Ill People

Like many people with mental illness, Jennifer Causey spends a lot of time alone. Sometimes she'll take the bus to the mall or get a ride to her church meeting, but Causey's personality disorder and epilepsy keep her isolated in her Ellicott City apartment much of the time. Still, Causey always has a place to go on the weekends - for pizza, movies and the company of friends - as well as a driver to take her there. It is called On Our Own in Columbia, a "drop-in center" where mentally ill people can go for conversation, dinner and holiday gatherings.

Regarding your recent editorial on making it easier for families to commit a mentally ill relative to a mental institution against their will, Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and some state delegates apparently are missing the urgent need to clarify the state's civil commitment standards ("The tricky question of involuntary commitment," April 6). Many relatives of individuals with serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, recently testified about the consequences of the denying timely treatment under the current law. Those consequences include homicide, suicide, homelessness, job loss and permanent brain damage.

When George F. Berry III hopped a fence at Crownsville Hospital Center on July 10, the odds were stacked against him.He headed into dense woods, where passers-by were unlikely to see him. With temperatures hovering around 100 degrees and without water, police said his chances of surviving more than a few days were slim.And once he left the psychiatric hospital's grounds, no one looked for him. Nineteen days later, his decomposing body was found off Interstate 97, less than 1 1/2 miles from hospital grounds, by a motorist searching for water for an overheated car.Mr.

Bowing to pressure from some fellow Democrats in the legislature, Gov. Martin O'Malley has signaled a willingness to compromise on at least one element in the package of new gun restrictions he proposed in the aftermath of last year's school shooting in Newtown, Conn. And in a surprise, given the massive lobbying effort against his bill, the change actually makes it better. Aides now say the governor will support a provision to keep guns out of the hands of mentally ill people that is even tougher than one presently on the books.

NEW YORK -- The trust set up by Manville Corp. to compensate victims of asbestos poisoning, out of cash and unable to pay seriously ill people for decades, announced a plan yesterday for a quick settlement of tens of thousands of asbestos personal injury cases.Under the proposal, Manville Corp. would provide an additional $520 million over seven years to the trust and lift restrictions on the trust's ability to sell a $1.8 billion Manville bond.In addition, fees for plaintiffs' lawyers, which had consumed tens of millions of dollars, would be cut to a maximum of 25 percent of what their clients recover.

KEENE, N.H. - Until her first breakdown, Pat was trim and active, even playing on a volleyball team in college. But deep scars on her forearms attest to a lifetime of self-abuse. Pat, 53, grew sedentary, obese and reclusive. She says she has been hospitalized 25 times. "The sicker I got, and the more doped up I became, the more I tended to become isolated," she said. This year, Pat enrolled in a program called In Shape, designed to provide regular structured exercise for people with mental illness.

During his six years as superintendent of Springfield Hospital Center, Dr. Bruce Hershfield improved conditions and programs at the state's largest public psychiatric hospital. He added innovative programs, reduced the number of patients and took action to ensure that the Sykesville hospital did not lose its accreditation. What's more, he accomplished this during a freeze on hiring and staff salaries.Yet Dr. Hershfield's most important achievement may have to do with preparing mentally ill people to live in the community outside Springfield's grassy expanses.

THERE WAS MUCH wrong with the practice of institutionalizing mentally ill people, which was once widespread in this country. But the move to send these people back into their communities has produced many tragedies of its own -- in large part because the treatment resources necessary for helping them cope with life outside the hospital never appeared.Betty Keat was one of those tragedies. As detailed last Sunday by Sun reporter Scott Shane, Ms. Keat's violent death in January from police bullets was the culmination of a long history of aggressive behavior.

WASHINGTON -- A growing number of homeless people are severely mentally ill and addicted to drugs or alcohol, according to a survey released yesterday.The survey of 21 large cities, conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, found that 33 percent of the homeless in the study suffered from severe mental illness -- up 7 percent since January 1990 -- and that about half of them were addicted to drugs and alcohol.The number of homeless suffering from both severe mental illness and drug addiction increased by 9 percent since January 1990, the mayors' group said.

MOST PEOPLE cannot fathom the horror of what Andrea Yates did to her children: drowning them in the family bathtub, one by one. Even chasing down the oldest one, age 7, in order to do it. And no one doubts that Andrea Yates is guilty - least of all, apparently, the Texas jury that convicted her of murder Tuesday after less than four hours of deliberation. But that jury got it wrong, because Andrea Yates is not guilty of being a murderer, she is guilty of being mentally ill. Virtually no one has doubted that Mrs. Yates is insane; the jail psychiatrist who interviewed her the day after the killings called her one of the most severely mentally ill people she had ever examined.

It was gratifying that The Sun endorsed Dr. David S. Helsel, the new CEO at the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, as "the right man to lead the institution on the long road to emotional recovery" ("Healing Perkins," Nov. 27). Yet I was stunned to read that most of the patients at the state's maximum security mental hospital had never been treated for their illness before coming to Perkins. It is scary that people who are extremely mentally ill have to commit a crime in order to receive treatment.

I've been mentally ill all my life. I've been laughed at, ridiculed, made fun of, been the butt of many jokes. This reaction by the homeowners at Ruxton is nothing new to me. Being mentally ill has a very negative stigma attached to it, and these homeowners are no different than the children who made fun of me. However, now, we as the mentally ill have civil rights and fair housing rights, and as a class we are protected from the discrimination of...

KEENE, N.H. - Until her first breakdown, Pat was trim and active, even playing on a volleyball team in college. But deep scars on her forearms attest to a lifetime of self-abuse. Pat, 53, grew sedentary, obese and reclusive. She says she has been hospitalized 25 times. "The sicker I got, and the more doped up I became, the more I tended to become isolated," she said. This year, Pat enrolled in a program called In Shape, designed to provide regular structured exercise for people with mental illness.

Like many people with mental illness, Jennifer Causey spends a lot of time alone. Sometimes she'll take the bus to the mall or get a ride to her church meeting, but Causey's personality disorder and epilepsy keep her isolated in her Ellicott City apartment much of the time. Still, Causey always has a place to go on the weekends - for pizza, movies and the company of friends - as well as a driver to take her there. It is called On Our Own in Columbia, a "drop-in center" where mentally ill people can go for conversation, dinner and holiday gatherings.

MOST PEOPLE cannot fathom the horror of what Andrea Yates did to her children: drowning them in the family bathtub, one by one. Even chasing down the oldest one, age 7, in order to do it. And no one doubts that Andrea Yates is guilty - least of all, apparently, the Texas jury that convicted her of murder Tuesday after less than four hours of deliberation. But that jury got it wrong, because Andrea Yates is not guilty of being a murderer, she is guilty of being mentally ill. Virtually no one has doubted that Mrs. Yates is insane; the jail psychiatrist who interviewed her the day after the killings called her one of the most severely mentally ill people she had ever examined.

State is misguided in its plan to close Freedom HouseI am writing in regard to the article "Closing of home for mentally ill criticized" (Dec. 1), which reports on the state's plan to close Freedom House, the home for persons with mental illness on the grounds of Springfield State Hospital.Maryland should shift its housing priorities for those with serious mental illness from "deinstitutionalizing" people who have roofs over their heads in structured environments to finding housing and services for mentally ill people.

Baltimore County Executive Roger B. Hayden's proposed cuts in mental health spending could reduce employment programs and treatment and hurt efforts to help the mentally ill, the county's top mental health official says.Hayden administration budget officials dispute that, claiming the $871,234 cut from a $2 million budget request will not damage the county's mental health programs.Budget Director Fred Homan said that when state and county funds are counted, the mental health programs will have only $78,000 less than they requested.

Baltimore County Executive Roger B. Hayden's proposed cuts in mental health spending could reduce employment programs and treatment and hurt efforts to help the mentally ill, the county's top mental health official says.Hayden administration budget officials dispute that, claiming the $871,234 cut from a $2 million budget request will not damage the county's mental health programs.Budget Director Fred Homan said that when state and county funds are counted, the mental health programs will have only $78,000 less than they requested.

THERE WAS MUCH wrong with the practice of institutionalizing mentally ill people, which was once widespread in this country. But the move to send these people back into their communities has produced many tragedies of its own -- in large part because the treatment resources necessary for helping them cope with life outside the hospital never appeared.Betty Keat was one of those tragedies. As detailed last Sunday by Sun reporter Scott Shane, Ms. Keat's violent death in January from police bullets was the culmination of a long history of aggressive behavior.

During his six years as superintendent of Springfield Hospital Center, Dr. Bruce Hershfield improved conditions and programs at the state's largest public psychiatric hospital. He added innovative programs, reduced the number of patients and took action to ensure that the Sykesville hospital did not lose its accreditation. What's more, he accomplished this during a freeze on hiring and staff salaries.Yet Dr. Hershfield's most important achievement may have to do with preparing mentally ill people to live in the community outside Springfield's grassy expanses.