Visit NAMI, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. This is the premier connection on the web to get help and access resources. As someone who suffered from mental illness all my adult life, getting better only in recent years, I wish so much that I had accessed NAMI and the support it can provide, when I was much younger. If you think you might be suffering from a mental condition, or if you are the parent of a child who may be mentally ill, PLEASE visit this website. One sixth of Americans at some time during their lifetimes are clinically depressed so that they need medication to overcome it. There is no shame in mental illness any more than there is shame in breast cancer. These are organic and generally genetic conditions. NO, you are in NO WAY inferior if you suspect you are mentally ill. Don’t let anyone tell you that, and don’t you dare think it.

Seek help with NAMI! You’ll be so glad you did. You know and I know that there is a lot of craziness out there on the street. Only about one half of mentally ill people in the United States are getting any real help. Help yourself. Visit NAMI. What can it hurt to explore? Isn’t it better than suffering alone? If you need someone to talk to, email me or call me at 330-202-7661. At the least you will get a friendly voice and the knowledge of someone who has been there and mostly overcome his illness…. I would be glad to talk with you. And I will try to direct you to professional resources in your area. Mental illness is the second leading cause of disability in America today. Sometimes it just takes a little caring, and a gentle little push to begin treatment that may save your life. What are you waiting for? ~ Evans Liberal Politics owner Paul Evans

More Mental Health Resources:

See Five Things Psychotherapists Shouldn’t Do, Politics Daily “Woman Up”, August 25, 2010, by Delia Lloyd, excerpt quoted verbatim:

For Your Information, the Five Things Psychotherapists should NEVER Do Are:

1. Admit that they are impressed or intimidated by you.
2. Tell you about their own problems.
3. Give it less than their all.
4. Embrace or otherwise touch you.
5. Sleep with you. Obviously.

Visit MentalHealth.com an excellent non-profit resource. They have a huge collection of internet links to many resources.

Visit Samhsa.gov, the government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The also have a feature to find treatment centers near you.

Visit SAMHSA’s FRIEND, where you can chat with mentally ill people, and the friends and family of those who are mentally ill. You don’t have to be alone!!

Visit Mental Help.net.

Be sure to make use of Psych Central’s Mental Health & Psychology Resources Online, which is the oldest collection of information and resources on the internet. You can find a therapist with the click of a mouse simply by entering your ZIP code. But, more than that, PsychCentral is a HUGE collection of resources and articles

The Pharmaceutical company Eli Lillly has an excellent program for those who suffer with depression called Support Partners.

Visit NAMI’s Suppport and Programs page. Here you can find easy access to state and local resources.

Watch NAMI Connection: All About The Program, YouTube video – 9:25.

Visit the NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group.

In Ohio: The Summit County Mental Health and Recovery Board has an excellent collection of LINKS to information and resources.

Visit the National Institute for Mental Health Health Topics page.

Visit the Real Warriors Campaign, which offers help for veterans returning home from fighting in wars oversees, and veterans in general.

Visit Mental Health America’s Factsheet: Children’s Mental Health: Resource List.

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A Word About Medications:

My particular area of expertise, such as it is, in terms of medication, lies in the area of schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, because at various times in my life, I have been diagnosed as having these conditions and treated with psychiatric medicines for them.

The first thing to realize in taking psychiatric medications is that there is absolutely no shame in it, and you are doing yourself and your family and friends a huge favor to get yourself treated and on a working medication. It might just save your life. The second thing to realize, if you are now on a medicine and you don’t think it’s working right: DON’T stop taking your medication. From personal experience, I can tell you, this will only lead to grief. But the fact is, for any given condition, there are dozens of different medications and finding the one that works the best for you is basically a trial and error sort of project that can sometimes take months or years. You MUST work with your doctor to keep trying different medications until you find a medicine, or a mix of medicines, that works for you. If you are schizophrenic or schizoaffective or bipolar, I know from experience that taking some of these medicines is going to make you feel bad. Some of them make you gain weight and can lead to diabetes. I can only state the fact that I was able to lose weight, a lot of weight, while I was on one of those drugs that cause weight gain and diabetes….. Sure, still you can enjoy food, but not as much as you want while you are on many of these medications. Because they do have that side effect, most of them.

Many of the side effects of psychiatric medicines last a week or two or go away when you get used to them. But with bipolar and schizophrenic and schizoaffective treatment medicines, most of them cause weight gain and many can lead to or even directly cause diabetes. I was on one particular medicine when it was brand new and had hardly been tested. This medicine made me effectively well, so my doctor was reluctant to take me off of it even when I gained weight, my triglycerides skyrocketed to ten times the upper limit of normal, and I developed diabetes. One thing this illustrates is, with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and I think too bipolar disorder, how very difficult it is to find just the right medicine that leaves you without symptoms. (That can be true for depression, too. It’s hard to find just the right medicine.)

When you have found the right medicine — a process that can sadly take years — often it is better to really have to diet hard and exercise rather than to discontinue the medicine because of weight gain and related side effects. You sometimes have to stop taking a medicine due to side effects though, as I did with Clozaril. I took it when it was new, for eight years. Now it is only approved legally to be used for a maximum of four years. Guess I was the guinea pig! But would I rather it had not been available? I enjoyed eight years symptom free, and for the mentally ill, this is a Godsend. Now that I am back on the same old medication I was on when I was successful in graduate school and am again without symptoms, I am so very pleased. It is sometimes quite difficult to find just the right medicine that works just right for you.

And you have to make it all about YOU. Don’t let your psychiatrist settle for a medicine that “sort of” works. For that matter, don’t settle for just any psychiatrist. If you can’t get your psychiatrist to keep experimenting until you are on something that works, get a new psychiatrist. Even, so, you are experiencing what can be a devastating illness and you have to be patient. You have to keep working with your psychiatrist. I have had the same wonderful psychiatrist for 28 years now…. and feel very lucky and blessed to have known him. We grew old together!

The next thing to realize is that, if the medicine makes you feel better and more able to have a normal life, that does not mean you have found the best medication to be the best you can be. Perhaps you were used to having serious problems in your thinking and are just grateful to have found something that works sort of or somewhat. Don’t be satisfied. My experience with psychiatrists is that if you are getting along OK on your medicine, they don’t want to fool around with the mix. Generally, they are the professional, and you need to defer to their superior experience and judgment. But still, ask yourself, was I doing better than this before I became mentally ill? Why don’t I feel mostly that good today? I find it is necessary to kick start your mental health professional into trying new medicines and getting you into new programs…. They tend, far too often, to be satisfied with the status quo. You are the only one who knows how you are right now, versus what it was like when you were well. THAT and only that is the criteria by which success in treatment should be measured.

I have been on medicines that made me do fairly well, yet when I prodded my psychiatrist to put me back on the medicine that I was on twenty or thirty years ago, when I was doing well in graduate school, he was reluctant. But I convinced him, and now I am essentially without symptoms other than the side effects of the medicine. You should settle for nothing less than a normally functioning mind, peace of mind in your life, and a renewed chance for happiness. Anything else is just settling for continuing to be functionally mentally ill and having a life you won’t be happy with. It doesn’t have to be that way. Push your doctor, and if he won’t cooperate, get a new doctor.

In other words, realize that mental illness is a disease, like any other disease. (And it’s not your fault, either.) You are probably always going to be mentally ill. The realization of that can be a bitter pill to swallow. In my case, I wanted so badly to NOT be mentally ill and be a more productive and happy member of society, that I foolishly stopped taking my medicine once. I can tell you, that is always a disastrous decision, and in my case, it cost me one hell of a lot of grief and heartache, and for my father and friends, too. Don’t do it. Work with your mental health professionals until you are on a medication or mix of medications that makes you feel well. You should settle for nothing less.

You are always going to be mentally ill — it is a disease. But you DON’T have to be functionally mentally ill. You can find the right medicine, and learn the self-monitoring techniques, and be honest with yourself and your professional about symptoms: and you CAN BE functionally NOT mentally ill. The key word here is functionally. You will still be mentally ill, and you MUST continue taking your medicine, even if you haven’t found just the right mix yet. If you are not working well with your psychiatrist, get one you can work with better. Don’t settle for just getting by.

This is my heartfelt advice for all people who have mental illness. Don’t settle for just getting by. But be patient. It can take years to get better. You’re just going to have to accept that, because that’s a fact. The main thing you must realize is that you too are a valuable person, and you have the same inherent worth and dignity that any successful and happy person has, so you shouldn’t settle for anything but success and happiness. I will say that these diseases can be terribly debilitating, and in finding the right treatment, you need to be doggedly determined and never give up. I know how easy it is to get discouraged by mental illness, but the first step is to know in your heart that you are just as good as any other person, and that none of this is your fault. These are organic diseases, and no one should feel any guiltier, or less valuable, than if you have bad arthritis. It’s not your fault!

Although I am just one person and not a professional in the field, I do have thirty years experience at being mentally ill, and I have overcome my disease largely. So I would be happy to talk with anyone who would like me to try to give them a little advice. Please feel encouraged to email me or call me during business hours at 330-202-7661. Sometimes just knowing somebody cares can make a big difference.

See Child’s Ordeal Shows Risks of Psychosis Drugs for Young, The New York Times, September 1, 2010, by Duff Wilson.

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In the News:

As economy takes toll, mental health budgets shrink

As economy takes toll, mental health budgets shrink, Stateline.org, July 19, 2010, by Christine Vestal, used with permission, quoted verbatim:

Mental health policies in America have changed radically over the past 60 years. A one-time emphasis on caring for patients in large institutions has shifted to treating them in outpatient settings in the community. The ways mental disorders are diagnosed and categorized have changed. And the use of psychotropic medications is more prevalent than it used to be.

But throughout the decades, one thing has remained the same. States have taken the lead role in publicly funded care for the mentally ill, and paid the majority of the expenses. Even through recessions, the states have steadily increased their mental health budgets every year to meet increasing demand.

Now, as states face their biggest fiscal challenge in modern history, the trend has reversed. For the first time in more than three decades, mental health funding is declining. The drop-off is translating into a reduction in the number of psychiatric hospital beds, as well as fewer services for mental health emergencies and longer waiting lists for housing for the chronically mentally ill. The cuts are coming just as some experts say economic pressures are creating an increase in mental illness.

Although no national numbers are available, hospital emergency rooms, juvenile courts, child welfare agencies, local jails and homeless shelters are reporting bulges in the number of mentally ill people who end up on their doorsteps after failing to get help elsewhere.

In addition, a recent national survey showed that the weak economy is taking a toll on the mental health of Americans, with unemployed people four times as likely as those with jobs to report symptoms of severe mental illness.

“States are chipping away at their already very fragile mental health system,” says Michael Fitzpatrick, executive director of National Alliance on Mental Illness, (NAMI) which advocates for improved mental health care. “More people will be unable to find even basic services that allow them to stay out of the hospital or involvement with police. It’s a dire situation that we’ve never seen before.”

Funding fluctuations

Since the 1950s, when states cared for more than 500,000 people in psychiatric hospitals, state mental health programs have included more and more community-based services. Those include a wide array of services, such as suicide prevention and 24-hour crisis centers, treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, housing and work supports, counseling and violence-prevention programs. Although advocates maintain that only half of those in need are receiving public mental health services, states have made progress by serving more people in the community at about half the price of committing them to institutions — and with better outcomes. Today, only 50,000 people reside in state mental hospitals while millions are served on an outpatient basis.

Still, states have had to increase their budgets to keep pace with demand. Despite fluctuations in funding for nearly every other social service, state mental health budgets have increased nationally by about 6 percent per year for the past 30 years.

Now, for the first time, states are pulling back mental health spending. These unprecedented cuts — nearly 4 percent as a national average between 2008 and 2009 — come at a time when other public agencies such as child welfare, law enforcement and housing also are experiencing budget cuts and can ill afford to handle the overflow.

According to the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, 2010 spending appears to have fallen nearly 5 percent compared to 2009. Early indications are that 2011 mental health budgets may sink by 8 percent or more.

Exacerbating the mental health budget crisis is uncertainty over whether Congress will decide to extend an increase in the federal match for Medicaid services under the stimulus program, which a majority of states have counted on to stretch their overall health care budgets.

In 2008, states spent $36 billion on mental health services to care for 6.4 million people, about half the number of people advocates say are in need of care. Of the total, about $17 billion came from Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor, $500 million came from federal grants and the balance was funded through state general revenues. Not counted in the total is funding from county and local budgets, much of which also sits on the chopping block.

Where the cuts are

Although a few states have minimized mental health cuts and targeted less essential services, many states are closing psychiatric hospitals, eliminating 24-hour crisis centers and tightening eligibility for subsidized medications and services that affect thousands of adults and children with severe mental illness.

Here are some examples of states that have made big cuts:

To fill a $1 billion hole in its 2011 budget, Arizona slashed this year’s budget for mental health services by $36 million — a 37 percent cut. As a result, advocates say 3,800 people who do not qualify for Medicaid are at risk of losing services such as counseling and employment preparation. In addition, more than 12,000 adults and 2,000 children will no longer receive the name-brand medications they take to keep their illnesses in check. Other services such as supportive housing and transportation to doctor’s appointments also will be eliminated.

Arizona has been considered a progressive state because it provides the vast majority of mental health services through cost-effective outpatient community programs. By slashing these programs, experts say the state will force more people to use emergency rooms or end up in the criminal justice system, which will cost the state more.

In Illinois, where Democratic Governor Pat Quinn is trying to bridge a $13 billion budget gap, a proposed mental-health budget cut of $91 million was reduced to $35 million after patients and practitioners protested at the governor’s mansion earlier this month. Even so, advocates say more than 70,000 people, including 4,200 children, are in danger of losing basic community services, which may result in more instances of hospitalization. The cuts come on the heels of a court settlement requiring the state to transfer 4,500 severely mentally disabled patients out of nursing homes and into community residential facilities following a string of rapes and assaults on elderly residents.

Mississippi has cut its mental health budget by about 8 percent for three consecutive years, resulting in the closure of a residential mental health facility for adolescents, elimination of 184 beds in one of the state’s biggest psychiatric hospitals and consolidation of six crisis centers with existing community mental health centers. In the fiscal year that started July 1, the state plans to further cut funding to localities for mental health services. Prior to the recession, Mississippi lagged far behind most states in funding community services and housed the highest percentage of people with mental illness in state institutions.

—Contact Christine Vestal at cvestal@stateline.org

See related stories:

With Medicaid, states face painful cuts and few choices (5/26/2010)

States make deep cuts to health (8/5/2009)

Advice from someone who has been there:

Visit NAMI, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. This is the premier connection on the web to get help and access resources. ~ Evans Liberal Politics owner Paul Evans

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