CMH Board ASsociation Conference

10/27’07

This years annual fall conference of the Michigan Association of Community Mental Health Boards theme was 'Year of The Child', and I can say this much, they're going to need a bigger place. As folks from across the State and the Nation get wind of how well Michigan is doing transforming the system of treatment and recovery, what was large hall 3 years ago, was merely sufficient in size this year. My one beef has always been that each of the many workshops contain such valuable info, it’s always hard choosing which one to go to. So this year I made sure I at least got handouts from the ones I could not attend. And if I was lucky enough to meet the person giving a particular workshop I found them just as interesting.

The cool thing was the large amount of folks in attendance who had given up on the system years ago, but their interests have been aroused by what's been coming out of Lansing over the last few years. Wrap, Advanced Directives, IDDT, Cultural Diversity, to name just a few, plus many consumers are beginning to question them about Peer Support. I met what can best describe as a lovely couple in Dr. V. P. Veluswamy and his wife Angammal (New Center/ Detroit) and both stated how they’ve been waiting years for the changes they are seeing today. It made me feel like a winner to have someone like that, talk with me and not at me. I think you can call them change agents as they demonstrate that for system transformation to be successful, individual attitudes and approaches play a major role.

To get a copy of the agenda and a list of workshops go to the web site www.macmhb.org. I will speak about the one that affected me the most. I am bi-polar and until recently had no idea that I needed to maintain a proper diet and get the right amount of rest to deal with my disease. Larry Fricks (Vice Pres. of Peer Services/ Depression and Bi-Polar Support Alliance) Irene Kazieczko, and Pam Werner (Michigan Department of Community Health) hosted a workshop entitled 'Michigan Peer Led Health Self Management' in which they spoke on the effects physical health have on mental health. I am willing to utilize any and all tools available to help me in my recovery, and the idea that by sleeping and eating right I have greater control over my disease is just plain deep. I don't know how or even if these things affect others but this is such a basic but vital issue that from no on physical health will be a priority when I speak one on one with my brothers and sisters in recovery.

This year, I was a recipient of the 'Partners in Excellence Award’, which is given annually by the MACMHB. I am still having trouble believing it because it is so easy for me to do what I do. All I have to do is think back 10 or 20 years and I know just how a consumer is feeling. I also know the amount of hope a kind word, a listening ear, and an open heart can provide. I certainly do not mean to lessen the value of the award I received, but the greater reward is to have a consumer give me a sincere hug and say 'Thanks'. This is the type of hug I owe to Dr. Michele Reid (Medical Director/D-WCCMHA) and Veda Sharp (Interim Director/ Detroit Wayne County CMH). Not only did they nominate me for this award, but also during a recent crisis they basically said, “How can WE work together to make sure you don’t go through again”. As a result I heard about the relationship between physical health and mental health for the first time in my life. A persons true stature is measured in not how big they are, but in how far they are willing to bend down to help another human being up.

By giving me this prestigious award the MACMHB is proving how deeply the State of Michigan is committed to both personal and system wide efforts to put consumers first. I now have a clearer understanding of what Martin Luther King meant when he said he had been to the mountaintop and looked over to see a new day. If I can literally come from deaths door, to receiving a top State honor that means there are many more to follow and that soon we will be seen in a whole different light. We will be viewed as people with problems that can easily be solved as long as the right methods are used. We will no longer look at our past history as something negative. Instead we shall value it because through it we learned certain life skills that are of immense value to those going through what we went through.

Patrick Barrie (MDCH Deputy Director/Mental Health & Substance Abuse Administration) gave a presentation on the differences between the old system and a transformed system. In it he spoke of a concept he called 'Capability Depravation'. The system of maintenance was designed to assure we could ruction on a day-to-day basis. The disadvantage of this old way is that it also keeps us from growing and reaching our full potential. We become angry at the system for not giving us an opportunity at success, and then we are labeled as non-compliant. The leaders of a transformed system will be those under whose tutelage consumers will thrive and become productive citizens.

You may remember how I said how the Go-Getters Drop In Center never turns anyone away, no matter the situation. Now they are in need of your help. Two gentlemen recently lost everything they own in a house fire, and any sort of help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Go-Getters= 313-842-4046. Finally, the Recovery band will be playing the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History this Thursday and of course we are honored and excited about it. However, the main thing is that since we are donating our services, we are showing that consumers in recovery are quite capable of giving back to society. Yes, the 'Freedom Train has left the station and this is that time we get to apply all those principals and philosophies of do unto others and treating the least of his brethren as you would yourself.

Gerald Butler

CPSS

Consumer Advocate

Some patients' bad memories haunt Oregon State Hospital's history

Betty Jackson remembers waking up from coma therapy in a fog of pain and confusion.

In 1953, Oregon State Hospital doctors prescribed insulin coma therapy for Jackson, then in her early 20s.

The treatment consisted of daily insulin injections that caused her blood sugar to plummet and rendered her temporarily comatose. Doctors and nurses brought her back to consciousness with feedings of glucose.

More than 50 years later, Jackson, 76, describes the long-discredited therapy as cruel and degrading.

30+ Resources For US Politics On The Web

The United States election for President is over a year away (November 3rd, 2008), but from the fervor in the press, one might think it’s tomorrow. With the primaries still looming, now is the time to start looking in to the information out there on the web, and we’ve gathered 30+ tools to help you do just that!

Nursing homes take in mentally ill

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Some northeastern Ohio nursing homes use a Medicaid loophole to accept hundreds of mentally ill patients discharged from hospital psychiatric wards, spending millions of taxpayer dollars to house patients who often do not qualify for nursing-home care, a state investigation found.

Mentally ill patients are eligible for nursing home care paid for by Medicaid if they need 24-hour supervision or hands-on assistance, but an investigation by the Ohio Department of Mental Health found that 60 percent of the psychiatric patients admitted into Cuyahoga County nursing homes don't need such intensive care, The Plain Dealer reported.

Medicaid pays about $148 a day to house such patients, about three times what it would cost to care for the patient in a group home.

Tags: Recovery, institutions

NARPA National Conference

Passing The Torch:
New Advocates, New Skills, New Alliances

Every day, behind closed doors, human rights violations are occurring on a regular basis - and Americans don't know about it. America's mental health system is still the shame of the nation. NARPA, the National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy, works to expose abuse and to shed light on coercive and dangerous practices. NARPA is an independent organization, solely supported by its members. It is a unique mix of people who've survived psychiatric intervention, advocates, civil rights activists, mental health workers, and lawyers. NARPA exists to to protect people’s right to choice and to be free from coercion, and to promote alternatives so that the right to choice can be meaningful. Read about NARPA's history of human rights advocacy, check out the ADA Case of the Week archives, and more.

Tags: Rights, NARPA, conference

Visions of Recovery

from Gerald Butler:

10/22/06

Of the myriad disciplines in the medical profession there is one thing all have in common: prior to treatment it is vital the patient have confidence that the treatment will be successful. Without this trust, the odds of positive outcomes lessen. Being on the front line so to speak, Peer Supporters can help provide consumers the trust in the system necessary for good outcomes. The important thing is that we are not running errands, parking cars, or doing janitorial tasks. Peer Supporters are there to welcome the new consumers into this complicated system and provide them the optimism needed for the healing process to begin. And working side by side with Case Managers, we can assure a healthy start on the road to recovery. .

A friend asked me to attend the Breast Cancer Survivors walk the other day and being a male I felt out of place going. First of all I was pleasantly surprised by how very warmly I was welcomed, and second I was caught off guard when I noticed the similarities between breast cancer survivors and Peer Supporters. Of course we could go all day discussing differences but the likeness' are: 1) We have suffered through some dark times in our lives and through them we have become stronger, 2) we want to provide hope of a future to those currently going through what we have gone through. I had my own preconceived notions that were quickly proven wrong, and why I advocate inviting the community at large to every event we have. As long as we stay separated from the community, stigma will continue to exist. By not knowing us, folks have no other choice but to assume the image of us they get from television is true.

The mother and daughter team of Shirley Cockrel & LeAnn Norris run the Go-Getters Drop In Center and both received their Peer Support Specialist Certificates recently. Along with Deb Parker and her daughter Fawn that makes two such teams in the Peer movement that I know of. Shirley is 64 years old and due to budget concerns she took an early retirement, yet she continues to put in the same amount of hours and dedication at Go-Getters.

I asked her why?

We work with the chronic homeless, the people no one, not even some family members, knows of or cares whether they are alive. Having been there myself, I know just what they are feeling and I also know just what they need. They need Hope, Compassion, and Support.

How many people who are classified as chronically homeless would you say you have helped get back on their feet and into housing?

Our paper work says we have helped over 500 consumers get back on their feet. In reality it is many more and the reason is this: being homeless for years these folk have lost everything, including their identification, without which we cannot get them into the system. But I feel that by the time someone knocks on our door, there is no one else who will help him or her. So we open our doors and our hearts to anyone asking for our help.

You once said that you no longer gauge the value of Go-Getters paper reports only, but by the amount of folks that are truly helped. What did you mean by that?

This cuts to the core value of the Peer Support Movement, the concept of peers welcoming peers into the system really works, something we consumers have known and practiced for years. Now it has been made official by the Peer Support There is just something natural about Peer Support and the best way I can explain it is that you just had to have been there. All I know for sure is that it works. It is really encouraging now that ‘Peer Support’ is Medicaid reimbursable.

This coming Friday Go-Getters will be holding a Silent Auction, SHOW YOUR SUPPORT! HELP SPREAD HOPE. Go-Getters provides with the very basic needs such as toothpaste, deodorant, a change of clothing, warm clothing and those kinds of things. So they hold the Silent Auction around this time every year as we know winter is upon us and people are going to need coats, blankets, warm socks and such. The problem is that as funding has been reduced statewide more individuals who are homeless, are coming in for support. Go-Getters need your help to help others. Please attend the Silent Auction with voices loud and strong of support and hope. The drop in centers needs people to donate and/or bid on items. To learn more about the Silent Auction scheduled for this coming Friday the 19th contact the Go-Getters Clubhouse at 313-842-4046.

In my previous newsletter I mentioned that Andria Jackson has joined the Recovery Band as a singer. On the 1st of November Andria will be making her debut when the band plays at the Charles H Wright Museum. She will be telling a story and singing a gospel standard made famous by Mahalia Jackson called 'How I got Over'. Andria has also taken on another interesting, worthwhile, project when she is not at work. The Matrix Theatre (Oct. 14th, Det. Free Press, page 2 G) production of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest' is generating interest around the Nation. The cast consists of professional actors and consumers. According to the Free Press you'll be hard pressed to tell the difference. "Of course it's possible for a person with mental illness to be a professional actor, and vice versa" If we can come up with enough folks to make it worthwhile, Matrix will put on a special showing at reduced pricing. During her off hours, Andria is contacting Clubhouses, Drop In Centers, and Providers, hoping to be able to provide our brothers and sisters in recovery a treat by getting them to this super production.

As system transformation moves forward, we are witnessing more and more consumers actively participating not only in our own recovery process, but also the recovery of others, and the recovery of the Community. We are dealing with stigma on a daily basis by demonstrating to everyone how capable we are. We are working side by side with professionals who believe in us helping to implement change in the system of treatment and recovery. We look forward to the day when upon entering the system, everyone will be able to take recovery for granted.

Gerald Butler

CPSS

Peer Advocate

Policies about "Behavior"

I have been working in the disability community since 1970. When I first started, people were using cattle prods to alter the behavior of children with autism, based on research done a few years before. I saw this done. I wish I could tell you that I opposed its use, but I was 23 at the time, and still bought into the "cure" model of dealing with disability. I found it "disgusting, but necessary".

Over time, I saw the limitations and the cruelty of aversive behavior management techniques, and I came to oppose their use as an advocate both inside and outside the mental health system. As another example of my naivety, I thought that such opposition by advocates and activists would eliminate the use of aversive techniques.

Well, recently, I reviewed a draft of a behavior management policy for the Michigan mental health system that was strong on rhetoric, but didn't actually disallow the use of any aversive technique. A couple of years ago, the State Board of Education created a behavior management policy with the same rhetoric and the same kinds of loopholes.

The problem isn't just the policies. It is the rabid, panicky desperation in the eyes of the supporters when the use of such techniques is questioned or opposed. The use of such techniques is not some academic quest for the most effective form of treatment. Those who use aversives in school, mental health, or other treatment settings view these techniques as the only defense they have against total chaos in their work environments.

The professor who taught my Abnormal Psych class in college (many decades ago) had 8 years as an orderly in a State hospital before deciding to go to school in psychology. When we (as his students) would get too academic about the concepts, he would tell us stories about people he knew in the hospital, to re-focus us on the individual humanity of each person, and the similarities between us and individuals who, by circumstance, happened to be in an institution.

When we discussed behavior modification, he pointed out that the most powerful consequence to any behavior is the relief of pain or anxiety. He said that many of the behaviors of addicts aren't a result of the physical tolerance to the drug. Rather, the behaviors arise from the terror of not being able to control the withdrawal. He said that the same applies to adult behavior that leads to relief. His example was putting a child in a time out room. Whether it changes the child's behavior is immaterial as long as it relieves the parent's pain. Time out will continue to be used.

I think something similar occurs in systems that use aversives. Their use is maintained by the fear of staff and management over the personal consequences if the techniques are no longer available.

Psychologist-Activist Helps Screen American Psychiatric

Strangeness, abnormality, weirdness and nonviolent activism mix on
the MFI Radio Show this Wednesday, with an author asks you to, "Dance
With Your Dark Side."

This Wednesday, 17 October 2007, at 4 pm ET, "click and listen" to a
free live web interview on MindFreedom Radio with Al Galves here:

http://prncomm.net/

You can phone in LIVE with your comments, questions, news and views.

Al was part of a team of this past Thursday of "Normality Screeners"
who screened the American Psychiatric Association main headquarters
for "normality." Hear about the fun this nonviolent and peaceful
event caused, when the APA closed down their 20th floor entrance to
the public, for the day. Ah, the power of rubber chickens and a red
nose.

You can read about the normality screening on the MindFreedom blog,
that also has a link to photos, here:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/mfi-blog

Al is a psychologist and activist for more choices in the mental
health system. He is also the author of a brand new book, "Lighten
Up: Dance With Your Dark Side."

Al will also report about lobbying in Washington, D.C. today, 15
October, as part of the conference of the International Center for
the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology (ICSPP). Ron is on their board.

Phone in with your questions & comments live on this radio show. Host
of the MindFreedom Live Free Internet Radio Hour is David Oaks.

How to Screen Yourself for Normality for Free!

Thursday, 11 October 2007

How to Screen Yourself for Normality for Free!

by David W. Oaks, Director, MindFreedom International

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Today has been declared "Mental Health Screening Day" by the psychiatric industry.

But wait! Don't panic!

MindFreedom International, a nonprofit human rights coalition of 100 groups, launches a campaign today to "Screen the World for Normality"!

You can screen yourself *now*, wherever you are, in five easy steps.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NORMALITY SCREENING SELF-TEST

1. Make an animal noise. Now. At your computer screen or wherever you are. Make any animal noise: Meow of a cat. Moo of a cow. Anything. Louder the better.

2. Evaluate yourself. Here is how:

3. Did you make an animal noise of any kind? You show no sign of normality. Congratulations!!

4. Did you did *not* make an animal noise of any kind? You show no sign of normality. Congratulations!!

5. Spread the word: Encourage others to take this simple Normality Screening Self-Test!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WHY SCREEN YOURSELF FOR NORMALITY?

This screening was designed by experts. Every normality screening brings Earth that much closer to declaring victory.

Seriously: End the discrimination and segregation of "mentalism" in the mental health system today! All of humanity are in the same mad boat. It is time to ask some of those "Officially Labeled Mad" for navigation tips.

We normality screeners thank the amazing physician-clown Patch Adams and his international clown network. Their clown troupe in Florence, Italy, helped devise and inspire this normality screening effort.

The Normality Screening campaign is sponsored by MFI's "Voices for Choices in Mental Health Care Campaign" in cooperation with the Mad Pride Movement and the International Association for the Advancement of Creative Maladjustment (IAACM), which is a real organization that Martin Luther King, Jr. called for creating more than ten (10) times.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PLEASE LET OTHERS KNOW about this Normality Self-Screening Test both on and off Internet!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

STAY TUNED HERE for more news.

Just a few hours after e-mailing you this, I and a wonderful MindFreedom Normality Screening Crew -- that includes both a physician and a psychologist -- cross the Potomac River with our rubber chickens and squeaky red noses to peacefully screen for normality directly in front of the American Psychiatric Association headquarters.

Really.

Watch here for results.

We are optimistic.

But then again, we're just not normal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A FEW NON-NORMAL WEB LINKS FOR MORE INFO about...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Screenfor Normality Campaign

Other successful MAD PRIDE activities this week include Belgium (featuring an appearance by Dan Taylor of MindFreedom Ghana Africa)... An Australian music concert... UK's Bonkersfest doing normality screenings... a photo op at the Alternatives 2007 conference in St. Louis:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/campaign/madpride/screen-normality

or go here: http://tinyurl.com/3dudcq

New Book Challenges Current Thinking On Depression And Finds Advantages In The Condition

Tom Wootton, author of The Bipolar Advantage, has just announced the release of his second book, The Depression Advantage, a stirring and sometimes controversial look at the depressive condition and its potential benefits for depressed people.

Mr. Wootton is the founder of Bipolar Advantage: http://www.bipolaradvantage.com. A company dedicated to spreading the message that people with mental conditions can lead full and productive lives. His books can be purchased at: http://www.bipolaradvantage.com/store.html

The Depression Advantage is an audacious departure from the accepted doctrine and canon of literature on depression. The book celebrates the advantages of spiritual, personal and social growth possible through the experience of depressed states and challenges current thinking on depression treatment.

Drawing from historical and literary examples ranging from the lives of the Saints to Buddhist parables to pop culture heroes like the X-Men, The Depression Advantage demonstrates that physical, mental, emotional and spiritual pain can be a catalyst for personal growth and transcendent understanding.

Next on MindFreedom MAD FREE LIVE Web Radio with Host David

ive interview with Dorothy Dundas, survivor of insulin coma
shock who became psychiatric survivor activist.

This Wednesday, 3 October 2007, at 4 pm ET, click, listen and call in
to a free LIVE MindFreedom Web Radio:

Tags: Recovery, suvivor

October is "Screen the World for Normality Month"!

Some claim October is "Mental Health Month." MindFreedom renamed
October "Screen the World for Normality Month"! Celebrate Mad Pride.

Got normal? Here's how you can participate! Get your rubber chicken
ready! Events in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Missouri, Illinois,
Australia, Belgium... or anywhere you are.

Help launch Martin Luther King's vision of an "International
Association for the Advancement of Creative Maladjustment."

Tags: Recovery

To Err is Human

from Gerald Butler

To Err is Human

Since we were first diagnosed, our lives have been centered on our illnesses. Family, Doctors, Co-workers, Society, and mostly ourselves, all concentrate on what is wrong with us. If we are not reminding ourselves, someone else is telling us how we must improve ourselves. Often, prior to learning how to cope with our illness we find ourselves behaving not become better, but attempting to be what others fell we should be. In recovery we must begin to develop a greater sense of self and a realization of how we got in the position we are in. By practicing Peer Support I have found this to be true: without a sense of self-worth our inner selves/egos cannot find the enthusiasm necessary for us to participate in our own recovery process. In other words, ‘If I am worthless, why try to better myself? As opposed to concentrating on the negative aspects of our lives, we must first and foremost accept the fact that we are valuable both to ourselves and to those currently going through what we have been through.

Everyone makes mistakes, that's a given. Because we have been told all our lives how useless we are, some of us have a tendency to accept our mistakes, saying, "They were right about me, I am worthless". In recovery we must: 1) acknowledge our faults and make apologies as needed 2) put in place an 'Action Plan' to assure we do not make that particular blunder again3) Put the lapse in storage on the top shelf, somewhere way in the back. And while we are at it, we should take our pride and self-esteem out of storage and begin making those a part of our everyday lives, tossing out the negative things we tend to focus on. There are many who have lost faith in the system. Having been there, we not only know where they are but also how to convince him/her to seek recovery. Thus it behooves us to do whatever it takes to get and stay well as they are in need of our help. Just as the Doctor goes through years of schooling to learn to save lives, by practicing Peer Support we have the ability to use our past experiences to do the same. We can turn the poison of the past into medicine to heal others and ourselves.

"You messed up so now we will never allow you that opportunity again" 90% of us have either been treated as such or have had it stated outright to us. However, that attitude is going the way of the dinosaur system wide. Instead we must seek out those administrators who say to us "You made a mistake, now let's you and I work as team to assure that you do not make the same error the next time". These are the leaders of a transformed system as described in the 'The Presidents New Freedom Commission Report to Congress'. When community based treatment was first implemented, mental health treatment took a giant leap into the future. Of course no one could have foreseen it, but the problem: a vital piece of the equation was missing, us. In the future, when we are asked how did Michigan's system of treatment rise to it's current level; I don't think it will have as much to do with innovative programs as it will be because of the high level of cooperation between consumers and administrators.

Finally, although she would rather remain anonymous Irene Kazieczko (Michigan Department of Community Health) was not only largely instrumental in bringing Peer Support to Michigan but she has also done everything she possibly could to assure its implementation. A while back I asked her if she had foreseen how much Peer Support would benefit consumers and until recently I did not grasp the full meaning when she answered yes. Irene believed in us more than we believed in ourselves and she still has meetings just to ask how we feel. She has pushed us, pulled us, and walked by our side until we began to have that same belief in ourselves. And now, through Peer Support, we are passing that belief on to others needing help. All I ask is that when you see Irene, be sure to give her a pat on the back. She deserves it and anyone who knows her realizes she will never give herself one.

Gerald Butler

CPSS

Consumer Advocate

Tags: Recovery