Serious Challenges

Most of our summer was spent facing a serious challenge. 

One of our dear loved ones was faced with an episode of mania and psychosis. These conditions are not like they are portrayed in the media. Nor are they like what is described by psychologists. The individual may become very hyperactive, and personable, and energetic. Sentences become incoherent, reasoning is something out of a fairy-tale, and impulsivity is rampant. They can also transform into an unrecognizable screaming rage demon, leaving their family members baffled. It's a total Jeckyl-and-Hyde experience. It's even worse when they have Anosognosia, which means they do not understand that they are ill.

The so-called "mental health community" proved to be no help whatsoever. Because I did not have guardianship, I could not get diagnosis or speak on my loved one's behalf for treatment. Guardianship is needed to get the paperwork in order to get guardianship. It's a Catch-22.  None of the doctors, social workers, or court officials seemed to have any clue as to what to do (until the second hospitalization, see below).

Holding a person against their will, even one who is maniacally raving, is against the law. It's considered kidnapping. So is forcing an adult to take prescribed medication.

If you wonder why there is such a severe homelessness problem in America, this is why. The psychotic individual often runs off into the wilderness -- or city homeless encampments, same thing -- and gets lost. Literally lost. For six weeks, we did not know if our loved one was even alive.

They can go to an emergency room, and be "petitioned" to go to a mental health facility. It can take several days, and they are often held for only a few days. This is not long enough for treatment to take effect. Then they are released while still psychotic. Rinse and repeat.

They often get into trouble with the law, for screaming at strangers, panhandling, relieving themselves in public, attacking other people, and public intoxication. Some of them fatally attack people, such as the person with mania who stabbed 11 innocent bystanders in a Walmart in Traverse City. The mentally ill individuals often self-medicate with dangerous street drugs such as methamphetamine and fentanyl. This just makes their condition worse. 

My loved one was raging, screeching, and throwing things inside an oncology clinic, which they mistook for a hospital emergency room. They were arrested, petitioned, and court-ordered to a mental health facility. It was a nightmare -- for them, for their family members, as well as the cancer clinic patients and personnel. My loved one has no idea what they did to warrant being locked up.

Most doctors are unwilling to sign papers granting guardianship, or even to diagnose severe mental illness.

Finally a nurse found a paper that had been signed a few years ago, graning me limited power of attorney, which I could use to get court documents and hospital records. I was able to use this to petition for guardianship, which costs money, and to convince mental health professionals to hold my loved one against their will and to do some type of aftercare. One individual from "Integrated Services of Kalamazoo" and a social worker at the mental health facility were helpful. But it took an arrest, petition, and court order, as well as lots of groveling from me, to get there. And prayers and workings. Many, many prayers and workings.

Both political parties contributed to this mess. Liberals insist that mentally ill people have "rights", even though the individuals have no comprehension about what is wrong, what treatment is needed, their anti-social behaviors, and sometimes, ​not even their own name. They closed all of the long-term mental health facilities, claiming they were "cruel". Like letting someone who is incapacitated live outdoors without food, water, or medication isn't. Like letting them rave at innocent bystanders isn't. Conservatives cut funding for needed services. Both of them are culpable for our current mental health crisis and homeless epidemic.

I have some solutions to this problem, but I'll save it for another day. I'm exhausted.

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