Here in
Dane County, a woman----we'll call her Nancy*-------who was on "outpatient commitment" (i.e., court-ordered
drugs) stopped by the office of her community support program
to pick up her prescription drugs. Some other family members, including a six year-old child, accompanied her. They all waited
in the empty lobby to speak with a staff person.
When a staff person finally appeared,
they told him that Nancy needed to pick up her court-ordered meds. Nancy's usual contact person was on vacation.
The staff person
asked them to go into an office. So, they went into the office, as requested, and waited for the staff person there.
They didn't understand
why Nancy couldn't just get her meds and leave. After all, that was what the court order required.
When the staff
person arrived, he pulled the door of the office closed behind him, and locked it. He said Nancy would have to sign a
paper before he would dispense her meds to her. One of Nancy's family asked what the paper said. The staff person seemed
really disturbed by this question. But, he answered that this paper said that Nancy would have to spend four (4) hours
per day with a staff person from the program. These four-hour visits were to be spent looking for "housing".
(To read
more about the special relationship among community support programs, Madison slumlords, the Dane County Protective Payee
Program and low-wage, non-union employers with dead-end jobs, click here and here.)
Then, the family
member asked what legal authority existed for requiring Nancy to sign this document. The staff person, becoming visibly angry,
said that it was a court order. The family member pointed out that it was not signed by a court, and therefore, was not a
court order. (And, of course, had it been a real court order, there would have been no need for Nancy herself to
sign it.)
Nancy already
had "housing" with the family who loved her. This staff person said that was not an "appropriate living situation". (For more
about the very special relationship among community support programs, county payees, landlords and employers
in Dane County, click here and here.)
Then the staff
person said, "If you don't sign this, the police will come to take you to the hospital, in handcuffs." He seemed rather amused
by this threat, as if it would be fun to see it carried out.
Fortunately, Nancy
was smart and quick enough to slip out the back door while the staff person was on the phone calling the cops. The staff person
had left the door unlocked to use the telephone in the next office, so the whole family was able to escape its captivity
in this way. (Please note the complete absence of rational behavior on the part of staff; as well as the intelligence
and sanity of the "client".)
Well, the most
incredible thing about this incident----other than the fact that it actually happened----is the county's response. When this
incident, and others like it, were reported to the county in a grievance procedure, the county's response was that this
was "part of the treatment."
The county dismissed
the grievance on that basis. Naturally, Nancy's family was aghast. They then proceeded to appeal the county's decision to
the state, where it was again dismissed. Then, again, the same thing happened at the next level.
This family sought
justice for more than a year. Finally, they ended up taking their grievance all the way to the U.S. Department
of Justice, where it was likewise dismissed. The DOJ's response came a year later (thus, making it two years after they
first complained) . The letter from the DOJ suggested----without much subtlety----- that Nancy and her family were
immoral outcasts and human refuse who deserved the treatment they had received.
Nobody in the
county, state or federal system acknowledged that it was wrong to lock up a client and her family-----including even a six
year-old child---------in a clinic office. Nobody seemed to think that it was problematic for this woman to be forced to choose
between hospitalization and spending four hours per day with a mental "health" worker. Apparently that's the way things are
done in the Dane County mental "health" system.
But, it would
not be accurate to say that the family's grievances had no results.
As a result of
the grievance this family filed, Nancy----who had, in fact, not filed a grievance, or even complained in any way------was
singled out for retaliation.
Her community
support program-------we'll call it Circumspect Reaction Against Knowledgeable Discernment, or CRAK'D-------told her to start
going to another community support program. We'll call that program Wisconsin Against Relationships, or WAR. They said
she could always return to the CRAKD program if she didn't like the WAR program. However, when she tried returning
to go back to CRAK'D, WAR refused to allow her to do so. And, CRAK'D went along with WAR.
Meanwhile, neither M.D. helped her
to titrate safely off the drugs. They just neglected and ignored her.
Because
of this, she ended up in withdrawal psychosis. She was hospitalized under emergency detention.
The reason for the emergency detention was that she was walking barefoot in the snow. But no medical attention
was paid to the frostbite on her feet while she was in the hospital.
While she was
in the hospital, a staff worker twisted her wrist on purpose.
Nancy's family
reported this malicious injury to an organization in Madison which receives seventy five thousand dollars ($75,000) per year-----mandated
by Wisconsin statute------- to "advocate" for the "rights" of people with mental "illness". That organization said that
Nancy would have to call them herself. Nancy didn't have change for the pay phone at the hospital where she was incarcerated
at the time. And, her family had no way to get out there to visit her. Her family felt that Nancy probably would
not have lived very long had she made this report to the "advocacy" organization while she was incarcerated.
She would not
have been the first person to die while an inpatient at a psychiatric institution. If families are lucky, they get an internal
investigation. All friends and colleagues of the perpetrator(s) give sterling reports on each other.
These mentally
"ill" patients just tend to drop over dead for no apparent reason, while in the hospital. After all, if it's a disease, why
can't it be terminal?
Nancy did somehow
manage to get transferred to another hospital, where the hospital psychiatrists refused to give her the medication she had
always used for fifteen years. They kept insisting she take another medication. She had already tried this other medication
a few years previous. It made her completely confused and disoriented. She drooled, rocked and spoke incoherently while on
this medication. When family members told the hospital staff what the medication was doing to her, the staff said these
"symptoms" were caused by "the underlying disease".
Even the CRAK'D
program told the hospital she should not be taking this particular medication.
When Nancy
was discharged from the hospital, the WAR psychiatrist abruptly withdrew the medication that made her drool. However,
the psychiatrist did not offer an alternative drug, or even a "weaning" period.
This WAR psychiatrist
said Nancy would have to get a shot instead of oral medication. The psychiatrist claimed it was Nancy's "own choice."
But, Nancy said that she did not want the shot (therefore, making it by definition no longer her choice). She
preferred the oral medication. She had already been taking oral medication for about 15 years.
Nancy asked
repeatedly to be able to go back to the CRAK'D program. The program director at WAR said Nanacy would have to talk
to the people at CRAK'D about that.
But, meanwhile, the WAR director told
Nancy, she still had to take the shot. Nancy and her family asked to speak directly with the WAR psychiatrist.
The program director of WAR said that the psychiatrist wasn't available. The family asked when the psychiatrist would be available.
The director said the psychiatrist wouldn't be available until after Nancy had the shot. (!)
So, Nancy
and her family did talk to the CRAK'D program. CRAK'D told her she could not return------despite the fact that they had previously
promised her she could return. They had told her at the outset that it would be a trial of the WAR program, and that
she would be free to return to CRAK'D at any time.
They had promised
they would take her back if she didn't like WAR
Nancy knew
the program was just trying to get rid of her because her family had filed a grievance. Her family knew it, too.
Nancy has
an great sensitivity regarding her body and its privacy. She did not want to be touched or injected.
She was willing
to take oral meds. There was no reason why that shouldn't be satisfactory-------unless it's really all about power, punishment and
control, and not about "treatment" at all.
So, since the CRAK'D
program refused to take her back, and the WAR program refused to allow her to have oral meds, she started taking some oral
meds from a little "stash" she had at home.
She wanted to
see her worker from the WAR program, who had in fact, treated her rather well. She thought maybe the worker could help
her figure out what to do-----and, perhaps, help her get the oral meds. So, she made an appointment with the worker to meet
in a public place. When Nancy showed up for the appointment, she saw that the program director was there, with the worker. And,
the program director was speaking into a cell phone. Nancy got away.
She didn't know
what to do or who to meet with about her meds. She was a fugitive. Except, she had not committed a crime, not even a
minor one.
But, she stayed
home and took the oral meds from the little "stash" and some family members tried to help her figure out what they should
do. In the meantime, her family just wanted her to be safe. They thought she and they would be safe in their own home.
They were mistaken.
One day, the
program director of the WAR program was snooping around Nancy's home. Nancy's neighbor struck up a conversation
with the WAR director. This neighbor was very prejudiced against people with psych disabilities, so she really hit it off
with the WAR director.
The neighbor
told the WAR director that she (the neighbor) feared that Nancy had "murdered" her family members, because the
neighbors had not seen these family members for a long time. This neighbor didn't really know this family, and there
was no reason why she should be in contact with them, or they with her. These sensationalistic statements were based upon
nothing except her own bigotry.
This neighbor
had a close relationship with Nancy's landlord. A short while after the encounter between the WAR director and the neighbor,
Nancy's landlord started peering into the windows of Nancy's home.
In Wisconsin,
the landlord is not allowed to enter any part of a rental property without 24 hours' WRITTEN NOTICE. (The only exception
is for emergency damage to the property, like a fire or flood.) Therefore, this was illegal entry. There is also
a Madison General Ordinance prohibiting entry by the landlord without the 24 hours' written notice.
This landlord
is a prominent "affordable housing" landlord in Madison. He has very close ties to the mental "health" system and to the National
Alliance for the Mentally Ill. The spouse of the director of a local psychiatric institution once worked in this landlord's
office. That was the same institution where Nancy's wrist had been twisted. And, where doctors refused to treat----or, even
examine------ her for frostbite.
One day the director
of WAR came to Nancy's front yard. A man was with her. He was shouting and cursing. He said, "F**k," and "sh**,"
to Nancy's family, even to her nine year-old relative. Nancy's family was sitting in a car, just arriving, when
the two others arrived in a van.
A middle-aged woman relative of Nancy's
was in the front seat. A dog and a little kid were in the back seat when this man stuck his ugly, red face into the window
and shouted, "F * * K," and, "S H * *" at them. (Such activities are all paid for by the hard-working taxpayers of Dane County.
And, these county workers have a great benefit package-----health insurance, retirement, vacation . . .)
This foul-mouthed
person pounded mercilessly, long, hard and loud on the door of their home, in order to frighten and threaten them. This
man and the program director looked into the windows of the home. They kept shouting threats and insults through
the window. The "affordable housing" landlord had been in touch with them. Otherwise, they could not have known which windows
to look into. There's no way to tell from the outside of the building.
They kept running
from the front door to the side porch, looking in the windows, and then back to the front door again, pounding, shouting and
screaming the whole time. They didn't seem to care that they were traumatizing the nine year-old child.
They had the
police take Nancy to the hospital in shackles that day for "treatment non-compliance". The police really didn't understand
why they needed to take her out of her home. They needed a lot of convincing. After all, Nancy was just living peacefully
in her own home. She wasn't dong anything the cops needed to get involved in.
The program director
and the foul-mouthed man told the cops about an accident Nancy been in about nine years before, and made it
seem as if it had just happened.. They also made it seem as if the accident were Nancy's fault, which it wasn't. And,
they made it seem as if the accident were the result of "mental illness" which it definitely wasn't.
The cops were
still reluctant. But, the foul-mouthed man had some sort of court order authorized by Chapter 51. No doubt this order
been been procured by lying to the court.
The WAR
program director and the foul-mouthed man were grinning delightedly as Nancy was escorted into the
police car.
Then, they proceeded
to harass Nancy's family, after Nancy was already gone.
They went up
to the family and shouted, "She's going to be locked up for the rest of her life now."
"I didn't want
this to happen, but she brought it on herself."
"Maybe this will
teach her. I told her she'd be going to the hospital for six months, and it can be renewed for the rest of her life."
etc., etc., etc
. . . ad nauseam. The family didn't even know or care what they were talking about.
The family asked the police to keep the
War director and the foul-mouthed man physically separated from them.
Then, the man
with the foul mouth------whom Nancy had never met before--------followed Nancy to the hospital, to "talk to"
her. Apparently this person enjoys talking to people while they're shackled.
This happened
on the Friday before Holy Week.
Nancy was
not allowed any visitors for the whole weekend. She was not allowed to attend Mass in the hospital lobby on Palm Sunday. (No
reason was proffered for this.) This was a direct violation of Nancy's rights under Section 61 of Chapter 51.
Section 51.61(1)(L),
Wisconsin Statutes, states that an inpatient has the right to religious worship within the facility if the
patient desires such an opportunity and a member of the clergy of the patient's religious denomination or society is available
to the facility. The provisions for such worship shall be available to all patients on a nondiscriminatory basis. No individual
may be coerced into engaging in any religious activities.
This particular
hospital had Mass in its own lobby on Sunday mornings, so they couldn't claim there was no Catholic priest available.
Apparently this
part of the statute is unknown to the State of Wisconsin. A person from the state agency that regulates hospitals told
Nancy's family that Nancy was entitled to "religious counsel" inside the ward. The statute, however, says "worship" not "counsel".
In the Roman Catholic Church, "worship" means Mass.
Not only was
she not allowed to attend Mass.
The hospital
staff cut off the water to her room.
Family members,
of course, brought her bottles of water and tried to hide them in the room, but, when the family members returned, the
bottles were gone. The staff had "confiscated" them.
Ten
days after the above incident at Nancy's home, this man with the foul mouth received a commendation for outstanding service
from Dane County Alliance for the Mentally Ill. The WAR program director
was on the Dane County AMI board of directors at the time of this incident. Now, she works for the county Department
of Health and Human Services. She may still be on the AMI board of directors as well, though.
The
Dane County Department of Health and Human Services oversees a budget of 100 million dollars per year; 25 million of
that goes to "mental health issues" according to a talk given by the Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk in April of
2003 at the University of Wisconsin School of Law.
At this same talk, Ms. Falk characterized Dane County's mental "health" system as consisting of "innovative, community-based
services". Well, I guess Nancy's "treatment" has been "community-based". But, her story is also an example of how "community-based"
is no less abusive, dangerous or cruel than "treatment" in a hospital. Perhaps more so at times.
I
disagree that Nancy's "treatment" has been "innovative". Nancy's "treatment" has consisted of the same old sadistic punishment
and degradation that has been used against those with labels of "mental illness" since recorded history. The difference
is that now drug companies are also in on it, so more attention is paid to the "bottom line".
The landlord who
had looked into Nancy's windows and instructed the WAR director and the foul-mouthed man to do the same---------later
that year, he also received a commendation from the Dane County Alliance for the Mentally Ill "for assisting persons
with mental illnesses in their rental units".
After this, the
landlord tried to evict Nancy and her family. At the mediation hearing, the family mentioned that the
landlord had looked into the windows at their disabled family member. The landlord------like his buddies in the WAR program------grinned
delightedly, and asked, "Is this the young woman who had to be taken from the house in shackles?"
This is what
the American, Wisconsin and Dane County workers are supporting with their hard-earned tax dollars. This is our "public"
mental "health" system here in Dane County, Wisconsin.
And, this is
what NAMI members are celebrating and promoting with their dues.
____________________________________________________
*Although all the facts of this story
are true, some identifying information has been changed
