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

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DeanB

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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secrets

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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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.

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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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HIPAA: Does It Keep Key Information From Family Members

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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.

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