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White House Mental Health Summit: An Inside Report

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Glenn Close was one of the celebrity advocates invited to The White House

Glenn Close was one of the celebrity advocates invited to The White House

 

My friend, the Rev. Alan Johnson, was one of the 150 guests invited to the White House’s summit on mental health yesterday.  Here is his report. Thanks Alan for being our eyes and ears!

Are you listening, America?  The White House is talking!

Who would have thought that over 150 people from across our country who are working in the trenches for better mental health would be invited to a whole day in the White House?  But it happened! The White House brought together mental health advocates, educators, faith leaders, veterans and local officials for The White House Conference on Mental Health.

President Obama was the first one to speak to us at the conference, and he empathetically stated that we must “do a better job recognizing mental health issues in our children, and making it easier for Americans of all ages to seek help.” The President was not only speaking to those of us gathered, but to the whole country,where the overwhelming stigma on mental illness blocks people from even acknowledging there is mental illness and keeps them from seeking help.  In this climate of embarrassment and fear, the President acknowledged there needs to be education to overcome the misunderstanding of mental illness and support to come out of the closet to speak with authentic stories of one’s own mental health challenges.

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A Good Friend and Fabulous Advocate Has Died: Dr. Dean Brooks

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During a visit, Dean let me sit in his chair from Cuckoo’s Nest

I lost a good friend and mentor last week and our nation lost a true mental health champion.

Dr. Dean Brooks died Thursday morning in Salem, Oregon, which is home to the Oregon State Hospital, where he was the superintendent from 1955 to 1981. He was 96.

Dean is best-known  for his role in the 1975 movie, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Although he was not an actor and never wished to be, Dean was cast as Dr. John Spivey, the director of the mental hospital in the landmark film. The irony is that Dean Brooks was the exact opposite of the dictatorial and callous superintendent who he portrayed in the film — a fact that several of his friends recalled this week in a joint telephone call after his death.

I joined Dean’s friends in talking about how he always put his patients first.  An example: Dean told his secretary at the state hospital to put letters and memos from patients at the top of his office’s  IN BOX. One day, she mentioned that the governor had sent over an important  note. Dean told her to put it on the bottom. He’d get to it, but first had to read the notes from patients.

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When Do You Tell Someone About Your Mental Illness?

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FROM MY FILES FRIDAY – I first published this blog in 2010, but the question is still germane. When do you reveal that you have a mental illness?

WHEN DO YOU GO PUBLIC?  May 2010

What I like most about writing a blog is that it provides all of us a venue for exchanging ideas.  
 
One of the many questions that my son and I wrestle with is: When should a person with a mental illness reveal his disorder? 
 

Congress Needs To Listen To Persons With Mental Illnesses

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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.

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

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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

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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.

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