Fight Mental Illness Thursday - Service Dogs for Injured Soldiers

NAMI Friends,

Every second Thursday of the month is “Fight Mental Illness” Thursday. After fighting for children’s crisis services at the state-level last month, this month we’re moving to the federal level and fighting so soldiers with severe post-traumatic stress and/or mild traumatic brain injuries can access service dogs. Specifically, we’re asking supporters to sign this web petition, http://www.change.org/petitions/secretary-of-the-army-john-mchugh-change-the-army-s-restrictive-policy-on-service-dogs, asking the Secretary of the Army to change the Army’s service dog policy to make it clear that: (1) service dogs are not a treatment of last resort, (2) soldiers with service dogs will have housing accommodations where they can use their service dog, and (3) that the service dog accreditation standard be broadened to include other reputable service dog training organizations.

If you don’t feel comfortable signing a web petition, you can all the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army at 703-545-0672 and ask to leave a message requesting that the Secretary of the Army change the policy.  The Secretary of the Army probably doesn’t get a lot of call in requests, so you’ll have to be patient with the staff.

Here's an article from the Billings Gazette that describes why we're asking you to get involved in this fight. http://billingsgazette.com/article_ba319e78-23f6-5971-a4f1-c560b58c4cf5.html

Thanks for your help!

Matt

Matt Kuntz

Executive Director

NAMI Montana

Fight Mental Illness Thursday - Kids' Crisis Services

NAMI Montana is excited to announce that the second Thursday of each month will be Fight Mental Illness Thursday. On Fight Mental Illness Thursday, we’re asking Montanans to make one phone call or email to support the fight against mental illness.

On Thursday April 12^th, we’re asking as many Montanans as possible to call into Governor Schweitzer’s office or send them an electronic message asking Governor Schweitzer to develop a plan to increase access to mental health crisis services for Montana’s children. Suicide is a major problem in this state and we desperately need services for Montanans younger than 18 who are actively suicidal.

Please take a few minutes and make your voice heard by calling Governor Schweitzer at (406) 444-3111 or sending him an electronic message through this link http://governor.mt.gov/contact/commentsform.asp. Montana.

Please share this blog post on facebook, Twitter, by email, Google +, or whatever to help other support the fight against suicide in Montana. We can make a difference for families in need.

Answers to a few questions about this call-in (email-in):

First, what’s so important about this Thursday?

We’re starting Fight Mental Illness Thursdays on the second Thursday of each month as a way of making it very easy for people across Montana to make mental illness advocacy a part of their monthly routine. There will always be a need for phone trees and other ways of getting people involved for targeted calls for committee hearings, etc. But we’re trying this as a way of getting a larger amount of people involved as consistent voices in the fight against serious mental illness.

The lack of children’s mental health crisis services in this state is one of the most critical weaknesses in Montana’s mental illness treatment system. Our families of children in mental health crisis are desperate for some kind of help. The serious nature of that need, especially in relation to Montana’s consistently high suicide rates, led NAMI Montana to choose it as the topic of our first Fight Mental Illness Thursday.

Second, why have people call Governor Schweitzer’s office even though he’s term-limited out?

This is a great question. The next governor and Legislature will definitely have their collective ears bent on this issue after the election and throughout the legislative session. The question is what can we do to give these critical services the best chance possible of ending up in the next governor’s budget that is proposed to the Legislature.

The Governor just released a major plan for a long-term fix for the administrative pension program. We'd love to have his team apply a similar process to children's crisis services.

The worst that he can tell us is “no.” NAMI Montana thinks that it’s worth a shot. There’s too much at stake not to try.

Montana's New Psychiatric Consultation Service

NAMI Montana is always on the lookout for new methods of increasing the access to high quality psychiatric care, especially to our rural communities. One new program seeks to meet this goal by providing medical providers with the ability to receive a consultation from a psychiatrist.

The materials below are all provided by AWARE. We are providing them for informational purposes only. Please let us know of any other programs that you'd like us to feature.

Thanks,

matt

PSYCHIATRIC EDUCATIONAL CONSULTATION SERVICES

Many healthcare providers living in rural areas often treat patients with a mental illness due to patients not being able to access psychiatry because of where they live. Questions come up for those providers when treating some patients with a serious disabling mental illness (SDMI) and since psychiatry is not their specialty, it may be more of a challenge to treat a patient. Through supports provided by DPHHS, AMDD Division, AWARE, Inc. is working to bring psychiatric consultation educational services to providers in need. The services provided are educational in nature and are intended to provide psychiatric educational supports to treating Physician’s, PA’s, APRN’s, healthcare facilities, nursing care facilities and detention facilities. No doctor patient relationship is intended nor implicitly created. The relationship is between the treating provider and the Psychiatrist and is designed to increase the capacity of the treating physician to serve those with an SDMI in their community over time.

AWARE PSYCHIATRISTS

· Dr. Len Lantz; Dr. Krista David; Dr. Tom Hoffman; Dr. Lynn Mousel; Dr. Celeste Pfister; Dr. Alan Reyes; Dr. John Tupper

SERVICES

· This is a service provided by AWARE Inc. Psychiatrists, to Physician’s, Physician Assistant’s, APRN’s, healthcare facilities, nursing care facilities, and detention facilities

seeking educational information regarding an individual that qualifies as an Adult with a Severely Disabling Mental Illness (SDMI)

· Education provided by the psychiatrists is solely based on the premise of the information being sought after by the primary caregiver, is a general question from a provider, not geared toward a specific patient.

· Grand Rounds Style based

· The system for providers to request this service may be accessed by either email or phone

HOW DOES IT WORK

· Service availability, Monday thru Friday, 8am-5pm, regular office hours

· Initial email/phone call made by provider to request a psychiatrist call back–

Email: DocTalk@aware-inc.org

or phone: (406)449-3120 REQUEST THE “DOCTALK LINE”

· Request YOUR need and your own availability to schedule a call back time from a psychiatrist within the Monday thru Friday, 8am-5pm office hours

· Calls can range from several minutes, up to an hour for more complexity

*** An AWARE rep is available to travel to your site/community to discuss individualized needs that your community may have regarding this service

Please Contact: Dawn Ann Peterson, Practice Manager At 406-560-2527, or email dpeterson@aware-inc.org

FUTURE POTENTIAL

This educational service is seen as a potential stepping stone towards bringing telepsychiatry services to rural communities that may include direct patient care. Services may also be an opportunity for long-term patient care through telepsychiatry from AWARE doctors, in conjunction with the patient’s primary caregiver.

Two Posts from NIMH's Blog

I wanted to point out these two great blog posts from Dr. Insel on research advances and the direction of research. I hope you like them.

matt

Treatment Development: Where Do We Go From Here
by Dr. Thomas Insel

NIMH's Top 10 Research Advances of 2011
by Dr. Thomas Insel

The Wrong Diagnosis

I applaud the New York Review of Books for publishing Dr. Marcia Angell’s articles on “The Illusions of Psychiatry.” Three years ago, I responded to my step-brother’s suicide by giving up my practice as a corporate attorney to become the Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness for Montana (NAMI Montana). Shortly after that, another one of my loved ones was struck by serious mental illness. I have been personally and professionally immersed in the stark realities of serious mental illnesses and the haphazard treatment system that has evolved to treat those conditions.

While I disagree with many of Dr. Angell’s conclusions, I could not agree more that the method of diagnosing mental illnesses needs serious improvement. This ineffective diagnostic methodology has led to too many people taking medications that they do not need and too many people that do need medications taking the wrong types or dosages. As Dr. Angell described, some of the most heart-breaking examples of this systemic failure involve the improper medication of children. The financial impacts of these misdiagnoses on the public and private healthcare system are staggering. The pharmaceutical industry’s marketing efforts deserve some of the blame for this state of affairs, but it is not the main culprit.

The real problem is that medical providers are trying to diagnose biologically-based conditions without biologically-based screening tests. Doctors do not have effective brain scans, blood tests, or other tangible biological screening tool to identify which patients are affected by biologically-based mental illnesses. Instead, they try to use patients’ perceptions and behaviors to discern the presence or absence of a biological condition. It is the equivalent of trying to determine whether a patient has a broken leg by asking them if they can walk or if they are in pain. If we were forced to apply that method of diagnosing broken legs, one would expect to find a number of books decrying the number of casts on people that did not need them and the number of people in need of casts that are forced to go without.

We must find a way to foster the development of biologically-based mental illness diagnostic tools. There are many ways of going about this task and many of them would likely succeed. Personally, I recommend establishing a Mental Illness Screening X Prize, similar to the multi-million dollar prizes that have been used to stimulate innovation in commercial space flight and fuel efficient vehicles. The winner of the Mental Illness Screening X Prize would be able to use a biological test to determine whether a person has either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

That biological test would be a major step toward revamping our broken mental illness treatment system to address many of the legitimate issues that Dr. Angell described in her article. With the billions of dollars that our nation spends on treating these conditions each year, it is time to make the development of that screening tool a priority.

Matt Kuntz, JD
Executive Director
NAMI Montana

On Mental Illness: Delusion

This is our first blog post by Kathie Harrison, a Bozeman writer who lives with serious mental illness. NAMI Montana is honored to count Kathie as a supporter and we're happy to share her views with the world.


On Mental Illness: Delusion

I saw A Beautiful Mind and began to compare experiences. He was living as a spy in the cold war and acting on information from television and news reels. I had believed the world is a criminal delusion and I have not, to my knowledge, broken the law and as of this writing have not been arrested. I am a consumer.
I had two perceptions at once. I observed typing errors in paperwork, credentials, and mailings that looked like I was being framed so my identity would be stolen or I could be replaced. The facts were convincing me I might be in a criminal system. My cousin, a sheriff deputy, once asked me “How do I approach people like you?” I told him to remember we are reacting to something in our brain.

As with most of the mentally ill I hear voices. I was untreated for three years. In that time I was homeless a month; I was being told to steal an infant and hide. Voices urged me to kill others. I got help even though I never spoke of my experiences. My voices had me in fight; flight, or freeze mode as a counselor told me. Talk, you die! And so I was silent many years. The three F’s ran me. On rare occasions voices comfort compliment and are supportive.

I lived delusional for twenty-five years. Stigma keeps a lot of people silent and I thing also the fear of being laughed at and disbelieved. Paranoid Schizophrenic was my first diagnosis. Paranoia meaning living in fear, schizophrenia meaning one works well alone or likes to be solitary. The first thirteen work years I had I changed jobs may times; my last job lasted six to ten years, You can train people to be more social in the clubhouse setting, and in a job with the public. I am now diagnosed a schizoaffective bi-polar disorder.

Ridiculous is what the mentally ill face when they expose their story. We had a saying in the sixties, “Let all hang out!” Most of what our voices tell us never happens. Mean teasing could follow. I have sixty years of experiences to talk about. I am going to write more often and make a book of collective writings. Perhaps they’ll be in print and read. Life can turn on a dime as a friend said once. Another friend died and the lesson is; do it now; no one knows their future the paranoia is completely gone.

Kathie Harrison

Thoughts for a Rainy Day

It's flooding two blocks from my front door and the rain is coming down. I can't think of a better thing to do than share my thoughts on serious mental illness and advocacy.

COMMENT: Treating serious, disabling mental illness is difficult. Having a family member living with serious, disabling mental illness is more difficult. Living with a serious, disabling mental illness is most difficult.

QUOTE FROM THE NAMI FAMILY-TO-FAMILY EDUCATION CLASS: Perhaps the best definition of advocacy was voiced by Eleanor Roosevelt (quote): "You must do things you think you cannot do." In facing the stigma and shame that still surrounds mental illness, we are tested by many challenges Each of us has to break through boundaries of fear and convention to help our family members; each of us has felt the discrimination that exists against people who have brain disorders. In our struggle to "stand with" and "stand up for" our loved ones, we are all advocates.

FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011: I received a call from a women in Colorado whose brother-in-law is receiving mental health services at the Center for Mental Health in Helena. He has been diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorder. He has received services at the Montana State Hospital and the Montana State Prison. He was a part of the ACT Team in Helena, but was released from the ACT Team because he was probably non-compliant and the ACT has recently undergone structural changes. Several days after being released from the ACT Team he attempted suicide and was committed to the Montana State Hospital. After six days in the MSH he was scheduled for release. With the help of NAMI National she was able to compose a letter and he was kept in the hospital for sixty days. He has been released, but not returned to the ACT Team. He tried independent living, but was unsuccessful. "He was living in deplorable conditions." He has since been living in a foster care facility and doing relatively well. She would like to find a private therapist because she does not think one hour a month is adequate for therapy and has asked me to help her find a private therapist.

SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 2011: I received a call from a mother in California whose son has been receiving services at the Western Montana Mental Health Center in Bozeman. he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and substance abuse disorders. He has been non-compliant and was sentenced to the WATCH Program at Warm Springs after his 4th DUI. He also was in the prerelease program, but was non-compliant because he was not responsible and accountable. He has been transferred to the Montana State Prison because he has failed to comply with the goals of the program. He has not contacted his mother and his mother has been told she may not visit him for 45 to 120 days until he is processed. If the underlying mental illness is not treated appropriately, prerelease and substance abuse treatment will never be successful.

DISCLAIMER: I have been in the Montana mental Illness treatment system for almost 27 years and realize emotional family members do not always relate events as they actually occur. However, this is their perception of events as they unfolded.

The treatment of serious, disabling mental illnesses is very difficult. But, a definition of insanity is: "Doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results." Last Thursday the census at the Montana State Hospital was 156. This is the lowest census in years. Those with an optimistic view would say this is due to improved community services and transition services out of the hospital. Some of us with a skeptical point of view would point to the fact that it has been more and more difficult to commit individuals with mental illnesses, who are in psychiatric crisis, to the Montana State Hospital. Commitment laws make it more and more difficult to accomplish early intervention and treatment. It may also be that more people at the Montana State Hospital are being transferred to the Montana State Prison and thereby lowering the census. The questions is? Does the Montana State Prison have the resources to adequately treat and care for those mentally ill individuals who are being transferred to their care. The Department of Corrections has the obligation to protect our society from those who might harm us. But, do they have the resources and training to treat the increased numbers of mentally ill they are receiving?

We are approaching a time of limited resources and funding to treat those who live with serious mental illnesses. We are rationing treatment and medication although it is not called that. Maybe we should spend our resources on those who suffer from mental illnesses in their teens and twenties when recovery is more possible. Then we would spend our funds to just maintain individuals in their 30's, 40's 50's and 60's who are so much a part of the "revolving door" that is characteristic nature of these illnesses. Just a provocative thought!

NAMI family members need to advocate for their mentally ill family members who live with serious, disabling mental illnesses because there are very few out there who are capable of understanding our lived experiences.
Dr. Gary Mihelish, President
NAMI-Helena