An article in today’s NYT, gifted so it shouldn’t have a paywall. There are some good comments, including critical.
# He Hears Voices in His Head. He Also Helped Win an Election
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Wow, I think that is a great article that can help some people unfamiliar with SMI understand severe mental illness. When first diagnosed, my daughter went to a supportive day club here in Florida like The Fountain and benefited from it. There should be more.
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Years ago I met a diagnosed man at a NAMI national conference who ran for office in Northern Virginia. He’d been involved in politics before his diagnosis, and was quite open and articulate about his diagnosis and seemed to be running as sort of a lark. He seemed to be having a great time with it, but I lost track of him. I also met some other well functioning diagnosed folk who were involved in administration within the clubhouse system.
Not sure if it’s still encouraged in mental wards nowadays, but staff tended to assign small administrative and organizational tasks to clients according to their capacity. I was given the task of checking that beds were made toward the end of my stay. Quasi-self-directed meetings were held that discussed discharge approvals and other efforts and plans. It was not unlike some of the dramatized meetings in movies I’d seen. This may have been laying foundations of future behavior within social networks like clubhouses etc.
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