June Update: Mental Illness Around the Country

1. Make Greater Use of Assisted Outpatient Treatment

• Assisted Outpatient Treatment is less expensive, less restrictive, and more humane than it’s alternative: inpatient commitment or incarceration.
• AZ: He met his case manager on Monday and was dead by Friday, showing the need for AOT.
• NY: As the result of police stabbings by people with mental illness, the bill to close cracks in NY’s Kendra’s Law (A6987/S4881) gathered new attention. The bill sponsors wrote an op-ed in the NY Post on how their legislation would require mental health authorities to evaluate mentally ill prisoners and involuntarily committed psychiatric patients before they are discharged from prisons and hospitals to see if they need Kendra’s Law or other treatment to stay healthy and safe. Research shows it works. It is supported by virtually everyone (public, patients in the program, families, and law enforcement). The only opposition is from the mental health system itself, which simply does not want responsibility for the most seriously ill when they can offload them to shelters, jails, prisons and morgues. Thanks to Mental Illness Policy Org., op-eds and editorials have appeared in Albany Times Union, NY Post, NY Daily News, Staten Island Advance, Buffalo News, Ithaca Journal, Schenectady Gazette, NY News, and elsewhere. We identified 90 tragedies that might have been prevented had the cracks in Kendra’s Law been closed in 2005 when first identified. Call Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver at 518-455-3791 and Governor Cuomo at: (518) 474-8390. Urge them to Pass the Kendra's Law Improvement Act (A 6987) to Close the Cracks In Kendra's Law
• CA:    Laura’s Law has had tremendous results in California, but a powerful anti-treatment coalition is preventing widespread adoption of the law. The Fullerton Homeless Task Force recommended Orange County adopt Laura’s Law. Laura’s Law is up for renewal and the California LPS Reform Task Force is urging supporters to send letters in support of Laura’s Law  to the Senate Health Committee c/o State Capitol, Room 2191; and to the Assembly Health Committee in Room 6005, Sacramento, CA, 95814.  Articles and op-eds on the importance of Laura’s Law appeared in San Luis Obispo,
• NJ put out a contract to start Gregory’s Law
• TN passed a pilot AOT program
• Bexar County, TX is considering starting an AOT Pilot and a jail In San Angelo is trying to send mentally ill back to the mental health system

2. Focus more resources on serious mental “illness” rather than mental “health”

• National:  Articles by Marvin Ross in Canada, Dr. E. Fuller Torrey in Washington, Carlat Psychiatry Blog, and MIPO, all criticized Robert Whitaker’s, Anatomy of an Epidemic for using pseudo science to make the case that medicines don’t help people with mental illness. Natasha Tracy wrote “Why it’s ignorant to write off psychiatry” And the Lancet published a meta analysis that shows Whitaker is wrong. Meds do work
• Are we arbitrarily diagnosing people with mental health problems? Asks Pete Earley.
• AZ may see more mental health resources invested in the community as a result of a recent lawsuit settlement
• NH: We criticized New Hampshire officials for patting themselves on the back when there are more mentally ill incarcerated than hospitalized in that state.
• NY As incredible as it sounds, NYAPRS, a trade association of mental health providers in NYS actually started lobbying for less medical treatment for people with serious mental illness.
• WA: A seriously mentally ill man who was without treatment shot 5 in Seattle and then himself.
• California is unique in that it has plenty of money as a result of Proposition 63 which funded the mental health services act which is supposed to help people with serious mental illness. Unfortunately county and state officials continue to squander the money.

3. Preserve enough hospital beds so seriously ill can get access

• Bloomberg News ran a terrific piece picked up in Business Week and elsewhere suggesting that we have gone too far in cutting hospital beds for seriously mentally ill. And Dr. Stephen Moffic criticizes the American Psychiatric Association for failure to focus on inpatient crisis.
• CA mentally ill languish in jail due to budget cuts.
• GA sheriff argues to keep mentally ill out of jail

 

4. Change Not Guilty By Reason Of Insanity So it Helps People

• Legal argument why people with mental illness should be exempt from death penalty
• Not guilty by Reason of Insanity is likely to get more attention as the alleged killer of Etan Patz may plead mental illness.
• TX has a grizzly plan to medicate someone so they can execute him

5. Reform Involuntary Treatment Laws so they prevent violence, rather than require it

• CA: The LPS Reform Task Force issued their latest report. Sign up for their emails.

In Brief

 

• 3 Reasons I didn’t celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month
• Dr. E. Fuller Torrey on how to reduce stigma
• Peer Support can hurt people with mental illness
• In 2008, Vince Li, who has schizophrenia and rejected treatment beheaded someone on a Greyhound Bus. In this jailhouse interview he says he wishes someone would have forced him to stay in treatment.
• Stigma campaigns may decrease chance mentally ill get treatment
• Saying Goodbye to someone with mental illness: When not to help