GETTING OUR 2020 GRASSROOTS PLAN OUT THERE by Ellie Shukert

Dear friends and fellow advocates,

I've been sending the Grassroots 2020: 5-Part Plan for SMI to presidential candidates and others. I got a real response from Liz Warren (1st class postage, signed) in the mail. Today, I opened an e-mail from her campaign people posting her various plans, including her Behavioral Health Coverage Transparency Act: This act would hold insurers accountable for providing adequate mental health benefits and ensure Americans receive the protections they are guaranteed by law.

Please let me know if we receive anything from other candidates, besides a general mention of mental health. Ellie

Ellie’s reply to Elizabeth Warren:

Thank you so much for your plan for the Behavioral Health Coverage Transparency Act. 

Families are so tired and discouraged because they can't get help for loved ones with serious mental illness. It's heartbreaking to see the ongoing deterioration of their mental health until they end up wandering aimlessly in the streets, victimized by predators or jailed and imprisoned. 

The revolving door of a psych ER doesn't help (some who do enter seeking help or are brought there by police are told to take an aspirin and leave). Over the years, even though there is more and more demand with each new generation, psych beds have disappeared. When relatives advocate for psychiatric care and more beds, we're told that hospitals are not required by law to treat mental illness, that insurance won't cover it, that they can't find staff to take of care patients with mental illness, that even if the mental illness is very serious, like schizophrenia with paranoia, that if they are adults, they must give consent, which they won't do, not knowing they are delusional and fearing everyone.

It's as if there’s a game of musical chairs going on and the seriously mentally ill don’t find seats to sit on — they don’t understand the game or how to compete for seats — and they've fallen right through the floor into our gutters. 

Department of Public Health Services, hospital administrators, insurance companies, MediCAL, and state programs say there is no money for SMI but we spend even more as taxpayers on insane trips back and forth to jails and psych ERs, on police calls and emergency services, and non-profit agencies scattered all over who give directives the SMI can't follow. If families try to bring a SMI relative into care we can be prosecuted for violating their civil rights. The truth is that, even if people with SMI are adults, some can be as helpless as babes, hallucinating, starving, and using city sidewalks as toilets because they literally have no place to "go." 

I'm in San Francisco and the city spends millions cleaning up fecal matter and urine in the wee hours of the morning because all that human waste is a public health threat. The sanitary workers have to wear special gear because they can't risk breathing in the contaminated spray from water hoses. Drug dealers prey on the SMI promising quick fixes. Needles and paraphernalia are everywhere. 

Care for the mentally ill must be part of our healthcare plan, just like all the other illnesses that afflict us.  For sure, there is no health at all without mental health —losing your sanity leads to all kinds of other biological illnesses as well.  Treatment, follow-up care, and subsidized supportive housing will go a long, long way to helping SMI people reach some semblance of a normal life.  We pay for that or we pay for ineffective agencies, so-called community health clinics, exacerbated illnesses, incarceration of the SMI, not to mention the heartbreak of everyone affected — and everyone is affected one way or another. Every year we don't address the issue more and more SMI people will be added to the ranks of the homeless and imprisoned.  

Any more details you can work out for the Behavioral Health Coverage Transparency Act will be most welcome. Thanks to you and your staff for the work you're doing to make life healthier and more productive for all Americans. 

NOTE: Sooner Than Tomorrow welcomes reports of SMI plans from all presidential candidates and other influencers.

Ellie and her family: Andy, Jay, and Jonny

HAPPY PIC & POEM

TWO HUMMINGBIRDS

Two baby Hummingbirds
I’ve named them Pert and Prim,
So tiny — there are no words,
But life force beats strong in them.

I’m humbled bearing witness
To fledglings hidden in my tree,
My kitchen window gives me access
To wonders with no need of me.

Mama flits in zig-zag thrusts
To her nest with babies crying,
To throw off eyes she doesn’t trust
Predators who might be prying.

One week young and old today
Welcome to our changing earth,
We must care for it they say,
As you remind us with your birth.

Dede Ranahan

Hope you have a good weekend everybody!

http://www.bit.ly/soonerthantomorrow

HAPPY PIC

Walk in Tasmania.

Hope you have a good weekend everybody!

LOOKING FOR JOY by Dede Ranahan

I've been in Canada for twelve days. I departed from home on August 25th, the day before what would have been my son's forty-eighth birthday. Since Pat died, unexpectedly, on a psych ward two years ago, it's been difficult to maintain my equilibrium. In Canada, I wanted to be in nature. I hoped to find some solace, some connection to my deceased son. I seem to "see" him outside -- in sunsets, in moonlight, in trees and flowers. In the wind.

I miss Pat, of course. I'm still grieving. The part that concerns me about myself, however, is something else. My anger. Why did my son have to have such a difficult, shitty life? Why did he die when he wanted to live? Why did both of us try so hard for so long to fight a such a formidable foe? Why are loving moms and dads often considered the "enemy" by our mental health system? Why is mental illness and our understanding and treatment of it still in the dark ages?

In the support group I run for families, one of the mothers mentioned a quote that goes something like, "A mother is as happy as her unhappiest child."  When Pat was alive, my happiness was often impacted by his illness. When he was doing well, I was doing well. When he was suffering -- and let's be honest here, we really are talking about suffering -- I found keeping my own balance challenging. How could I be grateful for all the good things in my life -- my three wonderful daughters, my grandchildren, my friends, and every other blessing when one of my offspring was in serious trouble?

I know it's not just me. I see how other mothers and grandmothers in our support group suffer along with their ill children and grandchildren. If you haven't walked in our shoes, there's no way you can get this. It's like walking around with a hole in your heart. All the time. Everyday.

Pat's ashes are in my living room high on a shelf where he can watch family gatherings. He always wanted to be home and now he is. He loved his red electric guitar and his urn -- it's really a handsome black box -- has a three dimensional electric red guitar on it. The inscription reads, "Pat, You are the Music." When the time comes, my ashes will join his.

Meanwhile, I'm back. The Canadian lakes -- Moraine, Louise, Emerald, Peyto, and Bow -- and mountains I visited were varied and stunning. I walked on Athabasca Glacier at Columbia Ice Fields. I descended to underground hot springs and rode a gondola high above Banff. I saw my son everywhere. I hope he saw me. And Megan, Marisa, and Kerry I thought of you, too. I love you lots.

If you've discovered ways to keep joy in your life when you're in the thick of the battle with mental illness, please share your ideas and comment below.

Hope you're having a good week.