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Before You Vote, Question Candidates

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Bob Carolla at the National Alliance on Mental Illness has been tirelessly lobbying editors, bloggers, and columnists to ask candidates in the upcoming November elections about the need for mental health reforms. Because of the recession, many states are cutting budgets and mental health funding often is an easy target.

We need to stop that from happening. 

Carolla and NAMI are wisely pointing out that cutting the budgets for mental health programs is counter-productive, especially when those cuts lead to persons with chronic illnesses ending up in jails and prisons because of a lack of adequate community services.

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Part Two – The Power of Hurtful and Helpful Words

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Words.  They matter.

When I was doing research inside the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, for my book about everyday life inside a maximum security prison, I learned to select my words very carefully.

 This is because I was in a prison where what you said or didn’t say might get you stabbed. 

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Part One: Hurtful Words -Prejudice, NPR, and Fox TV

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 Juan Williams and I both worked at The Washington Post at the same time and have remained friendly ever since, so I was very interested in the media melodrama that unfolded last week when National Public Radio fired him.  

NPR CEO Vivian Schiller accused Juan of violating the radio network’s journalistic standards after he said on Fox Television’s “The O’Reilly Factor” that he got nervous when he was in an airport and saw people in Muslim garb.

His firing caused a flurry of accusations. Muslim groups accused Juan of being prejudice – a charge he denied. Bill O’Reilly accused NPR of dumping Juan because he had become a familiar face on the conservative Fox network — thereby irritating liberals. And everyone from Sarah Palin to NPR’s ombudsman chimed in.

Meanwhile, a chilling statement by Schiller was largely overlooked.

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CIT Returns to Fairfax County!

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Great news for those of us who live in Fairfax County, Virginia!
The Fairfax County Police Department just finished conducting a CIT class that was held from September 28th to October 1st and was attended by 49 officers.
In an earlier blog, I criticized the department for not including Crisis Intervention Team classes as part of the police force’s regular training program.    For those of you unfamiliar with CIT, it is a specially designed program that brings mental health professionals and law enforcement together to find ways to improve community mental health services.   
Sadly, police officers today deal with more persons with severe mental disorders than psychiatrists do. It only makes sense that the police undergo training that helps them identify someone who might be having a mental break and teaches them successful methods to deal with those persons, hopefully without force.

Top Notch, Inspirational Speakers!

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When I’m asked to recommend a speaker, I immediately mention four mental health advocates.

I’ve seen Fred Frese, PhD., talk for two hours and still leave the audience wanting more. Diagnosed with schizophrenia while in the U.S. Marine Corps, Fred could have easily ended-up in the back mental ward of a state institution, forgotten and   overlooked. Instead, he managed to win his freedom, take control over his symptoms and become a strident consumer advocate. Along the way, he earned a doctorate in psychology, ran a hospital ward and taught as a professor. As a speaker, he is an emotional powerhouse who causes listeners to leap to their feet.

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Alternatives 2010: Answering Critics

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 I normally post my blog on Mondays but after the firestorm that my last blog caused, I feel I should answer some of the comments.
1. Why don’t I participate in the blog comment section?
 I was trained as a journalist and was taught that a newspaper published an editorial and then readers reacted with letters. It was considered improper for a newspaper to add a comment to a letter. Why? Because the letter writer would not have an opportunity to reply to that note. Obviously, blogs are different and I have noticed that many bloggers do interact with readers.
I have chosen to not do that because I think the comment section should be for readers to give their reactions. 
At this time, I don’t plan on changing my policy, especially because I am behind on writing my newest book, which has nothing to do with mental health. This doesn’t mean that I don’t read and think about all comments. I do.