Polish Trip: Do Europeans Look At Mental Illnesses Differently?

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stalin1

WESTERN SKYSCRAPERS COMPETE WITH STALIN’S “GIFT” 

Do Europeans look at mental illnesses differently from us?

I’m posing this question because last week I was in Warsaw, Poland, delivering a speech to an international group. Its members seemed genuinely surprised when I told them my personal story about how I was turned away from a hospital emergency room when I took my son, who was psychotic,  there for help. The audience appeared even more shocked when I said there were 360,000 persons in the U.S. with severe mental disorders currently incarcerated in U.S. jails and prisons. When I also mentioned that the largest public mental facility in the U.S. is a jail and that the chances of a individual in the midst of a mental break ending up in a hospital versus a jail are three-to-one in favor of a jail — well, let me just say that I saw lots of jaw dropping.

Before I continue writing about mental health, however, I have to digress.

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Where Are The Best Programs For Mental Health Recovery?

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mentalart

FROM MY FILES FRIDAY: I’m asked all the time to name what cities and communities are doing things right. In this blog from 2011, I  describe programs that make a difference and what I believe is an essential ingredient in helping someone recover.

WHAT HELPS PEOPLE RECOVER?

What’s the most important ingredient to recovery if you have a mental illness?

The Mental Health Coalition in La Crosse asked me during a recent trip to Wisconsin to tell its members about successful programs that I’ve seen while traveling to three foreign countries and 46 states. I don’t mind citing specific examples.

Want to see a top notch Crisis Intervention Team in operation. Go to Houston, Texas. CIT is important because law enforcement officers deal with more persons with mental problems than most psychiatrists do during a day. We need more CIT training.

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Frustrated Mother Describes Her Psychotic Son’s First Day In Prison

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Photo by Jenn Ackerman

Photo by Jenn Ackerman

This email arrived over the weekend.
Dear Pete, 
 I remember my son’s first day of kindergarten like it was yesterday. The angst I felt when dropping him off and watching that timid little boy walk to the front door. Tears from the realization that my “baby” was growing up and would eventually have to face this harsh world without me. Worrying about whether or not he would be treated with kindness by the other children in his morning kindergarten class.

There have been many “first days” through the years, but none like Tuesday.

 
Tuesday was my mentally ill son’s first day in the prison unit he’s been assigned to. What a horrible week this has been. The intensity of this particular angst, the depth of the sorrow in my tears, and the heart-wrenching worry over how he will be treated by the guards and inmates is unlike anything I’ve ever felt in my life.
 
 There is a pain piercing my heart every moment of every day. This is a “first” that no parent should ever have to face – especially the parent of a mentally ill child.

Trudy Harsh Shows Us How One Person Can Make A Difference

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FROM MY FILES FRIDAY:  I first wrote about Trudy Harsh more than three years ago and I’m happy to report that she still is working non-stop to help provide much needed housing in Fairfax County for persons with brain disorders. She is someone who I greatly admire, which is why I am thrilled to again share her story on my blog.

Trudy Harsh: One Person Who Is Making A Difference!

Trudy Harsh’s daughter, Laura, developed a brain tumor when she was eight years old. Doctors at Georgetown Hospital in Washington D.C. were able to remove it, but they warned Trudy that Laura would only live for six more years at best.

As often happens to persons who undergo traumatic brain injuries or have parts of their brain removed, Laura awoke from her surgery a completely different person. She was not the bright, sensitive and loving child that Trudy knew. The parts of her brain that controlled her emotions, especially anger, had been destroyed.

Muzzling A Watchdog: Virginia Investigator Looking at Deeds’ Case Resigns In Protest

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watchdog

Virginians with mental illnesses are losing a powerful voice.

G. Douglas Bevelacqua, director of the Office of the State Inspector General’s division of health and developmental services, submitted his resignation to the governor March 1st, citing differences with his boss, Michael F.A. Morehart. News of his resignation was released today.

As documented several times in this blog, Bevelacqua has been a tireless advocate for mental health reform in Virginia. His resignation is a real kick in the gut to those of us who want to see Virginia’s system improved.

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Was Justice Served? Woman Kills Self In Idaho Prison

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jailphoto

Just because a person has a mental illness, doesn’t mean he can’t be charged with a crime.

That’s what the Fairfax County prosecutor told the detective who arrested my son after he broke into an unoccupied house during a psychotic break to take a bubble bath. My son was charged with two felonies, even though I had tried unsuccessfully to get him into a hospital 48 hours earlier for treatment.

I was reminded of that prosecutor’s words this week when Gail Marguerite Wray sent me a news clipping from the Idaho Mountain Express in Ketchum. I’d met Wray when I spoke in Idaho at a National Alliance on Mental Illness event.

The news story was about Darice Olsen, a 52 year-old Sun Valley woman who was convicted of a felony for driving under the influence. Olsen was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison last April by Blaine County 5th District Court Judge Robert J. Elgee who insisted that Olsen serve at least 22 months in jail before being considered for parole.

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