I always knew that I would be an artist -- long before I knew I had an illness called manic depression. Since I was also enthusiastic enough...
Home / Archives for November 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Providing A Future
One of the most troubling questions the parent of a mental health consumer faces is how to provide for the child after they are gone. Fortun...
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friendship is the Best Medicine
Every mental health consumer knows the loneliness and isolation that can accompany our illnesses. We often feel out of touch with the rest o...
Friday, November 18, 2011
Through the Eyes of a Stranger - Part 2
INSTITUTIONAL STIGMA Institutional stigma is placed on us by (usually) well meaning mental health professionals and adult home centers. ...
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Living Well: An Educated Consumer
For most of us, living on a fixed income of SSI or SSD, the thought of "living well" has become an unattainable fantasy. It really...
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Coordinated Children's Services Initiative
Imagine yourself as the parent of a child who has just been diagnosed as ADHD or Bipolar. Imagine having never heard these terms before. Ima...
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Mother of Suicide Victim Speaks Out
Susan Harrington related the painful details of the death of her son Barrett at the recent press conference in Albany. Barrett was diagnosed...
Sunday, November 6, 2011
A Nation Afflicted Like All Other Nations
If you're looking for a disease Orthodox Jews are immune from, try trichinosis. The following are my experiences with mental illness and...
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Through the Eyes of a Stranger - Part 1
Being diagnosed mentally ill does not mean that you have to be an outcast to yourself or society. Self-stigma is based on beliefs about ours...
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Monday, November 28, 2011
Recovery By Design
I always knew that I would be an artist -- long before I knew I had an illness called manic depression. Since I was also enthusiastic enough and outgoing, it was difficult for me to differentiate between a manic episode and a creative one.
While I was fortunate to have been diagnosed properly, my attention to my illness and my medication was short lived and resulted in a series of disasters. It's impossible for me to determine when my mania began, but I was certainly aware of my first depression...an event that altered my life shortly after the age of 29. The experience left me paralyzed. I was unable to cope with even the simple tasks of living. It took a long time for me to find out what was happening to me. During the months and months of not knowing, I spent most of my days in bed, unable to communicate with anyone.
Mental illness caused me to lose my husband, children, my upper east side apartment and its contents, and, eventually, found me living with my aging mother. Within days after arriving at her apartment in Queens, I was in a deep depression which lasted for more than three years. The downward swing of my mood was paralyzing. I was unable to have a clear thought. I spent every day reading the same newspaper over and over again. My mother, always in denial, did little to help, and was probably battling her own demons.
A writer named Gloria Hochman (who wrote Patty Duke's account of her illness) convinced me to go for immediate help at any local hospital or clinic. I did. Months later, on medication and working with a mental health professional, I began to feel strong enough to think about working again. My portfolio was one of the few things I was able to salvage from my former life and I felt it was contemporary enough for me to compete for a position. Within a short period of time, I found a wonderful job as a designer at a very good salary. After sixth months at my new job, my mother became very ill and I began to spiral into a manic phase which I wasn't clear enough about to address. Her death and my mania were concurrent and it wasn't long before I was an involuntary patient in the psychiatric ward at Elmhurst Hospital. That period was followed by two additional hospitalizations, the last of which almost put me into a long term facility.
The Social Services "reward" after three consecutive hospitalizations, within a one year period, is an Intensive Case Manager (ICM). Lou Carvajal, my ICM who still visits with me each week, a family member whose very special, and friends took me from the possibility of living in an adult home to sharing a spacious, beautiful apartment.
The idea of starting my own business was a result of my inability to get a job as a designer, not because I was lacking in ability or experience. Not because I lacked the credentials, but because I was "over qualified." What that means in the real world "your too old to be looking for a job." Starting my own business would give me, at least, the possibility of a career. I knew it would be necessary to return to school, learn to use a computer, and find enough money for the necessary equipment. It was also time to apply to VESID.
It took more than a year before my request for equipment was approved by VESID. When my computer was delivered, I sat at the keyboard and monitor and explored every program that was available to me and preparing to go after some business.
I strongly encourage people with mental illness to pursue their dreams of living a productive life. A great deal of moral, emotional and even financial support is available through organizations such as VESID and, particularity, INCube, Inc. since it is a 100% consumer-run and the staff is able to consider your ideas and your limitations.
I've had a very turbulent life and would have preferred to read about most of the events than to have had the experience. Yet, I remain very optimistic about the future and watching the growth of my business. Being an entrepreneur is risky, but then...so is being alive.
While I was fortunate to have been diagnosed properly, my attention to my illness and my medication was short lived and resulted in a series of disasters. It's impossible for me to determine when my mania began, but I was certainly aware of my first depression...an event that altered my life shortly after the age of 29. The experience left me paralyzed. I was unable to cope with even the simple tasks of living. It took a long time for me to find out what was happening to me. During the months and months of not knowing, I spent most of my days in bed, unable to communicate with anyone.
Mental illness caused me to lose my husband, children, my upper east side apartment and its contents, and, eventually, found me living with my aging mother. Within days after arriving at her apartment in Queens, I was in a deep depression which lasted for more than three years. The downward swing of my mood was paralyzing. I was unable to have a clear thought. I spent every day reading the same newspaper over and over again. My mother, always in denial, did little to help, and was probably battling her own demons.
A writer named Gloria Hochman (who wrote Patty Duke's account of her illness) convinced me to go for immediate help at any local hospital or clinic. I did. Months later, on medication and working with a mental health professional, I began to feel strong enough to think about working again. My portfolio was one of the few things I was able to salvage from my former life and I felt it was contemporary enough for me to compete for a position. Within a short period of time, I found a wonderful job as a designer at a very good salary. After sixth months at my new job, my mother became very ill and I began to spiral into a manic phase which I wasn't clear enough about to address. Her death and my mania were concurrent and it wasn't long before I was an involuntary patient in the psychiatric ward at Elmhurst Hospital. That period was followed by two additional hospitalizations, the last of which almost put me into a long term facility.
The Social Services "reward" after three consecutive hospitalizations, within a one year period, is an Intensive Case Manager (ICM). Lou Carvajal, my ICM who still visits with me each week, a family member whose very special, and friends took me from the possibility of living in an adult home to sharing a spacious, beautiful apartment.
The idea of starting my own business was a result of my inability to get a job as a designer, not because I was lacking in ability or experience. Not because I lacked the credentials, but because I was "over qualified." What that means in the real world "your too old to be looking for a job." Starting my own business would give me, at least, the possibility of a career. I knew it would be necessary to return to school, learn to use a computer, and find enough money for the necessary equipment. It was also time to apply to VESID.
It took more than a year before my request for equipment was approved by VESID. When my computer was delivered, I sat at the keyboard and monitor and explored every program that was available to me and preparing to go after some business.
I strongly encourage people with mental illness to pursue their dreams of living a productive life. A great deal of moral, emotional and even financial support is available through organizations such as VESID and, particularity, INCube, Inc. since it is a 100% consumer-run and the staff is able to consider your ideas and your limitations.
I've had a very turbulent life and would have preferred to read about most of the events than to have had the experience. Yet, I remain very optimistic about the future and watching the growth of my business. Being an entrepreneur is risky, but then...so is being alive.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Providing A Future
One of the most troubling questions the parent of a mental health consumer faces is how to provide for the child after they are gone. Fortunately the law provides many effective instruments to deal with these problems. These instruments were the theme of NAMI-NYC Metro’s June 13th meeting, which was held at the Community Church. There were three speakers at the meeting: attorneys Robert Freeman and Martin Petroff and a volunteer with personal experience Celeste Wallin.
Freeman spoke on how to establish a trust for a mental health consumer. Under a trust arrangement, property is given to a trustee for the benefit of a named party. This allows the recipient to receive income from the trust while the property remains in the hands of the trustee. One type of trust called a Supplemental Needs Trust can be created so that a person’s income will not generally count in determining eligibility for government benefits.
Under a Supplemental Needs Trust a trustee under direction pays out income for the disabled person to supplement their government benefits. The theory is benefits pay for food and shelter while the trust pays for extras such as a television set, a computer or even a vacation. The trust document can spell out what the income can be used for.
There are various types of trusts. A Living Trust is created during the lifetime of the maker of the trust while a Testamentary Trust is established by a will. A Discretionary Trust is set up to protect the beneficiary. It allows the trustee at his discretion to cut off funds to the beneficiary. This is especially valuable for a mental health consumer who is generally stable but who can at times decompensate. During these periods the trustee can cut off funds to the consumer who does not have good judgment.
Dealing with decompensation is a concern of Wallin who is a trustee of a Living Trust established by her father for her siblings. All the children with the exception of Wallin suffer from bipolar disease. She administers the trust in consultation with her siblings but Wallin has the final word.
If a properly drawn trust can provide income for the mental health consumer there are legal documents that can protect the person if they become incompetent to manage their own affairs. Petroff discussed Advance Directives documents where a person states what kind of medical treatment they want to have when they become incompetent to manage their own affairs. There is a psychiatric Advance Directive but it is very new and it is not clear how the courts will honor it in issues involving involuntary treatment and commitment. As part of the Advance Directive a healthcare proxy should be created as well. The proxy or agent is authorized to make healthcare decisions when the person is incompetent. Parents may want to also create a power of attorney for a consumer. Under a power of attorney, an agent is created to manage financial affairs.
After the meeting, a lively question period was held. There, the speakers stressed the importance for parents to have a plan to protect the consumer. It is wise to consult a lawyer in drawing up the plans. The meeting provided valuable hope to parents and other relatives of mental health consumers. They now have solid information to plan for their child’s future.
Freeman spoke on how to establish a trust for a mental health consumer. Under a trust arrangement, property is given to a trustee for the benefit of a named party. This allows the recipient to receive income from the trust while the property remains in the hands of the trustee. One type of trust called a Supplemental Needs Trust can be created so that a person’s income will not generally count in determining eligibility for government benefits.
Under a Supplemental Needs Trust a trustee under direction pays out income for the disabled person to supplement their government benefits. The theory is benefits pay for food and shelter while the trust pays for extras such as a television set, a computer or even a vacation. The trust document can spell out what the income can be used for.
There are various types of trusts. A Living Trust is created during the lifetime of the maker of the trust while a Testamentary Trust is established by a will. A Discretionary Trust is set up to protect the beneficiary. It allows the trustee at his discretion to cut off funds to the beneficiary. This is especially valuable for a mental health consumer who is generally stable but who can at times decompensate. During these periods the trustee can cut off funds to the consumer who does not have good judgment.
Dealing with decompensation is a concern of Wallin who is a trustee of a Living Trust established by her father for her siblings. All the children with the exception of Wallin suffer from bipolar disease. She administers the trust in consultation with her siblings but Wallin has the final word.
If a properly drawn trust can provide income for the mental health consumer there are legal documents that can protect the person if they become incompetent to manage their own affairs. Petroff discussed Advance Directives documents where a person states what kind of medical treatment they want to have when they become incompetent to manage their own affairs. There is a psychiatric Advance Directive but it is very new and it is not clear how the courts will honor it in issues involving involuntary treatment and commitment. As part of the Advance Directive a healthcare proxy should be created as well. The proxy or agent is authorized to make healthcare decisions when the person is incompetent. Parents may want to also create a power of attorney for a consumer. Under a power of attorney, an agent is created to manage financial affairs.
After the meeting, a lively question period was held. There, the speakers stressed the importance for parents to have a plan to protect the consumer. It is wise to consult a lawyer in drawing up the plans. The meeting provided valuable hope to parents and other relatives of mental health consumers. They now have solid information to plan for their child’s future.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friendship is the Best Medicine
Every mental health consumer knows the loneliness and isolation that can accompany our illnesses. We often feel out of touch with the rest of the world and find it difficult to make friends. The Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services (JBFCS) offers a program, Compeer, that can provide a friend to a lonely consumer. Compeer matches volunteers one-to-one with mentally ill adults who are in need of a friend.
Compeer was developed in 1973, in Rochester, New York to address the social isolation that is so common among consumers. This program matched one member of the community with another member of the community, both of whom volunteered their time, both of whom were interested in developing a friendship, both of whom had something to give, but one of whom had a history of mental illness. Over time, the Compeer program has grown. There are now 120 Compeer programs internationally, including 26 in New York State.
Compeer has grown and spread all over the world because it works. Participants report higher self esteem and an improved sense of security. According to Lilly Tempelsman, JBFCS’s Compeer Program Coordinator, results of a yearly survey of program participants show that the rate of rehospitalization is decreased tremendously. Ms. Tempelsman often says, "Friendship is powerful medicine."
If you need a friend and would like to meet one through Compeer, your therapist must contact Ms. Tempelsman of JBFCS and make a referral. The therapist then receives an application to fill out and return to JBFCS. The application asks the therapist to describe the consumer’s background and interests. The therapist will meet the potential volunteer. The therapist is expected to communicate periodically with the volunteer about how the relationship is progresssing.
If you want to volunteer, you can contact Ms. Tempelsman of JBFCS at (212)632-4684. You will receive an application package. The application asks about one’s background and interest. One must also provide three written references. If you are a consumer and are interested in volunteering, one of your references must be from your therapist. Volunteers are then interviewed in depth and have an opportunity to ask questions. Volunteers also receive training from JBFCS. A match is then made between a volunteer and a client. The matches are same sex and are based on factors such as geographic location, age, interests and hobbies.
The Compeer volunteer makes a one year commitment to spend time with the client one to two hours a week. They might go out for coffee, to a movie, or take a walk in the park. Compeer volunteers serve as an adjunct to therapy. They are an additional support system for the client. The volunteer consults with the client’s therapist and receives ongoing support from the JBFCS Compeer Program Coordinator.
Compeer was developed in 1973, in Rochester, New York to address the social isolation that is so common among consumers. This program matched one member of the community with another member of the community, both of whom volunteered their time, both of whom were interested in developing a friendship, both of whom had something to give, but one of whom had a history of mental illness. Over time, the Compeer program has grown. There are now 120 Compeer programs internationally, including 26 in New York State.
Compeer has grown and spread all over the world because it works. Participants report higher self esteem and an improved sense of security. According to Lilly Tempelsman, JBFCS’s Compeer Program Coordinator, results of a yearly survey of program participants show that the rate of rehospitalization is decreased tremendously. Ms. Tempelsman often says, "Friendship is powerful medicine."
If you need a friend and would like to meet one through Compeer, your therapist must contact Ms. Tempelsman of JBFCS and make a referral. The therapist then receives an application to fill out and return to JBFCS. The application asks the therapist to describe the consumer’s background and interests. The therapist will meet the potential volunteer. The therapist is expected to communicate periodically with the volunteer about how the relationship is progresssing.
If you want to volunteer, you can contact Ms. Tempelsman of JBFCS at (212)632-4684. You will receive an application package. The application asks about one’s background and interest. One must also provide three written references. If you are a consumer and are interested in volunteering, one of your references must be from your therapist. Volunteers are then interviewed in depth and have an opportunity to ask questions. Volunteers also receive training from JBFCS. A match is then made between a volunteer and a client. The matches are same sex and are based on factors such as geographic location, age, interests and hobbies.
The Compeer volunteer makes a one year commitment to spend time with the client one to two hours a week. They might go out for coffee, to a movie, or take a walk in the park. Compeer volunteers serve as an adjunct to therapy. They are an additional support system for the client. The volunteer consults with the client’s therapist and receives ongoing support from the JBFCS Compeer Program Coordinator.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Through the Eyes of a Stranger - Part 2
INSTITUTIONAL STIGMA
Institutional stigma is placed on us by (usually) well meaning mental health professionals and adult home centers.
First, the adult home. I have been in an adult home for approximately two years and a half at the time of the publishing of this essay. Let me tell you that these facilities foster custodial care to the max! All of your needs are handled by the facility for you and there is no encouragement for change. Example: based on income, I have determined that 87% of ny money goes toward my care while the rest is returned to me for my monthly allowance. This 13% is just enough to get by let alone save for the future.
To further emphasize the situation, in January of last year Social Security increased benefits by 2.9%, while my rent was increased by 5.8% and my monthly allowance was decreased by 20%. This, to me, is one of the strongest forms of stigma that we can place on an individual--affecting the financial ability of an individual to survive. It is a subtle, but powerful form of control and disempowerment for residents of these homes.
Professional stigma (you knew we'd get to that!) is centered on the beliefs that professionals have about our recovery. Based on personal experience through years of private and public therapy, I have determined that many professionals have been trained in an old model of treatment (which goes something like this) - "you have an illness, take your medication, let's talk about your problems, and we'll see you next month." They may not have been exposed directly to the new methods of treatment, such as self-help, until they have been in practice for many years.
The level and degree of our illness provides professionals with a base toward which expectations and goals can be attached. The unfortunate thing is that these expectations and goals are generally theirs and not our own. The two expectations and set of goals may be quite different. Each small step may be a reached goal for us, yet seem unimportant to a provider more attuned to their wishes for us. Again, we are brought back to self-stigma; as we fail to reach another's goal for us, we feel as if we have failed ourselves.
SOCIAL STIGMA
How many times have you read stories in our local papers with headlines like "Psychiatric Patient On Rampage!" or the like. How many times have you heard, "Oh, this is Uncle Mike, he has an emotional problem." Society, family, and friends tend to shun those with mental illness, mocking us, criticizing us, or laughing at us.
From childhood, we are teased and abused in some manner until finally we cannot take it any more. Then we seek help (if we are aware enough)--but from whom?--the same folks who at one time may have been among the laughters and mockers! It's hard to get passed this "Us, them" thing.
Society has made all of us believe that in order to be in the late Howie the Harp's time phrase, "chronically normal," we are not to express feelings or emotions openly and in public. What happened to friendliness such as "good morning!," or "hello, how are you?" Are these statements of a past society where we were allowed to show respect to one another?
Today, as in years past, divulgence of being treated for a mental illness is tantamount to self-destruction. Although things are changing (slowly), the direction of a national campaign should be toward anti-stigma of the mentally ill, with parity for all illnesses in society.
FINAL REMARKS
With new models of recovery, utilizing self-help, leaders should be identified through the media, educational systems and in other social arena's throughout our social and institutional systems. It is up to the "higher functioning" mentally ill to open the doors for future recovering patients of mental illness. Shatter the myths and show that mental illness is just that, an illness that can be diagnosed and treated.
Educational systems should utilize speakers to train students of mental hygiene that there are new methods of recovery. Teach the older tried and true methods combined with new techniques, because you never know which combinations will work best for individual clients, as we are, of course, all individuals!
Courtenay Harding, the researcher on mental illness stigma I noted in part one of this essay, discussed her research on National Public Radio's program, "Morning Edition." The program received calls from people who identified themselves as physicians, nurses, lawyers, engineers, and high school teachers. They uniformly had said, "I once had schizophrenia, but I don't tell anyone about this event because of the stigma."
The following labels were given to me by family, professionals, educational institutions and businesses. My labels are: Michael G. Spennato, teacher, administrator, paranoid schizophrenic, sufferer of anxiety disorder and major depression, child of God--pick one. I chose child of God!
In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, "No one can insult you without your permission." Stigma is, in the final analysis (so to speak) most often self-imposed. Our beliefs in ourselves or lack of will produce the results of society's and the institution's expectations that we allow to happen. We need to give ourselves a chance to grow and develop into the meaningful person we were meant to be. Take medication if necessary, similar to the diabetic. Think of ourselves. Believe in a God. Speak and cry out, "I am Human."
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Debi Davis, Sally Zinman, the late Howie the Harp, and Ed Knight for their self-help theories. Also, Joanne Forbes, Marion Schaal, Fred Mednick, Dorene Dinkle and Roberta Zarr, for their support of my ideas and South Beach Psychiatric Center for the opportunities they have provided me.
Institutional stigma is placed on us by (usually) well meaning mental health professionals and adult home centers.
First, the adult home. I have been in an adult home for approximately two years and a half at the time of the publishing of this essay. Let me tell you that these facilities foster custodial care to the max! All of your needs are handled by the facility for you and there is no encouragement for change. Example: based on income, I have determined that 87% of ny money goes toward my care while the rest is returned to me for my monthly allowance. This 13% is just enough to get by let alone save for the future.
To further emphasize the situation, in January of last year Social Security increased benefits by 2.9%, while my rent was increased by 5.8% and my monthly allowance was decreased by 20%. This, to me, is one of the strongest forms of stigma that we can place on an individual--affecting the financial ability of an individual to survive. It is a subtle, but powerful form of control and disempowerment for residents of these homes.
Professional stigma (you knew we'd get to that!) is centered on the beliefs that professionals have about our recovery. Based on personal experience through years of private and public therapy, I have determined that many professionals have been trained in an old model of treatment (which goes something like this) - "you have an illness, take your medication, let's talk about your problems, and we'll see you next month." They may not have been exposed directly to the new methods of treatment, such as self-help, until they have been in practice for many years.
The level and degree of our illness provides professionals with a base toward which expectations and goals can be attached. The unfortunate thing is that these expectations and goals are generally theirs and not our own. The two expectations and set of goals may be quite different. Each small step may be a reached goal for us, yet seem unimportant to a provider more attuned to their wishes for us. Again, we are brought back to self-stigma; as we fail to reach another's goal for us, we feel as if we have failed ourselves.
SOCIAL STIGMA
How many times have you read stories in our local papers with headlines like "Psychiatric Patient On Rampage!" or the like. How many times have you heard, "Oh, this is Uncle Mike, he has an emotional problem." Society, family, and friends tend to shun those with mental illness, mocking us, criticizing us, or laughing at us.
From childhood, we are teased and abused in some manner until finally we cannot take it any more. Then we seek help (if we are aware enough)--but from whom?--the same folks who at one time may have been among the laughters and mockers! It's hard to get passed this "Us, them" thing.
Society has made all of us believe that in order to be in the late Howie the Harp's time phrase, "chronically normal," we are not to express feelings or emotions openly and in public. What happened to friendliness such as "good morning!," or "hello, how are you?" Are these statements of a past society where we were allowed to show respect to one another?
Today, as in years past, divulgence of being treated for a mental illness is tantamount to self-destruction. Although things are changing (slowly), the direction of a national campaign should be toward anti-stigma of the mentally ill, with parity for all illnesses in society.
FINAL REMARKS
With new models of recovery, utilizing self-help, leaders should be identified through the media, educational systems and in other social arena's throughout our social and institutional systems. It is up to the "higher functioning" mentally ill to open the doors for future recovering patients of mental illness. Shatter the myths and show that mental illness is just that, an illness that can be diagnosed and treated.
Educational systems should utilize speakers to train students of mental hygiene that there are new methods of recovery. Teach the older tried and true methods combined with new techniques, because you never know which combinations will work best for individual clients, as we are, of course, all individuals!
Courtenay Harding, the researcher on mental illness stigma I noted in part one of this essay, discussed her research on National Public Radio's program, "Morning Edition." The program received calls from people who identified themselves as physicians, nurses, lawyers, engineers, and high school teachers. They uniformly had said, "I once had schizophrenia, but I don't tell anyone about this event because of the stigma."
The following labels were given to me by family, professionals, educational institutions and businesses. My labels are: Michael G. Spennato, teacher, administrator, paranoid schizophrenic, sufferer of anxiety disorder and major depression, child of God--pick one. I chose child of God!
In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, "No one can insult you without your permission." Stigma is, in the final analysis (so to speak) most often self-imposed. Our beliefs in ourselves or lack of will produce the results of society's and the institution's expectations that we allow to happen. We need to give ourselves a chance to grow and develop into the meaningful person we were meant to be. Take medication if necessary, similar to the diabetic. Think of ourselves. Believe in a God. Speak and cry out, "I am Human."
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Debi Davis, Sally Zinman, the late Howie the Harp, and Ed Knight for their self-help theories. Also, Joanne Forbes, Marion Schaal, Fred Mednick, Dorene Dinkle and Roberta Zarr, for their support of my ideas and South Beach Psychiatric Center for the opportunities they have provided me.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Living Well: An Educated Consumer
For most of us, living on a fixed income of SSI or SSD, the thought of "living well" has become an unattainable fantasy. It really doesn’t have to be that way. Some of us make grave mistakes in our spending habits and find ourselves with cheap clothing and poorly constructed furniture in a Spartan environment. It really doesn’t have to be that way. There’s no reason why you can’t live the rich man’s (or woman’s) dream. You can wear the same clothing that you see in the leading fashion magazines and live in an "Architectural Digest" style apartment. It just takes a bit of ingenuity and effort on your part. Instead of planning a trip to the mall or an inexpensive clothing store, take yourself to the Salvation Army or your neighborhood Goodwill store. (Check the yellow pages of your telephone book under "Thrift Shops" for the addresses). On the racks you’ll find both the fine and the flimsy of everything. Look at the labels and you will probably see names like Calvin Klein, Anne Klein, Norma Kamali, Gucci, Georgio Armani, along with lesser brand names which you will learn to ignore. These fine labels would cost hundreds of dollars at stores like Saks, but you can buy them for as little as $7.99! Teach yourself about fabrics and workmanship and you’ll know what to select.
Most thrift shops sell furniture and housewares, as well. Spend some time looking at magazines like Better Homes and Gardens or, even, Architectural Digest to get an idea of how you’d like to furnish your room or your apartment. (Second hand furniture shops and flea markets are another resource). You may be lucky on your first visit, but don’t give up if you don’t find anything to your liking on the first trip. Deliveries to these stores are made on a daily basis and sooner or later you’ll find something that’s still in great condition for very little money. Don’t forget things like pillows for the sofa and curtains for the windows! You’ll find all of that, as well. Please remember to inspect everything carefully as all merchandise is sold as is and there are no credits or returns in most places. I promise you’ll have a lot of fun on your "hunt" and find yourself surrounded with things you never thought you’d ever own.
Most thrift shops sell furniture and housewares, as well. Spend some time looking at magazines like Better Homes and Gardens or, even, Architectural Digest to get an idea of how you’d like to furnish your room or your apartment. (Second hand furniture shops and flea markets are another resource). You may be lucky on your first visit, but don’t give up if you don’t find anything to your liking on the first trip. Deliveries to these stores are made on a daily basis and sooner or later you’ll find something that’s still in great condition for very little money. Don’t forget things like pillows for the sofa and curtains for the windows! You’ll find all of that, as well. Please remember to inspect everything carefully as all merchandise is sold as is and there are no credits or returns in most places. I promise you’ll have a lot of fun on your "hunt" and find yourself surrounded with things you never thought you’d ever own.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Coordinated Children's Services Initiative
Imagine yourself as the parent of a child who has just been diagnosed as ADHD or Bipolar. Imagine having never heard these terms before. Imagine the administration for Children’s Services investigative team coming to your home to inquire about your ability to parent your child. Imagine the Board of Education telling you that your child cannot handle the “regular education” setting and needs to be evaluated for special education.
Now imagine that all of these things are happening at the same time. How might you feel? Confused. Intimidated. Frustrated. Angry. Scared. It is important to realize that this is happening to many children and families throughout New York City. In this type of situation, both communication and collaboration between child-serving systems must be encouraged.
There is a new and exciting collaboration between the Manhattan Parent Resource Center and the Coordinated Children’s Services Initiative that is working hard to decrease the negative experiences families have with child-serving systems. It is the mission of both the Coordinated Children’s Services Initiative and the Manhattan Parent Resource Center to work closely with families who are involved with multiple systems and are in need of assistance and/or encouragement while navigating these large child-serving groups. Through advocacy and a Manhattan Family Network (strength-based assessment) families are reporting that their situation becomes more clear and they become motivated to take steps towards positive change for their families.
Let us look at an example. A fifteen-year-old has behavioral outbursts at school. He is constantly in fights and disruptive in class. One day a teacher grabs his arm to redirect him. The child reacts violently striking the teacher. The teacher presses charges and the child is expelled from school. The child’s mother is worried, but is not sure what to do or where to turn. She is working full-time and is under a lot of pressure. She is a single parent and she must not lose her job. After the assault charges are filed, the Department of Juvenile Justice becomes involved with the case. The child must do community service and go to counseling to focus on anger management. In addition, now that the case has received so much attention, the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) has noticed that the child missed numerous days of school. ACS cites the child’s mother for educational neglect. This increases the mother’s stress and she is feeling frustrated and extremely overwhelmed.
This is a common scenario that involves many systems. Let’s see how it involves all social systems. We must first consider or assess the psychological make-up of the child and determine at what point we need to make a proper intervention. The parent contacts the Parent Resource Center (a center that prides itself in educating parents on their rights and current child-serving policies and supporting parents as they navigate systems) and says, “I can’t take it anymore. My son is out of control. He was kicked out of school. Now they are trying to blame me for it. I didn’t do anything wrong. He hit the teacher and the Juvenile Justice system is involved now. I don’t want my son to be locked up. What should I do?”
After the parent’s acute anxieties are quelled, the parent advocate invites them to a support group at the center and redirects them to a new initiative in Manhattan known as the Coordinated Children’s Services Initiative (CCSI). This is a process that deals with families whose children are involved with multiple macro systems such as the Board of Education, Juvenile Justice, Mental Health and/or Child Welfare. Once the CCSI team is involved, a Family Network is developed to ensure that all systems continue to share information in a constructive manner to reach the needs that the family has identified themselves. Network is a process that is strength-based and family driven. Network also utilizes the wrap-around process to create a “support circle” for the family. When a family begins the Network process, a parent advocate becomes involved. The parent advocate acts as a liaison for the parent and child in helping them navigate the various systems with which they are involved.
Through contacting the Mental Health Association of New York City, Inc. and the Manhattan Parent Resource Center or the Coordinated Children’s Services Initiative, families can begin to work with professionals together to strengthen their family and keep their child well. We are excited about the work we are doing at the Mental Health Association of New York City, Inc. Similar collaborations exist in the other boroughs of New York City. Contact names are as follows:
* Manhattan—CCSI Coordinator Michelle Munson, 212-254-0333 ext.240; Manhattan Parent Resource Center—Terril Pile
* Brooklyn—CCSI Coordinator Dolores Tibbets, 212-254-0333 ext.220; Brooklyn Parent Resource Center, 718-604-8800—Maxine Barnett
* Bronx—CCSI Coordinator Annabella Escobar, 212-254-0333 ext.250; Bronx Parent Resource Center, 718-731-4673—Bernadine Meeks
* Queens—CCSI Coordinator Michelle Munson, 212-254-0333 ext.240; Queens Parent Resource Center, 718-526-0722 ext.235—Ceceile Green
* Plans for the initiative are being developed in Staten Island
Now imagine that all of these things are happening at the same time. How might you feel? Confused. Intimidated. Frustrated. Angry. Scared. It is important to realize that this is happening to many children and families throughout New York City. In this type of situation, both communication and collaboration between child-serving systems must be encouraged.
There is a new and exciting collaboration between the Manhattan Parent Resource Center and the Coordinated Children’s Services Initiative that is working hard to decrease the negative experiences families have with child-serving systems. It is the mission of both the Coordinated Children’s Services Initiative and the Manhattan Parent Resource Center to work closely with families who are involved with multiple systems and are in need of assistance and/or encouragement while navigating these large child-serving groups. Through advocacy and a Manhattan Family Network (strength-based assessment) families are reporting that their situation becomes more clear and they become motivated to take steps towards positive change for their families.
Let us look at an example. A fifteen-year-old has behavioral outbursts at school. He is constantly in fights and disruptive in class. One day a teacher grabs his arm to redirect him. The child reacts violently striking the teacher. The teacher presses charges and the child is expelled from school. The child’s mother is worried, but is not sure what to do or where to turn. She is working full-time and is under a lot of pressure. She is a single parent and she must not lose her job. After the assault charges are filed, the Department of Juvenile Justice becomes involved with the case. The child must do community service and go to counseling to focus on anger management. In addition, now that the case has received so much attention, the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) has noticed that the child missed numerous days of school. ACS cites the child’s mother for educational neglect. This increases the mother’s stress and she is feeling frustrated and extremely overwhelmed.
This is a common scenario that involves many systems. Let’s see how it involves all social systems. We must first consider or assess the psychological make-up of the child and determine at what point we need to make a proper intervention. The parent contacts the Parent Resource Center (a center that prides itself in educating parents on their rights and current child-serving policies and supporting parents as they navigate systems) and says, “I can’t take it anymore. My son is out of control. He was kicked out of school. Now they are trying to blame me for it. I didn’t do anything wrong. He hit the teacher and the Juvenile Justice system is involved now. I don’t want my son to be locked up. What should I do?”
After the parent’s acute anxieties are quelled, the parent advocate invites them to a support group at the center and redirects them to a new initiative in Manhattan known as the Coordinated Children’s Services Initiative (CCSI). This is a process that deals with families whose children are involved with multiple macro systems such as the Board of Education, Juvenile Justice, Mental Health and/or Child Welfare. Once the CCSI team is involved, a Family Network is developed to ensure that all systems continue to share information in a constructive manner to reach the needs that the family has identified themselves. Network is a process that is strength-based and family driven. Network also utilizes the wrap-around process to create a “support circle” for the family. When a family begins the Network process, a parent advocate becomes involved. The parent advocate acts as a liaison for the parent and child in helping them navigate the various systems with which they are involved.
Through contacting the Mental Health Association of New York City, Inc. and the Manhattan Parent Resource Center or the Coordinated Children’s Services Initiative, families can begin to work with professionals together to strengthen their family and keep their child well. We are excited about the work we are doing at the Mental Health Association of New York City, Inc. Similar collaborations exist in the other boroughs of New York City. Contact names are as follows:
* Manhattan—CCSI Coordinator Michelle Munson, 212-254-0333 ext.240; Manhattan Parent Resource Center—Terril Pile
* Brooklyn—CCSI Coordinator Dolores Tibbets, 212-254-0333 ext.220; Brooklyn Parent Resource Center, 718-604-8800—Maxine Barnett
* Bronx—CCSI Coordinator Annabella Escobar, 212-254-0333 ext.250; Bronx Parent Resource Center, 718-731-4673—Bernadine Meeks
* Queens—CCSI Coordinator Michelle Munson, 212-254-0333 ext.240; Queens Parent Resource Center, 718-526-0722 ext.235—Ceceile Green
* Plans for the initiative are being developed in Staten Island
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Mother of Suicide Victim Speaks Out
Susan Harrington related the painful details of the death of her son Barrett at the recent press conference in Albany. Barrett was diagnosed with a serious mental illness during a recent incarceration at Riker’s Island for drug-dependent related crimes. He was released from Riker’s without a comprehensive treatment plan for his mental health needs, save for a three-day supply of antipsychotic medications. Barrett, because he did not have Medicaid eligibility, applied for Medicaid benefits after his release and had to endure long waits in hospital emergency rooms and pharmacies just to renew a five-day supply of medication. Despite these limited measures, his mental health deteriorated and he attempted suicide. He was admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit only at his mother’s insistence and was discharged two weeks later without a comprehensive treatment plan. Left without necessary supports and services, he returned to drug use. He committed suicide shortly afterward at age 24. Five days after his suicide, Mrs. Harrington was notified that her son’s Medicaid application had been approved.
Ms. Harrington called for the passage of legislation to provide for 90 days of presumptive Medicaid eligibility for individuals leaving hospitals and correctional facilities. "I believe my son’s tragic death might well have been avoided had he been able to get the help he so badly needed and sought repeatedly," she said. "State government must act quickly to allow people stuck in the revolving door of the mental heath and correctional systems to promptly get the medication and services they need when returning to the community."
Ms. Harrington was joined by a large coalition of mental health advocates supporting reform. Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility will go beyond the Medication Grant program included in "Kendra’s Law" by providing access to all psychiatric services including medication, housing, comprehensive case management, day treatment and intensive rehabilitation programs. An individual will be able to receive services under Medicaid while an eligibility determination is being made—a process that routinely takes 60 to 90 days.
"A Medication Grants program with limited benefits and no guarantee that it will be available in each community of the state makes no sense from either a clinical or government efficiency standpoint," according to Susan Batkin, Director of the Mental Health Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City, and coordinator for the Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility Coalition. "The existing Medicaid program is already available in all parts of the State, and adding additional state bureaucrats and hiring benefits managers to administer this new system merely diverts resources away from the patient into administration."
Harvey Rosenthal, Executive Director of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS), and chair of the Mental Health Action Network, added, "People in crisis need much more than just a pill. Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility will instead offer access to the full range of Medicaid-funded housing, treatment and support services we know are necessary to fully restore these persons to productive community life."
Ms. Harrington called for the passage of legislation to provide for 90 days of presumptive Medicaid eligibility for individuals leaving hospitals and correctional facilities. "I believe my son’s tragic death might well have been avoided had he been able to get the help he so badly needed and sought repeatedly," she said. "State government must act quickly to allow people stuck in the revolving door of the mental heath and correctional systems to promptly get the medication and services they need when returning to the community."
Ms. Harrington was joined by a large coalition of mental health advocates supporting reform. Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility will go beyond the Medication Grant program included in "Kendra’s Law" by providing access to all psychiatric services including medication, housing, comprehensive case management, day treatment and intensive rehabilitation programs. An individual will be able to receive services under Medicaid while an eligibility determination is being made—a process that routinely takes 60 to 90 days.
"A Medication Grants program with limited benefits and no guarantee that it will be available in each community of the state makes no sense from either a clinical or government efficiency standpoint," according to Susan Batkin, Director of the Mental Health Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City, and coordinator for the Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility Coalition. "The existing Medicaid program is already available in all parts of the State, and adding additional state bureaucrats and hiring benefits managers to administer this new system merely diverts resources away from the patient into administration."
Harvey Rosenthal, Executive Director of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS), and chair of the Mental Health Action Network, added, "People in crisis need much more than just a pill. Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility will instead offer access to the full range of Medicaid-funded housing, treatment and support services we know are necessary to fully restore these persons to productive community life."
Sunday, November 6, 2011
A Nation Afflicted Like All Other Nations
If you're looking for a disease Orthodox Jews are immune from, try trichinosis. The following are my experiences with mental illness and why I think mental illness is as common in Monsey as it is in Bensonhurst.
"You ought to get yourself to Rav Smith," I told my friend Shimon very late one night. My advice was for him to change drachim in hashkafa (way of viewing) from chassidus to a shtikel (emotional chassidic) to a somewhat more litvish (rational) approach. I thought the change would ease his emotions. As if that mattered, as a bizzare descent into an agony called schizophrenia had begun for Shimon. Shimon was "losing it" and I didn't know what to do.
Shimon's elaborate euphoric grandstanding at 2 a.m. about my being able to coast through college was crystal clear to him. After all, I had cut corners on my minor psych. assignment. Other verbal rantings ought to have tipped me off that an emergency call to 911 or his therapist was in order. Seventy-two hours after my friend Shimon showed signs of being ill, I didn't pick up the phone. At nineteen (years old), all I could muster was a lame response about Torah outlook - not medical outlook.
Next time it was me, not my good friend. It was two years later and I was learning in Yerushalayim (Jersusalem). The learning stopped as my mind became sick. My brother, Reuven, desperate to help me, took me to a talmid chochom (learned wise man) near the Old City. As the three of us sat there in his small, sparcely decorated apartment, he told me something about writing a letter.
Two short hours later, after that futile letter advice, my life became a blur of bizarre sequences. Delusions that, due to their content and ability to make me feel removed from reality, evoked fierce pain. To this day I don't know what was real or what was imagined that horrid Erev (eve of) Yom Kippur night.
One delusion--as I think about it now--is quite funny. You see, I was a ritual watchman of the dead the winter before I went to Israel and got sick. During the Asseres Yemei Teshuva (ten days of atonement) I got the idea in my head that the previous winter I was somehow guilty of murdering some of these people. The idea was played over and over in my mind. As I couldn't shake the concept and thus the guilt -- the pain of it all increased. Very funny.
Guilt. Not the self-cleansing type of Yom Kippur, but the self-destructive, overpowering type is what I experienced in Yerushalayim. For the majority of people, the ways of Torah are very pleasant. On occasion, however, like my experience in Yerushalayim, it can be an impetus toward mental illness. But, whatever the home, or whatever the religion of the home, the situation there doesn't "make" one "crazy"; virtually all doctors recognize a strong organic component to mental illness. My funeral home delusion, which I mentioned earlier, probably came from a physical problem in my brain plus my imagination. If that is so, strictly in regard to the physiological aspect of mental illness, why would Jews be different than non-Jews? After all, Jews are susceptible to epilepsy and diabetes--just like non-Jews.
Epilepsy? Diabetes? Years ago, if I would have seen an article like this one written in a religious periodical, I would have thought it was for me, my friend Shimon and a mere handful of Orthodox deviants. Right after I came home from Yerushalayin, my brother helped me apply for Ohel Community Residence for mentally ill adults. The wait was an entire year. Evidently, there were more "deviants" than I had thought.
Six months ago my concept of mental illness in the Orthodox community changed again. I found out that a pharmacy serving predominantly Othordox Jews prescribes one drug more than any other--not for heart disease, nor for infant maladies, but for manic depressives. That drug is lithium.
Mental Illness is equally common amongst Orthodox Jews, irreligious, and non-Jews. So say two Jewish mental health experts. The responses were almost identical; something to the effect of--mental illness is almost exactly equal amongst Jew and non-Jew. They both confirmed that Orthodox Jews had about the same degree of illness, in their estimates, as non-Jews. One added that alcoholism is less of a problem, the other claimed depression is a greater problem. Both emphasized that they were not speaking based on any study and thus did not want to be quoted. However, both spoke without hesitation.
Since my getting sick in Yerushalayim, I've noticed that there is a group (and the group is large) which is sure that these two experts are wrong. We're too Heimish (homey) to get bulimia or have anxiety disorders. This group sometimes desperately hides its illnesses. And they do hide them well.
I'll tell you a story. At a clinic in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, which I went to in the early nineties, I got into a curious mood. I asked if there were any other Orthodox patients. "Yes," the receptionist responded nonchalantly, "but they go through the special door. They're afraid of being noticed."
I spoke to Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D. He spoke about this phenomenon of Jewish families having a tendency to keep mental illness private. Thus, they may delay or hold back treatment. On the postive side, he spoke of improvements. Organizations such as Petach Tikvah, Mishkan and Ohel are gaining much respect in recent years. I'm glad to hear that. Any improved situation in our dealing with mental illness means several things. It means we will call doctors sooner, not waiting to get treatment, ashamed of ones own children. It means even nineteen-year-olds will call Hatzala (local Orthodox emergency service) or 911--not nineteen-year-olds telling the sick one to go to a more litvish shiur (rational approach). I hope less have to go through the delusions I went through--especially if they work in a morgue.
"You ought to get yourself to Rav Smith," I told my friend Shimon very late one night. My advice was for him to change drachim in hashkafa (way of viewing) from chassidus to a shtikel (emotional chassidic) to a somewhat more litvish (rational) approach. I thought the change would ease his emotions. As if that mattered, as a bizzare descent into an agony called schizophrenia had begun for Shimon. Shimon was "losing it" and I didn't know what to do.
Shimon's elaborate euphoric grandstanding at 2 a.m. about my being able to coast through college was crystal clear to him. After all, I had cut corners on my minor psych. assignment. Other verbal rantings ought to have tipped me off that an emergency call to 911 or his therapist was in order. Seventy-two hours after my friend Shimon showed signs of being ill, I didn't pick up the phone. At nineteen (years old), all I could muster was a lame response about Torah outlook - not medical outlook.
Next time it was me, not my good friend. It was two years later and I was learning in Yerushalayim (Jersusalem). The learning stopped as my mind became sick. My brother, Reuven, desperate to help me, took me to a talmid chochom (learned wise man) near the Old City. As the three of us sat there in his small, sparcely decorated apartment, he told me something about writing a letter.
Two short hours later, after that futile letter advice, my life became a blur of bizarre sequences. Delusions that, due to their content and ability to make me feel removed from reality, evoked fierce pain. To this day I don't know what was real or what was imagined that horrid Erev (eve of) Yom Kippur night.
One delusion--as I think about it now--is quite funny. You see, I was a ritual watchman of the dead the winter before I went to Israel and got sick. During the Asseres Yemei Teshuva (ten days of atonement) I got the idea in my head that the previous winter I was somehow guilty of murdering some of these people. The idea was played over and over in my mind. As I couldn't shake the concept and thus the guilt -- the pain of it all increased. Very funny.
Guilt. Not the self-cleansing type of Yom Kippur, but the self-destructive, overpowering type is what I experienced in Yerushalayim. For the majority of people, the ways of Torah are very pleasant. On occasion, however, like my experience in Yerushalayim, it can be an impetus toward mental illness. But, whatever the home, or whatever the religion of the home, the situation there doesn't "make" one "crazy"; virtually all doctors recognize a strong organic component to mental illness. My funeral home delusion, which I mentioned earlier, probably came from a physical problem in my brain plus my imagination. If that is so, strictly in regard to the physiological aspect of mental illness, why would Jews be different than non-Jews? After all, Jews are susceptible to epilepsy and diabetes--just like non-Jews.
Epilepsy? Diabetes? Years ago, if I would have seen an article like this one written in a religious periodical, I would have thought it was for me, my friend Shimon and a mere handful of Orthodox deviants. Right after I came home from Yerushalayin, my brother helped me apply for Ohel Community Residence for mentally ill adults. The wait was an entire year. Evidently, there were more "deviants" than I had thought.
Six months ago my concept of mental illness in the Orthodox community changed again. I found out that a pharmacy serving predominantly Othordox Jews prescribes one drug more than any other--not for heart disease, nor for infant maladies, but for manic depressives. That drug is lithium.
Mental Illness is equally common amongst Orthodox Jews, irreligious, and non-Jews. So say two Jewish mental health experts. The responses were almost identical; something to the effect of--mental illness is almost exactly equal amongst Jew and non-Jew. They both confirmed that Orthodox Jews had about the same degree of illness, in their estimates, as non-Jews. One added that alcoholism is less of a problem, the other claimed depression is a greater problem. Both emphasized that they were not speaking based on any study and thus did not want to be quoted. However, both spoke without hesitation.
Since my getting sick in Yerushalayim, I've noticed that there is a group (and the group is large) which is sure that these two experts are wrong. We're too Heimish (homey) to get bulimia or have anxiety disorders. This group sometimes desperately hides its illnesses. And they do hide them well.
I'll tell you a story. At a clinic in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, which I went to in the early nineties, I got into a curious mood. I asked if there were any other Orthodox patients. "Yes," the receptionist responded nonchalantly, "but they go through the special door. They're afraid of being noticed."
I spoke to Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D. He spoke about this phenomenon of Jewish families having a tendency to keep mental illness private. Thus, they may delay or hold back treatment. On the postive side, he spoke of improvements. Organizations such as Petach Tikvah, Mishkan and Ohel are gaining much respect in recent years. I'm glad to hear that. Any improved situation in our dealing with mental illness means several things. It means we will call doctors sooner, not waiting to get treatment, ashamed of ones own children. It means even nineteen-year-olds will call Hatzala (local Orthodox emergency service) or 911--not nineteen-year-olds telling the sick one to go to a more litvish shiur (rational approach). I hope less have to go through the delusions I went through--especially if they work in a morgue.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Through the Eyes of a Stranger - Part 1
Being diagnosed mentally ill does not mean that you have to be an outcast to yourself or society. Self-stigma is based on beliefs about ourselves as a result of influences of: 1) Society -childhood, family, friends, acquaintances values towards the mentally ill; 2) Institutional experiences, schooling, religious organizations, professionals and businesses attitudes about mental illness; 3) Media - television, newspaper, movies, etc. and their portrayal of the mentally ill population.
The identification I've made of self-stigma and its components are not based on books I've read, but rather on the life I've lived; I will begin with a brief history of my life and story. In 1989, I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. After years of private therapy, counseling and medication treatments, I was no further along toward recovery than when I started my downward spiral. In 1995, after five hospitalizations, a broken marriage, loss of income, an arrest and a failed suicide attempt, I finally found my spiritual self and began a road to recovery. This while in my sixth hospitalization in as many years. Finally, I was placed on medications that helped me. I was sent to live in an adult home where I would receive custodial care and begin a program with the SBPC's Bensonhurst Clinic.
As I became more involved with the clinic, I began to realize that I was stigmatizing myself due to my prior socialization. This had to change in order for me to recovery. By 1996, my complete diagnosis with paranoid schizophrenia with anxiety disorder and major depression - what a mouthful!
Since I was "high functioning," I was asked to participate in a facilitator training program sponsored at the SBPC utilizing Ed Knight's Mental Health Empowerment Project. I loved it! My enthusiasm grew and I became a participant in the SBPC Worker Development Program as a Consumer Advocate Trainee. Under this program, a recipient of mental health services can earn a small fee for services rendered while still in treatment. The program is helpful in developing self-esteem and skills needed to return to the work force. My enthusiasm grew, so did my self-esteem, and I began to overcome my "stigmatization" of myself.
I took my medications regularly, went to several professional and consumer led groups, and began to develop as a leader. I now look back and realize that although many professionals tried to help me, I couldn't begin to achieve my goals, dreams and desires for the future until I saw myself through more positive eyes.
The direction my life took at this point was toward a mode of recovery and a desire to share what I had learned over these years with other who had similar experiences. Self-"stigmatization" is stigma in its most destructive form since it is directed from the self upon the self. To overcome this takes strong will and the support of other consumers, self-help groups, providers of mental health services, family, and a responsive system.
In a research article by Courtenay Harding published in 1996 she quotes a group of men who were sitting in rocking chairs on the front porches of Board and Care homes. When asked why they were not working they said, "Well, my family gave up on me; so I gave up on me." Self-stigma thus developed from years of demoralization. Clearly, this is a major hurdle to overcome if recovery is to begin on any level.
The identification I've made of self-stigma and its components are not based on books I've read, but rather on the life I've lived; I will begin with a brief history of my life and story. In 1989, I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. After years of private therapy, counseling and medication treatments, I was no further along toward recovery than when I started my downward spiral. In 1995, after five hospitalizations, a broken marriage, loss of income, an arrest and a failed suicide attempt, I finally found my spiritual self and began a road to recovery. This while in my sixth hospitalization in as many years. Finally, I was placed on medications that helped me. I was sent to live in an adult home where I would receive custodial care and begin a program with the SBPC's Bensonhurst Clinic.
As I became more involved with the clinic, I began to realize that I was stigmatizing myself due to my prior socialization. This had to change in order for me to recovery. By 1996, my complete diagnosis with paranoid schizophrenia with anxiety disorder and major depression - what a mouthful!
Since I was "high functioning," I was asked to participate in a facilitator training program sponsored at the SBPC utilizing Ed Knight's Mental Health Empowerment Project. I loved it! My enthusiasm grew and I became a participant in the SBPC Worker Development Program as a Consumer Advocate Trainee. Under this program, a recipient of mental health services can earn a small fee for services rendered while still in treatment. The program is helpful in developing self-esteem and skills needed to return to the work force. My enthusiasm grew, so did my self-esteem, and I began to overcome my "stigmatization" of myself.
I took my medications regularly, went to several professional and consumer led groups, and began to develop as a leader. I now look back and realize that although many professionals tried to help me, I couldn't begin to achieve my goals, dreams and desires for the future until I saw myself through more positive eyes.
The direction my life took at this point was toward a mode of recovery and a desire to share what I had learned over these years with other who had similar experiences. Self-"stigmatization" is stigma in its most destructive form since it is directed from the self upon the self. To overcome this takes strong will and the support of other consumers, self-help groups, providers of mental health services, family, and a responsive system.
In a research article by Courtenay Harding published in 1996 she quotes a group of men who were sitting in rocking chairs on the front porches of Board and Care homes. When asked why they were not working they said, "Well, my family gave up on me; so I gave up on me." Self-stigma thus developed from years of demoralization. Clearly, this is a major hurdle to overcome if recovery is to begin on any level.
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