Sunday, December 28, 2008

Courage is the key word!!

My father used to always say that my mother was the most courageous person he knew. There are many descriptors used for the mentally ill, but courageous is the one word that is common for all. They know they have an illness that will never go away; that every day they have no choice but to wake up to another regiment of highs, lows, medicine or no medicine and if they are lucky therapy sessions. Psy-wards in and out of hospital stays or out-patient services; going from one doctor to another. Very sad circle of life for some. This article is a story that we need more of. Our loved ones have wonderful stories of courage and resolve and achievement that should be told, in spite of the stigma.

They had every kind of trophy you could imagine at House of Trophies in Boyle Heights. Soccer, basketball, baseball, football, even fishing. They had trophies 6 inches tall and 6 feet tall, plaques and desk ornaments too, for retiring cops and transit workers and for great teachers.

But nothing for musicians.

I told a clerk I needed a trophy with something a little different on it, like maybe a string player.

It was an unusual request, I could tell, but he went to his computer and came back with a printed image of a conductor and a musical symbol.

"We could do something like this," he said.

I decided to put my faith in House of Trophies and began making plans for the awards ceremony. The plan was to honor a friend I'm constantly asked about by readers and also to recognize two of my buddy's pals.

Since I began writing about Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a street musician I met almost four years ago in downtown Los Angeles, I've been asked to speak at mental health symposiums, skid row fundraisers, universities and high schools and all kinds of award banquets.

I usually walk away with a plaque and a bad case of guilt. All those groups really should be honoring Mr. Ayers, not me. He's the one who's had to muster the courage to face each day. He's the one who has given a face to the anonymous thousands in the same fight. And he's the one whose story, I hope, is helping de-stigmatize mental illness.

I usually pass along the awards I get to Mr. Ayers, but I thought he should have his very own, which is how I ended up at House of Trophies.

Mr. Ayers had been telling me for months that he wanted to celebrate Beethoven's birthday on Dec. 16. I don't know a lot of people who walk around with Beethoven's date of birth in their heads, but nothing about Mr. Ayers is typical.

Ever since he stumbled upon the Beethoven statue in Pershing Square several years ago, he has conducted himself as if Ludwig were god of the universe and everything beyond.

Mr. Ayers had told me he'd like to perform at Beethoven's birthday party with some of his friends from the Los Angeles Philharmonic. But as the date approached, he feared he wouldn't be sharp enough to play with the pros. He said if he really worked at it, he'd be in good shape by Beethoven's birthday next year. But he wondered if we could still have a party.

Among the few dozen guests were violinist Robert Gupta, pianist Joanne Pearce Martin and cellist Ben Hong, all friends of Mr. Ayers and all members of the L.A. Phil.

Also attending was Adam Crane, the former L.A. Phil publicist who made Mr. Ayers welcome at Disney Hall concerts and became one of his closest friends. Mr. Ayers has had a tough adjustment since Crane moved on to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, occasionally strolling up to Disney Hall to see if Crane has decided to come back. Crane was coming to town anyway in December and adjusted his schedule to get here in time for Mr. Ayers' Beethoven party.

As the party approached, I began worrying that the man of the hour might not attend. Mr. Ayers has had a painful, chronic stomach problem for which he was refusing treatment, no matter how bad the agony. Doctors and meds, he says, are not for him. Not yet, anyway, because he recalls too vividly the days of restraints, shock therapy and Thorazine. He is still tough to be around at times and a challenge for the staff at Lamp Community, which handles hard-core, chronic cases of mental illness.

A book I wrote about Mr. Ayers came out last year, and I had been nervous about how he would react to it and to a movie based on the book that will be out in April. He once told me he preferred experiencing life to seeing it reflected in a mirror. Developing insight into one's own illness is difficult for many people. After reading the book, though, he thanked me. He said it wasn't easy to read, but he felt that he needed to. As for the movie, he said he had no desire to see it, in part because the very thought of two-dimensional images on a screen is spooky to him.

So I was shocked when, at the last minute, he decided to see a screening for cast and crew. Many of his friends at Lamp play themselves in the movie because director Joe Wright insisted on not using actors. They were excited about seeing themselves on the screen, and Nathaniel wanted to be with them, rather than miss what in effect was his own party.

We sat together at the Arclight. I'd seen the movie, but still I was anxious, and so was Mr. Ayers. He kept his eyes closed through the entire film, but he experienced it -- felt it, really -- in his own way. He loved the music, grumbled at certain depictions, laughed at funny lines and joined in the shout-outs when his friends saw themselves up on the screen.

I was humbled by him, proud of him, worried for him. What he's got doesn't go away. Every day's a challenge.

The first award at the Beethoven party was presented in absentia to Peter Snyder, an L.A. Phil cellist who retired last week after nearly 40 years with the orchestra.

Snyder has already moved up to the Central Coast and couldn't make the party. He was the musician who volunteered to give lessons to Mr. Ayers in a vacant skid row apartment three years ago, hoping it would make Mr. Ayers comfortable enough to move in off the streets of skid row.

Those lessons were the key, I think, even though Mr. Ayers resisted moving indoors, saying that he couldn't leave Beethoven alone on the streets of downtown L.A. Crane got him past that by going to the Disney Hall gift shop and getting a bust of Beethoven to place in the apartment. Mr. Ayers has lived in that apartment ever since.

At the Beethoven party, held in a basement music room at the L.A. Times, Crane's plaque was inscribed "Mensch of the Century."

Mr. Ayers was not just the man of the hour but the life of the party. He warmed nicely to the crowd, had a smile on his face most of the evening and was in his glory when Gupta and Martin offered a rousing rendition of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.

He also did pretty well in his own performance despite the lack of any rehearsal, playing cello to Martin's piano on the Bloch Prayer and a bit of the Schubert Arpeggione Sonata.

Standing tall on the piano throughout the performance was Mr. Ayers' new trophy, a gaudy 2-foot-tall beauty with metallic red and the best fake gold available. It was inscribed:

"Disciples of Beethoven Award

"For a half century of devotion to music. For a talent that knows no bounds. And for a story of courage and perseverance that speaks to thousands."



Monday, December 22, 2008

No Mental Illness

No mental illness here, Just old fashioned greed and a warped sense of the "Pretty boy" syndrome in my opinion.

Unless politics is a mental illness Blagojevich is sane!

By Usha Nellore
Examiner Columnist 12/19/08

It is now official. Illinois Governor and Democrat Rod Blagojevich was caught with his hands in the cookie jar and was arrested for his latest egregious run against federal law. For three years the feds scrutinized his wheelings and dealings, but not until now was he nailed with what seems like irrefutable evidence on tape, trying to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder. As governor of Illinois he had the power to appoint the next senator to the vacated seat -- and did not take this task lightly.

He saw in it the perfect opportunity to angle for a Cabinet post in the Obama administration or perhaps an ambassadorial appointment. From Jesse Jackson Jr. to Valerie Jarrett, the latter being Barack Obama's confidante and adviser, he was certain all were for sale in exchange for the appointment. At one point in time he confessed on tape that he wanted to bag himself a position in a nonprofit organization affiliated with labor unions. This, he believed, could be achieved by appointing someone to the seat favorable to the Obama camp. The unions, pleased, would grant him his Christmas wish and pull him into a $250,000 per annum job for his benevolence.

Now the pundits shake their heads and exclaim these machinations are the worst ever in the annals of political corruption and can only be explained by Blagojevich having taken leave of his senses. In an article by Susan Saulny of the New York Times, Mike Jacobs, Illinois state senator, said Blagojevich may have lost his grip on reality. He said of his friend, "I am not sure he is playing with a full deck of cards." Cindy Canary of Illinois Campaign for Political Reform is quoted in the same article as saying she is trying to figure out the pathology to explain Blagojevich's actions. James Carville, Democrat and political commentator, laughs self-consciously and tells Wolf Blitzer of CNN Blagojevich's sins do not reflect our political system. In other words, Blagojevich is a rare political mutation wrought by delusions of grandeur and ambition run amok.

What nonsense! Blagojevich did not arrive at this behavior without previous experiences in the bazaar of politics. He was a state legislator in Illinois, a prosecutor and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He bought and sold a lot of favors. Businesses fed his campaign coffers in exchange for state contracts. Antoin Rezko, now in prison for fraud and bribery, collected campaign money for Blagojevich as he did for President-elect Obama.Obama endorsed Blagojevich in 2002 and again in 2006. Blagojevich endorsed Obama in 2004 after he won the Democratic nomination.

It seems someone from the Obama camp did speak to Blagojevich about this Senate appointment because the governor was apoplectic on tape that the Obama camp was unwilling to offer him anything more than gratitude for giving them the appointee they wanted. Did this contact from camp Obama bother to tell the feds that Blagojevich had an auction scheme to put Sotheby's to shame?

Suppose the feds and the Chicago Tribune editors had not been after Blagojevich for the past few years and suppose the governor had not been caught with his pants down by hard-nosed Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. attorney for Chicago. Then what would have happened? That is the right way to ponder this melodrama. Union bosses, would they have given the governor what he wanted for a Senate appointment that suited their fancy? Obama and camp, would they, in exchange for the governor's favor, have given him a position, perhaps as ambassador to Serbia, striking two fruits with one stone, appointing a man of Serbian origin to the post and banishing him to Belgrade?

If the answer to these questions is a resounding "No!" then Blagojevich is a lone lunatic in the jungle of politics tormented by a disorder robbing him of his mind. If the answer to these questions is a "maybe," then Blagojevich's only affliction is a case of one rascal nosing out all the other possible rascals in his neighborhood! Let us not insult those who struggle courageously with mental illness everyday by lumping them with Blagojevich.


Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Interesting history, but don't want to re-visit

Mentally ill inmates: Modern-day Bedlam

by Bob Joondeph, Guest opinion
Wednesday December 17, 2008, 1:14 PM

When Captain Craig Ward, who manages the Union County Jail, referred to the behavior of an inmate with mental illness as "bedlam," he was spot on. (The Oregonian, Mentally Ill Inmates Strain Rural Jails, Dec. 14.)

The word "bedlam" is defined as: "a place, scene, or state of uproar and confusion." It originated as the popular name for first insane asylum in London: The Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem. Bedlam Hospital started taking people with mental illness in 1357. Conditions were awful. According to a visitor, the noise was "so hideous, so great; that they are more able to drive a man that hath his wits rather out of them." Violent or dangerous patients were manacled and chained to floors or walls. Londoners could visit Bedlam and pay a penny to stare at the inmates. According to The Catholic Encyclopedia:"one could peer into their cells and laugh at their antics or violent fights. Visitors were permitted to bring long sticks with which to poke and enrage the inmates."

Fortunately, we have made great progress in our understanding of mental illness since the heyday of Bedlam. Through early identification, the devastating effects of major mental illness may be avoided. Through counseling, medications, social supports and individualized therapies, those who experience major mental illness can and do recover and return to productive membership in society.

But left unidentified and untreated, these disorders may prevent a person from working and undermine family and social supports. While mental illness does not itself render a person more dangerous than others, poverty, isolation and substance abuse may lead to criminal behavior and time in jail or prison. Everyone (the person, the victim, their families, the jail, the community) would be better off if that person had received assistance early on. Yet, for decades, we have severely underfunded mental health and chemical dependency services.

Now, as The Oregonian pointed out, the Governor's Recommended Budget continues this tradition by calling for a 90% cut in non-Medicaid adult community mental health funding.
Under pressure from the federal government, Oregon is taking steps to correct the deplorable conditions at Oregon State Hospital. And yet we continue to look the other way while our jails are asked to carry on the tradition of Bedlam Hospital. Mental health treatment can and should be provided to inmates. Community mental health services need to provide more screening, treatment, housing and supports. Cutting these services will not only contribute to more human suffering and homelessness but will also generate higher back-end costs to taxpayers due to avoidable prison, jail and hospital days.

What can we realistically do? For starters, we should seek efficiencies by regionalizing community mental health services, including housing and acute care. We should continue to integrate the delivery of mental health services with physical health. We should demand greater accountability for the use of public resources through reporting of clear, measurable outcomes. We should assure that all Oregon inmates are properly screened for mental illness and have access to adequate treatment. And we should provide the funds to get this done.

To do less is to direct Captain Ward and his colleagues throughout Oregon to operate modern-day Bedlams.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Inmates

In my opinion, some inmates could be viable members of society. A lot of our mentally ill persons are incarcerated. This is due largely to the fact that they are not taking the correct medically prescribed drugs. I had a meeting with parents about a child in the fourth grade that I knew to be diagnosed as bi-polar. At this meeting the dad finally admitted that his father was bi-polar, he was bi-polar and he was very sad to hear that his child was following in the footsteps of the two generations before him. This dad said that his whole life in school, he could not stay focused and he was placed in the corner of the room, alone. He would refuse to work and was mostly in a depressed frame of mine through his elementary school experience. He said his dad takes a huge amount of medicine daily to maintain his mental illness. This dad said that he dropped out of school and now works a minimum wage job with no hope for anything better the rest of his life. Thankfully, he also stated that he did not want this for his child and that he would actively seek the proper medical care for his fourth grade child. I am amazed at the parents who are not brave enough to admit to teachers that they have mental illness in their families and would choose to not help their poor children who are innocent victims of the repeat behaviors of their parents. This is our children and the future of America and they deserve the best chance for success they can get. Parents of mentally ill children need to also get past the "stigma" of mental illness and do their job, get their children to licensed medical professionals for the proper help with their illness. Ignoring the problem is not a solution. Keepthedialogueup!!!

In N.H., more women inmates

Study cites lack of alternatives


CONCORD, N.H. - Women are being incarcerated in New Hampshire at a faster pace than men due largely to crimes involving drugs and alcohol and because of a lack of rehabilitative and treatment options, according to a study by The New Hampshire Women's Policy Institute.



Poverty, mental illness, unemployment, and domestic violence are underlying factors, the study found.

"Women's role as primary caregivers for children complicates both their incarceration as well as their path to rehabilitation," the study's authors wrote.

The study said the upward incarceration trend will have future costs on taxpayers and their children.

"While New Hampshire's current correctional model is effective in protecting public safety during an offender's incarceration, it is costly and ineffective in terms of long-term successful rehabilitation. New Hampshire would do well to experiment with another model, and the female offender population, being less violent and more directly involved in the care of children, would be a good place to start," the authors recommend.

The study estimates that on any given day about 430 women are behind bars in the state's prison for women and in county jails. Another 1,450 were supervised in their communities last year, and about 960 were released from jail - for a total of 2,850 involved with the system at some point.

Female admissions to county jails increased by 24 percent between 2003 and 2007 compared with a 14 percent increase during the period for men, the study said. Female admissions to state prison increased 64 percent during the period.

Additionally, in six of New Hampshire's largest communities, arrests of women increased 25 percent between 2002 and 2006 compared with 9 percent for men. Alcohol offenses among young women were one of the fastest-growing categories. The communities studied are Concord, Manchester, Keene, Laconia, Plymouth, and Portsmouth.

The study estimates that two-thirds of the female inmates have children and nearly half are single mothers who must turn to relatives or the state foster care system to care for their children during their incarceration. The authors estimated that 1,300 children are affected annually.

Corrections officials told the institute the growing number of pregnant inmates is straining the system. One jail superintendent said he contacted the state to arrange care for an unborn child but was told the state could not intervene because the child was not yet abandoned or neglected. Estimated costs of a pregnant inmate are $20,000 for medical care and transportation.

The study also said the system is taxed by inmates' mental health issues. Two-thirds of the women said they had a previous diagnosis of mental illness.

"The jails are functioning as an integral part of the state's mental health system without sufficient resources to identify and treat mental health problems," the study concluded.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Another Promising Bit of Research

Bipolar Disorder Genes, Pathways Identified By Indiana University Neuroscientists

Main Category: Bipolar
Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience; Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 24 Nov 2008 - 1:00 PST









Neuroscientists at the Indiana University School of Medicine have created the first comprehensive map of genes likely to be involved in bipolar disorder, according to research published online Nov. 21 in the American Journal of Medical Genetics.

The researchers combined data from the latest large-scale international gene hunting studies for bipolar disorder with information from their own studies and have identified the best candidate genes for the illness.

The methodology developed at the IU Institute of Psychiatric Research enabled Alexander B. Niculescu III, M.D., Ph.D., and his team to mine the data from the genome-wide association studies and other study results on the levels of gene activity in human blood samples and in animal models. Genes with the highest levels of prominence were determined to be the most active in contributing to the disorder.

The researchers also were able to analyze how these genes work together and created a comprehensive biological model of bipolar disorder.

"Based on our work, we now project that there will be hundreds of genes - possibly as much as 10 percent of the human genome - involved in this illness," said Dr. Niculescu, who is an assistant professor of psychiatry and director of the laboratory of neurophenomics at the IU School of Medicine. "Not all genetic mutations will occur in every individual with bipolar disorder. Different individuals will have different combinations of genetic mutations. This genetic complexity is most likely what made past attempts to identify genes for the disorder through genetic-only studies so difficult and inconsistent."

Dr. Niculescu compared the process to a Web search. "The process was similar to a Google approach, the more links there are to a page on the Internet, the more likely it is to come up at the top of your search list. The more experimental lines of evidence for a gene, the higher it comes up on your priority list of genes involved in the disorder."

Until now there have been few statistically significant findings in searches of the human genome as it applies to bipolar disorder, he said.

"By integrating the findings of multiple studies, we were able to sort through, identify genes that were most likely to be involved in bipolar disorder, and achieve this major breakthrough in our understanding of the illness," Dr. Niculescu said.

Bipolar disorder, sometimes called manic depression, affects nearly 2.3 million Americans. A serious illness, people who suffer from it can experience mild or dramatic mood swings, shifts in energy and a diminished capacity to function.

Dr. Niculescu, a practicing psychiatrist and a molecular geneticist, said this work opens exciting avenues for psychiatric researchers and clinicians, as well as for patients and their families. "First and foremost, these studies will lead to a better understanding of bipolar and related disorders," he explained. "Second, the researchers now plan to study individuals to see which combination of genes is present in individuals to come up with a genetic risk score."

The goal, he said, is to be able to apply the risk score to test individuals even before the illness manifests itself for preventive measures - lifestyle changes, counseling, low-dose medications - or to delay or stop the illness from developing.

"Third, in individuals who already have the illness, genetic testing in combination with blood biomarkers for the disease, could help determine which treatments works best so personalized treatments could be developed," Dr. Niculescu said.

The research was done in collaboration with colleagues at the Scripps Research Institute, the University of California- San Diego, SUNY Upstate medical University and the National Institute of Mental Health. IU researchers involved were Helen Le-Niculescu, Ph.D., John I. Nurnberger, M.D., Ph.D., Meghana Bhat, M.D., and Sagar Patel.

Grant funding for the research was provided by National Institute of Mental Health.

Indiana University School of Medicine

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Pay Attention America

Another very sad story. This young man was on meds for bipolar disorder according to his dad. His life should never have ended at all.

Horror as teenager commits suicide live online

Abraham K Biggs on Justin.tv

A video capture showing a police officer in the bedroom of Abraham K Biggs, hours after the teenager took an overdose

Comment: When hate comes to your homepage | Should forum members be prosecuted?

A 19-year-old man in Florida committed suicide live on the internet as hundreds of web surfers watched - taunting him and offering encouragement.

Abraham K. Biggs, from Broward County, Florida, announced his intention on an online forum, posted a suicide note on another and then took an overdose of pills in front of his webcam, broadcasting his final moments on Justin.tv.

Mr Biggs lay on his bed motionless for several hours before members of the website became alarmed. With the video still streaming, viewers eventually called the local police, who broke down the door, found the body and switched off the camera. Up to 1,500 people were viewing, according to one report.

A video clip posted on the net shows a police officer entering the room, his handgun drawn, as he checks for any sign of life. Mr Biggs was a member of bodybuilding.com under the name CandyJunkie and was also known under the alias of Feels Like Ecstasy on Justin. tv. He had apparently threatened to commit suicide before.

On Wednesday he went on the bodybuilding.com forum and detailed the amount of drugs he was going to take. The moderators of the forum reportedly did not take him seriously because of his past threats and other forum members egged him on. “You want to kill yourself?” one said. “Do it, do the world a favour and stop wasting our time with your mindless self-pity.”

In his suicide note Mr Biggs said that he had hurt other people and hated himself for being a failure. “I am an a@#hole. I have let everyone down and I feel as though I will never change or never improve. I am in love with a girl and I know that I am not good enough for her,” he wrote.

As he lay on the bed after taking the pills, many forum members continued to insult him, believing that it was a hoax.

Wendy Crane, an investigator with the Broward County medical examiner's office, said Mr Biggs died from a toxic combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, a drug used to treat insomnia and depression.

At least one of the drugs was prescribed to him and it's unclear how he got the others, she said. He started blogging at 3am on Wednesday and his body was found by police 12 hours later.

Mr Biggs' father, Abraham Biggs Sr., told ABCNews.com that he was not home when his son died. He said his son struggled with depression and had been prescribed benzodiazepine to treat bipolar disorder. The 19-year-old had been "doing better," his father said, "He was a good kid."

Mr Biggs senior said he was upset that Justin.tv streamed his son's suicide live. "There seems to be a lack of control as to what people put out on the Internet," he said. "There's a lot of garbage out there that should not be, and unfortunately this was allowed to happen."

Justin.tv, named after Justin Kan, its first star, is an open network of thousands of live channels based in San Francisco.

“We regret that this has occurred and respect the privacy of the broadcaster and his family during this time,” Michael Seibel, CEO of Justin.tv, said.

“We have policies in place to discourage the distribution of distressing content and our community monitors the site accordingly. This content was flagged by our community, reviewed and removed according to our terms of service.”

The video feed has been taken down, but clips have been posted elsewhere on the net and copies of the suicide note can also be found, though many of the forum posts have been deleted by their authors.

Mr Biggs’s friends have posted RIP messages on his MySpace page, with some still asking him to pick up his phone.

Last year a British man hanged himself live on webcam. His suicide was witnessed by about 100 chatroom users. Kevin Whitrick, 42, from Telford, Shropshire, killed himself after being goaded in an “insult” chatroom at the Paltalk website. One of the users is claimed to have told him: “F***ing do it. Get on with it.”

According to one charity that works to prevent suicide, there have been at least 17 deaths in Britain since 2001 involving chatrooms or sites that give advice on suicide methods.


Monday, November 24, 2008

New Spirit

Hopefully we are entering a new American spirit of open-ness about ethnic, cultural, and even medical differences. I am personally tired of the prejudice and judgmental biases that affect our American culture. Everyone has a story to tell about their family or lives. I was born and raised in the South and I will confess that there is still a lot of prejudice there about almost everything. None of us are really any "better" than the others. We are all pieces of energy on earth trying to co-exist. Thanks again for reading this blog and staying informed and spreading the language and vocabulary that helps our mentally ill loved ones.

PRESS RELEASE

Glenn Close, Alma Powell, and Quincy Jones to Be Honored at AARP The Magazine's 2009 Inspire Awards


Last update: 10:50 a.m. EST Nov. 24, 2008
WASHINGTON, Nov 24, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- - Peter Gallagher, Dr. Susan Love, and Richard Cohen Also Recognized -
AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with 34 million readers, today announced the recipients of its fifth annual Inspire Awards. The Inspire Awards pay tribute to 10 extraordinary people who inspire others to action through their innovative thinking, passion and perseverance. The 2009 honorees include Glenn Close (Mental Health Advocate), Richard M. Cohen (Voice for the Chronically Ill), Martin Eakes (Lending to the Poor), Katherine Freund (Transportation Activist), Peter Gallagher (Alzheimer's Advocate), David E. Hayes-Bautista, Ph.D. (Latino-Health Researcher), Quincy Jones (Global Poverty Fighter), Susan Love, M.D. (Cancer Crusader), Rose Nakamura (Compassionate Caregiver), and Alma Powell (Children's Advocate).
"These leaders set a great example for all on how passion can support and spark change in creative, innovative ways. Their stories are truly inspiring," said Nancy Graham, Vice President and Editor of AARP The Magazine.
Honorees will receive their Inspire Awards during a private cocktail reception and dinner hosted by television host James "JB" Brown at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., on December 8, 2008. Television journalist and mental health advocate Jane Pauley will also make a special appearance to present the Inspire Award to Glenn Close.
All ten profiles appear in the January/February 2009 issue of AARP The Magazine, in homes now and available online at www.aarpmagazine.org.
THE 2009 INSPIRE AWARD WINNERS
Glenn Close - Mental Health Advocate
Perhaps best known for her portrayal of the deeply troubled Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction, Glenn Close, 61, is no stranger to the affects of mental illness off-screen as well. The Emmy Award winner has a more personal connection with this issue, which strikes five percent of the U.S. population and affects one in four families. In a rare public statement, Close reveals to AARP The Magazine that she has two family members who suffer from serious psychiatric disorders. "I've seen mental illness firsthand," she says. "I know there are millions of people affected, and it's not just the patient who is suffering. It's everyone around them." Two years ago the actress began working with Fountain House ( www.fountainhouse.org), a nonprofit organization that she discovered while searching for help for her relatives. Fountain House offers its members assistance with jobs, education, and housing and also provides a supportive community. In 2009, Close will take her involvement a step further, headlining a national advertising campaign intended to diminish the stigma of mental illness. "When I first thought about doing this, I wondered if people would think that I was mentally ill," says Close. "Then I thought, 'What's the alternative? Not to do it?'" Close acknowledges that continued research into better treatments is important. But erasing the stigma, she says, is the first step.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Follow up

This is a follow on an article and story that happened earlier this year. Keepthedialogueup!!!

Local family raises money to fight mental illness


A mistreated mental illness took the lives of Danielle Lambert's twin sister and two young children nearly a year ago. Pushing aside her anger and frustration, Lambert and her husband, Ken, have their used their grief as a driving force to prevent similar tragedies.

Keep Sound Minds, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the memories of Kaleigh and Shane Lambert and Marci Thibault, is aimed at promoting mental health awareness by pushing for better education and policy changes.

"We wanted to prevent this from happening again to another family," said Lambert, who suggested starting an organization a few weeks after her two children were killed. "I had to do something."

Family members say a sudden, unexpected psychotic relapse on the night of Jan. 11, 2008, caused Lambert's sister, Marci Thibault, to pull over to the side of Interstate 495 South in Lowell, undress herself, 5-year-old Kaleigh and 4-year-old Shane, take them in her arms and walk into oncoming traffic. The Lamberts' only children and Thibault were killed by two cars.

"We go through the scenarios and there were so many missed opportunities," Lambert said.

Thibault was treated for a brief episode of mental illness last September, but she said a lack of education, discussion and follow-up "led to tragedy."

Many in the community came out in support of a bowling benefit yesterday for Keep Sound Minds at PiNZ in Milford. Such support has been consistent since the January accident, said the Lamberts, who live in Brentwood, N.H. Lambert is one of eight Coady sisters, born and raised in Bellingham.

The Lamberts are gearing up for a larger fundraising event slated for March at the Sheraton Hotel in Boston. The benefit will launch a scholarship fund and will feature guest speakers, a raffle and silent auction.

Through Keep Sound Minds, the Lambert, Coady and Thibault families hope to raise awareness and increase education about mental disorders.

One target area focuses on changing law enforcement procedures and recognizing mental illness as a public safety issue.

The Lamberts still wonder why police didn't seem to respond appropriately to her behavior just hours before the double murder-suicide.

State police said 39-year-old Thibault had a minor accident and was cited on I-495 North in Andover on her way to pick up her niece and nephew. Another motorist told state police she appeared agitated, but she was rational and responsive when troopers arrived.

Lambert said she believes Marci showed police "clear signs of psychosis," but then snapped back to normal by the time she arrived in Brentwood.

"She seemed perfectly normal," she recalled.

The Lamberts later learned from a witness that Thibault said she was "taking (the children) to heaven."

"I knew it wasn't malicious," Lambert said. "I knew it was her illness that came back."

Choking back tears, she said she would have never let her sister take the children if she showed signs of instability.

"I didn't know much about mental disorders, neither did a lot of people in the family," said Ken Lambert, clutching his tearful wife's hand. "If we had known more, this could have been prevented."

Another goal of Keep Sound Minds is to eliminate the stigma associated with mental illness, said Ken Lambert.

"People don't want to talk about it, but you need the knowledge," he said. "Education can protect people."

Changing procedures to discharge mental health patients can also prevent needless tragedy, the Lamberts said.

In Thibault's case, Danielle Lambert said doctors "belittled" her concerns about her sister.

"It was scary to me, but they told me, 'Don't worry,"' she recalled after doctors diagnosed Thibault with bipolar disorder and let her leave the hospital. "They took away my fear."

During the holiday season last year, the Thibaults and Lamberts celebrated Christmas together and felt Marci had improved.

"She loved kids .. she loved our kids," Danielle Lambert said. "And they were so excited to go with her."

The faces of the Lamberts' children still smile from an etching on a gold pendant hanging from Danielle Lambert's neck.

"They were beautiful kids, we miss them so much," she said. "We never thought we'd be in this place, but we're trying to do something positive."

Michelle Simpson, who volunteered at yesterday's bowling event, credits the Lamberts' initiative.

"I was inspired by how they turned a devastating tragedy into something positive," said Simpson, whose husband grew up in the Coadys' Bellingham neighborhood. "They want to make a change and prevent a similar tragedy from happening in the future."

For more information, visit www.keepsoundminds.org.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Not Surprising Facts

One In Five Hospital Admissions Are For Patients With Mental Disorders, USA





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About 1.4 million hospitalizations in 2006 involved patients who were admitted for a mental illness, while another 7.1 million patients had a mental disorder in addition to the physical condition for which they were admitted, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The 8.5 million hospitalizations involving patients with mental illness represented about 22 percent of the overall 39.5 million hospitalizations in 2006. AHRQ's analysis found that of the nearly 1.4 million hospitalizations specifically for treatment of a mental disorder in 2006:

- Nearly 730,000 involved depression or other mood disorders, such as bipolar disease.
- Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders caused another 381,000.
- Delirium -- which can cause agitation or inability to focus attention -- dementia, amnesia and other cognitive problems accounted for 131,000.
- Anxiety disorders and adjustment disorders - stress-related illnesses that can affect feeling, thoughts, and behaviors - accounted for another 76,000.
- The remaining roughly 34,000 hospitalizations involved attention-deficit disorder, disruptive behavior, impulse control, personality disorders, or mental disorders usually diagnosed in infancy or later childhood.

This AHRQ News and Numbers is based on data from Hospital Stays Related to Mental Health, 2006 (HCUP Statistical Brief #62). The report uses statistics from the 2006 Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a database of hospital inpatient stays that is nationally representative of inpatient stays in all short-term, non-Federal hospitals. The data are drawn from hospitals that comprise 90 percent of all discharges in the United States and include all patients, regardless of insurance type, as well as the uninsured.

AHRQ

Monday, November 10, 2008

Notable New Books

Four new books tell the true stories of mental illness
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 Bound for illness: Tracey's sisters Austine, 10, and Michelle, 17 from Stalking Irish Madness.
Courtesy of Patrick Tracey
Bound for illness: Tracey's sisters Austine, 10, and Michelle, 17 from Stalking Irish Madness.
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According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in 17 Americans suffer from serious mental illness. Four new memoirs deal with the harsh reality of people and families who cope with a chronic, disabling condition. Two focus on bipolar disorder (sometimes called manic depression), which is found in about 5.7 million adults. Another examines a family legacy of bipolar disorder and suicide. The fourth addresses schizophrenia, which afflicts an estimated 2.4 million Americans. This severe disease causes hallucinations and delusional thinking. USA TODAY critiques the new titles.

Hurry Down Sunshine
By Michael Greenberg
Other Press, 234 pp., $22

In this powerful memoir, writer Michael Greenberg describes the terrifying summer his 15-year-old daughter, Sally, became a stranger to herself and to her father. In August 1996, the lively teenager became, almost overnight, manic and uncontrollable, unable to stop talking as words poured out. The cause: the onset of bipolar disorder. Taken to a Manhattan emergency room, Sally was immediately placed in the hospital's psychiatric unit.

With spare, unemotional prose, Greenberg captures what it's like to have a mentally ill child and the way the disease strips him of his sense of control over his daughter's health. He describes the powerful anti-psychotic medications that Sally receives, and how she responds. Eventually she is released from the hospital and returns to high school.

Greenberg offers no miracle cure: Sally struggles with the disorder today. And to his credit, he does not demonize the overworked but caring doctors who treat his daughter.

Stalking Irish Madness: Searching for the Roots of My Family's Schizophrenia
By Patrick Tracey
Bantam, 273 pp., $24

In this fascinating memoir/travelogue, Irish-American journalist Patrick Tracey describes the journey he has taken in life because of schizophrenia.

His story begins in Boston as two of his older sisters were diagnosed in their early 20s with the disease. One withdrew into herself in dark despair. The other acted out in outrageous ways, thinking she was the bride of Christ. Thirty years later, both live in group homes. Their fates seemed linked to that of their Irish-American grandmother, who was institutionalized for 31 years with schizophrenia until her death.

Tracey fled the USA for many years, until a conversation with a London doctor led him back to the disease that haunted him. He interviewed scientists: Its cause remains a mystery. He traveled to Ireland looking for his grandmother's relatives. In the end, he returns to Boston to reconnect with his sisters.

Scattershot: My Bipolar Family
By David Lovelace
Dutton, 292 pp., $24.95

The author of Scattershot has an extraordinary grasp of what it means to have bipolar disorder. David Lovelace grew up in Massachusetts with bipolar parents. His brother is bipolar, as is David. In the year 1986, every Lovelace male was committed to a psychiatric hospital at some point.

Only his sister does not have the disease.

Yet Scattershot is not a horror story but rather a portrait of a loving if sometimes crazy family. Lovelace's father is a brilliant theologian and an expert on Puritan thinkers including Cotton Mather. His mother is an artist. Lovelace is a published poet and bookseller.

He details how his parents, his brother and he all follow the same biochemical pattern. They zoom from manic highs of creativity to bottomless lows. This empathetic memoir illustrates that medication is as essential for people with bipolar disorder as insulin is for diabetics.

Blue Genes: A Memoir of Loss and Survival
By Christopher Lukas
Doubleday, 248 pp., $24.95

In Blue Genes, TV producer and director Christopher Lukas describes the shadow of sorrow that suicide has cast over his life.

The book opens in 1997 with the suicide of the author's older brother, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist J. Anthony Lukas. This continued a terrible family tradition. Their 33-year-old mother had committed suicide in 1941, when her sons were 6 and 8, after struggling with bipolar disorder for years.

In Blue Genes, Lukas movingly describes what it was like to grow up the child of a suicide. Lukas' father became an alcoholic, and the boys were sent to boarding school. He writes about feeling abandoned and angry. He also describes his loving but complex relationship with his brother.

Yet this memoir also affirms the joy Lukas has found in being a husband and father. His story will resonate with readers who have lost friends or family members to suicide.

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