i am so proud of my mom. it's been over a year since my brother was diagnosed with shitzo-effective disorder(and i still can't fucking spell it) and it's been a long road for all of us. but i can't even touch what she's been through. it goes without saying that it's been the hardest for him, but i can't imagine watching my child go through this.

anyway.

back to the pride thing.

she's become very involved. from her inital meetings with state senators that have lead to some improvements in his treatment and personalized attention that he otherwise would not have gotten in the worst mental care state in the country to the things she's currently doing, i know that her advocacy has helped her more than anything else could. she's in training right now to head up this 12 week class that she just got done with that teaches the families of mentally ill people about the diseases and how to deal with it and those kinds of things. and as part of the crisis intervention network that is being instituted in tucson, she's been asked to talk to the tucson police department about daniel and their experiences with law enforcement. it's a pannel of 6 people(i think); her and another parent, and then a few mentally ill people. one has multiple personalities, another is bipolar i believe. they've been meeting over the past few weeks to practice telling their stories because the first few times it's virtually impossible to get through them without tears. they're trying to put a human face on the victims of these diseases because cops do not know how to handle them. most of these people are not violent, it's just that their symptoms freak cops out when they go to arrest them or whatever. they're trying to push a training program mandatory for all policemen that will teach them how to deal with these cases.

anyway. here's her letter:

Open Letter to TPD and Pima County Sheriff

My son is 20 years old this month and was diagnosed with schizoeffective disorder a little over a year ago.

In 1986 when my son was 4 my husband was killed in a car accident. I have raised he and my daughter myself and until he got sick, our lives had been pretty normal. I was always proud of my children and felt fortunate that they were good kids that never gave me any trouble.

The first inkling that something was wrong was when at around the age of 16 my son asked me about the voices he was hearing. Being totally ignorant of mental illness I assured him it was his “self talk” that we all use when trying to motivate ourselves. I never thought about that conversation until recently. At that time he was making A’s and B’s in school, working full time and helping an elementary school teacher in her classroom. He had been chosen to be a page for a local congressman and wanted to attend Harvard once he graduated from high school. About that time his personality started slowly changing. He started becoming rebellious and slowly began skipping school. Finally in the spring of 2000 shortly after his 18th birthday I had had enough and when he punched a hole in his bedroom wall after an argument, I called 911. I was at my wits end and was assured by the operator that the police could talk to him and settle him down. When the sheriffs arrived he was cuffed and taken to jail for the night on domestic violence charges.

After non-compliance with the adult diversion program he was assigned to, the specialist advised me about filing a Title 36 petition. She had seen firsthand his erratic behavior and agreed something was wrong. It tore my heart out to do so, but I filed the petition in December 2000. After the evaluation by the MAC team, the police were sent to his apartment to pick him up and take him to Kino. I know he did not go willingly and when I saw him shortly after he nose was swollen and red.
He spent 2 days at Kino before he was able to slip out unnoticed. After 6 terrifying days not knowing where he was and what mental state he was in he showed up at his apartment while I was there cleaning. The police were able to arrive at his apartment before he left again and I watched while my son was put in a straight jacket and taken back to Kino.
Over the last 15 months my son has been hospitalized three more times. The first time he had not been compliant with his treatment and was not taking his medication so the behavior health agency asked the police to pick him up again. He knew what was happening and was able to evade them for three weeks until he was pulled over for a traffic violation. He had become increasingly paranoid so once he was pulled over he ran from the scene. After having his injuries addressed at Kino he was taken to jail where he stayed in solitary confinement for four days because he was a danger to himself.
Once released, I took him back to the hospital where he voluntarily admitted himself for treatment.
The second hospitalization was due to a suicide attempt. He had been living with me as we could no longer afford his apartment and I wanted to be able to keep my eyes on him. He was struggling (as he still does) with accepting his illness and was continuing to be delusional and depressed. I found him on the bathroom floor after he overdosed on his medication and a bottle of Tylenol.
The most recent hospitalization occurred because his court order to receive treatment was expiring and he needed to be evaluated to renew the court order.

Currently he is living independently with close supervision by employees of the health agency that oversees his treatment.
They monitor his medication and have been helping him to keep his apartment clean and maintain good hygiene. I’m hoping that with treatment and medication he will eventually regain his previous vitality and ambition. He has expressed a desire to get an education and I have encouraged him to focus in that direction.


the thing that really sticks out to me in that letter is the solitary confinement thing. putting a schitzophrenic in solitary confinement for four days and refusing to give them their medication... god. that's terrifying to me.