SPEAKING OUT ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESS...

Well, it's official: Congress is not doing more for the mentally ill because its members don't want to be "stigmatized" for helping the mentally ill. At least that's one version of the story and it's coming from a former member of Congress - Patrick Kennedy, the Representative from Rhode Island's first district, until 2011. The son of Joan and Ted Kennedy demonstrates what it means to be an advocate when he is seen and heard STEPPINGFORWARD2DAY!

His poignant remarks during a recent interview are worth hearing. Patrick Kennedy, like millions of caregivers of relatives diagnosed or undiagnosed with a biological condition affecting either moods or thinking... is authentic; he speaks from experience. Be sure to step forward with your own comments and observations about why our legislators are not doing more for the mentally ill.

Here's the full Yahoo! interview where the former Congressman says Congress is stigmatized by the stigma of mental illness.  WOW!!!  Just click on link below.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/

Patrick Kennedy: Members of Congress battle mental illness in their families but vote against help

AND... Patrick Kennedy didn't just start talking about mental illness. In this interview for the American Psychiatric Association on July 19, 2013, the former Congressman shows he has been fighting for parity in health care for some time.

Helping the Mentally Ill...

Sometimes it seems the only way to get help for a loved one you suspect of  having mental health issues is unfortunately via the criminal judicial system.  In other words, until the person is arrested for some crime, it may be difficult to get a diagnosis or get the person to willingly submit to treatment, even with a diagnosis. Most of us are against forcing an individual to take medicine but what do you do when a person’s brain is the problem and wants to maintain the status quo and, hence, no medicine is welcomed even if it might help the person to heal.  That’s an ongoing dilemma.

Former Nickelodeon star Amanda Bynes is finally going to get some psychiatric help after months of acting out in ways that raised question about whether she is in her “right mind.”

On Monday, July 22, 2013 around 9 pm she was detained for a mental health evaluation after setting a fire in a stranger’s driveway in her California community. She’s now being held for 72 hours on what’s called a 5150 psychiatric hold. It’s involuntary and will legally allow a mental evaluation.  According to the Channel 2 CBS station in Los Angeles:

AMANDA BYNES PLACED ON 5150 HOLD AFTER DISTURBANCE AT THOUSAND OAKS HOME

THOUSAND OAKS (CBSLA.com) — Actress Amanda Bynes was involuntarily hospitalized late Monday for a mental evaluation after authorities received a disturbance call at a Ventura County home.

Local fire and sheriff’s departments responded to a residence in the 200 block of Avenida De Los Arboles around 8:45 p.m., authorities said.

When authorities arrived, they found the 27-year-old, who is a native of the area, outside the house.

“Deputies investigated the incident and determined that she met the criteria of 5150 W&I (California Welfare & Institutions Code),” Cpt. Don Aguilar said. “She was detained and taken for a mental health evaluation.”

“There’s been no charges at this time or crime in reference to this incident,” Cpt. Aguilar told KNX 1070.

Monday’s episode was not Bynes’ first run-in with the law.

On May 23, she was arrested for allegedly throwing a bong out of her New York City apartment window. She has been charged with reckless endangerment and attempted tampering with physical evidence.

Her next court appearance was scheduled for Sept. 26.

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AND there's more... on May 25th, after another incident AND obviously more cries for help... members of the media, including TMZ, began saying Bynes wasn’t crazy enough  to be evaluated for “craziness.”   http://www.tmz.com/2013/05/25/amanda-bynes-not-certifiable-5150-mental-illness-conservatorship/

AMANDA BYNES NOT CERTIFIABLE AND IT’S A BIG PROBLEM

EXCLUSIVE

Amanda Bynes is not 5150 material, meaning she can’t be picked up against her will and held for mental evaluation, at least not yet … this according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.Our sources tell us Amanda has not been diagnosed with any mental illness.  Sources say her parents are worried there are signs she might be bipolar or schizophrenic, but Amanda has been unwilling to undergo psychiatric testing.

We’re told her parents would like to create an involuntary conservatorship, similar to Britney Spears, but Amanda’s conduct is not so over the line that a judge would take away her freedom.  

Ditto for a 5150 psychiatric hold, which would allow authorities to put Amanda in a mental facility against her will for 72 hours for mental evaluation.  We’re told authorities just don’t have the goods.  In fact, Amanda was taken to a hospital after her arrest Thursday night and the shrinks didn’t think an involuntary hold was warranted.

There’s one other option to get a diagnosis. If Amanda is so out of it she can’t understand the nature of the criminal cases that have been filed against her … a judge can halt the proceedings and order a psychiatric evaluation.  Amanda has been involved in 3 criminal cases in California recently, and there was NO effort to go this route.  That’s because she has always been lucid in court.  (TMZ  5/25/2013)

So even though Amanda’s behavior was increasingly “strange” both on and off her twitter account – from wearing blue wigs to court to being threatened with eviction for smoking “weed” in a non-smoking exclusive NY  apartment building…  there’s apparently been a feeling that there’s nothing her parents or others could do about it.

Well, there is... but no one has used the Treatment Advocacy Center's AOT strategy or the NAMI-supported ACT in Bynes case.  TAC's ASSISTED OUTPATIENT TREATMENT (AOT) plan permits court-ordered involuntary treatment of a mental illness while the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) advocates for an ASSERTIVE COMMUNITY TREATMENT (ACT) which requires the support of “the consumer” or mentally ill person.

Either way, and in spite of controversy involving each, the goal is similar:  keep people with mental illness from becoming criminals in order to receive treatment.  Advocates on both sides of the issues are encouraged to actively engaged in mental health care reform debates.

Thus... Amanda Bynes‘ actions are important because, like other celebrities, they are a wake-up call that more, not less, is needed, not only for those with compromised brains, but for the caregivers and loved ones of relatives struggling with mental health issues.  How can a civilized society ignore such cries for help???

                                                      

Mental Illness in the Movies...

The mental illness stigma took a serious hit this year with the arrival of two movies:  Silver Linings Playbook & Mental. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll shake your head, and possibly even yell but one thing is certain - you'll have something new to talk about when it comes to MENTAL ILLNESS. 

You can follow the story of two lost souls looking for a silver lining as they wrestle with mental health issues. But whether the focus is on his (Bradley Cooper) bipolar disorder or her (Jennifer Lawrence) depression and post-traumatic stress issues... you get to see a brain disease from the inside-out and the outside-in.  Hold onto your seats, it's an emotional roller coaster ride.  If you've ever wonder what it feels like to have serious highs and lows (manic depression/bipolar disorder) or cognitive changes (schizophrenia) or a bit of both (schizoaffective disorder), this film takes you there with superb acting and story-telling.  Coping with an obsessive compulsive disorder or stressed out from caregiving for a relative with mental health issues is clearly revealed as a family affair.  

By the end of the movie you come to understand why it is so difficult for those with a mental illness to succeed with doing what AA requires in Step One of its 12-Step Program - COME TO ADMIT YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.  How do you do that with a "broken brain?"  How can you get to Step One when you have a disease that tells you there is nothing wrong with you?  While Silver Linings Playbook doesn't have many answers about treatment or successful recovery, it does provide insights and raise questions about the mental health system itself and the lack of a silver lining for too many.

Yet, it is noteworthy that a film about mental illness could garner Oscar nominations and an award while competing against such major films as Les Miserables.  It was 1975 when One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest scored. So it's been awhile since another film on mental illness - Girl Interrupted (1999) got such Hollywood's attention. Angelina Jolie who played a diagnosed sociopath won an Oscar for best supporting actress; Winona Ryder played the author Susanna Kaysen whose 1993 memoir of the same name poignantly told about her 18-month stay in a Massachusetts' mental institution. 

It is also extraordinary that Silver Linings Playbook, a rather low-budget, sleeper of a film made history by becoming the first movie in 31 years to receive nominations in all acting categories.  The stellar cast which also includes Robert De Niro and Julia Stiles shines under the superb direction of someone who personally experiences mental illness in his family - Hollywood industry veteran David O. Russell and the excellent source material of best selling author Matthew Quick.

He certainly leaves his audience with many quotable reminders about life and mental illness:

“Most people lose the ability to see silver linings even though they are always there above us almost every day.” 

“It hurts to look at the clouds, but it also helps, like most things that cause pain.” 

“I don't want to stay in the bad place, where no one believes in silver linings or love or happy endings.” 

“Life is not a PG feel-good movie. Real life often ends badly. Literature tries to document this reality, while showing us it is still possible for us to endure nobly.” 

“I opened up to you and you judge me” 

“Haven't you ever noticed that life is like a series of movies?” 

― Matthew Quick, The Silver Linings Playbook

   WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE MENTAL?

Have you ever felt like you didn't belong?  According to one of the characters in the new Australian movie - MENTAL:  There's no such thing as normal; there's just different shades of mental.

You can't turn away for even a moment in this movie. Not when the five daughters of a political couple are all convinced that they are suffering from some kind of undiagnosed mental illness.

The movie which is now available on DVD is fun, loud, insightful, and often... just out-of-control. It's a black comedy brought to you by the director of Muriel's Wedding  - P. J. Hogan. The writer-director of Mental uses songs from the Sound of Music and a zany hitchhiker played by Toni Colletti to demonstrate what happens to the "fun" in dysfunctional. If you can handle more than one person going "mental" at a time, then you're likely to really get the uncanny way in which P. J. Hogan challenges stereotypes about mental illness. 

There's nudity and profanity, so families will want to screen Mental for the appropriate age level to see it.  The dialogue however shows there is plenty to explore and discuss: what is mental illness? And, Mental tears along showing just how much needs fixing in probably all of us - souls, spirits, personalities, thoughts, beliefs, and more.  

So it's kind of a mental thing itself when Shaz, the hitchhiker, shares her theory about the "normal" and not so normal in the clip below:   As the delusionals, the borderlines, compulsives, paranoid, schizoid make up Australia as we know it. We're nothing but a living experiment in madness under constant observation by the psychiatric community of the world.

We hope you will share your comments about either or both of the above movies in the space below.  Step Forward 2 day and speak out about the need for better mental health services and attitudes.