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