What Drives the Myth That the Mentally Ill Are Dangerous?

That is the title of this article I have reviewed today. "Why does the general public continue to believe that mentally ill people are more dangerous than those without mental illness? Scientists at the University of Basel and the University Psychiatric Clinics Basel sought to find out how dangerous the general public considers mentally ill people to be and which factors influence this perception. Although a small number of mental illnesses can lead to a relatively increased risk of violence, most people with mental disorders are not violent." I will admit I was violent before I had this mental illness because I used to drink and always ended up in jail.  Since I had this mental illness since 1989 I have not went to jail or even been stopped by the police.
The article continues: "'People with mental illnesses suffer from severe social stigma and often avoid necessary treatment because of it. In addition to the actual symptoms of disease, societal discrimination leads to further conditions such as anxiety, stress, and low self-esteem among those affected. 'We want to understand whether the stigma arises from noticing symptoms or from finding out that somebody has had psychiatric treatment,' said Professor Christian Huber. To this end, they surveyed 10,000 people in the Swiss canton of Basel Stadt. The respondents had to estimate how dangerous they considered people in a number of fictional case histories to be. Half of the cases portrayed symptoms of various mental illnesses (alcohol dependency, psychosis, borderline personality disorder), while the others reported on the location where psychiatric treatment took place (general hospital with psychiatric wards, psychiatric hospital, psychiatric hospital with forensic wards). In the case histories describing only the location of the treatment, as well as in those featuring a description of symptoms and behavioral problems, the patients were generally regarded as dangerous. A description of symptoms led to a stronger attribution of danger; people with symptoms of alcohol dependency were perceived as particularly threatening. Treatment in a general hospital, however, was associated with a lower dangerousness attribution.'" There it is alcohol make people dangerous even when they are sober and not. I am sorry I for one do not tell people I have a mental illness they start treating you different.
The article ends: "'Furthermore, it was found that people who had had personal contact with psychiatry or with psychiatric patients in the past generally rated the potential for danger as lower.
The study, which appears in the journal Scientific Reports, shows that how patients are treated in psychiatry influences the prejudices they have to deal with. Indeed, treatment in a psychiatric unit, which is included in a general hospital, was associated with a lower dangerousness attribution than treatment in a specialized psychiatric clinic. Moreover, people who had personal contact with psychiatry or with psychiatric patients in the past generally rated the potential for danger as lower.
The authors of the study argue that contact between the general public and mentally ill people should be encouraged in order to break down prejudices. 'Our results show that campaigns to destigmatize public perception should be realistic about the low risk that people with mental illnesses pose.'
And a shift in inpatient psychiatric treatment from independent clinics to general hospitals with psychiatric wards could encourage destigmatization, they added.'"People have to get to know us, because we are no different except we have a mental illness and some do not have the memory or other things to pass as they call normal.

Hickenlooper Signs Ban on Long-Term Solitary for Mentally Ill Prisoners

That is the title of this article I am writing about.  “Gov. John Hickenlooper this morning signed a bill that bans the practice of keeping seriously mentally ill prisoners in solitary confinement.  The bill, which passed with strong bi-partisan support, won the support of advocates and rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, who say the isolation of prisoners with mental illness violates the constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment and endangers public safety.  But as Rocky Mountain PBS I-News has reported, state prisons aren’t the only place in Colorado where offenders with mental illness are subject to lengthy periods of solitary confinement.  In the state’s county jails, solitary confinement- or administrative segregation- remains common for inmates with serious mental illness.  The isolation can last days, months, or even years. In jails, this practice is left intact by the latest state law. The new legislation came on the heels of a series of tragedies in Colorado, including the killing last year of prisons chief Tom Clements by a man who had been released directly from long-term solitary confinement into the community. In an irony often noted, Clements had worked to reduce the use of administrative segregation in state prisons.” Why am I writing about this it is because it is a good?  My mental illness came when I was in prison and had been caught gambling and was sent to the hole or solitary confinement for three days.  I was locked in the hole and that is the last thing I remember.  I woke on a different tier than the hole and was insane. I must have blacked out when I was put in the hole because I do not remember anything after I was put in the cell. I know I was angry when they put me in there.
The article goes on to say: “The current corrections chief, Rick Raemisch, has continued the work that his predecessor started, publicly calling for a rethinking of the practice of solitary confinement in general, and pledging to remove seriously mentally ill inmates from isolation in the state prisons.  His concerns were echoed by Colorado legislators who worried about the damaging effects of solitary confinement on mental health, and the risks to the public from prisoners who will someday be released.  The law now etches some of Raemisch’s policies in stone, and adds funding and a level of oversight. Prisoners with mental illness won’t be kept in confinement for longer than 30 days, and will be guaranteed a period of therapeutic activity and out-of-cell time each week.”  I was wrong to keep gambling although I know all the stress that was happening to be prior to being put in the hole had a lot to do with what happened.  Although prison is not the best place to finally have a breakdown, my friends were trying to stick by me although I was mentally ill and did not understand. I knew done of the people on this new tier and that did not help.  I cut myself with a razor because I did not understand what was happening to me.
The article ends with: “The Colorado chapter of the ACLU took the lead in campaigning against the isolation of mentally ill prisoners. Denise Maes, the organization’s public policy director, told I-News the law signed today ‘makes a very important policy statement that it’s wrong to place seriously mentally ill offenders in solitary confinement.’  Now, Maes said, the ACLU-Colorado intends to turn its attention to the isolation of mentally ill inmates in county jails. But she acknowledged that a policy change there may be a heavier lift.  “Municipal jails are just a hodgepodge of different activities not very well regulated by the state,” said Maes. At the same time, a shortage of psychiatric beds and a lack of funding for alternative mental-health treatment put a huge burden on jails, she said. Resources are thin.  Still, said Maes, the same arguments that changed the policies in the state prisons also apply to jails.  “Keeping a seriously mentally ill offender in solitary confinement is unconstitutional, and at some point the state has to have the resources to deal with it. Otherwise, they’ll be faced with it in court,” said Maes. ‘Communities have to find the resources.’”  To be put in the hole after a person is already mentally ill is wrong can you imagine what a person would go through?  If you are not working or taking classes to help you spend your time the best way possible as can be is wrong.  From experience it is hard doing time when you are mentally ill.

Life after Schizophrenia

BEFORE I GET INTO The BLOG, I WOULD LIKE TO REMIND OUR READERS THAT The RECOVERY BLOG IS MOVING TO A NEW LOCACTION: OUR BLOG WILL CONTINUE FROM OUR NEW HOME:  http://www.mhcd.org/blog   In last week’s blog I talked about how I was first mentally ill in prison. I started behind the walls a part of Canon City prison waiting for my appeal and not at all sure what had happened to me. The sleeping pills did help, although I was not the same and went back to the hospital one more time for a few days. My new counselor there told me she was not going to recommend parole for me, because I was a danger to myself and society. She did not explain that I had a mental illness. No one explained that to me. I knew my only chance of getting out was my appeal. I was happy when it came through.
I was released and made a deal if they left me alone without parole or probation I would plead guilty and forget it ever happened. I was going to leave and head back to Portland, Oregon where I had family. Although a class came up that was accelerated computer class and I would learn typing and computers. I had to try, but all the stress of trying to do everything so fast, brought on my mental illness and I was sent to the State hospital for one day to life. I know that sounds crazy, think how I felt when I was sane again and found this out. I did not understand it could be one day also. I was mentally ill all the time throughout my stay in jail.
While I was at the state hospital they brought me around and that is where I found out I was allergic to Haldol. I knew that I had a chance here to change my life around and finally stay out of prison. Also stay out of the state hospital. I watched people here in the state hospital and some were there for more than ten years. To me they had forgot the streets and what a good life a person can have being free. I did not like being locked up in jail or in the state hospital. I started going to school at the state hospital and learning computers. Also my typing because I knew from going to that accelerated class out on the streets that I would have to start from zero and work my way up to be successful.
While I was at the state hospital I sent away for my GED and all the papers I would need to start college. While I was on pass I enrolled at Metropolitan State College of Denver as it was called back then. To change my life I knew that would be the only way was to start all over. I just never knew it would take me so long to get my degree and when I received it, I did not know at that time I would go on to get my Masters. That was not in my plans. I am glad I did though. I learned a lot more in graduate school then I did at Metro. All I can say is life is not easy and there will always be down times, although if you keep pushing forward it changes for the good. I have to say though that the hardest time I had being locked up was at the state hospital. It was like being half on the streets and half being free. It just made me miss the streets even more. I would have rather been locked up all the way. Although I do not think I would have went to college if I was locked up in prison this last time.
Prison offers some classes, although I would come to find out the diploma they give is really not worth anything. You could not get a job with it. After you put in all that time studying and trying to pass so you can change your life and it is worth nothing.JUST A REMINDER THAT THE RECOVERY BLOG IS MOVING TO A NEW ADDRESS: OUR NEW HOME IS: http://mhcd.org/blog 

Mental Health Wait Game

I was sent this article about mental ill patients waiting in the ER for a bed or room for treatment. A mother received a call that her daughter was O.K. although she was in the emergency room. Her daughter had gone missing overnight. “Police had found her in a Dumpster and brought her to the ER for her own safety. It was a huge relief for her mother.” Her mother probably said she will get help now. At least she is safe. Although what she found out what happened next shocked the mother. “I went down to this emergency room and just found her by herself, basically locked in a closet.” She was in an exam room. Although her daughter had nothing to eat or any form of treatment for mental illness in at least twenty four hours.
They eventually admitted the woman, although she had a long wait. This does not just happen in Denver, but all throughout the nation. They should be prepared by now. “It’s very difficult to see patients waiting in the emergency room for, in some cases, really days,” he goes on to say: “The fact that is, in many ways, their first introduction to mental health care is, in my mind devastating.” That is your first introduction to what is to come? That would be hard and would you even follow their advice knowing they do not care enough to see you right away? A person tries to get help and you have to play a waiting game.
One hospital chain is trying to change that. “Denver’s HealthOne Hospital chain is opening a new psychiatric ward with 40 beds. It’ll be one of the first Colorado has seen in years.” That would help a lot. HealthOne does not want more mentally ill patients, but shorter ER waits. “ER wait times are often a function of how many people are in your waiting room, and how many available beds you have.” If mentally ill patients are waiting a long time then so do other people who want to be seen for another problem. This will not fix the problem, but it will help. I do not have patience and it would be hard to just wait to see a doctor if I am mentally ill.