NAMI and Drug Makers’ $$$

As a Washington Post reporter, I was trained to “follow the money” so last year when the New York Times published a story about how the National Alliance on Mental Illness had received $23 million from drug makers between 2006 to 2008, I winced. The driving force behind the story was Iowa Republican Senator Charles E. Grassley who was using his congressional powers to investigate the drug industry’s influence on the practice of medicine. 
NAMI’s critics were quick to attack, arguing that NAMI was in the pocket of pharmaceutical companies and that is why it endorsed the so-called “medical model,” which blames severe mental illnesses on chemical imbalances in the brain; backs Assisted Outpatient Treatment, which enables judges to forcibly medicate selective persons who have a history of violence or of not taking medications that help them; and believes that mental disorders can strike children as well as adults.
Obviously, all of us who support NAMI would prefer to have more of an arm’s length relationship with drug makers.
But I don’t believe for a second that drug makers control NAMI and, if I did, I would resign from it.

Sad Ending In Vermont

The search for Vermont resident Danny Goldstein, that I posted recently on this blog,  has ended with very sad news. I want to extend my sympathies to his family and     friends. As I have written many times, mental disorders are cruel illnesses. 

Rutland Town remains identified as missing man

Human remains found over the weekend in Rutland Town have been identified as missing Rutland man Daniel Goldstein.
Dozens of searchers along with family and friends had been
 

What Role Should A Family Play?

What role should a family member play when someone shows symptoms of a mental disorder?

It seems like an easy question. If someone becomes sick you would assume their family would gather around and help them get well.  But as we all know, mental disorders are not like any other illnesses and families…well, if you want to know how complicated family relationships can be just read a recent comment by Leslie Khalsa on my August 2nd post on facebook. She wrote poignantly about how she feels her family has abandoned her and doesn’t want any extra “drama” in their lives because of her mental issues.

It would be easy for me to dismiss what Ms. Khalsa has written if I had not heard similar  Click to continue…

Family Seeking Missing Son

I was asked by a reader to post this Missing Person’s Poster  and am happy to do so. This is every parent’s nightmare — a child off medication disappears.  For updates, you can visit the family’s Facebook page

Daniel Goldstein Daniel Goldstein
 
Name: Danny Goldstein
Age: 34 (date of birth: 7 August 1976)

Mental Illness, Money, and Cheats

If you read my book, CRAZY, you may remember Ted Jackson who lived in South Beach, had a mental illness, and was convinced that Jesus was returning to earth in 2007. Ted said God had ordered him to warn people about judgment day so he spray painted “Jesus 2007” graffiti  everywhere he could. He was caught several times and when he refused to stop, he was beaten by a police officer before being booked into the Miami Dade County Jail. That’s where I met him.
Ted received a small stipend each month from his family to pay his bills. He got his medication from the Veterans Administration, so even though the monthly cash payment was small, it was enough for him to live independently — until people started stealing from him.
And that sadly, that happened regularly in South Beach.

Mental Illnesses Never Take Vacations

Patti and I took six of our children on vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina last week along with three of their significant others, and I witnessed something that I wasn’t certain I would ever see. 
While sitting comfortably in my beach chair with a cool breeze blowing ashore from the Atlantic Ocean, I watched Mike ride a boggie board on top a wave. 
Four years ago in August, Mike was on a downward slide that would end badly with him becoming psychotic, being picked-up by the police and hospitalized for a sixth time because of his brain disorder. That would be his fourth major psychological break from when he was first diagnosed and when it happened, I had reached a point where I wondered if he would ever find a way to manage the symptoms of his illness. I felt helpless and, quite frankly, without hope. 
Watching him at the beach last week, I turned in my chair to Patti, who was reading nearby, and said, “This is one of those rare moments in life when I can honestly say that I am totally and truly happy. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but today, I am happy.”