Frustration, Anger, and Hopelessness

Many people cannot understand why NAMI people are frustrated and angry so much of the time. Almost every day, or at least several times a week, we receive phone calls and e-mails from NAMI members totally frustrated by the "mental illness treatment system." With permission I would like to share an e-mail we received last Friday.

Hello Gary & Sandy,

My daughter who is 30 years old was committed to the state hospital in nearby state. While waiting for a bed she broke out of the private hospital they were holding her in until a bed was ready. She was caught and booked into jail and the next morning she was released on her own; homeless with no meds. Two days after getting out of jail she was again arrested with 4 felonies that carry life sentences. i was down there in January with my wife and helped her get into a hospital for treatment. She had an assessment done by the county mental health folks there back then and I talked to them and told them she was a danger to herself and others, but they let her go and that's when she went on a crime spree. She has lost her home and her three children now and the mental health professionals agree they made a mistake in not committing her back in January.

I am so tired of the broken mental HELL system. She has catastrophic PTSD, severe depression, poly substance abuse issues and Bi-Polar,..right now she is in the county jail with no meds. Oh, she tried to kill herself in jail a few weeks ago and was flat lined and taken to the hospital, then put back into treatment and then committed to the State Hospital when she broke out.

There is no cure for mental illness at this time. Successful treatment is extremely difficult, but it is possible. I have been in Montana's mental illness treatment system for over 26 years. After our family's 7 years of Hell we were able to get a diagnosis and develop a relationship with caring, compassionate, competent mental health professionals. Things have only gotten better, but we are not the average family who gets involved in this system. We were fortunate to have mental health professionals who believed in the collaborative treatment model which involved the individual with the illness and the family in developing a plan to manage serious mental illness.

When will ALL mental health professionals embrace the collaborative model? When will individuals with mental illness and their families be recognized as part of the solution and not the problem? Montana's Olmstead Report (Which is gathering dust on a shelf somewhere) concluded what is really needed to improve and change Montana's mental illness treatment system is a change in attitude.

And, until we see that change in attitude, Montana's individuals living with serious mental illness and their families will continue to be frustrated, angry and feel hopeless.

Dr. Gary Mihelish
NAMI Montana's Director of Government Affairs