Robert Whitaker Responds To Angry Mom Blog: Who Has Really Failed Her Son?

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whitakerrobert

The angry letter from a distraught mother that I published Monday has set off a lively debate. Yesterday, I reported that the woman’s son has voluntarily admitted himself into the hospital and is meeting with his family. I also explained my views about Robert Whitaker’s appearance at NAMI’s national conference. Today, Robert Whitaker published his response to the angry mother on his own website. I asked if I could reprint his words here because I think it is only fair, after the angry attack in Monday’s blog, to give him the same auidence that Angry Mom had. He graciously agreed to let me reprint his post.

 

My Reply to Pete Earley: Do I Have Blood On My Hands?

By Robert Whitaker

Since I spoke at NAMI’s national convention last month, the writer Pete Earley has invited people who listened to my talk to send him their reports of the event. Earley wrote a book titled Crazy, which was both about his son’s struggles with mental illness and the criminalization of the mentally ill, and in his book and other writings, he has told of his frustration with laws that prevented his son from being forcibly medicated. Yesterday, on his website, he published a letter from a mom who attended my talk with her adult son, and she told of how, after returning from the meeting, her son apparently abruptly stopped taking his medication and has now gone missing.

In her letter to Earley, she blamed both me and NAMI (for inviting me) for this bad turn in her son’s life. “In my heart, I wish I could hold [Whitaker] and NAMI legally responsible for what is happening. They gave an alcoholic a bottle of whiskey for Christmas and asked him to join in a toast  . . .   I damn them (NAMI and me) and if my son ends up dead, I believe his blood should be on their hands.”

Earley then put this headline on her letter: “Mother Condemns NAMI and Whitaker: Blood on Their Hands.”

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UPDATE About Angry Mother’s Letter; My Views About Whitaker and NAMI

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angryletters

 

Here is an update about Monday’s blog that described a mother who was furious after she attended Robert Whitaker’s presentation at the national NAMI convention and her son later stopped taking his medications. Less than forty-eight hours after her son left home, his mother received a call from a social worker at a homeless shelter. Their son was there. A mental health care worker arranged a meeting and the son has agreed to voluntarily admit himself to a hospital.

A number of you offered your prayers and extended offers of help to the family through me. In particular, I received a call from the national NAMI staff offering help to the family in whatever way possible — a gesture that I found especially gracious given the mother’s hostility toward NAMI.

The mother asked me to publicly thank everyone for their kind words and support. At the advice of the mental health professional helping them, the parents have decided to not say anything more about their son or their family so that they can work together to move down a road to recovery.

When it comes to the issues raised in the blog, I feel conflicted. I have divided my thoughts into three categories — those of a journalist, a NAMI member and a father.

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Mother Condemns NAMI and Whitaker: Blood On Their Hands.

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angryletters

 

I wanted to share this story with you.

Dear Mr. Earley

I have a son, much like your’s, who became sick while in college. Voices were telling him to harm himself. He climbed onto the top of a residence hall and was standing on the edge because he thought he could fly. The police talked him down and thought he was on drugs.

My son was diagnosed with schzophrenia but was convinced nothing was wrong with him and he refused to take any medication. From that moment on, our lives became a living hell. My son threatened us, destroyed his room in our house, and when we practiced “tough love” and told him he couldn’t live with us unless he got treatment, he walked out and disappeared.

Only a parent who has a child who has disappeared on the streets can tell you how horrible it is to go to bed at night not knowing where your son or daughter might be. We lived like that for a year the first time before my son came home.

I am so angry I had to walk away from my computer just now to catch my breath and compose myself as I write this. Let me tell you what happened next.

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Pat Milam Gives News Interview: Attacks HIPAA

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Pat Milam, one of the everyday heroes  mentioned in my blog last week, was interviewed on his local Louisiana station. I want to share that news story with you. Since his son’s suicide, Pat has been a voacl advocate, telling his story on this blog, testifying before Congress and now sharing his family’s experience via local television.

What’s your view about HIPAA?
http://www.fox8live.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=91047

 

LIGHTING CANDLES OF HOPE: 3 More Mental Health Everyday Heroes

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[Short trailer for Dr. Ruston’s new film]

This is my third blog about “everyday heroes” — individuals who are speaking out about mental health. In this final blog in my series, I wish to pay tribute to filmmaker Dr. Delaney Ruston, who grew up under her father’s illness; Ed Aro, an attorney with the law firm, Arnold and Porter, who is a champion for our nation’s most despised citizens; and Chrisa and Tom Hickey, who are extra-ordinary parents.

 These three join the list of everyday heroes  who I’ve already featured: two song writers, a monologist, a cartoonist, a photographer, an activist parent and a community organizer. My point in writing this series has been simple:  everyone of us, no matter who we are or where we live, can advocate for change.

We need better comprehensive community mental health care services. We need to stop the inappropriate imprisonment of individuals with mental illnesses whose only real crime is that they got sick. We need to bring an end to homelessness. We need to offer people hope and the tools that they need to empower themselves and recover. We need to care for those who are so mentally sick that they cannot care for themselves. Most of all, we need to educate our neighbors so that we can recruit them to help us finally overcome stigma. 

It starts with one voice.

Delaney Ruston emerged as one of those powerful voices when she decided to take camera in hand and make a documentary about her

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EVERYDAY HEROES: A Photographer, Cartoonist, and Two Parents Speak Out About Mental Illness

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I told the story of three “everyday heroes” last Friday who are speaking out about mental illness. In today’s blog,  I’m going to tell you about a three new ones and a familiar face.  They are Jenn Ackerman, Chato B. Stewart, Susan Rose, and Pat Milam.

Let’s start with photographer Jenn Ackerman who is responsible for the short clip (above) which is well worth watching.

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