(6-29-22) Part Two of Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness. the Ken Burns documentary shown this week on PBS stations, opened with me describing one of my first encounters with a psychiatrist after my son, Kevin, had a psychotic break while in college. The doctor’s warnings about his future were so bleak that I was devastated. Kevin laughed at them.

The highs and lows during Kevin’s six year journey to recovery are featured in this film by Erik and Christopher Loren Ewers. Most of the other young people interviewed in this brave documentary met face-to-face for the first time at a White House screening but the real celebration for them came this week in Billings, Montana. That’s where therapist Kee Dunning, who offers comforting and invaluable advice in the film, practices. She arranged a two night event at a local theater where standing room only crowds watched the documentary and asked cast members questions.

Here’s Kevin’s report about what happened.

Report from Billings Premier: Redemption and Friendships

By Kevin Earley

I am in awe to be included in the company of the courageous individuals whom I shared space with in the documentary and finally met in person in Billings, Montana during the past few days.

I was first interviewed by the Ewers brothers in what seems like ages ago.  I believe it was about three years ago, but it seems so much longer.  I have watched several of the preliminary edits of the film about mental illness they have been laboring over.  I contributed artwork, paintings, music, comics and a huge swath of my soul I poured into the making of the film.  I, along with many other brave individuals, left it all on the field during the making of this project.  I am honored that the filmmakers did our stories beyond justice.

It kinda felt like destiny meeting these people in person, like kindred spirits whom I have known before in another lifetime, like deja vu greeting them in person after watching so many iterations of the film.  I learned so much about myself by meeting them.

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(6-28-22) I’d watched snippets of Ken Burn’s PBS documentary, Hiding In Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness, but last night was the first time that I’d seen part one of the completed film.

Listening to youngsters talking about suicide, abuse, trauma, delusions, depression and peer pressure brought on by cruelty via social media was heartbreaking and, at time, brutal to watch.

But it is so important for us to listen to these young persons’ courageous voices, hear their cries for help, and get a glimpse into their worlds. We must not turn our heads or switch channels.

Tonight is the second part of this amazing documentary, airing on PBS, 9 pm EST. Last night, Kevin and I both were featured describing our experiences with his mental illness: bipolar disorder.

Patti and I will be watching tonight.  I hope you will too.

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(6-27-22) Ken Burn’s Hiding In Plain Sight documentary about youth and mental illness premiers tonight on your local PBS station. 9 pm. EST and 8 CST.

(6-23-22) Kevin and I were invited to the White House yesterday for an advance screening of the Ken Burn’s PBS documentary, Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness.

The four hour documentary will be shown in two segments and will premiere on June 27 and 28 on PBS. Check your local listings.  Both of us were interviewed for the film, which follows the mental health journeys of more than 20 young Americans, and features interviews with their parents, teachers, friends, health care providers, and mental health experts.

Dr. Jill Biden called the young people interviewed in the documentary “courageous.”

It’s been two years since film makers Erik Ewers and Christopher Loren Ewers, along with producer Julie Coffman, showed up at my office to interview us. At the time, the brothers were still deciding what direction a film about such a vast subject as mental illness would take. What could they do that hadn’t already been done? It wasn’t long before they zeroed in on the plight of young people. (Even though Kevin is older than most of the other participants, his first mental break happened when he was in his twenties.)

It proved to be the right choice.Click to continue…

(6-19-22)

A FATHER’S DAY GOODBYE

Published in THE WASHINGTON POST  on Sunday, June 22, 2014

 By Pete Earley    

Father’s Day found me with a man who often doesn’t remember who I am, although we have spent much of his 93 years together. My father has dementia.

Five years ago, I persuaded my parents to move from Spearfish, S.D., into a second house that my wife and I own that doubles as my office. Leaving a community where they were well-established was difficult. But they enjoyed seeing grandchildren, spent Saturdays at garage sales and played Upwords with me at lunch time. It was good.

I first noticed little things. Forgetfulness, confusing names. It’s part of aging, I thought.

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This is James Mark Rippee. He has lived on the streets of Vacaville, California, for fifteen years. He has schizophrenia. Thirty-five years ago, Mark Rippee suffered a motorcycle accident that left him blind, with head trauma, brain loss, and a shattered right leg that is kept in place with a metal rod. He has endured more than sixty surgeries. He is beaten and robbed regularly. (Photo courtesy of Author Ron Powers)

(6-13-22) Guest post today by Linda Rippee Privatte.

WHAT DO YOU CALL ME?

I have been a caregiver on the streets of my hometown of Vacaville, California, to my brother, Mark, who is disabled, blind and has a serious brain disorder with anosognosia (lack of insight). He has been left untreated by the system and homeless for 14 years now.

Lately I have been wondering what title I would be given. That is if our U.S. mental health system even acknowledged and valued the family members who go to the streets to care for their homeless untreated seriously mentally ill (SMI/SBD) loved ones?

I have thought long and hard about the many things I try to be to my brother. Treatment will never be in his reach while the sickness in his brain tells him to say “no” to all offers of help. Lack of insight further complicates care given out on the streets.

I take him water, food and clothing, and each time he has nothing with him again. I show him love and human kindness. I remind him about family memories and make him laugh. I hold him when he is sobbing with delusions. I try to calm him when he is raging in psychosis. I am his substitute for an In-Home Supportive Services Caregiver, nurse, therapist, and social worker.

My responsibility goes even further as I am also expected to answer to my community about their expectations of removing my brother from their streets all the while I am out on those streets caring for him.

Rather than reform HIPAA, LPS, and mental health laws, mental health professionals do not want to acknowledge that they intentionally send the SMI/SBD to U.S. streets. We have advocated for my brother, Mark, unsuccessfully for 34 years due to California legal blockades. He has not had mental health treatment or services in more than 3 decades. The sad truth is that there is no true mental health system in the United States for those with serious brain disorders.

Rather than acknowledge this, mental health professionals and legislators will blame and shame the families.

Through HIPAA, they will blindfold, silence, and handcuff our hands, and still expect us to do the heavy lifting for them. Our family has been my brother’s mental health care system. I am his lifeline. If a loved one of yours develops a serious brain disorder you will become their lifeline too. If the title has not yet been claimed… I will boldly do so now.

I am an American Curbside Caregiver, and I am not the only one!

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