Pete Earley

I received a slew of emails about the guest blog that I published last Friday written by D.J. Jaffe, whose name has been popping up regularly in the media, most often in support of Rep. Tim Murphy’s Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act.   Gabe Howard, a mental illness advocate, speaker and blogger, who has been diagnosed with bipolar and anxiety disorders, asked  if I would print a rebuttal by him. Of all the comments, both in support and opposed to Mr. Jaffe’s guest blog, I felt Mr. Howard’s were the most worth sharing.

Arguments about such important issues as involuntary commitment, dangerousness, and recovery can go-on-on. I will let Mr. Jaffe and Mr. Howard continue future debates between them on their own websites. I wish to thank them both for sharing their different points of view here and their efforts to improve our mental health system.

 8 Myths –A Different View

By Gabe Howard

I read with interest the recent blog from D. J. Jaffe, “8 Myths About Serious Mental Illness.” I was, however, disappointed to see that, throughout his article, Mr. Jaffe made assertions that are untrue and relied on data taken out of context to make his points. In some cases, the “myth” he debunks is a belief held only by a fringe minority, not really needing any sort of debunking. There are, indeed, many misconceptions about mental illness, but in his recent blog, Mr. Jaffe failed to adequately debunk these particular “myths.”

Mr. Jaffe disagrees with the following eight statements:

1. All mental illness is serious.

However…

Mental illness exists on a spectrum, making it difficult to decide who counts as “seriously mentally ill.”  The problem here is language. Consider dysthymia. It is not categorically a “Serious Mental Illness.” But when someone with dysthymia is contemplating suicide, it’s deadly serious. Should we deny that person services because they don’t have a “serious” mental illness? Mr. Jaffe removes people from “seriously mentally ill” status to achieve the statistics he quoted throughout his blog, going so far as to split bipolar disorder into “severe” and, seemingly, “not severe.”

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Exciting news for those of us who live in Fairfax County, Virginia.  After years with little interest, our jurisdiction may be getting a specialty docket to help veterans and persons with mental illnesses who get arrested. Penney S. Azcarate, the chief judge of the general district court here, will hold a steering committee and community awareness meeting on May 22 at 2 p.m. in the fourth floor jury room of the Fairfax County Courthouse to discuss creating a specialty docket. The public is invited and I hope the Northern Virginia Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, as well as, other mental health advocates, veterans organizations and community faith groups attend.

Please help spread the word.

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D. J. Jaffe’s name has been popping up in news articles lately, most often defending Rep. Tim Murphy’s mental health legislation. I noticed a quote from him earlier this week in a special report entitled THE COST OF NOT CARING: NO WHERE TO GO — The financial and human toll for neglecting the mentally ill published by USA Today medical writer, Liz Szabo, a reader of this blog.   D.J. is a familiar figure having been involved in the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the Treatment Advocacy Center before starting his own non-profit advocacy group called  Mental Illness Policy Org.

I bumped into him on Capitol Hill recently and suggested he write a guest blog for me, which he has kindly done. (I also extended invitations to advocates who share a different point of view than his but they have yet to respond.)

8 MYTHS ABOUT SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS by D.J. Jaffe

These  myths about serious mental illness in the United States are believed by many mental health advocates and cause Congress to waste money and fail to implement policies that can improve care and keep patients, the public and the police safer. 

1. All mental illness is serious.

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Update: FOX News did a story about the show too!
DC News FOX 5 DC WTTG

Backers hope This Is My Brave will inspire others to do similar performances in their communities. (Two minute news report explains the concept. And yes, that is my son in the yellow shirt whose rap song can be heard at the start of the story.)

I have received a slew of emails about the Democrats’ decision last week to introduce a mental health bill challenging the legislation that Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) is fighting to get passed in the House. The Wall Street Journal also offered its opinion, after citing one of my earlier blogs. Here is a sampling, beginning with readers who are wary of Rep. Murphy’s legislation, including Virgil Stucker, Executive Director and President, CooperRiss Healing Community.

Dear Pete

Good to see that you entering more deeply into the dialogue about HR3717 (Rep. Murphy’s bill.) I have read the bill twice. Mostly I am concerned by its pessimistic tone which seems to scapegoat those of us who focus on ‘recovery’, on efforts to help vulnerable individuals with mental health issues to achieve and sustain their highest levels of functioning and fulfillment. I enter this arena with deep respect for these individuals and only rarely need to help cause involuntary treatment to occur for them. Day by day, I walk with, dine with, work with, live with these individuals on their journey. I feel honored to be in their presence and to try to help provide some of the essential conditions of recovery within our program. I am sustained personally by vicariously participating in the recovery stories I see unfolding before my eyes.

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Happy Mother’s Day.  For the first time in my life, I was not able to celebrate Mother’s Day this year with my mom. She died December 19th, 2013. This is the eulogy that I spoke at her funeral.

There are four things that you need to know if you want to know about my mother, Jean Earley.  She loved her God, she loved her husband, she loved her children — and she ate burnt toast.

Let’s start with God.

My father didn’t start his career as a preacher. He owned a mom and pop grocery store in Douglas, Arizona, but he felt unfulfilled. He believed that God was calling him so he sold the store and studied to become a minister. His first church was in Buffalo, a town in the Oklahoma panhandle.  My father soon fell into a pattern. He would move to a small Disciples of Christ church that was struggling to attract members and build up that congregation through his preaching and his financial expertise until it was on firm footing and thriving. And then he would feel compelled to find yet another troubled church to rescue.

My mother was his defacto co-minister. She used her artistic skills to do chalk drawings during his sermons on Sunday nights to illustrate his lectures. She taught Sunday school, sang in church choirs, organized ladies groups, helped at church dinners and truly lived her beliefs.

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