[NYAPRS Enews] WAMC: NY MH Advocates Deplore Media Coverage, Urge Alternatives to Expanding Kendra's Law

[Harvey Rosenthal]

NY Advocates: Mentally Ill Are Maligned

By Dave Lucas WAMC   January 4, 2013

 

Advocates say the mentally ill are far more likely to be victims of
violence than to be attackers, faulting media reports and gun rights
interests for perpetuating inaccurate stigmas following recent crimes.
More from Capital Region Bureau Chief Dave Lucas

Listen
<http://cpa.ds.npr.org/wamc/audio/2013/01/77039_04_JAN_NER_MENTAL_0.mp3>
to radio story, interviews at 

Harvey Rosenthal, executive director of the New York Association of
Rehabilitation Services, says referring to the mentally ill with phrases
like "violent psychotics" and "monsters" vilifies one-fifth of Americans
who have various psychiatric disabilities.

 

Harvey Rosenthal: "The facts are that people with mental illnesses are
no more violent than the general public and as a matter of fact are 12
times more likely to be victims of violence. And as an example, a lot of
the vile coverage is coming from New York City tabloids. There was an
article in the Post last week that talked about the transfer of people
with mental illness from Adult Homes to Supported Housing and the
headline was "Here Come the Crazies".  There was a time when other
groups had that kind of stigma, and they accept it until they push back
and then it stops. We in our Community, the Mental Health Community,
need to make that stop. Even if it means going down to the New York Post
and surrounding that building with pickets and raising the issue of this
kind of coverage. You don't hear it anymore for Jews or Irish people,
Black people, or Gays and Lesbians, but it's okay I guess for the
mentally ill." 

 

Rosenthal is concerned that defamatory media will shame and deter many
from seeking help, though most can substantially recover from disabling
conditions with personalized services.

The New York Post did not respond to requests for comment.

 

Glenn Liebman, director of the Mental Health Association of New York
State, agrees that labeling mentally ill people with what may be
perceived as derogatory words and phrases, serves no good purpose.

 

Glen Liebman: "When you are talking about the fact that one in five
people in our Country, 20% of people in our Country, have some kind of
mental illness, you're talking about families, individuals, close
friends, anybody; we're basically all impacted by mental illness either
directly or indirectly. So when you see those kind of things happening,
the unfortunate byproduct of that is that people who need services, and
we know that 2/3 of people that need mental health services never seek
them and the number one reason is the stigma associated with them. So
people are going to run away from the services they need that would help
them recover and move forward in their lives. 

 

The advocates agree that recent emphasis on 24-hour emergency phone
lines, peer support, housing, family services, managed care and outreach
are showing results. Harvey Rosenthal says they are encouraged by health
reforms in New York initiated through Governor Andrew Cuomo's
administration.

 

Harvey Rosenthal: "Making services more accountable, paying for them
according to not how often you see someone but by what the outcome of
that is. Requiring services to be much more in synch with each other,
and coordinated. Offering electronic health care records to share
information in real time. So we're seeing already a drop in relapses and
readmissions with this kind of better and more coordinated care." 

 

Rosenthal criticizes suggestions calling for forced treatment under
expansion of Kendra's Law, which lets courts order mentally ill people
with histories of violence into outpatient treatment: Rosenthal says it
would cost a hundred million dollars to implement, send the wrong
message, and drive more people with mental illness "underground"

 

http://www.wamc.org/post/ny-advocates-mentally-ill-are-maligned

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