Mental health panel: ‘We’re all ready for change’
By CRYSTAL LINDELL - clindell@nwherald.com
McHENRY – Fred Friedman is self-described as severely mentally ill.
Over the years, he’s spent time in a homeless shelter, in a nursing home, and even in his “own feces” while battling depression with psychotic features.
He’s also an attorney who said he once worked with Barack Obama. And he serves as the head organizer for Next Steps, an organization he co-founded that helps the mentally ill and homeless people.
“Anybody can become mentally ill,” he said. “It’s not a respecter of intelligence. It’s not a respecter of class. It’s not a respecter of diligence.”
Friedman offered an insider’s look into mental health Friday during “Empowering Minds,” a McHenry County Mental Health Board panel discussion on mental health reform held in honor of Mental Health Awareness week.
The discussion was geared toward mental health professionals such as case managers, counselors and psychiatrists. Panel members expressed an extra dose of urgency because health care reform in general is at the forefront of public discussion.
“We’ve been patient and polite a little bit too long,” said Anthony Zipple of Thresholds, a Woodstock-based agency that assists the mentally ill. “[Mental health] is a big deal. This is not a small issue in the context of public policy.”
Friedman, 55, was quick to note during his portion of the discussion that every person with a mental illness is different.
“I don’t know what mentally ill people think,” he said. “I know what I think.”
He emphasized the need for a recovery-based system, particularly one that empowers patients.
Because each mental illness is unique, applying set standards doesn’t work, Friedman said.
For example, he once was held in a nursing home until he could count change and tell time. Friedman was unable to count the change, but not soon after took the GRE test and scored just shy of the 100th percentile.
“We get to decide what recovery looks like,” he said. “The inmates [should] run the asylum.”
Aside from Friedman and Zipple, the panel also included Terry Carmichael, from Community Behavioral Healthcare Association; and Marsha Koelliker, of Equip for Equality.
Cherryl Ramirez, executive director of the Association of Community Mental Health Authorities of Illinois, moderated.
“Change is in the air,” she said. “We’re all ready for change; we just have differing opinions on how to get there.”
Zipple emphasized the need to distribute funding to the right places. Specifically, he said providers are given incentives to serve only the easy cases because they’re paid per case – and that needs to change.
Advocates also must play smarter, tougher politics, Zipple added.
“[In Illinois] it’s all about business,” he said. “Many times the righteousness of our position’s irrelevant.”
The common themes from all the panel members was that different agencies need to work together better. For example, those serving substance abuse patients also should work with the mentally ill.
The two usually are related, but the treatment methods aren’t, Friedman said. With substance abuse, patients are told they need to hit rock bottom, but the opposite is true with mental health.
“I got to these meetings and everyone says ‘That’s the system, we can’t change it,’ ” Friedman said. “But we have to work together.”
Although it can seem overwhelming to change things, Zipple suggested that if the country could make strides in racial equality, women’s rights and land a man on the moon, then surely mental health care can improve.
“It ought to be simple,” he said. “People get sick, and people get help.”
