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Sparks Fly At Murphy Hearing: Cheap Shots, Personal Attacks and Traps Alleged

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Colorado Democratic Representative Diane DeGette said she was “appalled” by the brutal questioning of SAMHSA Director Pamela Hyde during a House subcommittee hearing Wednesday. DeGette’s irritation was aimed at two House Republicans who verbally attacked Hyde and her agency, one personally belittling her as a witness.

Representatives Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) and Chris Collins (R-NY) irked DeGette, the ranking minority member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, when they grilled Hyde about agency priorities and her leadership.

Mullin led the two-punch attack during the hearing that was called by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) the committee chair, who last year asked the General Accountability Office to investigate SAMSHA. It issued its report last week.

You can watch Mullin interrogate Hyde by going to 1:36.37 on the YouTube video.

After posting a snapshot of a SAMHSA website called Building Blocks For A Healthy Future on a television monitor, Mullin explained the webpage was designed to teach small children about substance abuse by having them sing songs about healthy living to the tune of Old McDonald and Yankee Doodle Dandy. Click to continue…

A Correction And More Troubling Questions About Woman’s Taser Death in Fairfax Jail

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2-11-2015  I need to correct an error that I made in writing Tuesday about Natasha McKenna, the 37 year old African American woman who suffered cardiac arrest after her encounter with law enforcement in the Fairfax County jail. I am happy to do this because my goal is to uncover the truth and also because this information confirms what those of us in the mental health community fear.

This is an instance where someone with a mental illness is acting oddly. The police are called and an altercation happens, resulting in charges being filed and the person with mental illness ending up becoming entrapped in the criminal justice system.

I was initially told by my sources and wrote that McKenna had been charged with simple assault. That was incorrect. Please read the official statement printed below from the Alexandria police.  A spokesperson told me that three of the six officers involved in the initial contact with McKenna were CIT trained and that one of them was a CIT instructor.

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Troubled Woman Dies In Fairfax: Shot 4 Times With Taser After A Week In Isolation Cell

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2-10-2015

Can you imagine being arrested on a minor charge,  stripped naked and put into a solitary jail cell for a week with nothing in it?

Can you imagine being slapped in the head by a corrections officer because you didn’t comply with an order that you didn’t understand?

Can you image having five men dressed like Ninja warriors wearing football-like helmets with visors attempting to violently tie you to a chair?

Can you imagine voltage from a Taser being shot into your body not once, not twice, not three times, but four times until your body goes into cardiac arrest?

Can you imagine being rushed by EMTs to a hospital where your urine soaked body looks so horrific that the emergency room crew is sickened by what they witness?

This is not some tale of torture filtering from Abu Ghraib prison.

All of this happened last week here in Fairfax County, Virginia, a wealthy suburb of Washington D.C. where elected officials have stuck their heads in the sand when it comes to facing what now is being revealed as our grim reality.

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Sensational Headline Flaws Expose: We Butted Heads But Va. Advocate Deserved Help Not Warehousing!

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Washington Post Photo

Washington Post Photo

A week ago, The Washington Post published a front-page story about Alison Hymes, a self-described psychiatric survivor, long-time Virginia mental health advocate and person living with mental illness.

Reporter Annys Shin’s story was headlined:

      SHE FOUGHT FOR PATIENTS’ RIGHTS, THEN HER’S WERE STRIPPED AWAY.

I met Ms. Hymes when we both were appointed to a task force appointed by the Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court to draft new language for civil involuntary commitment criteria.

From the start, Ms. Hymes and I bumped heads.

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Powerful Readings From RESILIENCE, Angry Response To Fox Radio Host’s “Stupid” Statement

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Moments before the show

Moments before the show

For those of you who missed it, Jessie Close, Glenn Close and I were on the Diane Rehm Show this morning (2-5-2015) talking about mental illness and our new book, RESILIENCE: Two Sisters and a Story of Mental Illness.  Here is a link to the program.

Highlights for me were hearing Glenn read one of the vignettes that she wrote for our book and also listening to Jessie read the first two pages of the book’s Prologue where she describes a screaming voice inside her head urging her to end her life. Their readings truly captured the emotion and power of their written words.

A listener asked for our reaction to Fox News Radio Host Tom Sullivan’s recent claim  that Bipolar Disorder is “made up” and a “fad.” Click to continue…

Tune in Thursday to hear Jessie, Glenn and Me Discuss RESILIENCE and Mental Illness

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DIANE REHM

DIANE REHM

Jessie Close, Glenn Close and I will be interviewed on The Diane Rehm Show on Thursday, February 5th, at 11 a.m. (EST.)

I’ve been on Diane’s National Public Radio show four times and she is simply top-notch. She understands the importance of discussing mental illnesses, how they impact the lives of millions and the tremendous need in our nation to improve our mental health care system.

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