URGENT: AN OPEN LETTER TO JUDGE HICKS IN MICHIGAN by Anne Francisco

April 3, 2018

Honorable Judge Hicks
c/o Attorney Jason Kolkema
40 Concord
Muskegon Michigan 49442

RE: Tyler West – upcoming trial

Dear Judge Hicks,

I write on behalf of an ill brother in this world, Tyler West, requesting that you extend mercy in your judgment at his upcoming trial. You have all the facts. I do not, since I have never met Tyler West or his family. I do know that he has been diagnosed with autism and schizophrenia and has suffered greatly because of his neurological disorders. He has and continues to suffer terribly at the hands of a correctional system that cannot and does not provide adequate treatment for his illnesses. 

I’m fairly certain that every judge across our nation has been confronted with the horrific problem that the U.S. failed mental health care system has produced. The Tyler Wests of this world have been stuck between the revolving doors of treatment and incarceration, a situation that worsens the problem rather than providing healthy solutions. Tyler needs and deserves humane care in a setting that promotes health and healing, not punishment for symptoms of an illness.

I speak from personal experience. My son was incarcerated for symptoms of bipolar and schizoaffective disorders. He was never violent, never hurt anyone. Yet, he also got caught between the revolving doors of treatment and jail and prison. Four months after he entered prison (for a nonviolent crime while untreated in a state mental hospital, and because there were no other sources of help for him in the state of Missouri), he took his own life while correctional officers went about their business. He had lost all hope that anyone cared about him. His death has been devastating to us, and to all who know his story, even the judge and court system. We must change the way we treat those with neurological disorders in this country. We must quit looking the other way while others suffer.

Please do not sentence Tyler West to the same fate as my son — prison, helplessness, hopelessness. 

Very respectfully,
Anne Francisco

NOTE: If you would like to send a letter to Judge Hicks on Tyler's behalf, please send it, as above, c/o Attorney Jason Kolkema. Tyler's family goes to court with him today for his plea. In May, he'll be sentenced. The judge can sentence him from 20 months to 15 years.

Read more of Tyler's story on this blog:
Walk a Mile in Our Shoes by Kimberlee Cooper West - August 22, 2017
The Failure of Kevin's Law by Kimberlee Cooper West - Jan 10, 2018

Ty

Ty

IT'S NOT BEHAVIORAL IT'S MENTAL ILLNESS by Sherry Hunter

So, the team and unit that my son is on at Utah State Hospital (USH) has suspended all future visits until further notice. Mitchel's been extremely delusional with psychosis. There have been some forms of aggression on his part, with the exception of his front teeth being knocked out as a form of "restraint". I'm at my wit's end. I've emailed his doctor a half dozen times, left messages, and to this moment, I've yet to hear anything from her or anyone on the team. 

Last night I received a telephone call from Mitchel and he was clearly delusional. He told me that Charles and Madeline (his dog and cat) are in danger and he's feeling violent feelings towards them. He insisted that Charles was King Charles of Buckingham palace and that he'd been reincarnated. Then he proceeded to tell me that "Princess Madeline" was also a descendent from England. He went on about this for several minutes until finally he blurted out "I don't feel the violent feelings anymore. I think talking to you has helped me realize that they are innocent animals and not reincarnations."

Whew.  

Mitchel talks about being on a sitcom, specifically Seinfeld. He believes he will someday be a television star and movie star. These are delusions I think the doctor should be aware of but it's difficult when she won't return my phone calls. I've also emailed her on numerous occasions to no avail. 

I want my son to be treated with the best possible care and it doesn't seem to be happening. His mental health care providers are shoving these incidents underneath the rug and chalking them up to "behavioral issues."  This really makes my blood boil. I know differently and know the mental illness is what's causing the irrational thoughts and outbursts. 

If I had the money, I would place Mitchel in a non-state facility where the care is so much better. There's a place called Austin Riggs Center in Massachusetts that would be a good fit for Mitchel. They specialize in paranoid/delusional schizophrenia. But the cost is outrageous. If I remember correctly, it was about 15 thousand dollars per month. Mitchel should also get veteran's benefits but I'm yet unable to obtain them for him.  I'm jumping though hoops and getting the run around galore.  

I'm going to give them another few days and then I'm going back to Dallas Earnshaw, the director of USH. I always use this as a last resort but the non-communication is unacceptable.

USB Sherry Hunterjpg.jpeg

LET'S TALK ABOUT HOPEFUL VOLUNTARY ADMISSIONS by Mary Irwin Butler

Let's talk about hopeful voluntary admissions. We have had four very long ER visits (5-14 hours each) in the last couple of months trying to admit my fear-filled, very psychotic son voluntarily. When my son gets to the point that he's asking to go to the hospital, he's beyond ill and fearful. He battles monstrous auditory hallucinations while he's in crowded waiting rooms with the elderly, sick babies, and patients with infectious diseases. It's horrid for him and potentially horrid for them.

No beds were available in the Philadelphia metro/suburban area within a 50+ mile radius. These four useless ER visits led to exacerbated illness resulting in an involuntary admission which is always more heartbreaking and exhausting. Unfortunately, in our locale, we cannot call or look for available beds on our own. It must be done in a local ER as follows: 

      *Long waiting room wait

      *Triage evaluation (psych patients are rarely prioritized) 

      *Back to the waiting room and possibly another long wait 

      *Med clearance including blood/urine tests, etc. 

      *Psych evaluation by social worker when available 

      *Insurance approval — usually a lengthy process

      *Bed search (typically hours/sometimes days) 

      *Clinical review/approval by the admitting facility if a bed is available 

      *Wait for available transport to the admitting facility

      *Lengthy wait/intake at the admitting facility whatever hour fatigued patient arrives

At times, very ill patients have been known to lay in ER beds from overnight to an entire week+ until a bed becomes available. How terrible that someone seeking mental illness treatment is left waiting so long. Imagine if this happened to someone with appendicitis or broken bones. Understandably, patients with serious mental illness become uncomfortable, frustrated, anxious, and further disturbed. They receive very little attention from ER staff unless they're acting out. Many, including my son, give up and walk out of either the waiting room or the examination room. The process is pretty much the same here for involuntary admissions. They involve the police, lengthy paperwork at the County Crisis Center, and legal approval. So tack on several more hours.  

I've mentioned to several ER docs and nurses, to no avail, that these critically ill patients should have a separate waiting area, be triaged expeditiously to an ER bed, and not be left alone for long periods of time. It's a cumbersome and careless system. The entire process needs to be streamlined and more efficient. It needs to provide timely access to safe and attentive emergency care and in-patient beds.

The mainstream media paint the picture that if only these mentally ill individuals would seek/get the necessary help, then we wouldn't see these ongoing mass shootings. That may apply to a few but truly no one, especially the media, has a clue as to the availability of mental health care, let alone timely/quality care, unless they've walked in our weary shoes. 

Bottom line: We're serving our seriously mentally ill in a very questionable and trepidatious manner, if at all. The availability of in-patient beds is in crisis. It's no wonder. Several of the better hospital psych units in this premier healthcare area have closed (not profitable) in lieu of expanding profitable cardiac units, etc. A crying and growing shame leaving personal and community tragedies in the making...

Mary

Mary

HOW TURNING POINT FAILED MY SON by Laurie Mendoza

Let me count the ways Turning Point failed my son. 

He was released from Napa State Hospital after being there 9 months. Napa was giving him the Invega shot once a month. He came back clear headed. We started going out to dinner together. We went to the movies. We were having good talks. My son handled his affairs. Then Turning Point became his mental health service.

Six months into their program, Turning Point took my son off Invega shots and put him on Prozac. I fought them tooth and nail. He spiraled down to where he became missing and homeless. Turning Point had told him they had no where to house him. They filed a missing person report on him and didn't tell me. When I filed my own missing person report with Sacramento City Police, I learned of Turning Point's missing person report.

My son stayed homeless for almost 2 years sleeping on Sacramento sidewalks. Of course, I was right there with him. Finally, he was 5150d. When he was being evaluated to see if he was competent for trial — which he wasn't - Turning Point showed up for a meeting with the physicians and were royally chewed out. A doctor told them he could not believe how deteriorated my son was. They were ordered to leave the meeting and Telecare, which is no better, took over.

When my son was 5150d, I persuaded the doctor to put him back on Invega. It's been a long crawl but I'm happy to announce he's doing the best of best when someone has serious mental illness. My son is so much better now. What I love most is we can have conversations with little disorganized speech. I want this to last forever but, as we all know, schizophrenia is selfish.

All of these so called mental health services are shitty. All of them. Turning Point, Telecare, Tcore. They are shitty, shitty, shitty. Excuse the bad words but, honestly people, I can't describe them any other way.

Photo credit: Marta MacLean/Flickr

Photo credit: Marta MacLean/Flickr

SOME CHILDREN by Rhonda Hart

Some children grow up to fight wars on foreign soil for causes not their own.

Some children must fight addiction, sometimes their own or sometimes their parents.

Some children are born into poverty and fight hunger, need, and homelessness.

Some children are the victims of bullies and fight just to be treated as a person.

Some children fight physical illnesses and disabilities.

Then, some children fight unseen forces that affect every aspect of who they are and who they can be; what they can achieve and where they can fit in; who they can love and who will love them back. This dreaded unseen force, also known as serious mental Illness, consumes them, their life, their future, their family, and their ability — and the ability of those who love them — to live what others take for granted as a normal life.

 

Photo credit: Bahman Farzad/flickr

Photo credit: Bahman Farzad/flickr