Articles
"Living with Schizophrenia: A Call for Hope and Recovery"
A Documentary Film featuring Rebecca; Topeka Writer, Consumer, & Mental Health Advocate
Interview By Jami Nichols
The documentary film Living with Schizophrenia: A Call for Hope and Recovery was directed by award-winning independent filmmaker Emily Abt, and is dedicated to the approximate two million Americans living with schizophrenia and to the people supporting their journeys of recovery. The film can be viewed at: www.hopeandrecoveryfilm.com.
The film shares three individual's life stories, all of whom have been diagnosed with schipophrenia and are enjoying rich, meaningful lives. How did it feel meeting the others featured in the film and connecting with their experiences?
Rebecca: There are actually three other people that were in the film; Ashley, Josh, and Dave who is an advocate. they all live in Georgia, so we didn't actually meet until the first screening of the fim in Atlanta where we gave input to the producers. Then we all met again at the premier of the film in Washington, D.C. in May of 2011. that was when I got to meet Emily, the Director. Ashley, Josh, Emily, Dave, and I were on a speaker panel at the premier. That was just amazing and very exciting! We knew it was a big event that was important. . We got to have dinner at this great restaurant on Capitol Hill called "Art & Soul". So, we've gotten to know each other well. I feel I have a common bond with them. We have all become friends and continue to communitcate via Facebook, phone calls and e-mail.
Your quote in the film struck a chord when you said, "I started to accept the illness, but I saw it as what I deal with and what I have, rather than who I am." Your motto now is, "Accept and love your mind." At what point in your recovery did you realize that everyone's brains function differently from one another, and that this is an illness that is manageable?
Rebecca: I began to realize this when I was at KU Medical Center in 2007. I was working with some really cool [Medical School] Residents there who treated my illness like a medical condition, and not a character flaw. I had been hospitalized several times, and hadn't been doing well. The Residents interacted with me very calmly. they did not seem daunted by my symptoms. I would say this is when I began my journey. I began to feel differently about my illness.
You are a published author and professional blogger. How has your writing and work as an advocate and consultant enriched your life?
Rebecca: My blog has enabled me to meet people in the community who are making a difference. It's titled, "Heart of Topeka: People Who Care." I work with all types of individuals and organizations. It is encouraging to see there are so many people who are doing positive things in our community. I often write letters to the newspaper editor about public policy. When people come up and tell me they've read my work, it's encouraging to know that I can write about issues that affect so many people, and I don't have to be a plitician to make an impact. That's been very empowering to know that I too can make a difference. It's been a real learning experience to be a client while also becoming an advocate. It's been exciting doing a commercial and documentary while I've had services at Valeo. It's been very rewarding because I get to see people who've impacted my life every day, and yet I get to speak out at the same time. It's been a blessing for me.
Do you feel your work has impacted the lives of others?
Rebecca: It's touching to my heart. There was a time in one of my groups a client that I didn't know yet came up and said she had seen the testimonial commercial I was in. She told me, "You told me to accept and love my mind," and she said, "I'll always remember that". I know that the things I blog about not everyone reads, but some of them do. I can tell sometimes, just by a smile, or a look of hope, that it does make a difference.
What's next for you? Do you have any new projects on the horizon?
Rebecca: I'm working on a book of prayers for people with mental illness. I want to talk about issues people deal with who have a psychiatric disability in daily devotionals. I'm really excited about it, and have talked with a publisher. I'm also a paid mental health consultant for Janssen Pharmaceuticals. I take project assignments as they come. My role with Janssen is to provide public education and advocate about mental health issues, not to promote products.
You had great words of encouragement at our Community Residence Program Family Day event this year. Is there anything you'd like to add for our readers?
Rebecca: The recovery process is a step-by-step journey. When any crisis arises, whether it be financial, legal, or health; know that it will pass. Know that the end of the journey doesn't have to end in pain or disappointment. Enjoy and cherish the time with your family. Celebrate the little triumphs together. Accept your journey and don't judge it.
Winter Weather Threatens Homeless
By Jami Nichols
January 7, 2010
Temperatures in NE Kansas are expected to fall to record breaking lows for the duration of the week. Dangerous wind chills are a risk for Topeka's homeless. The January 2009 Kansas Point in Time Count reported that there are and estimated 1,811 people who are homeless in Kansas.
Doug Wallace, Valeo’s Housing Resource Specialist, says “This population is especially at risk because those who are experiencing mental illness may have impaired judgment to seek shelter. When it gets really cold, many of the people living outdoors will go to the rescue mission or find friends to stay with. In January of 2009 when we did the Point in Time count it was really cold. In Shawnee County at that date, nineteen of the two hundred twenty seven reported homeless were living outdoors without shelter. One in five of those reported homeless were children under the age of 18.”
Valeo’s Homeless Outreach Partnership for Empowerment (H.O.P.E.) Team provides outreach to find services for the homeless in our community. Outreach Case Managers explore camp sites and look for signs of people needing services. As temperatures become life threatening, the H.O.P.E. Team at Valeo is working steadily with Topeka Rescue Mission to keep people safe.
Among Shawnee County’s homeless population, Valeo’s H.O.P.E. Team has worked with two brothers who go by their street names of “Lamb Chop” and “Pork Chop”. Team Leader, Dave Montgomery recalls a recent visit to their campsite when he asked them what they might need to survive these brutally cold temperatures. "They simply asked for a saw and matches to keep warm by fire. So, we took them a saw and matches. They have spent a few nights at the Rescue Mission this week." Pork Chop is now volunteering his time at Let’s Help and often assists the H.O.P.E. Team in identifying and connecting with others in need. His trust in Valeo’s Team has allowed him to receive services he was once skeptical of.
If you would like to help you may drop off blankets, sleeping bags, food, or a monetary donation to “Valeo HOPE Team”, 2401 SW 6th Street, Topeka Kansas.
Methadone: Tragedies on the Rise
By Mike Fowler, LSCSW
May 11th was the one-year anniversary of my nephew Zach’s death from a methadone overdose. He was only eighteen and it was two days before Mother’s Day. Most recovery-field professionals know methadone can be used successfully to treat a person addicted to opiates, like heroin. While methadone can save and help heal, it can also kill.The National Drug Intelligence Center estimated that during the five-year period between 1999 and 204, methadone related poisonings rose 350%. During that same time, methadone related deaths went from 786 in 1999 to nearly 4000 in 2004. By 2005, deaths caused by methadone rose to 4,700 (not including maethadone related driving accidents). It is now considered "the #2 killer drug in the US."
The memories of that day in early May remain fresh, visual, visceral. Having rushed to my sister’s house after an ominously vague call from her eldest son, I remember arriving to the confusion of a yet-to-be-confirmed tragedy. Several of Zach’s friends had contacted them with tearful condolences, saying he had died. Police had yet to arrive at this point and just as I was trying to offer some absurd scenario, that maybe this was a prank being played by some of his friends and Zach was fine or in the hospital, a dark-colored sedan turned the corner, judiciously completed a one-eighty and pulled in behind my car. The surreal became even more so, when two official-looking individuals stepped from their car and approached the house. They weren’t in uniform, but I sensed they were law enforcement. One had a clip-board in the crook of his arm. This wasn’t happening: this was some sick prank, right?
At that moment, the surreal turned to real as I met them outside and without thinking blurted out “Is Zach dead?" Grim-faced yet polite, one responded softly “And who are you?" I identified myself as Zach’s uncle and asked my question again, adding Zach’s last name so there would be no mistake. “We are with the Topeka Police Department and..." they gave me the answer I feared was coming. I knew the sobs and moans coming from inside the house would take on a deeper, more concrete, though no-less surreal, nature once they confirmed Zach’s death.
While other family members received similar calls from Jake, Zach’s oldest brother, none had yet arrived. Knowing I could not stave off the inevitable, I ushered the two officers into the living room. It now seems odd, but I couldn’t bear to give the news myself, so I just said they were from the police department and they had news about Zach, or something to that effect. A mother’s anguish is palpable, profound, in situations like these. Jake did what he could to comfort her as the wails intensified and the “my baby” screams pitched across the yard as I followed the officers from the house.
“Acute methadone intoxication” was what they told me. Details were sketchy, but the night before there was a get-together, methadone made an appearance, an impulsive act occurred, and by morning Zach, as we knew him in life, was no longer. The family hasn’t been the same and I cannot begin to describe what Zach’s Mom, Dad and brother have gone through this past year.
The two police officers, both of whom I can no longer name, but one bore a striking resemblance to the comedian Drew Carey were respectful, polite and yes, caring when delivering the devastating news. Just prior to their departure and upon thanking them for their professionalism and compassion, the Drew Carey look-alike said to me, “I’ve been doing this for many years and this is as hard as the first one I did." Tears seem to well in his eyes as if to rival my own. Then the one with the seemingly doleful eyes, looked down and pointed at my Valeo ID badge, commenting “Seeing where you work, you know what it’s like to work with people in pain. I can’t quite say exactly why or how, but that final exchange with those two offices was comforting somehow. Maybe it was the tenderness in which their comments were shared or that it touched upon why many people choose helping professions as their careers; me being one. Or maybe because it was true. Yes, as mental health and addiction recovery professionals, we work with people experiencing pain on a myriad of levels. And if we are successful, we can aid our customers in processing and circumventing that pain.
As previously-mentioned, methadone tragedies and near-fatalities are on the rise in this country. Some believe this is because it is increasingly being used as a pain-killer and not just replacement therapy for opiate addiction. Methadone is a pain-killer? I doubt Zach’s parents would agree.
Many don’t realize that a single dose, in tablet or liquid form, can be toxic (with or without tragic results) for someone who has not yet built up a tolerance for the drug. Too, methadone can interact adversely with other medications and can remain in the body for over two days. This can trigger an accumulative effect by building up in someone’s system and becoming toxic over a stretch of time.
For more information, including a heart-wrenching video in which Zach has been included, go to the HARMD (Helping America Reduce Methadone Deaths) website at www.harmd.org. May is National Mental Health Month, which I used to take note professionally, but now it has taken on a more personal meaning in light of what transpired a year ago. May 11th will always be a mournful day for our family. This year, it just so happened to fall on Mother’s Day. Something a mother should never have to experience.