Guest Opinion on Craziness and How to Treat It(meant for Oregon paper)

As a mentally ill citizen of Jackson County, I'd like to make some observations on the local mental health system. I've visited the local RVMC hospital, Two North, a number of times and have here and elsewhere interacted with a large assortment of people who are in this or that way mentally ill. Honestly, it's a huge assortment of people with diverse situations and problems. Various diagnosis' are used but they are too imprecise. Having read about psychology and biology, I know that our understanding of the brain is far from exact. Scientists don't even pretend to know HOW many psych meds work. But this scientific truth doesn't leave the ivory tower. As a result, I've known ten people who are "schizophrenic" but have very different personalities, ways of behaving, and need different treatments.

Now before I go further and say what I have to say about the local system, I want to acknowledge some truths. First of all, I'm impressed by the enthusiasm and sacrifice of many members of JCMH, including my own caseworker. They deal with many mentally instable people for mediocre pay and with very limited resources. Because of what they do right, there are many patients who function safely in their everyday lives. The only experience I've had with another mental health agency was in Klamath Falls, and it was far worse. The closest thing to a psych ward in that community is "Phoenix House," which is nothing more than a PHYSICALLY safe respit people can use for a few days. There's no doctor, not even a nurse, and the attitude of workers I dealt with was downright rude and pretentious. Two North is not the most pleasant and tranquill environment, but the nurses, doctors, and social workers are respectful and helpful. Furthermore, the psychiatrists I've dealt with at JCMH have also been competent, and relatively open-minded compared to psychiatrists I've seen elsewhere(and I once travelled all the way to an "elite" psychological center in Connecticut to find less help.)

But "relatively" isn't good enough when the comparison is to negligence. Mentally ill citizens should be therapeutically treated in ways that respect their humanity and dignity, and be aided to be more healthy and productive people(and anyone who feels they can't be should study the lives of Einstein, Nietzche, and Abraham Lincoln: the last of whom once undeniably the then legal street drug called opium.) We're not even close to the needed cigar.

At Two North, where people land after a melt-down, the therapist and social workers talk to patients, and guide them to more realistic views and actions(notice I said therapist, not therapists and she's not there every day.) By contrast, JCMH seem to believe that patients have a right to be insane to the membrane as long as they'll take the prescribed sedative drugs, no others and not even a few cold brews, plus refrain from crimminality. Guiding people back to the real world is an approach that's seen as too harsh. Mental illness is partly caused by delusional belief systems: they must change if a patient is ever to be truly successful or productive.

JCMH doesn't always recognize the fact that the mentally ill are adult citizens with the right to counseling, a supportive and caring foster home if necessary, and the right to have a say in what medications they take. This is relevant because the side effects of many psych meds are sometimes serious(a heavy dose can sedate a person to the point where they can barely prepare a dinner or carry a conversation, or keep from becoming obese, as this month's Rolling Stone points out regarding Xyprexa.)

Also, JCMH runs a dual-diagnosis class for those who use substances in which the twelve-step program is taught: some patients are required to attend this class or taken to the state hospital. Some will recall how the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government can't require anyone to learn the twelve steps because it is, honestly, a religious program. "Higher power" is P.C. for god, not a rock.

See, when mentally ill people like me become a nuisance to society, we're taken to hospitals in Salem or Pendleton or more often just imprisoned. We're responsible when we break down, so should be EMPOWERED to move in safer and more positive directions.

Significantly, there's a genuine lack of financial resources to go beyond crisis intervention and actually teach patients how to fish for themselves. I know there are millionaires in this valley and I wish they would donate with instructions for how the money is to be spent. Being a philantahropist is more rewarding than a 2nd luxury car or more diamond jewelry. And helping the mentally ill is the best sort of cause because people are FAR more helpable than common knowledge would have it.

I'd like to see JCMH run un-businesses to employ their charges with the flexibility that's needed. I think that a land-scaping service, a garden, and an art gallery would be fantastic. Also, patients need to be advised on diet, dietary supplements(fish oil tablets and goingko bilob being the closest thing there are to "miracle pills,") and physical fitness. They should be provided transportation to fitness facilities, say twice a week, if they're willing. And those living in foster homes should get the active support they need, seeing as the state government already generously pays for it, and that's as true as the sky is blue.

Now, before you take what I've said today wrong, remember that I am a deeply upset and mentally ill young man, not a professor of psychology, or a sage. I sincerely encourage you to take my opinion with a grain of salt. But I was once a professor, or metaphorically a fisherman, and would love to re-learn how to fish.