Reader-Visitor Comments II

I am very  appreciative of each and every person willing to add their voice to the evolution of this blog, The Arizona State Hospital and Patient Abuse . Appearances identified as Anonymous are absolutely no problem, and I care not if my sentiments are consistent with anyone else's views; happily, I can state that the vast majority of comments posted are very much in support of my concerns, as well as agreeable to the veracity of all presented evidence, to date. But in terms of accepting any input whatsoever with open arms, I will just add that I am in an ongoing learning (educational) process, one which began early on in my total 21 months of residential treatment in the Arizona public mental health care system, and I am more than willing to accept any reasonably experienced and/or legitimate line of feedback as I proceed on this particular course in my life. Even nay-sayers can add to the fundamental information that this blog is designed to establish, in all senses. The value of such feedback is priceless, in my learned opinion. As follows:

   "You have too much time on your hands… Why don't you get a job… Stop filching from the mental health system… You shouldn't  be writing… If you aren't mentally ill… They (ASH) must have helped you if you no longer want to take your life…."  (identified as anonymous)

Obviously, as evidenced in the adobe statements that were posted to this blog about one week go, not each and every submitted bit of visitor commentary submitted to this blog has been 100% positive (only about, oh, 98% or so, and ain't life a bitch, indeed). Specifically, I have in recent weeks been contacted by a person who has defended the substandard conditions at ASH by a person (r persons) unwilling to identify themselves, challenging/attacking my expressions, statements, tone of voice, and even my character. And I have no problem with that, especially when I consider that this person is unable to present any verifiable evidence in contradiction to the vast store of data now available in this blog, or via major Phoenix area media (inc. but not limited to: JJ Hensley of the AZ Republic newspaper; AZFamily/Ch 12; the city of the city's ABC affiliate news station Ch15), and even  Cory Nelson's website "crazycorycorner.weebly.com) or any number of other like sources of valid data that have emerged over the last 24 or more months. Now, as expressed in my introductory statement (above), I definitely welcome all submitted commentary, including those offered under a moniker of "Anonymous". The value of all such feedback, positive or not, does directly serve the ongoing body of evidence that I am including in all aspects of my ongoing research, writing, and publishing of my concerns and related awarenesses specific to the how and whys underlying the endemically substandard conditions at ASH, as they do stand today. For herein lies a broadening body of public sentiment that has everything to do with both the historically proven shortfalls in American society that underlie continuing/insidious discrimination against any person affected by serious mental illness and related disability; as well as the far more crucial presence today of Americans (and beyond, as per my collected commentary, to date) who share my learned concern about the fact that at places like ASH, clinical as well as administrative staff are willing to ignore established law and policy across the board, simply and undeniably on the basis of the related fact that each and every ASH patient is disabled by the acute impacts of serious mental illness.  

As to this most recent "anonymous" commentator, I offer the following:

(A) I do work today, always have; and I can legitimately claim that my work ethic is sound. Anyone who knows me is aware of this. I am 52 years old, and as such, have been a taxpaying American citizen for all but 24 or so months of my adult life. Those 24 months represent that period of my adult life wherein I was affected by the worst impacts of my diagnosed mental illness, including hospitalization at ASH, etc. Outside of that period of time, I have worked since I was 16 years old, never under the table or otherwise in violation of employment law, with no unemployment claims, worker's disability claims, and so on. How about you?

(B) The mental health services thus far provided to me as a taxpaying citizen affected by serious mental illness are supported by state and federal funding that public taxation programs (including income taxes, sales taxes, etc.), and any claims to the effect that I am "leeching" off the public mental health care system are patently inaccurate to the nth degree. Believe whatever you wish, for this the United States, after all, and I don't really give a shit.

(C ) I also voluntarily maintain this blog, by utilizing my educational and formal professional  experience; which does not take nearly so much time and energy as it may appear; not so much time and energy, that is, if you have the requisite education and research and writing experience that someone like myself has. This is not a big deal, either, or a claim of bravado- this is merely the territory that comes via legitimate academic training. As such, I have many associates- past and present- who share my body of acquired skill and underlying  training. I encourage anybody to seek out and accrue such education and related experience. If you are up to it, and/or have have what it takes. And just to add, I am a GED based former college student who earned full academic scholarship support after only one full semester in college at the age of 28 (straight A's, baby, UNM 1993); achievement based scholarship support that continued throughout my full education, right up through law school (University of Arizona, 2001-2003). My work today does include writing, and the pending publication of a manuscript that is based on this blog. Eat your heart out, Bozo.

(D) As to my concerns about the ineptitude of ASH staff such as Laxman Patel: Yes, I have a grudge of sorts, but I know it for what it is, and I am not ashamed, insecure, or otherwise confused about the need to expose what I witnessed and experienced as an ASH patient. I fully intend to keep coming at these Rat Bastards with all/any resources that I have access to, including and foremost my own capabilities as an experienced researcher and writer, including in  relation to my legal education. I do so because of the simple fact that this is the only way to attain meaningful oversight and accountability that all ASH staff are due, this given the simple fact that each and every ASH patient is seriously mentally ill, disabled, vulnerable to negligence, exploitation, and abuse. As per the letter of law. Herein, I might as well ask: How familiar are you with the Arizona Administrative Code (Title 9, Ch. 21), or the Americans With Disabilities Act, or even ASH's own administrative rules and policies?

(E) As to my most personal feelings about these people (Patel and the rest), it is not as though I put any of them on pedestals, or believe that such nincompoops are anything more or less than human, in fact. The fact is, ineptitude arises everywhere and in virtually all professions, but only in places like ASH are such dynamics so directly harmful to persons deserving nothing short of reasonable mental-medical health care, as established by common standards, ethics, and basic civility. For this reason and this reason alone, I refuse to ignore what I know about ASH, in every sense of the idea.   

(F) Likewise- and this is important:  Since day one of this blog's existence, I have made sure to clarify that there are more than a few well intentioned/qualified staff at ASH, each of whom effectively do whatever they can in order to serve the needs of ASH patients. But these good people are a minority, some of whom have been willing to risk their job security in order to cooperate with Phoenix media, such as JJ Hensley of the AZ Republic newspaper, AZFamily/Ch 12, and the city of the city's ABC affiliate news station Ch15; media professionals who have in recent months exposed a range of very egregious administrative misconduct that has put all ASH staff at very real risk of physical injury, as well job security. While hospitalized at ASH, Jan. 2011-Feb. 2012, I did as a matter of fact come to know and even befriend several such good staff at ASH, and as I have stated relatedly in this blog to date, they know exactly who they are: Angels in the desert.  Over the long months of writing this blog, I have been contacted by a total of seven (7) such individuals, each of whom recognize the merits of my writing to date, while also possessing no bad faith intentions in terms of be willing to express their concerns, as they stand. I would love to mention each and every one of them by name, but I know that this would very likely put them in direct risk of retaliation, and that they rely on my willingness to defend their interests just as much as I do those of my former patient-peers at ASH. In this sense, things on my side of the fence are just fine in terms of recognizing the most horrific realities at ASH, and I am for from alone. I somewhat pity those ASH staff who are due direct oversight at this time. But all of you have it coming. Bottom line. 

AND: As to this person's statements that suggest I am not affected serious mental illness: Who is to say that I am not affected even today by suicidal ideation? As though you, Johnny Anonymous, have anything approaching clinical background, education, and so on, by which to declare such a statement. You judge my expressions as grudge based- while you in fact bitch and complain about what I am doing, without presenting an iota of data that can challenge the veracity of my allegations, to date. Including in the context of assuming I am not affected by mental illness, in fact. 

MORON.

The fact is, major depressive disorder and any possibly associated traits (including suicidal ideation) manifests in degrees of acuity. I have been affected by major depression since I was a preadolescent (it is a chronic disease, in fact), and my diagnosis and related history in the context is not unusual. Today I attend one group and one individual therapy session per week, and it is all about the fact I am chronically affected by a well recognized form of serious mental illness. Today, through a regimen of antidepressant drug therapy, and not as a consequence of the conditions at ASH, I am less acutely experiencing the worst impacts major depression, including the presence/affects of suicidal thinking (most specifically in the sense of intent). Just because I am able to write a decent paragraph (or whatever), do not think for a moment that I don't struggle today with some degree of major depression, and so on. And as well- just because I am affected by mental illness, don't think for a moment that I am incapable of possessing a work ethic. For to do so, such thinking only illustrates some of my deepest concenrs about public ignorance and related discriminations against person such as I, which only furthers the insidious presence of associated stigma that has been most detrimental to the mentally ill, in general. All of it, 100% on point with the atrocious misbehavior of the majority of staff at The Arizona State Hospital, senior clinical staff and administrators alike.

   

IN CLOSING: I will say it again. All direct feedback offered to my blog are more than welcome, including the comments posted by this most recent critic. But I still find it… Odd. For not only is this person unwilling to identify him/herself, they are further willing to defend the clearly inept misconduct of those ASH staff who are today known to be out of whack with law, policy, medical ethos and related standards (e.g. Laxman Patel, and any number of other ASH staff, at all levels of employ). Likewise, in spite of not knowing the first thing about me when it comes to my personal history and present, this person feels that there is utility in attacking my character. Given these unusual dynamics, including the fact that this person has yet to cite anything outside of basic opinion (sans anything resembling well founded evidence that proves my claims to be false, in fact), I am willing to declare this critic as a chicken shit, of a sort. 

At least, in my case, I have nothing to hide. 

And trust me, oh reader(s): If there was any lack of truth to my strongest claims, I would have been sued by now, or outright charged under criminal law. But anybody seeking to see me charged (e.g. under slander, unlawful defamation of character, etc.) or otherwise held accountable on a basis of me being guilty of lying in such context needs as a matter of law to prove that my claims are false, in fact.

And these people can't. Bottom line. 

paoloreed@gmail.com

  

ONE MORE UPDATE II, RE: LAXMAN PATEL, M.D. This man was my first attending psychiatric doctor at The Arizona State Hospital. LAXMAN PATEL, and has since been promoted to the very powerful position of Chief Medical Officer at the Arizona State Hospital. Business as usual… At ASH, at least. 

Not to beat a dead horse, but the fact is, each and every mental health professional (or not!) who has heard or in fact seen the factual data that I possess specific to Laxman Patel's flagrant mischaracterization of my personal history has expressed nothing short of shock and dismay. And as well, those such individuals who are aware of the legitimacy of my statements about the substandard conditions and care practices at places like The Arizona State Hospital (state hospitals in general) have expressed sincere appreciation in terms of the significance of my work today. I have no reason to falsely claim these details of my work as it has evolved, which is to say as well, that any person of reasonable conscience who has experience with public mental health care in America today recognizes the fact that state mental hospitals are snake pits of abuse and related incompetence. Today, as it has always been, in effect. 

"The patient reports that his sister let him fondle her when he 6 years old…" 

I will again emphasize the critically harmful impacts of the above mischaracterization. This "doctor's" claim that the event itself was caused by my own behavior (as in, "Let him fondle her…) shifts the fundamental essence of my mental state away from the its causation(s); and in terms of the sexual abuse itself, puts the blame on me, in effect. As though I, while a young boy, had the intention to engage in incestuous behavior. The fact of the matter is, I experienced incestuous sexual abuse when I was 6 year old underlies the deepest damages (harm to me), abuse which  is known to have contributed to my struggles with chronic major depressive disorder, including acute and ongoing suicidal ideation that began when I was thirteen years old. Over the last 18 or so months, as I have researched contemporary literature and related information specific to my diagnosis and disablement in this context, it has become starkly clear to me how grossly maladroit  Patel's misconduct in this matter is, in fact. The presence of child abuse and other like family dysfunction is common to many recognized mental disorders today, and there is simply no excuse for any licensed psychiatric doctor- much less so the current Chief Medical Officer at ASH- to have so deeply mischaracterized this critical detail of my own personal history as it exists in fact, much more so to have altered the fact that I was the victim of sexually abuse, to such an extent that I- the victim- was identified in this record as the perpetrator.

Enter yet again the labyrinth of ineptitude specific to  "Dr." Laxman Patel:

Formal Education Bj Medical College, Gujarat Univ, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India Training Maricopa Medical Center, Psychiatry (Phoenix); University Of Nevada College Of Medicine, Psychiatry.

One more detail that I know today has direct relevance to this man's incompetence is as follows: Approximately 14 weeks into my overall time at ASH, Laxman Patel   formally pursued my (an) immediate discharge. At that point in time, I had been working as well with an ASH therapist named Kevin Jessup. Kevin is a good man, one of the few at the clinical level there at ASH, and my opinion, a very qualified and well intentioned mental heath professional. When he learned of Patel's wish to have me discharged from at ASH at that point in time, he stated in no uncertain terms, "This makes no sense.You're depression is raging, and from I know, you are experiencing very obvious, ongoing suicidal ideation…." With this specific detail in mind, as well as the graphically inept mischaracterization of my personal history that Patel entered to the data included in my Arizona State Hospital Psychiatric Asessment, the evidence is clear that ASH's current Chief Medical Officer is capable of threatening any given ASH patients very life. For if his opinion that I was  due immediate discharge from ASH in late April, 2011, had been heeded, there is a very real likelihood that I would have followed through on my then ongoing suicidal ideation. The implications, as such, are broad, and on this basis, I contend that this so called "doctor" needs to be removed from his position as a state employed mental health care professional currently overseeing the care needs of over 250 seriously mentally ill and disabled Arizona citizens.

Laxman Patel is not unique in terms of the substandard practices of each and every psychiatric doctor I interacted with at ASH. But he is the presiding ASH Chief Medical Officer at this time. He was promoted to the position of CMO in early 2013, after more than three or more decades as a primary attending doctor at ASH; ergo, Patel has in fact been implicated in numerous exposures that relate to the ongoing substandard conditions and practices at ASH. Not directly implicated, per se', but there is also no denying the fact that he was practicing as a primary psychiatric care physician at ASH when such prior interventions occurred, always on behalf of the care needs and related human rights of ASH patients. In the late 1990s, e.g., there was a very serious need for intervention when evidence arose in terms of very illegal restraint and isolation practices at ASH, intervention implemented by the federal government, and through it all, Patel was right there in the thick of it all. The most sickening aspect of this history has to do with the fact that such staff were not morally capable or in any way willing to take action in their own right, this in spite of the shit going on right there in front of them at such periods of time; and the related fact that, when direct intervention occurs, these sorts of state employees are provided protection by the Arizona Office of Attorney General.

There is more to it, of course. Corruption and/or graphic shortfalls are common when it comes to the management practices in any state's public health care system; but in terms of any state's  most at-risk and/or vulnerable citizens, be it children, the elderly, or the seriously mentally ill, this reality takes on heightened significance. For herein there is far more opportunity for hazard posed by the presence of persons willing to neglect, exploit, abuse, of otherwise take unethical advantage of societies most vulnerable population(s). This ugly reality is recognized as an undeniable feature in our shared American history, and is readily illustrated in any range of legitimate literature, public interest information bases, and so on. I attest to the fact that at ASH, such issues are common. Substandard medical-mental health care as a matter of standard practice. 

And they are getting away with it.  

IN CLOSING: I intend to continue thrusting my full energy upon the simple fact that, at The Arizona State Hospital, highly paid and publicly entrusted behavioral health care employees engage in condoning and thus furthering the presence of graphically substandard medical-mental health care at ASH as a matter of standard practice. Laxman Patel is not the only person deserving immediate oversight, as expressed above, for he is today the most highly authorized psychiatric physician at ASH. I will continue shedding light on the issues that I know need redress at ASH, until such a time I have determined that the individuals centrally involved in harming ASH patients over some number of decades are brought to justice. It is beyond personal at this point. The fact is, these matters affect a broad range of people, AZ taxpayers for example, who have reasonable expectations in terms of the the public trust, wherein persons like Will Humble, Cory Nelson, and Joel Rudd are entrusted to abide by any established edicts of law and policy. These matters, as they stand, can be resolved by very practical modes of direct oversight, wherein the one's most responsible for perpetuating the wrongdoing at ASH are held to account. There are federal agencies obligated to address the evidence today, as it stands, and they know it. All things in good time. But only through such processes can meaningful reform occur; reform specific to AZ behavioral health care law and policy, as per the letter of law (inc. but not limited the AZ Administrative Code Title 9 Chapter 21, the Americans With Disabilities Act, etc.), which I know can bring about improving the flow of care that each and every Arizona citizen who turns to ASH deserves. This deserved basis of care extends beyond the patients, to the families of patients, and the public in general. Any one of us might need such services. Bottom line.  

paoloreed@gmail.com

Halloween Fun Is No Joke When It Comes To The Arizona State Hospital

The above photo image (published in the Santa Fe Reporter, October 16, 2013) is drawn from a Halloween spook house sort of thing that is set up just down the road from my current residence in Santa Fe, NM, not far from where I grew up. I saw the scene weeks ago while riding my bicycle, and without any intended jest, I did immediately grasp a relevant significance as applicable to my deepest concerns about the Arizona State Hospital. From the skeletal nurse, reminiscent to the nth degree of the virtually ancient "war horse" nursing staff at ASH, who hold seniority over the vast majority of all other nurses; to the presence of an obviously at risk hospital patient; and a grave stone clearly reflective of some poor person who died as a consequence of the facility's perverted medical staff. As to the senior nursing staff at ASH and at least a few of the higher ranking psychiatric doctors there, these are people who worked at ASH during nearly recent periods of time when direct federal intervention was required in order to address highly unlawful clinical practices at ASH, which occur there as a matter of standard practice. The last time that such intervention arose, to my knowledge, was in the late 1990s, and had to do (in part) with graphically brutal restraint/isolation  practices and related abuses of Arizona's most seriously mentally ill and disabled citizens. The fact is, until the feds stepped in at at that time, ASH staff were willfully engaging in very egregious conduct that shocked the conscience of the public, and some of those same people are still at ASH today, including but not limited to Peggy the abusive and lazy white haired nurse, Dr. Laxman Patel, Dr. Ruby Ramos-Roxas, and any number of other like monsters who are incapable of abiding by commonly established codes of civility and related medical standards- until that is, the feds come in told them knock it the f--- off. In no uncertain terms, this is something I came to realize while I was there at ASH, and information came to me about such prior interventions, the simple fact that no person of conscience would have ever agreed to participate in such brutal treatment. 

Except at ASH, that is, where the treatment practices are somewhat necessarily ten steps behind the real world. This is the core reality when it comes to state mental hospitals, as proven again and again over the last century (if not more); and in this sense, I learned the hard way that nothing really changes when it comes to the presence in our society of individuals who are overtly sadeo-masochistic, and who actively seek out those places in the modern landscape where they know that they can get away with their sickeningly unjust misconduct. As with the recently prosecuted ASH security guard, Roger James Forney, who was exposed in local to Phoenix media as a child abusing pervert not quite one full year ago today, and had until that time also been engaged in psychologically abusing patients at ASH- such as myself, and I attest to that- through undue threats of physical harm, and related exploitation of his given authority at ASH. As a freaking security guard. These examples are 100% on point with the manner in which any range of sociopathic or outright psychopathic individuals go about setting themselves up in places where the targets of their sickening desires are vulnerable to attack, be it neighborhoods adjacent to schoolyards, alleyways in darkest corners of our town and cities, and so on. Patient abuse is highly illegal in any setting, and given that ASH is a facility granted the privilege of tending to out most seriously mentally ill and disabled citizen-peers, the issue takes an a heightened significance.

For only a beast(s) of bloodthirsty character would be willing to abuse any of the patients in  a hospital setting such as ASH. The worst of the worst, in all senses.

IN CLOSING: As I said already, some things never change, and only through rigorous oversight and accountability can we, the public, reasonably assure that  our most fundamental expectations are met whenever it comes to trusting state agencies and employees to care for our most vulnerable populations. This applies in terms of at-risk children, the elderly and infirm, and without a doubt, anybody affected by serious mental illness and disability. I will also say again that there are more than a few very goodhearted persons working at ASH (and you know who you are- Jewels in a Desert), but they are the minority. In this context, the most senior ranking nursing and psychiatric staff at ASH only attained such seniority through willfully participating in every sense imaginable in the worst possible wrongdoing at ASH. As proven in more than one very recent media report, those staff at ASH willing to blow the whistle on issues that they know to be illegal, unreasonable, or otherwise in need of attention, are directly subjected to Cory Nelson's (and all other such administrative staff, at ASH and beyond, in the greater ADHS/BHS construct) threats specific to job security, general safety, and so on. 

IT IS THAT BAD. 

paoloreed@gmail.com

Irony Personified. The relationship between the underlying causation of major depressive disorder and the grossly abusive and substandard conditions at The Arizona State Hospital. 

Wherein, I illustrate the fact that the psychological, emotional, and in at least two events, physical abuse that I experienced  while hospitalized in the state of Arizona's sole long term public mental heath facility not only triggered my most deep set memories of abuse that I suffered as a child (and did in fact trigger/worsen acute suicidal ideation that had effectively begun ebbing somewhat- until that point in time that I was admitted to ASH); but went even further in terms of me recalling my most heartfelt concerns for any person(s) affected by clear and potentially harmful disadvantage. As in the "weak", or otherwise at-risk human beings, who I- as an abused child- realized the hard way are in perpetually need of protection from individuals capable of abusive behavior, as described herein. Concerns that I came to understand well before adulthood, in relation to my learned recognition of how damaging such abuse is, in fact. It took licensed medical practitioners working at The Arizona State hospital who are willing to flaunt their disregard of civility and established heath care standards, in language that was tantamount to "This is how it is, and there it nothing you can do about it", all of it 100% on point with how I was treated as an abused child. Ironic, to say that least, that being reminded of these things serves as the basis of my work today, specific to doing all that I can to show those wrongdoers that there is, in fact, quite a bit I can do in order to bring about the due oversight and accountability in this context.  

I spent the first five months of my total time at The Arizona State Hospital on the Palo Verde (east) unit, as per the direction of my referring psychiatrist in Tucson, Dr. Stoker (University of Arizona Medical Center), who specifically requested that I be placed and treated in the most peaceful and reasonably safe setting at ASH, this as per my personal history, related diagnosis and behavioral characteristics; including the simple fact that I was physically and psychologically abused as a child, and the attendant fact that I have no history of engaging in violent are aberrant behavior (outside of suicidal ideation). In the eight months that I spent in Tucson areas mental health facilities (pre-ASH), these aspects of my history and related behavioral characteristics had been clearly established, and included as such in my various pre-ASH hospital records. While on the Palo Verde unit, I experienced an immediate form of psychological abuse (ridicule in relation to reasonable worry that I about other ASH patients), imparted by a virtually ancient charge nurse named Peggy, that was on point with the abuse I suffered as a boy (ridicule, neglect, and related abuse imparted on me by a parent when I was a young boy). This particular incident included me being ridiculed (by her) because I was basically spooked by the atmosphere at ASH, again, in my first few days in a full on insane asylum, for the first time in my then 49 year old life. I had requested the option to remain on the Palo Verde unit for dinner, rather than having ot go into the outside grounds of ASH where a common cafeteria exists, simply because I was not yet familiar with ASH and had very real worry about the possible hazards; and this craggy old white haired nurse, Peggy, literally expressed sarcastic comments that I know were designed to antagonize, shame, and/or otherwise make me feel as though my concerns were not deserving of basic respect. At the time, I was downright shocked by this woman's attitude, for it was clear to me that she intended to harm whatever sense of safety I actually had at the time, presuming as I did that should I be afraid of venturing out into the wider patient community at ASH, staff would respect me, and grant me the simple request to remain on the unit at that time. ASH patients do as a matter of fact have the option and right to eat either on their assigned unit, or in the common cafeteria setting. But as I learned, this nurse shared the some willingness to psychologically abuse her patients that many of the nursing and technician staff at ASH possess. I attest to witnessing and experiencing her ineptitude and arguable cruelty on regular basis. It is that bad. 

Not long after that, another Palo Verde (east) charge nurse named Mary Ann literally screamed at me because I sought to be given a sleeping medication immediately before actually going to bed, which is precisely when the medication in this case is designed to be taken. This nurse was anxious to get out the door, and my request to take this medication arose about 10-15 minutes before her shift end (10:45 p.m.). Rather than calmly state her wishes in that context, this particular charge nurse exploded in a fit of rage, screaming at the top of her lungs "You have too too much nerve! How dare you make me do this right before I get off! You are going to learn to take direction!" This exhibition of violent behavior basically freaked me out, and in the ensuing hour or so, as I went to bed, I experienced the same physiological responses that I experienced when, as a young boy, one of my parents fell into a pattern psychological (screaming, threatening), emotional (ridiculing, threatening) , and at times physical abuse. Along with one incident of sexual abuse when I was 6 year old, these elements of my personal history have everything to do with the manifestation of major depressive disorder in my psychological condition, including my deeply embedded suicidal ideation. This was not the only time that the nurse Mary Ann blew her lid in this manner (but to memory, it was the first such event in her specific case); and as time passed, she was actually reprimanded at one point (in tandem with the aforementioned Peggy ) in direct relation to a violation of my fundamental civil rights (to contact a state patient rights' advocacy office via telephone at anytime, versus arguably unreasonable rules and restrictions on phone use); following my having reported this violation of my civil rights, ASH staff were ordered to post signs above the patient telephones that state the legally based fact that any ASH patient has the unalienable right to contact legal or advocacy based agencies/individuals at any point in time they so wish. I attest to this, and I have the data to prove it.  

IRONY PERSONIFIED.

I mention these two simple examples of staff misconduct at ASH for the following reason: 

My motivation to take on the task of addressing and exposing the substandard conditions at ASH arose directly out of my being triggered by this abuse, as it relates to abuse in my childhood which is known today as underlying my symptoms specific to major depressive disorder, and associated traits, including mild to moderate PTSD, and acute/chronic suicidal ideation. The irony herein is clear, for it took me being abused again- just as I was as a young child- for me to attain a basic understanding of this very detail of my state of mind and emotions, in the context of my very real diagnosis and related mental health treatment needs today. And much as I recognized as a boy, the deeply unjust and harmful impacts of these forms of grossly unjust such abuse (which did in fact lead me to seriously consider suicide at the age of thirteen), I again sensed this while at ASH, where the abuse I experienced in these sorts of instances triggered the same neurological disturbances that arose when my older family members abused me well over 40 years ago. This realization taught me the hard way how damaging such mistreatment is, but it took being subjected to such abuse as an adult patient in Arizona's sole long term public mental health hospital to see this, in fact. Ironically indeed, unexpectedly and undesirably (quite frankly), as I struggled to understand my own personal needs in the context of my mental health, these patterns of abuse at ASH led me straight into my work today, as it stands. For I know today that the highest ranking clinical staff at ASH willfully abuse the emotional and psychological challenges that all ASH patients have to live with day in and day out, and this abuse occurs with direct complicity of ASH's administrative staff. In my own case, during my time at ASH, I did consider a means to take my life on the basis of my feeling as though the greater world around me has no interest in whether I live or die, and there is no more clear evidence specific to my thinking then, than the grossly depraved misconduct of ASH staff, as it arises on a daily level, and as illustrated in these 2 basic examples. Suffice it to say, my records and overall writing to date is rife with such examples, including names and dates. Herein the identifiable crisis that I am seeking to resolve.

IN CLOSING: There are many good people working at The Arizona State Hospital (and you know who you are- Jewels in the Desert!). But due to the presence of senior clinical staff who have virtual control/power over the majority of lower ranking staff, and who as exemplified above, are basically accustomed to treating ASH patients like dirt, such "good people" are the minority. I am convinced that the only way to advance in staff hierarchy at ASH is by cooperating with the highly unlawful misconduct of ASH administrators and senior clinical staff. This particular dynamic was exposed by the dishonesty of Hospital administrators such as former ASH supervisor Cory "crazycorycorner" Nelson, exhibited/proven in recent Phoenix ABC Ch15 news reports), wherein it was shown that ASH staff as a whole are threatened by the possibility of being fired, should they raise their voice in terms of speaking out against the deplorable conditions at ASH, whether or not specific to patient needs, of those of ASH staff. In my case, I was initially faced with the illegitimate recommendation of Laxman Patel that I be discharged, in spite of still being acutely suicidal; and later, very clear retaliation that was imparted on me by former ASH Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steven Dingle, and Cory Nelson (yet another example of tandem participation in these practices, as illustrated above by two ASH charge nurses, above). To date,  I think of the better staff at ASH everyday, as I work to maintain a dedication to seeing that the one's most responsible in for these issues be brought to justice, via direct oversight and accountability, as per the letter of law in any modern society. 
In with the good, out with the bad, in other words. 

For if not for the better staff at ASH, I might still be mired in the substandard care practices and conditions at ASH. Or, as a matter of fact, dead today. I will never forget that, or them. 

The fact is, I hold the good people in a state of sincere esteem, appreciation, and at times, outright awe. I could not do what they do. Jewels in the Desert, each and every one of them.   

paoloreed@gmail.com

UPDATE RE: LAXMAN PATEL, M.D. This man was my first attending psychiatric doctor at The Arizona State Hospital. LAXMAN PATEL, and has since been promoted to the very powerful position of Chief Medical Officer at the Arizona State Hospital. Business as usual… At ASH, at least. 

(This material relates to and is derived of a previously published article here in this blog, September 20, 2013)

"Mr. ------ (the patient) reports that his sister allowed him to fondle her when he was 6 years old…:

The following academic article, published by the well qualified staff in the cited group (below) is just one example of well established medical standards as they apply to the required conduct of any licensed medical provider granted the privilege of overseeing the care needs of a seriously mentally and disabled person being provided services via public health care. 

Survivors of Incest Anonymous http://www.siawso.org

The Effects of Child Sexual Abuse on the Adult              Survivor. Any sexual contact, covert or overt, between a child and a trusted individual that damaged the child, whether these contacts included suggestive remarks, pornography, fondling or acts of sexual aggression or torture, needs to be dealt with assertively. These contacts scar virtually all facets of victims' lives since we are left with little or no self-esteem. At least one out of five boys and one out of three girls will be abused before they reach the age of eighteen. The child’s emotional growth will be arrested at the age of the first attack, and we have found the surviving victim won't begin to work on recovery until adulthood, if then. Boys, as well as girls, are victims of child  sexual abuse. Abusers come in all shapes and sizes. Many perpetrators were perceived by the child to be an authority, including: father, grandfather, mother, brother, uncle, friend of the family, aunt, teacher -- unfortunately the list is endless. Some of the social maladjustments arising from incest are: alcoholism, drug addiction, self-injury, prostitution, promiscuity, sexual disfunction and suicide. Eating or sleeping disorders, migraines, back or stomach pains are just a few of the serious physical consequences that we may suffer. Food, sex, alcohol and/or drugs deaden painful memories of the abuse and obscure reality temporarily. If for instance we perceive obesity to be unattractive, and if we believe or were told that we were abused because we were attractive, we may overeat in a misguided yet totally understandable attempt to defend ourselves from further sexual assault. (end of article)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I have illustrated in the past, my statements to this so called psychiatric professional, at that point in time wherein he was required to conduct a formal diagnostic assessment specific to my personal history as it relates to my diagnosis and related treatment needs, did include the very serious fact that I was sexually abused by an older sister when I was 6 or 7 years old. Not only was I willing to trust and share this aspect of my deepest private life affairs with Patel at that time, it is also significant to the nth degree that my priorly established mental health records do include this specific information, as established by those who treated me prior to my referral ASH. As per these records, and my statements to a man who is now the Chief Medical Officer at ASH, the incident itself has no bearing on my behavior in this context (I did not "fondle" my sibling in this context- I was raped), for as I told him in that assessment process, I had no idea of what was going on, in truth, when my older sister connived me into a physical interaction that is 100% on point with the definition of incest. As such, I was raped, as per legal definition today. I made the factual details of what happened very, very clear to Patel when we sat down and went through this very critical diagnostic assessment, about 24 hours after I arrived at ASH, early January, 2011.

BUT WHAT DID DR. LAXMAN PATEL RECORD IN HIS OFFICIAL RECORD SPECIFIC TO THE ASSESSEMENT ITSELF, IN DIERCT RELATION TO MY STATEMENTS IN THIS CONTEXT?


"The patient reports that his sister allowed him to fondle her when he was 6 year old."
o

The record specific to this matter  is documented, and included in my ASH records, in my possession. The details specific to this highly disturbing incident from my childhood has everything to do with my known diagnosis, as it stood when I was faced with having to accept Dr. Laxman Patel as my primary doctor at ASH: Major depressive disorder and associated traits, including acute suicidal ideation. And more shocking than his proven ineptitude in this case, is the fact that Patel is now THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER AT ASH! There is no reasonable justification for why or how this highly experienced psychiatric physician could have so graphically mischaracterized my personal testimony, testimony which arises via the required trust relationship that any licensed medical practitioner asks a patient to engage in. No justification whatsoever, thus implying that Dr. Laxman Patel- WHO IS NOW THE ACTING CHEIF MEDICAL OFFICER AT ASH- is utterly lacking the capability to serve his patients in manner consistent with their very crucial needs. For how it can it be that I am the only ASH patient subjected to such substandard treatment provided by this man? He has worked at ASH for decades and is the most experienced doctor there, and has thus been the assigned primary psychiatric physician for hundreds of individuals over the years, and is today assigned to full the highest level of medial authority in the Hospital itself, where at any given time, close to three hundred seriously mentally ill and disabled adults are due the established medical standards that any American expects today. Herein my awareness that the abuse and related incompetence that I witnessed experienced at ASH is far from unique or exclusive. 

It is, in fact, a matter of standard practice at The Arizona State Hospital. Graphically substandard medical-mental health care that defies applicable law and policy, and they are getting away with it.

IN CLOSING: Need I say more? Rape and incest in the country of India, where Laxman Patel was raised, educated, and socially oriented before he immigrated to the United States (sometime in the 1970s, I believe), is increasingly being identified in international media reports as one of the most critical problems in the modern world today. It is identified, as such, as a critical human rights issue on an international scale, and it is clear that India's most privileged class of citizens (persons just like Patel) have willfully turned a blind eye towards these issues as a matter societal and cultural standard practice. I have no reason to fabricate this fact, and only recently acquired a semblance of understanding in terms of how and why this so called psychiatric doctor could have so miserably failed to comprehend the significance of my personal history, as it relates to rape and incest, and my associated mental health diagnosis. Herein, I contend lies legitimate data that has direct relatedness in terms of graphic disconnect between The Arizona State Hospitals senior clinical staff and the needs of their patients. It is sickening to experience, and I can attest to that. These people flaunted their willingness to ignore all/any aspects of commonly understood health care and ethics while I was under their authority, and they are still getting away with it now. Obviously, as exemplified by the fact that this man is now Chief Medical Officer at ASH. 

It is that bad.

paoloreed@gmail.com 

Reader-Visitor Comments

I am very  appreciative of each and every person willing to add their voice to the evolution of this blog. Appearances identified as Anonymous are absolutely no problem, and I care not if my sentiments are consistent with anyone else's views; happily, I can state that the vast majority of comments posted are very much in support of my concerns, as well as agreeable to the veracity of all presented evidence, to date. But in terms of accepting any input whatsoever with open arm, I will just add that I am in an ongoing learning process, one which began early on in my total 21 months of residential treatment in the Arizona public mental health care system, and I am more than willing to accept any reasonably experienced and/or legitimate line of feedback as I proceed on this particular course in my life. The value of such feedback is priceless, in my learned opinion, as follows:

     "I work in a group home for individuals with SMI. In the over 9 years that I have worked here, I have had the pleasure of working with former patients of ASH, there were no reports of abuse and they did well at my facility, however that was before your time spent there. I found your writings to be well written and powerful. I am proud of you for taking your life back, you seem to be headed in the right direction with your new found passion. I agree that people get hurt when "the system" fails, and it is unfortunate that it doesn't seem like it is going to get any better." (Anonymous 10/12/13)

As per my practice to date, I want to express my deep and sincere gratitude for "anonymous('s)" input at this time. I sense that you, good person, are very up to the task of meaningfully serving your clients' needs, this just from your tone of voice, and related understanding of mental health care as it stands today, as per your stated experience. I am doing far better today than I might have ever imagined, particularly in terms of how it felt to me to be an ASH patient, and yes, I have gradually taken "my life back" as time has passed since my Febraury 2012 discharge from ASH. Thank you for your kind words. 

I will add my feeling that the abuse at ASH is not something that many of my former patient-peers were terribly concerned about, for no reason other than the affects serious mental illness, with all aspects of what that means in terms of being a full time patient in a place like ASH (with the attendant medication, and so on) in mind. The fact is, many of the patients at ASH are simply not aware of the underlying laws and related ethics specific to health care, and at least some of them are not lucid and/or rational enough to understand what is going on there, in fact. Herein, the nature of serious mental illness, in combination with aggressive drug therapy (pyscho-tropic medications, etc.), and the simple fact that some proportion of ASH patients have been gravely affected by mental illness for the entirety of their adult lives, or longer. Such individuals just don't know better, in other words, for the presence of abject discrimination against them is all they have ever experienced, including any variety of forms of abuse. I can also attest, however, to the fact that I knew more than a few arguably permanent residents at ASH who had- in fact- experienced abuse in one of another of its varied forms (physical, psychological, emotional, etc.), only to be graphically retaliated against (as I was) when they opted to seek meaningful redress, and so on. At least one of my closest friends there lived his life in sincere and legitimate fear of staff, as a result of this reality at ASH. And the worst part of it may be, relates the fact that those ASH patients most severely affected by mental illness, including and especially those who the dismally inept ASH psychiatrists consider "beyond hope" (as it were, including in the context of having no family or other like support in their lives today) are the ones who suffer the worst treatment, on the bare bones basis that such individuals have little to no recourse in terms of speaking up for themselves. With standard practice methods of retaliation awaiting anytime an ASH patient cries "FOUL!", the options are pretty scarce. At this juncture of my work, I am indeed looking a these sorts of concepts, for there has to be a reason underlying how and why the wrongdoing at ASH has gone on as it has, seemingly unabated and without reasonable oversight, accountability, etc.

Likewise, I feel that the patients at ASH may indeed see better times, and the "system", as it were, is due actual reform that I sincerely feel is on its way. Not to mention that any system is comprised of individuals, who in this case are readily identifiable, and therein ripe for direct accountability. Furthermore, it is clear to me that a range of features to Arizona's public health care system, including in terms of any seriously mentally ill person's right to due process and equal protection in the context of grievance reports and like matters, illustrate  very obvious gaps in relation to current state and federal law, and I am well on the way in terms of getting this across to authorities who share my concerns, as they have arisen over the last three years.

My heartfelt wish that all of your clients enjoy life to the fullest possibility, good person- and you, as well. As much as I know it appears that I abhor mental health care providers (as per my rant-like writing), the fact is, I deeply respect and value the presence of those of anyone willing to serve the critical needs of persons affected by serious mental illness. I have long said- "I could never do it…", this with respect for what I have learned in terms of how difficult such work is. My own ego, and related humility (I hope), is able to grasp how valuable your very presence in the landscape is. Please keep up this immeasurably good work, for you will be rewarded in spades when the time comes. This, the virtue of service in all senses.

Peace and frogs to all individuals sincerely dedicating themselves to caring for any person or persons affected by severe disability, in any context. You people are the jewels in the sea today. Just in case you forgot….

In respect and gratitude, I am:

paoloreed@gmail.com

PJ Reed: The Arizona State Hospital 

and Patient Abuse (ASH)

NOTE: OVER 85 COPIES OF THIS PERSONAL STATEMENT DOCUMENT WAS DISTRIBUTED IN PRINTED FORM AT NO LESS THAN THREE FORMAL GATHERINGS THIS WEEK IN SANTA FE, NM, ORGANIZED AS PART OF MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK, WHICH IS FORMALLY CONCLUDING OVER THE UPCOMING WEEKEND. BUT ON MONDAY OF NEXT WEEK, I WILL BE ATTENDING/PRESENTING AT YET ONE MORE CONFERENCE GATHERING IN THE CONTEXT. SUFFICE IT TO SAY, I HAVE HAD A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE, AND THEN SOME. SO THERE IS MORE TO COME. AS ALWAYS....

Hello. My name is Patrick, aka PJ Reed. I have little to fall back upon in introducing this text beyond my immediate past history. But I will state here and now, that all aspects of this writing directly relates to the drastically substandard conditions, care practices, and overall flow of treatment at The Arizona State Hospital (2500 East Van Buren St., Phoenix, AZ). I can attest  as to the merits of my statement as it stands at this time, because I very recently discharged from ASH (Feb. 2012), following undergoing thirteen full months of abject mistreatment there, in relation to my mental health diagnosis of major depressive disorder and associated traits, including suicidal ideation (and attempts). It is my  express intent to illustrate in full detail the fact that virtually staff psychiatrists at ASH, and a substantial proportion of staff nurses and technicians alike, engage in abuse of the most fundamental rights of ASH patients in a manner and to a degree that is irrefutably beyond acceptance in this day in age. This abuse takes every imaginable form in the context of contemporary health care, and acquires a heightened significance in the context of persons-patients affected by serious mental illness and disability. Hospital administrators and associated Arizona Department of Health/Behavioral Health Services work in unison in order to condone the ongoing violations of patient rights as a matter of standard protocol, and anytime well founded data arises that so much suggests such problems they take this wrongdoing just that much further by both distorting the truth as it emerges, and/or engaging in highly illegal methods of retaliation that cuts to the heart of the public trust in all senses.

All accounts of my experiences are drawn from straight forward  fact(s), accrued during my time at ASH, and detailed in a number of journals and related documented evidence. I have no reason to share my experiences beyond my recognition of how deeply inhumane much of the care and treatment of ASH patients is. If I was in this for personal gain, be it of a financial nature, etc., I would taken any number of other serious action long ago, perhaps in the form of a civil law suit. But I know that if I were to go that route, the issues I most deeply concerned about would not receive the requisite attention that I feel needs to be directed to the broader concerns that I know apply to this crisis, as it stands; and would instead be swept under the rug, which is precisely what each and every individual responsible for this wrongdoing would far prefer. My learned awareness of government and public policy basically demands that I use my full body of acquired skills as a writer and researcher, in direct relation to my status as a one time law student, in order to thoroughly bring the full nature of these issues to light. This level of exposure is critical to the needs and justified expectations of anybody having a vested interest in ASH, including family members, and even those ASH staff who are unable to perform their duties- as per state employment contracts- due to the undeniable willingness of senior clinical and administrative staff to engage in unlawful methods of intimidation and retaliation in terms of job security, on the job safety, and other like forms of employee mismanagement. 

These problems extend well beyond the walls and fence lines of ASH (the facility), for the fact is, high ranking staff in Arizona's behavioral health care system are complicit in condoning or otherwise endorsing a grossly depraved level mental-medical health care. Most specifically, I am very familiar with the fact that staff members in the ADHS/BHS Office of Grievances and Appeals utilize the relative complexity of applicable procedural law in order to stymie any attempts of someone such as myself to bring these issues to light via established protocol. Such protocol, as found in the procedural manuals at ASH, and more importantly, as spelled out in the Arizona Administrative code, has direct bearing on the public trust, but via the willingness of these highly paid state employees to defy such protocol, the public in general has been denied a vast range of due information specific to the realities at ASH. These denials also have very critical significance in terms of patient rights, and the most serious impacts of this misconduct lands squarely on the heads of ASH patients. It is that simple. It is that bad.

I am more than willing to publicize the most private aspects of my personal life history, as it stands today, because the patient abuse at ASH has to stop.  

My story in relation to the Arizona State Hospital began as follows:

I was formally diagnosed as person affected by serious mental illness for the first time in spring, 2010. I was 49 years old, and the diagnosis arose following my fourth attempt to commit suicide in as many years. At that point in time, I made the conscious choice to seek final resolution to my struggles with depression via the health care system on the outright basis of having not successfully killed myself. I know, this sounds intense, the trying to kill myself, and all. But in fact, it was anything but that, and I experienced all of it as a process. At the time, I had nothing much to gain, and nothing at all to lose. Prior to then, in spite of being affected by depression and suicidal ideation since I was a boy, I had never sought help in terms of addressing these specific facets of my personal state of mind and emotion. The fact is, I did not recognize my very real need, as it were, which may have been a matter of denial, consistent with the fact that I then shared the same well recognized forms of stigma towards mental illness that many Americans exhibit today. But once I did begin the process of seeking such help, I made an associated conscious decision to maintain openness and good faith in my various care givers as they appeared. Therein, during my initial weeks in a Tucson area mental hospital, I came to learn that I was needful and deserving of far more care and treatment than I ever comprehended. At the urging of more than one of these early care givers, I also decided to stick it out, and not follow my often present desire to leave that Tucson hospital in order to go about my business, specific to my long standing intention to commit suicide. That was the beginning of twenty one full months of hospitalization in the Arizona public health care system.

The treatment and care provided me in Tucson was most definitely up to reasonable standard, and afforded me an associated willingness to trust my psychiatrists. No serious issues emerged during that pre-ASH period of my treatment, and as a result, I possessed no predisposition about any aspect of what was coming, as it were. Following a number of months in several Tucson area facilities, during which time my basic lack of interest in life somewhat remained, I made the very difficult decision to cooperate with the idea of being referred to ASH. Misgivings on my part included a very real discomfort with ongoing treatment- at the expense of the public- that did not seem to have much affect on me, in terms of my state of mind and deeper sentiments towards suicide, but one of my caregivers at ASH reassured me that I was deserving of extended treatment at ASH.

It need be said that the provision of mental health care in Tucson has nothing to do with the fact that my state  of mind remained somewhat static during that  time. Likewise, that those first eight months of treatment in Tucson area mental health care facilities was not always pleasant, nor free of problems in terms of staff conduct. On a certain  level, this is to be expected,  for no such  facility functions entirely free of
conflict. However, I fully believe that all members of the medical team that referred me to ASH had no reason to suspect that my treatment at ASH would dive so profoundly below medical-mental health care standards. Indeed, none of us could have imagined that over a period of thirteen full months (at ASH) I would witness and experience systematic and overtly sanctioned wrongdoing, extending as it does well into the highest offices of state health department officials; or that I would thus come to develop into  a dedicated advocate-activist in relation to the rights and well being of all persons associated with ASH, from the ASH patient community and all given family, to the many good people at ASH who, in fact try and serve the needs of ASH pateints. Sadly, at this time, such staff are the minority.

SUBSTANDARD MEDICAL-MENTAL HEALTH CARE AS A MATTER OF STANDARD PRACTICE AND THEY ARE GETTING AWAY WITH IT.

As stated, I spent thirteen full months at ASH, and for the entirety of my time there, I did witness and experience clear and unavoidable violations of established medical-mental health care standards on near daily basis. The attendant stress brought about by being exposed to such a setting was at times traumatic, and directly damaged whatever semblance of emotional and mental stability I had following my initial eight months of treatment in Tucson. And no matter how clearly I made my concerns in this context to each and every senior care provider at ASH, I was met with utter disrespect and patented denial(s), which in time took the form of very real, undeniable retaliation that was imparted upon me by the highest ranking administrative staff at ASH. With my still active suicidal ideation and other diagnostic features in mind, it was all I could do to survive this trauma, at times. In hindsight, I am sincerely concerned about the fact that my experiences at ASH are far from unique. I contend that this applies at ASH, as well as with respect for public mental health care in general. In terms of persons hospitalized in such settings (as I was), the harm is irrefutable and potentially deadly, both in terms of the patent, and the public, albeit shrouded and well off the radar screen of public awareness. No person unfamiliar with the the inner realties of a place like ASH would easily be able to fathom the things I witnessed and experienced there. On the other hand, most anyone having such awareness knows all too well how critical this issue is today.

It is that simple. It is that bad.

There is an ongoing national discourse today that has everything to do with the known shortfalls of public mental health care in America, and there is escalating concern in relation to a number of very tragic occurrences, including mass shootings and other like horrors that  may very well may have happened in direct relation to recognized shortfalls in the context. I have included in my documented data more than one specific issue arising at ASH during my time there, that did in fact lead to tragedy well outside of the walls and fence lines of the facility itself, in combination with the ongoing employment of persons who both caused the given tragedy itself, and who still do all they can to deny such truths, no matter how legitimate the basis of such data.

This is where I come in, as a direct line witness to the realities in a modern American state's sole long term public mental health care facility. As such, the whole of my statement has direct bearing on national policy in this context.

The whole of my testimony has to do with safety.

My story is one that can expose the ongoing presence and severe impacts of endemic discrimination, neglect, and outright abuse of seriously mentally ill adults who have nowhere else to turn but our public state hospitals when and if the issue of chronic mental illness is at stake. This applies in the context of the afflicted, as well as in the interests of the public. For if, in these places that all Americans are led to believe seriously mentally ill persons are safe in their own right, the applied standards of care are not up to par with the greater standards in effect outside of such facilities, a radical disconnect will be furthered in terms of a wide range of public interest concerns. This disconnect, in turn, can, will, and has- including in the context of ASH at this time- led to direct negative impacts on the greater good, far too often in the form of avoidable tragedy.  Given my experiences, and the very real presence of such data, I know for a fact that some proportion of America's most seriously mentally ill and disabled adults are being subjected to mistreatment that many Americans presume has been successfully banned and eliminated, this as per well recognized history specific to state mental hospitals, and related improvements in state and federal law that was intended to bring such mistreatment to an end once and for all. And while such mistreatments and related shortfalls in state mental health care have long been banned, in fact, the harsher reality still exists that in places like ASH, highly at risk adults, historically known to be vulnerable to neglect, exploitation, and abuse, are still being subject to sickeningly inhumane care and practice. At ASH, this is a matter of standard practice.

From a legal standpoint:

Under bright line state and federal law, the Arizona State Hospital- and any other like state mental health facility- is a public (health care) entity. Such public entities function under very strict authority, as per the principles and provisions of numerous statutes and  public policy mandates, including but not limited to the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights (Title V, Section 501 of the Mental Health Systems Act 42 U.S.C.), The Americans With Disabilities Act, and the Hospital Information Portability and Protection Act. Such specific   standards of law bear immediate significance in relation to all/any aspects of ASH's function and actual operation, including in terms of any person(s) directly responsible for abiding law as critical as these. Critical because all persons affected by severe disability in any context are deserving of direct protection on the basis of said disability, this given the known history of shortfalls when it comes to persons who are afflicted, as such; and given this history, we are all (Americans, in effect) well acquainted with the related discriminations of the seriously mentally ill. I mention these specific edicts of common law because as an ASH patient, state citizen (taxpayer and consumer of public services), and human being, I rightfully expected nothing more or less than reasonable medical care when I came to accept the fact that ASH was the place for me to be, as person affected by serious mental illness, needing as I did then, formal long term medical-mental health care. My expectation(s) were 100% consistent with what all/any public mental health care facilities are obligated to provide. Any verifiable evidence to the effect that ASH, or any other like public health care facility across the board- anywhere in the United States today- is failing to abide by such edict is due immediate attention in the form of rigorous oversight and accountability. This is a matter of law, and there is no justified reason for allowing such conditions to exist.

 A BIT MORE HISTORY:

As stated above, I spent close to eight months undergoing treatment of my mental health needs at several well operated shorter term facilities in Tucson, AZ; at which time, I was referred for continuing treatment to Arizona's sole long term public mental hospital, The Arizona State Hospital, in Phoenix. This referral was implemented via a cooperative process (between myself and my Tucson based care givers) and the terms of a civil commitment, as per applicable Arizona law. In reaching that point, my Tucson caregivers afforded me thoughtful conferencing as matter of reasonable care, and in doing so, I know for a fact that my primary tucson psychiatrist directly consulted with ASH admissions representatives in terms of my specific needs. In short, I went from the conditions of a level one "acute unit"  in Tucson (such units are where the very most unstable patients are referred by police, and so on, markedly volatile, as such), to the conditions at ASH. In theory, one would expect that the professionalism of staff in any state's public mental hospital would be comparable to such cute units, if not better. But I learned the hard way that there is no comparison. It was like night and day, as though I had been transferred from the society I had lived in for close to fifty years to a realm inhabited by licensed practitioners and trusted health care authorities who exhibit little to no understanding of health care ethics, common civility, or state/federal law and policy as it applies in such settings.  I attest to this wholeheartedly.

Via my very real experiences at ASH, I am willing to believe that such conditions also exist in any number of state mental hospitals. This is on point and consistent with the history of such facilities, and while things today may certainly be "better" than they were in the past (?), I contend that the function and operation of such hospitals will, as a matter of undeniable evidence, always require very high degrees of oversight and related accountability. This reality is inherent to such distributions of public resources and related authority, and is especially acute anytime the citizens most at risk are affected by severe disability, in any context.

The untreated impacts of my nearly life long mental illness literally derailed my life over time, in what I can only describe today as a long, at times painful, and very arduous (slow burn) process that began when I was a boy. Following attending and doing very well in college (in my 30s and early 40s), including a BA (UNM 1996, Magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, general honors), an MA (UA 2000), and two full years of achievement based/scholarship supported law school (James Rogers College of Law, UA 2001-2003), I increasingly fell into deep and unrelenting crisis that arose in direct relation to my life long struggle with depression. This directly contributed to my active decision to leave law school when I did, and subsequently led to acute suicidal ideation, on a level I had never experienced it, including attempts. It took five years of this level of struggle before I finally began seeking help in the Arizona public mental health care system.

IN CLOSING   When I agreed to enter into the legal proceeding by which I was referred to ASH, I harbored no predisposition in terms of my expectations as a tax paying citizen of Arizona, and my willingness to take part in that part was 100% of good faith. I was mentally ill, at risk of harming myself, and I knew it. Once at ASH, as the worst affects of my depression somewhat subsided over a period of 3-6 months (far more as the direct consequence of my ongoing medication regimen- drug therapy- and my own self directed physical health activities, than as that of the flow of clinical "treatment" that I experienced at ASH), I found myself taking a renewed interest in my environment, which inadvertently and very unexpectedly led drew me into the process of doing all that I (can) to address the substandard care and practices at ASH. In reaction to this (my efforts in this vein, while actually hospitalized at ASH), I was subjected to very real clinical and administrative retaliation. This described retaliation underscores the extent to which abuses of patient rights exists at ASH at this time. For all I was trying to do, in fact, was exercise my fundamental rights and related responsibility in terms of reporting patient abuse at ASH- or any other like crime, in fact, anywhere in America today. This nature of retribution for doing the right thing is patently unacceptable to anyone of reasonable conscience, and I further contend that there is a very real need for any persons, organizations, or other like entities claiming a good faith interest in the mental health care crisis in America today, to take a heartfelt stand in support of our nation's most seriously mentally ill and disabled adults and children, with particular regard for the deplorably substandard conditions in long term public (state) hospitals such as The Arizona State Hospital. Herein lie the most counter therapeutic forms of malpractice in health care today, with irrefutable impacts that are effecting the well being of the public. Said "public" includes each and every American citizen currently being subjected to mental heath care in such places. Bottom line. 

PJ Reed, author: The Arizona State Hospital and Patient Abuse.

(NOTE: the above material was taken from my first article-

an introduction- as included in this blog, and originally 

published on-line in April, 2012. To date [10/13], I have 

composed andpublished over 270 full blog articles about my experiences and related knowledge specific to The Arizona 

State Hospital. The site has documented well over 20,000 

dedicated visits, and in recent months, is accruing over 

150-300 such visits on almost any given day.)