Psychiatric Nurses Often Work In “War Zones” But It’s Worth The Risks

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nurses
Here is a recent email that I received and want to share with you. The author asked that her name and where she works be withheld for privacy reasons.
Dear Pete,
 
I am a psychiatric APRN (advanced practice nurse) at [a well known hospital] and have worked in emergency departments as a staff nurse. Your descriptions in your book, CRAZY, about the jail block in Miami Dade County where psychotic prisoners were incarcerated rang disturbingly familiar as to how a hospital emergency department operates with its psychiatric patients. The inpatient unit is actually less restrictive than the emergency department. In both places though the staff is burnt out, and many have been victims of or witness to their co-workers being victims of physical assaults by psychiatric patients.

My Book, Prophet of Death, Featured Tonight on Investigation ID Documentary

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I’m interviewed tonight and my book, Prophet of Death, is featured in a one hour documentary on the Investigation Discovery channel at 9 p.m. EST and later at midnight.prophet

Called Deadly Devotion: The Mormon Murders, the broadcast revisits the 1986 cult murders carried out by Jeffrey Lundgren and his followers who believed they could bring about the end of times by sacrificing a family of five, including three children. 

My book and the show provide a frightening glimpse into the inner workings of a religious cult and the self-a bsorption of a self proclaimed messiah. It is a cautionary tale made even more chilling because it is true.

Here’s a link to a recent blog which I wrote about being interviewed for the program.

 

Blaming Parents For Their Children’s Mental Illness: A Father Looks Through A Parent’s Lens

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family shaddows_Flickr_emily Kreed

Parents of Children with Mental Illness

See Things Through a Different Lens

A guest blog by Joseph Meyer

     A few weeks ago, President Obama spoke about the lens of personal experiences through which African Americans see life in the United States and how it impacts their perceptions.  Several months earlier, in response to the Newtown tragedy, the President called for a national conversation about mental illness.  Today, I am writing about the lens that colors my perceptions as the father of a child with severe mental illness in the United States.

When mental illness strikes young children, parents are often confused about what is happening—we question our own parenting skills, wonder if there is something we did wrong, and spend a lot of time and money searching for answers.  We also hear a great deal of criticism and unsolicited advice from strangers, friends, and family: “You’re too permissive; I’d never let my child get away with that behavior” or “My pastor says kids with those types of issues have parents who are devil worshippers.” I believe such thoughts are in the minds of some strangers when they see my son come unglued in public, because I had critical thoughts about misbehaving children and their parents before becoming the father of a child with bipolar disorder.

On the outside, children with mental illness look no different than other youth and their symptoms may appear to be disciplinary issues. Educators even refer to their symptoms as behavioral or emotional disorders, implying that bad parenting is an underlying cause.  Despite a poor scientific understanding of what causes mental illnesses, they are often unjustifiably blamed on parents.

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NAMI Criticizes Dr. Phil and Brian Williams For Prejudicial Remarks; But Wait, Have You Seen What Dr. Oz Is Doing?

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The National Alliance on Mental Illness issued a statement Friday night chastising both Dr. Phil and NBC’s Brian Williams for inappropriate  remarks they have  made which stigmatized persons with mental illnesses.

NAMI’s statement [printed below] further legitimizes complaints that I raised in an Op Ed about Dr. Phil published Wednesday in USA Today’s online edition and blogs published by others criticizing Dr. Phil and Williams. Major news sources often don’t pay much attention to individual blogs, but do react when NAMI, the largest grassroots mental health organization with more than 300,000 members, issues a statement.

I hope NAMI’s statement will bring additional pressure on NBC’s Williams and Dr. Phil to publicly apologize, although I am skeptical either will. 

Meanwhile, you can add a third offender to the list of television personalities who should know better but apparently believe it is funny to make light about persons with mental illnesses.

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First Dr. Phil, Now NBC’s Brian Williams: Stigmatizing Mental Illness

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I’ve been warned that fighting stigma is a bit like tilting at windmills, but I find it difficult to keep silent when I see blatant examples. Dr. Phil’s comments about how “insane” individuals “suck on rocks and bark at the moon” were especially offensive since he is a psychologist. Last night, I flipped on the news and heard NBC Anchor Brian Williams make remarks that were just as stigmatizing.

Williams announced that Ariel Castro, the Cleveland kidnapper/rapist who held three women captive for a decade, was “arguably the face of mental illness.” 

Not content to toss millions of Americans who have mental health issues under the bus, Williams spoke with contempt about how Castro had given a rambling, difficult to hear speech, during which he justified his actions by  “appropriating the language of the addiction and treatment culture” and declaring himself “sick.”

What exactly is the “language of the addiction and treatment culture” Mr. Williams?

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Words Do Matter Dr. Phil and Your Words Promoted Stigma

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the_dr_phil_show-show

An explanation about my disappearing Dr. Phil blog
I was horrified last week when I learned of a slur Dr. Phil made about individuals diagnosed with mental disorders. I wrote an Op Ed piece chastising him and an editor at USA TODAY agreed to publish it on the newspaper’s online edition. That meant a national audience would read why I felt Dr. Phil’s remark was insensitive and promoted stigma. On Monday, I posted my Op Ed here, only to have the editor call me within minutes and explain that the newspaper couldn’t put my Op Ed on line if I posted it here first. It had first rights. I hadn’t realize that I had violated our agreement and immediately removed my blog. The newspaper posted my Op Ed on Wednesday which means I am free to post it here now. That’s why my blog on Monday vanished and is now reappearing!
 

His remark that the insane ‘suck on rocks and bark at the moon’ stigmatizes people.

     “You won’t believe what Dr. Phil just said on his show,” my wife, Patti, told me. “He said insane people ‘suck on rocks and bark at the moon.'”

    “Dr. Phil said what?” I replied.

    “Insane people suck on rocks and bark at the moon. He also told a young woman who was stalking her boyfriend that she wasn’t some ‘crazy, psycho’ because of her obsession.'”

    I turned on our DVR when I got home from work to watch a Dr. Phil episode called Obsessed With Love, which focused on a 19-year old girl named Victoria.

     Within minutes, Dr. Phil mouthed exactly what Patti had quoted him as saying.  After underlining the word “insane” in a letter that Victoria had written to him seeking his help, he brushed off her worries by declaring that her obsession did not mean that she was “insane” because insane people “suck on rocks and bark at the moon.”

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