thing to do.

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(5-xx-21) Dr. E. Fuller Torrey has spent much of his career writing and researching Schizophrenia. He is the author of Surviving Schizophrenia: A Family Manual, long-considered the bible about the disease. Guest blogs reflect the opinion of the author.

The NIMH Saga Continues: How Many People Have Schizophrenia?

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(5-24-21) I returned to delivering speeches in person last week and flew to Florida to give a keynote presentation where I met Hank and Susan Ashby. I asked them to share their story in a guest blog.

From Tragedy… to Hope

By Hank and Susan Ashby

This is a story about our family and son, Jay Ashby.

We were high school sweethearts and will celebrate 50 years of marriage this June. We were blessed with 3 healthy children 3 years apart. Our eldest son Brandon now lives with his family of 6 in the Washington DC area. Daughter Kristin lives with her family of 4 in Melbourne Florida. Our youngest, Jay was a great addition to our family, and a much-loved son & baby brother!

Jay was a good student; a talented athlete; a musician and artist; he loved surfing and was also a great fisherman. Jay played the upright base and it was comical to see us driving around Ormond Beach, Florida with such a huge instrument jutting out of the car’s sunroof. Jay was a thoughtful, kind and fun boy with a great sense of humor. We had so many great times together whether it was taking family trips to the mountains, fishing, surfing, attending his concerts or Jay’s soccer and basketball games!

Jay was a normal, healthy child much loved by his immediate family and an assortment of extended family and friends – until the the onset of his illness.

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(5-20-21) Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra announced this week that $3 billion in new funds will be distributed to states and territories for mental health and substance use services.

Behavioral Health will be an HHS priority.

It’s about time.

This massive influx of funds and making Behavioral Health a priority could lead to much needed improvements in our badly fractured system.

The $3 billion will be distributed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) through block grants to the states. It will be equally divided with $1.5 billion earmarked for “those with severe mental health conditions” and children with serious emotional disturbances – known respectively as SMIs and SEDs. The other $1.5 billion will flow into substance use disorder programs.

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(5-18-21) Damian Daniels, a 30 year-old combat veteran who’d been diagnosed with paranoia, had not taken his medication. He called the police to complain about noises in his house. He suspected it might be haunted.

Daniels was well-known to local law enforcement as an individual with a mental illness.  Two deputies went to his house and Daniels told them that he’d not taken his medication that day. They asked Daniels if he wanted to hurt himself and he replied that he didn’t. They asked him if he’d like the deputies to check his home for noises and he said no.  Before leaving, they told him that he needed to take his medication.

There was no evidence that Daniels was a danger to himself or others, the officers wrote after that meeting. He didn’t meet the criteria for an emergency detention.

The next day, deputies again were called to Daniels’ house. This time, he was sitting outside with a .40 caliber handgun tucked into his waist band. Daniels was clearly in the midst of a mental health crisis but he didn’t want to go with the officers. When he refused to obey them, the encounter turned ugly. Deputies shot Daniels with tasers. He tried to take a taser away from them. A deputy drew his service weapon and fired twice killing Daniels.

What makes this August 2020 fatality different from other shootings is that it happened in San Antonio, Texas, a city that for nearly two decades has been considered a national model for how its law enforcement officers deescalate mental health crises.

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