Ask me anything Wednesday I have a loved one with a mental illness. I consider myself a mental health advocate. I am a NAMI support group facilitator, Family to Family teacher, and Edmond North-OKC volunteer board member. And I am enjoying being a NewsOK contributor. I am not the kind of advocate employed by the ODMHSAS. They “respond to clients and families who may have concerns about some aspect of the services a consumer is receiving.” Generally the kind of advocating I do is about breaking down the barriers to getting services and bettering polices. I research the best care for my loved one. I brianstorm with NAMI group members, and I try to learn about policies. Sometimes when our loved ones dont get services they end up in jail. Oklahoma has one of the highest incarnation rates in the nation/the world. Oklahoma incarcerates nearly 1% of its population. Approximately 6% of the general population has a serious mental illness (SMI). If the rate of mental illness was the same in jail as out of jail we should have less than .005% with SMI in our jails and prisons. Now consider the rate of SMI in the prison population. ODMHSAS puts the number between 50% and 67%. Is my math wrong? This is outrageous! Have you heard this joke? Knock Knock. Who is there? HIPAA HIPAA who? Sorry, I can’t tell you that. People experiencing sever mental health symptoms are sent home with families who are not informed, educated or supported. Hospitals would be sued by families if they did this with dementia patients. Here is where our mixed messages begin. We ask people with a brain disorder, that have trouble regulating emotion or thoughts, to decide what kind of treatment they want. We give them the power to decide what is in their own best interest when the very nature of their malady interferes with relationships and self concepts. Unless they are homicidal or suicidal . . . then we lock them up for a few days and medicate them. I am also concerned by laws that are not utilized such as Assisted Out-patient Treatment and Psychiatric Advanced Directives. When I asked my Canadian friends and family if they have the same problems in Canada they told me they do. But when I spent enough time there to visit their support groups I heard similar complaints from family members. I saw families grieving like we do. I learned that they have similar laws protecting patient privacy and freedoms. Here is where we are different. Because of dedicated resources, families have much more access to the professionals. Assisted outpatient treatment is used regularly. They have 50 psychiatric beds where we have 11/100,000. FYI: Wikipedia compares incarnation rates per 100,000. Canada has 118/100,000. USA has 707/100,000. I have learned that even with all of the barriers to treatment here. We have lots of innovative project here that they dont have in Canada. They dont serve many so you have to look for them. Amazing things are possible, but you might have to fight for them. I’m sure to learn from your questions. So ask me anything--my topic area is broad. My opinions and recommendations are always free. Thanks in advance.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 13:13:33 +0000
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