You see a world where people don’t like change or not able to accept change. I have to say that the Mental Health System in the world has got  better but there is still needs even more improvements. Every person is different but You can’t take someone treatment of freedom away without giving them a chance The ADA act and the Civil Rights Movement stated that but still some issues are not being addressed the lack of supportive housing and the homelessness on the streets. Some places oppose this and some don’t have the time to look into it. People are being abused and their rights are being violated throughout the world. The may not be getting the right treatment they need or even not getting the treatment at all. The Media thinks they know so much about these issues it’s turn into Saturday Night Live or a drama that is not even make it possible to the truth. Turn off the lies and hate. Open your eyes and see that there is a world that needs help and love. Just because you have the authority to hurt someone doe’s not mean you can and does not make you right. Bullying or putting someone down who is different from you will not make you any better then the average two year old child you act like. Do what you think is right and stop the stigma and don’t be afraid to speak up for those who are being hurt and are afraid. Violence is not the answer and being hurtful is not either. Change is possible and it can be done. So look around and think would you want someone treating you the way you are being treated or would you like to be treated respectful and fairly? Would being hateful be worth it or would putting smile on someone place be better? I think be happy then being miserable would be better don’t you think? We need change and it starts with you !! So do the right thing and stop the Stigma. Make the world possible without so much fear. Make Peace not War. Love and be grateful to one and yourself. Stop the Mental Health Stigma.

Thank You.

A response to well intentioned Mental Health Reform Act of 2015

Aloha.  Here in “paradise” our mental health treatment problem is lack of access to any inpatient mental health/dual diagnosis treatment.  There are at least two major problems, specifically, severe shortage of inpatient treatment services, lack of funding for those services that exist (basically revolving door)  and the courts’ interpretation of laws that defer to pts civil rights not to be treated.   This also serves the Judiciary which would have to finance treatment if the Courts did mandate it.

Our rural location (a neighbor island) has a public hospital that has closed 7 of its behavioral health beds this year due to funding and staff shortages. The remaining beds are only “acute” beds that are open are for the right “type” of mental health acute admission, specifically, those would be available for a normally medication compliant person who knows they need to be stabilized and who won’t cause undue disruption, specifically NOT someone disruptive and actively in need of detox.

Admission even to acute beds is voluntary. State law only permits a 24 hour or 48 hour hold at the most. After that folks can write a letter requesting discharge and return into harm’s way.

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I wanted to take a moment to share my story and individual struggle with mental illness, the system we all live in and why it is important now more than ever to advocate on behalf of those living with various mental illnesses. My name is Dan Olson and I have been involved in mental health and treatment in one form or another for the past 25 years. I was removed from the home as a child due to severe physical and mental abuse. I placed in various foster and group homes because I was born into a cycle of poverty and alcohol abuse and when removed from my mother’s care, there was no support system there for me. This was the early 90s and I was acting out at the time due to severe mental trauma and was diagnosed as ADHD and placed on medications. None of the juvenile treatment programs was able to break through to me but they did plant some positive seeds that were able to bear some fruit in the future. My rebellion and lack of structure led me to harder juvenile corrections more focused on punitive philosophy and eventually my actions led me to the State Correctional Facility. From that point on for many years I was lost in the system, lost in my own mind and anger. But I had hope. I had a child and he stuck with me always in the back of my mind. I was determined to not allow him to succumb to the same problems I had, I was committed to being a father and self-improvement.  It was a struggle and many mistakes have been made on the way but I earned a Clinical Psychology Degree, and through the intellectual understanding of my mental blocks I was able to overcome them.  I wish I could say that education is the complete answer but I don’t believe anything is so simple. My education introduced me to ideas and concepts that continue to place me in direct opposition of authority. I belief in the mental health field today there is entirely too much focus on profits and pharmaceuticals.  This knowledge and struggle against what inevitably can only be described as the double bind of society and attempt to solve an unsolvable problem led me to have a psychotic breakdown. To those familiar I relate this breakdown to Carl Jungs own psychological experiment into neurosis. I had more run in’s with the police and at one point was actually beaten and tazed.  Today I am diagnosed as some latent form of schizophrenia. I can if I am not aware spiral into psychotic episodes that seem to be based in ideas of dissociation. With the support of my psychiatrist we are on a test run of allowing me to be in charge of my own treatment using principles of mindfulness. It is my hope that possibly I can discover new ideas and treatments for mental disease while continuing to work on my own self-improvement and recovery.  I hope to be returning to education soon and to the MASC (Masters of Communications Studies) studies program at Edinboro. I have found that intellectual stimulation, goals, and sobriety great benefits to my attitude and mental health. I hope that I can be a beacon to others struggling through the same dark rooms I once did and can combine my street knowledge and prison experience with my Clinical Psychology and Communication Studies to become the kind of leader and advocate people suffering with mental illness deserve.

My 21y/o son was living in a Residential Treatment Facility in Md.  He was dropped off at a Shelter in Washington D.C. yesterday due to non-compliance of rules of his facility.  Is this legal?  He is also on mental health medication requiring meds oversight.  I’m very concerned and cannot contact him.  I live in Texas. Please assist.

June 3, 2014

Thank you for your interest in my recovery story. I have been in mental health treatment for the past thirty-three years. It began at age eight when I was sexually molested by a close relative. I did not tell anyone out of shame and guilt for ten years. I became anorexic immediately following the assault, which turned into bulimia, severe depression and anxiety through my teenage years. My parents would not allow hospitalization or medication because of their ignorance and the stigma involved. Suicide was constantly on my mind. My parents did allow for weekly psychotherapy treatments.

At seventeen, I suffered a major mental breakdown and was limited in my high school attendance. I disclosed facts about the abuse during therapy, but no charges were filed, once again due to the perceived stigma. At eighteen, I took myself to the psychiatrist and received my first prescription for an anti-depressant. Lack of effectiveness and side effects caused me to spend the next fifteen years trying different medicine combinations.

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I was recently at a dinner with two friends, when we began discussing mental illness and mental health treatment.

All three of us have openly had periods of struggle with both depression and anxiety, but we all had very different takes on treatment, particularly in regards to antidepressants.

“I wouldn’t go on them,” said the first friend.

“I would go on them, but just until I feel better,” said the second.

My take was the opposite: I have been taking antidepressants on and off my entire life, and since deciding to take them consistently nearly three years ago, my life has turned around. I plan to be on them forever.

Conversations like this are not uncommon. When it comes to mental health issues, opinions are often polarized and strongly held.

I understand that antidepressants are not for everyone; many people are fortunate in not suffering from mental illness, and even many of those who do would prefer to have medication be their last resort.

For me, medication is a part of a more comprehensive treatment plan to avoid falling back into the throes of the major depression that I know always lingers beneath the surface of my delicately balanced equilibrium.

I remember what it feels like to be unwell.

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My name is Arielle, I am a 23 year old woman. Recently I have made a discovery that could change my life, in the best of ways. I have been misdiagnosed with bipolar 1, and correctly re-diagnosed with BPD. I was originally diagnosed as bipolar 1 at 13, and have struggled intensely to maintain/find effective treatment for myself. My treatment for my mental health with my previous incorrect diagnosis was this: a quick uphill climb, followed by a plateau, and finished with a downward spiral into relapse. Over and over. Years of my life spent feeling inadequate and wondering how people seemingly improved and overcame their illness. But I couldn’t… why? Because I was a failure? Because I was a weak, pitiful, human being? No. Because I was ignorant, I was unable to access the best treatment plan for me. Because I didn’t know. Discovering I was misdiagnosed felt like an earthshaking moment, all the stigma of mental health washing over me. Crushing me again under its weight, full of so much shame and unnecessary guilt. It felt like coming out of the mental health closet all over again. But it isn’t like that at all, I’ve come to realize. It’s a chance to finally get better, and an important opportunity to overcome the stigma of mental illness. Bipolar>BPD was my mindset originally. I am no longer afraid. I choose to let go of the guilt and the shame regarding any mental illness in relation to myself as human being. Today isn’t perfect, tomorrow won’t be either. But with support and time I will learn to be better and healthier than I currently am. I am here to tell you, reader, that you will too. I’ve discovered a lot of awesome content here on NAMI but have noticed a substantial amount of comments are others who feel negative and hopeless about their mental health. Listen up sunflowers, Sara Bareilles might not write you a love song, but I will. YOU are a survivor, and YOU are remarkable. YOU are worthy of love, fulfillment, happiness. YOU are worthy of effective treatment that will lead to a better life than the one you currently lead. YOU are worthy of relationships that are healthy and uplifting. YOU deserve to live fully, without shame of your mental health. I may just be learning how to embrace to best path for me, I know I am not the only one who has felt this way. I hope my story and resolve help you make up yours

I am a wife, a stay-at-home mom, a writer and a comedian.

And, finally, after far too long, I am also an advocate for mental health.

You see, I am a medicated momma. And I am tired of being ashamed.

I have suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) since I was 15 years old. Twenty-three long brutal years. I have been receiving treatment for just as long, both pharmaceutical and cognitive. After all of this time with this lengthy and never-ending battle, I am finally comfortable enough with myself to admit publically that I struggle with these illnesses. That every single day can be a fight.  hat sometimes it seems like it’s just too much.  I’m tired of hating myself for something that isn’t even my fault. These are the cards I was dealt; these are the diagnoses I was given.  I want society to change its views on mental health so that others who are struggling out there start to love themselves like I should have be doing all along. Because, although these illnesses are categorized as “mental disorders”, I want you to recognize this, particularly if you are going to stigmatize me: These illnesses/maladies/conditions are purely PHYSICAL. 

OCD, MDD, and other illnesses like them are a result of a defect in the brain.  My brain does not produce enough of a certain neurotransmitter. I’ve been told it never will. The medication I take helps boost that number, since my brain cannot do it on its own. Treatment is not a cure, but it helps make things more manageable, most of the time.

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Sometimes the trauma we experience is not definable in terms of scientific research or assessments. Sometimes depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues are never actually diagnosed but somehow those of us who experience these issues deal with them on a daily basis and find inspiration and hope in our communities and inside ourselves.  

I, like many others, have experienced multiple traumas in my life including rape, abandonment, intimate partner violence, a diagnosis of a “terminal” disease, homelessness, and drug addiction.  Yet, somehow, I have made it through these experiences and found help along the way.  Not from the system of care (as many of us know, the system of care is not really designed to “care”), I found help in the support and love from others who have also experienced similar things.  It is their courage and compassion that gave me the strength to keep moving forward.  It is their determination and insight that helped me work through the pain and fear.  

I am forever grateful for those who guided me along the way.  Your support will never be forgotten.  Your support helped me to not only find a new way to live but to follow my passion and help others.  Even though I have been dragged through the mud, I know my worth and value has not changed.  Today, I am working on a PhD. and hope that the work I do, the community bridges from research and academia to the real world I build, can help inspire others.  May you find love and peace in your hearts