Pete Earley

(4-8-21) From My Files Friday:  It’s been nearly a decade since I posted this blog about one of the first and most inspiring peers I was fortunate enough to meet. His death made me wonder about how we treat peers. We expect them to be models of recovery. What happens if the symptoms of their illnesses surface? Are we there to support them?

Death Of An Advocate

First published September 2011

I first met Glenn Koons when I was invited to speak at a luncheon in Montgomery County, Pa., being hosted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. It was one of the first speeches that I delivered after publication of CRAZY: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness and before my talk, veteran NAMI Board Member Carol Caruso introduced me to Glenn. I was immediately struck by his easy-going manner. Carol bragged that Glenn was one of the first NAMI trained  Peer-to-Peer specialists in the entire nation. Glenn and I spoke for several minutes and I was impressed by his thoughtfulness and enthusiasm.

Our paths continued to cross during the coming years at various NAMI meetings and conventions. I was always happy to see Glenn and was thrilled when I learned that he had been one of only four NAMI peers who had been invited to the White House by President Obama to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. 

A few weeks ago, I was asked to write an article for NAMI’s VOICES publication. In my article, I mentioned three “consumers” who have inspired me. They were  Dr. Fred Frese, Diana Kern, and Glenn Koons.

The day after I submitted my article, an email arrived telling me that Glenn was dead.

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(4-6-21) If you met Cheryl Nimtz today, you would never suspect what she has experienced as an individual with lived experience. Rather than hiding her past, she writes poignantly about it in today’s blog and I am deeply grateful. 

I Tell My Story To Foster Wisdom, Understanding And Insight

By Cheryl Nimtz

Growing up, I had success by societies standards. I earned good grades, lettered in sports and graduated with honor society status in high school. I climbed the Grand Tetons, graduated with an associate degree and right out of college became one of Fort Wayne Indiana’s first women combat firefighters. (1980-1982)

At the young age of 21, I wasn’t aware of the storm brewing in my head. At the end of the two years, I started tripping in my dance of success.

I made poor decisions, lost my moral fiber and struggled emotionally. Things went from bad to worse when I resigned from the challenging job I loved. Soon after, I joined an extreme fundamentalist church and floundered as I tried to follow every rule to the letter.

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(4-2-21) An influential Virginia Sheriff lashed out at the state’s behavioral health department and the General Assembly during a press conference this week stating that both needed to “stop passing the buck and step up to develop and implement solutions to address the constant bed shortages and other deficiencies in the state response to mental health crises.”

Flanked by other sheriffs and police chiefs, Montgomery County Sheriff Hank Partin warned: “Folks that are in crisis, that need help – they aren’t receiving help.”

It is not uncommon, the sheriff said, for his officers to spend hours driving across the state searching for an available state hospital bed only to arrive and be told that none is available.

The officers’ complaints about a lack of state hospital beds for Virginians, who are being held under Temporary Detention Orders (TDOs), is hardly new.

A decade ago, then Inspector General G. Douglas Bevelacqua warned that there were not enough crisis care beds available at state psychiatric hospitals or at local hospitals. During a 90-day period, he discovered emergency rooms had turned away 200 individuals who had met involuntary commitment criteria and were judged dangerous. He called it “streeting” – simply kicking ill individuals to the streets.

In November 2013, state Sen. Creigh Deeds took his son, Gus, to a mental health facility but was told no local hospital bed could be found within the necessary time period for a TDO. Deeds and his son were sent home where Gus attacked his father with a knife, slashing his face, before ending his own life.

In 2015, Jamycheal Mitchell, age 24, died from “wasting away” syndrome in a Hampton Roads Regional jail after waiting 101 days for a state hospital bed. He suffered a heart attack after literally starving to death.

Virginia is not the only state that doesn’t have enough crisis care beds. Back in a 2005 study, the Treatment Advocacy Center warned:

“The consequences of the severe shortage of public psychiatric beds include increased homelessness; the incarceration of mentally ill individuals in jails and prisons; emergency rooms being overrun with patients waiting for a psychiatric bed; and an increase in violent behavior, including homicides, in communities across the nation.”

Fifteen experts cited in that report recommended states have “50 (range 40 to 60) public psychiatric beds per 100,000 population for hospitalization for individuals with serious psychiatric disorders.” At that time, Virginia had less than half that recommended number – 22.5 beds.

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(3-29-21) A group of parents is asking Arlington County (Va.) Behavioral Health to launch a First Episode Psychosis program that will provide intensive case services to young adults ages 15-30. The parents said Arlington County is the only mental health provider in Northern Virginia that does not offer the program.

Why doesn’t it? After all, this Washington D.C. enclave is the sixth wealthiest county in America?

The parents are asking the county to hire more peer support specialists and navigators who can help connect individuals to eligible services.

In a recent letter to Arlington County Commissioners, one parent wrote:

“My son has been traumatized by the lack of proactive services and repeated hospitalizations.”Click to continue…

Five minute Today show segment features Jennifer Marshall.

(3-26-21) Kudos are due to two of my favorite advocates, Jennifer Marshall, co-founder of This Is My Brave, and Actress Glenn Close, founder of Bring Change To Mind.

Both continue to be stigma busters.

Jennifer, whom I’ve blogged about many times, was featured yesterday on The TODAY SHOW and did a fabulous job explaining why it is important for individuals with mental illnesses to tell their recovery stories. She adds her TODAY SHOW appearance to a long list of national stories in such magazines as Oprah’s O and Bipolar featuring her work. She was named a Washingtonian of the Year in 2019 by Washingtonian Magazine.

Award winning actress Glenn Close relishes meaty performances that many in Hollywood wouldn’t dare attempt. She’s done it again in an upcoming movie about addiction called Four Good Days.

I was fortunate enough to meet Jennifer early on after she and my son, Kevin, were in a recovery group together. Kevin was in the first This Is My Brave performance.

I met Glenn Close when I helped her sister, Jessie, write her autobiography, RESILIENCE,  about her struggles with a serious mental illness.

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That Way Madness Lies… joins PBS Platform April 5th from Sandra Luckow on Vimeo.

(3-22-21) Imagine calling Oregon State Hospital  because the police told you they took your brother there.

 “I am wanting to get in touch with his case worker.”

A case worker, who doesn’t identify himself, comes on the line.

“My brother is in the hospital and I was wondering if I can find out some information about him.”

“Sorry, due to confidentiality laws I can’t tell you whether he is here or not.”

“I definitely know he is there because the police just told me that they took him to the hospital. I can at least provide information -“

The case worker cuts you off.

“Yeah, I couldn’t do that without telling you whether he is here or not. But you could do that in a letter form. Of course, you can write a letter to anyone. You can write it to the doctor who is in charge of whoever the person is who might be here.”

He hangs up.

Thus begins Sandra Luckow’s powerful documentary “That Way Madness Lies...”

I first wrote about this important documentary in 2017 and now PBS and a division that offers stations programs to customize their schedules has agreed to make it available – but only if each station gets phone calls and emails requesting them to show it. That’s how it works. Otherwise, Sandra must hire a promoter for $10,000 to contact each station to push for showing it – a huge cost for a labor of advocacy. If you belong to a local NAMI or MHA group, you can contact your local station and request a showing.

Also, the film will be available starting April 5th on the PBS streaming service for a short period and then only available free to PBS members.

Please help promote this documentary. It gives readers an unvarnished portrait of what many of us have faced – an adult son who is convinced that he doesn’t need your advice and the bureaucratic hurdles you face navigating a system that is non-responsive.

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