Fight for resources to treat mental illness goes on

About 17 years ago here in Citrus County, things were quite different in the area of "mental health," than they are now, for better or for worse.

No one spoke of "mental illness," except in hushed tones, or perhaps in an accusatory manner, as "those people are inferior, or there is no help for them, or they must have done something to themselves to cause this," etc.

Our sheriff was quoted as saying, "You do the crime, you do the time," in response to queries re lawbreakers/mental illness sufferers.

A young man with a diagnosed mental illness was caught doing something relatively harmless on the school bus. Since it was just post-Columbine time, the word was that he was being used as an object lesson for any other "bad actors" out there.

The papers bannered large, black headlines, so others would not decide to do something more dastardly, actually hurting people, with this unfortunate youth paying the penalty for his ridiculous "joke."

The trauma from this incident did have one positive result: two grandmothers with grandchildren with diagnosed mental illnesses, yet incarcerated, desperately sought out a direction to help not only their grandchildren, but to help themselves cope with the hand dealt to them.

Out of this trauma came the impetus to seek out a charter for NAMI, which became NAMI Citrus, along with sky-high hopes that there could be something positive done for mental illness sufferers of all ages.

At that time there were two Baker Act facilities: one really excellent one at Seven Rivers hospital; and another, which became a fine mid-county facility built just for the purpose of healing sufferers.

Alas, the juncture of financial gain and healing became disjointed: The Seven Rivers facility was closed to become a more profitable surgery floor; and ditto, the County Road 491 facility could not sustain an entity's mission and meet financial expectations, despite efforts to recruit patients from all over the U.S., and successively became "Brown Schools," and when that folded, then became the handsome mid-county facility as we know it today.

How strange and remarkable: With a population with one out of every four or five persons (depending on whose statistics you use) suffering from mental illness, somehow our medical/financial structures cannot "afford" to provide this type of care.

Truly shocking: At the present time, it is most difficult anywhere, to find a psychiatrist who will accept a patient whose main contribution to payment for care is Medicare, allegedly because of low reimbursement for care, by Medicare.

Yet, back in George Bush's tenure, some significant legislation was passed, to become law, that "mental illness compensation must be equal to that of any other medical illness," or words to that effect. Imagine a heart attack victim being told, "We are sorry, we cannot accept you as a patient because we won't get enough remuneration from Medicare."

Let me repeat: at this time in this state, it is extremely difficult to even find a psychiatrist who will accept a patient whose only contribution for payment will be Medicare, even with the patient paying their portion of a co-payment! Many such doctors leave for other states who offer inducements to psychiatrists in the way of repayment of student loans, tax breaks, assistance with setting up offices, etc., while our state continues to welcome all the countless people who want to live in the warmth of the Sunshine State ... and good luck, if you need the services of a psychiatrist!

NAMI Citrus is almost 17 years old now. As with any nonprofit, time and monies are needed to continue the work. The proper name for one battle which has to be fought, is "stigma," or anything that in some way reduces the humanity of an individual and/or their efforts. I have another name for this: "cooties." There is a fear that if anyone aligns themselves with such an organization, they will be infested with eradicable mental illness cooties. Not!

The possibility for volunteers to contribute their time, expertise and humanity for a cause that will benefit one out of every four or five persons in this county, should be a heady challenge for anyone who wants to truly be "in community," or to "pay their dues for membership in the human race."

Right now, The Centers, also a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is hopeful the community will respond to their appeal to meet the terms of a possible grant to create another Baker Act facility right here in Citrus County, a most amazing goal, for which they can only be wished great success.

Remember: There are no mental illness cooties, but satisfaction, in contributing one's time and efforts to the good of the community.

Marilyn Booth is on the NAMI Citrus Board of Directors.