As I've been preparing for a presentation at the NAMI National Convention, I've been thinking about the reasons I am involved in advocating for a change to our mental health treatment laws.
My personal involvement with accessing treatment for my family member who has schizoaffective disorder and lacked the insight of understanding that she had a treatable illness is what first drew me to learning about how our mental health system, governed by our Mental Health Procedures Act, operates. After meeting many parents who also shared their stories of the difficulties of accessing timely treatment, it reaffirmed the need to become actively involved in changing our laws that put family members on hold, waiting for a clear and present dangerous situation to first occur before needed help was provided.
Research shows that untreated mental illness is the cause of frequent hospitalizations, homelessness, and incarcerations. An article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Compassion, Compulsion and the Mentally Ill, by Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, states the statistics from a recent study on homicides committed by individuals with severe mental illness in Indiana which shows that, "homicides were preventable, since the perpetrators in most cases were not being treated."
Assisted outpatient treatment laws have been shown to make a difference, as the outcomes from New York's Kendra's Law prove. And so, besides my own personal reasons and those of other families, the research studies and outcomes from mental health treatment laws that are effective are all the reasons that I continue to advocate for changes to the laws in my state.
Showing posts with label untreated mental illness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label untreated mental illness. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
The Effects of Untreated Mental Illness
Over the last few days, three articles, two from newspapers in Pennsylvania and one from California, appeared in newspapers on the issue of the effects of untreated mental illness.
One appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times and was written by a student, Lisa Clattenburg, from the college where I work, All alone: Who will help the families of the mentally ill?. I've never met Lisa, but she raises points that many families and friends of someone with a mental illness and a lack of insight to remain in treatment often wonder how to resolve regarding the treatment laws that do not provide treatment until someone is a danger to themselves or others.
Lisa states, "These laws make it very difficult for family members to get needed help for these patients. Unless they are suicidal or homicidal, it is almost impossible to force them to get treatment. It has gone from one extreme to another. We should come up with an 'in between' so that patients who suffer from this illness can receive the help they need and deserve. "
The second article, from the Philadelphia Daily News was written by Elmer Smith: The cycle for mentally ill homeless must end. He writes about people with untreated mental illness, "whose homelessness results from untreated mental illnesses, [and] find themselves suspended between periods of life on the streets and enforced stays in homeless shelters, mental-health institutions and jail cells."
But even when housing is available, if someone who has been prescribed medications does not take them because they lack the insight to remain in treatment, then all of the programs, services, and housing options available will not help them.
The third article, State's shameful neglect of mental illness, by John Diaz appeared in the paper today. Although California has passed an effective treatment law, it has not been implemented across the state. The result is one that, "divides families, contributes to the crowding in our prisons and jails, explains why so many people are living on the streets, and causes more pain and suffering that can be calculated by any government statistic."
Providing timely, compassionate treatment is the answer and the results of Kendra's Law in New York offer a solution on how to solve these problems. In PA, once the proposed assisted outpatient treatment bill, SB 226, is passed, it will benefit many people including those with untreated mental illnesses and the family and friends who love them.
One appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times and was written by a student, Lisa Clattenburg, from the college where I work, All alone: Who will help the families of the mentally ill?. I've never met Lisa, but she raises points that many families and friends of someone with a mental illness and a lack of insight to remain in treatment often wonder how to resolve regarding the treatment laws that do not provide treatment until someone is a danger to themselves or others.
Lisa states, "These laws make it very difficult for family members to get needed help for these patients. Unless they are suicidal or homicidal, it is almost impossible to force them to get treatment. It has gone from one extreme to another. We should come up with an 'in between' so that patients who suffer from this illness can receive the help they need and deserve. "
The second article, from the Philadelphia Daily News was written by Elmer Smith: The cycle for mentally ill homeless must end. He writes about people with untreated mental illness, "whose homelessness results from untreated mental illnesses, [and] find themselves suspended between periods of life on the streets and enforced stays in homeless shelters, mental-health institutions and jail cells."
But even when housing is available, if someone who has been prescribed medications does not take them because they lack the insight to remain in treatment, then all of the programs, services, and housing options available will not help them.
The third article, State's shameful neglect of mental illness, by John Diaz appeared in the paper today. Although California has passed an effective treatment law, it has not been implemented across the state. The result is one that, "divides families, contributes to the crowding in our prisons and jails, explains why so many people are living on the streets, and causes more pain and suffering that can be calculated by any government statistic."
Providing timely, compassionate treatment is the answer and the results of Kendra's Law in New York offer a solution on how to solve these problems. In PA, once the proposed assisted outpatient treatment bill, SB 226, is passed, it will benefit many people including those with untreated mental illnesses and the family and friends who love them.
Friday, February 22, 2008
The trouble with our mental health system
I just posted a comment on the blog site, The Trouble with Spikol, regarding an article, Leave Britney Alone, that she had posted on February 19th and which I had also referenced on my post of February 13th, Understanding Mental Illness.
My comment to her post:
I've been on the phone this morning with a friend whose daughter was incarcerated for attempting to rob a drug store and who, after spending over a month in jail, was just cleared last week of the charges because they realized that she did so while she was not receiving treatment for her mental illness. Her mother had paid $440 to get her out of jail just barely a month ago, (jails and prisons are now the places where many people with a severe mental illness end up instead of psychiatric hospitals). After bringing her daughter home, she wandered off, listening to the voices in her head that told her to leave, and was found walking in Philadelphia with no shoes on her feet on a very cold, rainy day in January by a good Samaritan who took her took a hospital. Her daughter was given treatment through a 303 involuntary commitment which should have been for 20 days but lasted for 2 weeks.
Back home since this past Monday, she still leaves her home and walks away (she does not drive) at all times of the day and night. Her mom, brother, and neighbors try to take turns watching her, trying to keep her safe on these cold, wintry snowy days. In the past few months, she has been found wandering and has slept in parks and was once found in the parking lot of the Philadelphia Zoo, having taken an overdose of over-the-counter drugs (they did hospitalize her then because she was a "clear and present danger" as required by our current law).
But the voices continue to tell her to leave, and this morning she wandered off again. Her mom called 911. The police picked her up and the mom told him that her daughter was still technically on a commitment order to be in treatment (which should have been the 20 days commitment in a hospital). But, she was released early and, in case you're not aware, that commitment order means nothing in this state once you're released. In theory it should, but it doesn't.
So, this mom and son of this very ill woman who desperately needs treatment just took her to an emergency room to see if they would involuntarily commit her this daughter/sister again, because they are concerned for her health and safety and for want could happen the next time she wanders off without medications or an understanding of the need to seek shelter on a freezing day or night. The mom just called me to say that the crisis center would not admit her because she doesn't qualify under our state’s "clear and present danger" criteria requirement.
So, for anyone who believes that someone with a severe mental illness who lacks the insight to remain in treatment and who constantly put themselves in precarious situations, who does something while not thinking clearly and ends up in jail, who is found unconscious in a parking lot or walking around the city without shoes on a cold, wintry day, please explain to me why you wouldn't want to help someone so vulnerable and ensure that she receives shelter and treatment in a hospital.
No, this woman does not want to be in a hospital, she says that she needs to listen to the voices in her head (these are audio hallucinations that are a part of the psychotic symptoms of some severe mental illnesses). But as a caring, humane society, shouldn't we be helping her in a time of need when she doesn't know better and is making decisions that put her very life in jeopardy? Someone, please explain why withholding treatment is the right thing to do.
Yes, our current laws say that is the right thing to do, do you?
My comment to her post:
I've been on the phone this morning with a friend whose daughter was incarcerated for attempting to rob a drug store and who, after spending over a month in jail, was just cleared last week of the charges because they realized that she did so while she was not receiving treatment for her mental illness. Her mother had paid $440 to get her out of jail just barely a month ago, (jails and prisons are now the places where many people with a severe mental illness end up instead of psychiatric hospitals). After bringing her daughter home, she wandered off, listening to the voices in her head that told her to leave, and was found walking in Philadelphia with no shoes on her feet on a very cold, rainy day in January by a good Samaritan who took her took a hospital. Her daughter was given treatment through a 303 involuntary commitment which should have been for 20 days but lasted for 2 weeks.
Back home since this past Monday, she still leaves her home and walks away (she does not drive) at all times of the day and night. Her mom, brother, and neighbors try to take turns watching her, trying to keep her safe on these cold, wintry snowy days. In the past few months, she has been found wandering and has slept in parks and was once found in the parking lot of the Philadelphia Zoo, having taken an overdose of over-the-counter drugs (they did hospitalize her then because she was a "clear and present danger" as required by our current law).
But the voices continue to tell her to leave, and this morning she wandered off again. Her mom called 911. The police picked her up and the mom told him that her daughter was still technically on a commitment order to be in treatment (which should have been the 20 days commitment in a hospital). But, she was released early and, in case you're not aware, that commitment order means nothing in this state once you're released. In theory it should, but it doesn't.
So, this mom and son of this very ill woman who desperately needs treatment just took her to an emergency room to see if they would involuntarily commit her this daughter/sister again, because they are concerned for her health and safety and for want could happen the next time she wanders off without medications or an understanding of the need to seek shelter on a freezing day or night. The mom just called me to say that the crisis center would not admit her because she doesn't qualify under our state’s "clear and present danger" criteria requirement.
So, for anyone who believes that someone with a severe mental illness who lacks the insight to remain in treatment and who constantly put themselves in precarious situations, who does something while not thinking clearly and ends up in jail, who is found unconscious in a parking lot or walking around the city without shoes on a cold, wintry day, please explain to me why you wouldn't want to help someone so vulnerable and ensure that she receives shelter and treatment in a hospital.
No, this woman does not want to be in a hospital, she says that she needs to listen to the voices in her head (these are audio hallucinations that are a part of the psychotic symptoms of some severe mental illnesses). But as a caring, humane society, shouldn't we be helping her in a time of need when she doesn't know better and is making decisions that put her very life in jeopardy? Someone, please explain why withholding treatment is the right thing to do.
Yes, our current laws say that is the right thing to do, do you?
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