Pete Earley

[Short trailer for Dr. Ruston’s new film]

This is my third blog about “everyday heroes” — individuals who are speaking out about mental health. In this final blog in my series, I wish to pay tribute to filmmaker Dr. Delaney Ruston, who grew up under her father’s illness; Ed Aro, an attorney with the law firm, Arnold and Porter, who is a champion for our nation’s most despised citizens; and Chrisa and Tom Hickey, who are extra-ordinary parents.

 These three join the list of everyday heroes  who I’ve already featured: two song writers, a monologist, a cartoonist, a photographer, an activist parent and a community organizer. My point in writing this series has been simple:  everyone of us, no matter who we are or where we live, can advocate for change.

We need better comprehensive community mental health care services. We need to stop the inappropriate imprisonment of individuals with mental illnesses whose only real crime is that they got sick. We need to bring an end to homelessness. We need to offer people hope and the tools that they need to empower themselves and recover. We need to care for those who are so mentally sick that they cannot care for themselves. Most of all, we need to educate our neighbors so that we can recruit them to help us finally overcome stigma. 

It starts with one voice.

Delaney Ruston emerged as one of those powerful voices when she decided to take camera in hand and make a documentary about her

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I told the story of three “everyday heroes” last Friday who are speaking out about mental illness. In today’s blog,  I’m going to tell you about a three new ones and a familiar face.  They are Jenn Ackerman, Chato B. Stewart, Susan Rose, and Pat Milam.

Let’s start with photographer Jenn Ackerman who is responsible for the short clip (above) which is well worth watching.

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Matt sings A Little More on Pathways Drop In Center

Everyday heroes are individuals who use their talents to help persons with mental illnesses. I believe in the power of an individual to not only change another person’s life for the better, but also to help change society. In this blog and a few to follow, I am putting a spotlight on several everyday heroes who are making a difference.

Let’s begin with Matt Shenk, Nelson Kull, and Mary Leaphart.

I first heard Matt Shenk sing at a Crisis Intervention Team training award ceremony in Orlando, Florida, and I was impressed by his voice (think John Mayer) and the original song that he’d written specifically for Pathways Drop In Center.

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The reviews are in!

Publishers Weekly is calling CLEVER FOX, the new novel that I helped Judge Jeanine Pirro write, “a wickedly good sequel” to our first collaboration that was published last summer.

Regular readers of this blog might recall that I write fiction for fun, as well as, my serious nonfiction books. My agent, David Vigliano , introduced me to Judge Pirro two years ago after the judge mentioned that she wanted to fictionalize some of the more fascinating cases that she had prosecuted as a young district attorney in Westchester County, New York during the 1970s.

I liked Judge Pirro from the moment we met. She’s a smart, sassy, wise-cracking  judge and a tireless champion for underdogs. Along with Al Pirro, her political savvy adviser, we created a fictional heroine named Dani Fox, a crime fighting D.A. loosely patterned after Jeanine.

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The controversy that Robert Whitaker caused at the national NAMI convention continues to spark conversations about the use of anti-psychotics. Here’s yet another report, this one from my friend and NAMI award winner Kathy Brandt who has contributed to this blog in the past.  You can read Kathy’s blog and learn more about her books at www.KathyBrandtAuthor.com

 Did NAMI act irresponsibility by giving  Whitaker unmerited credibility when it asked him to speak or did it provide its members with a much needed different point of view? I welcome your comments, which I know will be both thoughtful and polite.

The Case Against Anti-Psychotic Medications As Told By Robert Whitaker

By Kathy Brandt

Robert Whitaker, author of Mad in America, spoke to a full house at the NAMI Conference in San Antonio on Saturday.  For many his message was a hard one to hear.  I was among them, a parent, whose son, Max, sat beside me.  He’s been on and off antipsychotics for more than ten years to treat the psychosis that comes with his bipolar episodes.  Whitaker was telling us that might have been a mistake.  The key word being might.   His review of various research studies seems to indicate that a significant percentage of those with schizophrenia who did not receive antipsychotics or took them for a very limited time had better long- term outcomes than those who took them on an ongoing basis.

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Here is my final blog posting from the NAMI convention. 

Musings about NAMI convention by Greg Arms

This year I attended the NAMI conference in Texas. Opening day I saw an array of people from various ethnic, religious, cultural, and regional areas across the world. In addition, I met psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, social workers, students, and professors. Any profession within the mental health field was represented at NAMI.

One profession I was shocked to see was a grade school teacher I met. It was bittersweet because on one hand she was there for her students on the other hand she was there because of her students. She discussed the rise in mental health diagnoses that  she has seen with her kids over the years. I was saddened yet impressed with her willingness to learn.

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