Grey Matters

It’s already starting…..including right here on the Tucson Citizen site……..the man, Major Nadil Malik Hasan was “crazy.”  If you have read any of my blogs before, you know how important it is to me to try and create a world where people living with mental illnesses do not feel stigmatized and one of the first steps is to stop using horribly discrimating terms like “crazy” or “crazed.”  Yes, I agree that someone who goes on a rampage killing 12 people and wounding at least 31 others is not of sound mind, but why don’t we take a look at why this happened? 

If you believe, as I do, that mental illnesses are illness just like any other, than why was this man, who supposedly treated other people with brain disorders, not receiving treatment himself?  Did  anyone not notice how he was struggling?  According to the “God Blogging” post on this site, NPR interviewed others at Walter Reed who said he was. 

Which brings us back to the same problem, the same issues that continue to plague people with mental illness and their families.  Because of the stigma, because of the inattention by our health care system that doesn’t think the mind is part of one’s physical health, because of an overburdened mental healthcare system, because people suffering from a mental illness can feel isoloated and abandoned by their support structure, people with diagnosable brain disorders are falling through the cracks.  One again, as President Obama called this tragedy, “a horrific” catastrophe has occured in this country.

Who knows what was going on in Hasan’s head……Certainly listening to war stories from our returning Veterans experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was not an easy thing to do, but why is it that no one saw the signs, especially when he was set to deploy at the end of the month? Maybe Major Hasan will be able to shed some light on our questions.

Halloween Horrors from the NAMI Website

It’s trick or treat time again. We don’t mind ghosts and goblins, but when “haunted house” attractions become “insane asylums,” featuring “mental patients” as murderous ghouls, we protest.

Violent stereotypes are inaccurate and offensive and the U.S. Surgeon General has determined that stigma is a major barrier to people getting help when they need it. Help send the message!

Local Attractions
Here’s an example. NAMI New Jersey is fighting an “Asylum of Terror” sponsored by a local museum and supported by a local Walmart and Dunkin’ Donuts, to name a few. Please e-mail the museum to let them know that perpetuating stigma towards persons with a mental illness is a national — as well as local — concern.

In Your Own Communities:
If offensive Halloween attractions or products appear, contact sponsors, advertisers or sellers personally. Educate them. Ask them to remove offensive parts of any attraction, advertisements or merchandise that mock mental illness.
If dialogue fails, alert NAMI members, family and friends to phone, send letters or e-mail the sponsors or stores.
Contact local newspaper editors and television news directors. Educate them about stigma and your concerns. Make the protest a “news event” and a “teaching moment.” Offer consumers and family members for personal interviews.

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There are times when we have all thought if that person would just change, if that person would just see my point of view, if that person understood me, things would be better.  We would get along better.  We would be happier; he would be happier, etc. etc.

 But a quote from Gandhi says it all – “I can’t change the world, but I can change myself.”

When you really think about it, he is right.  We have no control over how someone else is, but we do have control over how we are.  I use the present tense, because the present is also what matters.

 In the Family to Family class taught at the local non-profit, NAMI of Southern Arizona, participants are first taught about the reality of mental illness and the biological basis of mental illness.  Then everyone learns what it means to be empathetic and to put themselves in their loved ones shoes. It can be an emotional realization for some who have come to the class trying to cope with what can be a day to day struggle.  Parents feel guilty, siblings feel anger and children of adults with mental illness can feel abandoned, or worse. Emotions vary and people can feel like they are experiencing never ending grief after their relative is diagnosed. The young man who was going to go to Harvard now struggles to comprehend a story in the newspaper, the high powered attorney who successfully represented clients in the courtroom no longer has the confidence to speak in public, or as in Daniel Ayers case (the man with schizophrenia in the move “The Soloist,”) an incredibly gifted musician is living on the streets.

 A person’s journey with mental illness can be heart-breaking.  We want so much to help them, advise them, and convince them to take medications.  But, in reality all we can do is support and encourage them and remind them there is hope.  Recovery is a reality and once we convince ourselves of that and acknowledge that today is a present and tomorrow is just a dream and we can’t and shouldn’t force our relative into anything the dynamic changes.

 People living with mental illness need emotional support.  They need to feel like someone genuinely cares.  People with mental illness tend to isolate, so it is incumbent upon us, as people that want the best for them to be there for them and be a much needed friend.

 If you are interested in being a friend to someone with mental illness, NAMI of Southern Arizona also has a “buddy” program.  It is called “Heart to Heart” and it pairs a compassionate volunteer with a person who truly appreciates the value of friendship.

For more information, call the local office at 520-622-5582 or visit the website www.namisa.org

When it comes to state dollars it certainly seems that way!

I attended a screening Monday night with some local mental health advocates of a film in the Fred Friendly series called “Minds on the Edge.”  See info at www.mindsontheedge.org  The film is a very comprehensive panel discussion on facing the issues of severe mental illness.  It will be aired on PBS during Mental Illness Awareness week the first part of October.  Afterward NAMI Southern Arizona hosted the discussion on how to help promote not only the film, but how to use the series as a catalyst to increase dialogue and education in our community surrounding this topic. Stay tuned for more information regarding the series!

We are passionate about creating awareness about mental illness, but we invariably end up talking about the inadequacies of the public mental health system and the overall frustration  with the continuing decline in the meager  funding. Then we factor in the state’s formula to give us (Tucson) less support per patient and it’s a wonder Pima County is able to provide any mental health services! 

In Arnold vs Sarn,

a lawsuit filed alleging the state and Maricopa County did not fund a comprehensive mental health system, new services called Assertive Community Treatment Programs were instituted. Case managers in Maricopa County saw the number of patients they see decreased to around 30 per person while Pima County Case managers, who are paid just enough to get by,  continue to have as many as 100 active patients in their files! Imagine what it’s like for that person when several of her patients are in crisis and need focused, immediate attention!

Sometimes I feel like the little baby bird in the nest outside my window, just waiting for my Mama bird to bring me some little morsel to help me grow and be on  my own.  The problem with our public mental health system, is that the little birdies in Pima are struggling to get just enough nourishment from the Big Birds in Phoenix to learn how to fly.

And, as we all know, it’s just getting worse.  In fact, “state only” dollars for programs for the seriously mentally ill have decreased by more than 10 million since fiscal 2001. And, funding levels have never been adjusted for inflation. What is going to happen to these people?

Our legislators need to stop turning a blind eye to our most vulnerable population and increase funding for people living with brain disorders and they also need to start treating the citizens in Pima County as equal to those 100 miles up the freeway.

For more info on Arnold vs Sarn, see S.B. 1196

I watched this beautifully put together HBO documentary on Monday night.

Mournful and emotional,  “Boy Interrupted” is about a mentally ill boy who committed suicide when he was only 15 years old. Having experienced the same tragedy, I really wanted to see how the story could be told without being exploitative or sensationalized. They couldn’t have done a better job……..the parents put the film together. Both of them are in the film industry, but a good part of the documentary was made from actual “home” movies that they and that Evan, their son had personally filmed. Some of the clips even give you a sense of how difficult life for Evan was when he was struggling with his bi-polar illness that wasn’t diagnosed until he was eight years old. Eight years old??? I’m sure you’re thinking that’s incredibly young…..and it is. But, it happens. And in Evan’s case, he started threatening suicide as early as age five.

His parents did everything they could to get Evan help. Finally by age 10 he was experiencing some normalcy in his life with the help of medication, therapy and family and academic support. Tragically, at age 15 when all seemed to be going well he ended his life by jumping from his bedroom window several floors up. He left a note explaining how disconnected he felt…….something many 15 year old boys will experience. But, for Evan his sadness was overwhelming and his bi-polar illness prevented him from facing another day. In my case, I always say, schizophrenia took my son. – I know he wouldn’t have purposely “ripped my heart out.”

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness about one in ten children have a serious mental or emotional disorder, but fewer than half receive any mental health services in a given year. Over half of students with a mental disorder age 14 and older drop out of high school – the highest dropout rate of any disability group and many of the teenagers that have a mental disorder “self-medicate” with illegal drugs. Despite effective treatment, there are long delays, sometimes decades, before people seek and receive treatment.

These are pretty grim statistics, but I’m hopeful. As I have said before, I see people every day that have achieved mental health recovery. It’s something they have to work on- every day, and who knows, maybe one day we’ll find a cure or at least something to stop someone from wanting to end their life. Suicide causes unimaginable pain for those left behind.