Those Who Know:
Consumers of Mental Health Services in Kansas
a Panel Discussion of Service Consumers

presentation notes by Carol Yoho, LWV-Topeka/Shawnee County
March 2006

Above, from left: Jo Ann Howley, Steven Bauer, Shannon Craig Jo Ann Howley, a native Kansan, attended Washburn University where she majored in Journalism. She is former President of Sunshine Connection, a consumer-run mental health organization in Topeka. She helped teach case management training for the KU School of Welfare, traveling and assisting in screening mental health consumers in nursing facilities to determine if consumers are candidates for community living. Jo Ann has worked part time for a National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for four years and is active dealing with homelessness and suicide prevention. Steven Baur is a native of West Des Moines, IA. He served in the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf War in 1990. He graduated from the University of Texas in Houston 1993, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. In 2005 he was elected Consumer Council Representative for NAMI Kansas. He is currently enrolled in the University of Phoenix. Shannon Craig, wife and mother of four, lives in Olathe with husband, Mark, and son, Layne, age three. They also have three daughters, ages 17, 14 and 10. Shannon is on the Board for NAMI Johnson County and alternate Consumer Board Member for NAMI Kansas. She has chosen to focus on support for children and adolescents, hoping to incorporate them into community life. Shannon works from home in marketing and will soon enter training for Paralegal Certification, desiring to work in family law. See also: Questions & Answers

Jo Ann:

Three members of Jo Ann's family faced mental illness. Her aunt was hospitalized in 1958. From a small farming community, the aunt found herself stigmatized by her illness upon her release, shunned by neighbors. She died in 1971, a virtual recluse within her community.

Jo Ann's son was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia when he was fourteen, hallucinating, hearing things, and unusually unhappy. Correct drug therapy has worked well for him, and he is happy living now in a group home in Emporia.

Jo Ann, herself, has suffered from bi-polar disorder. Stormont-Vail's mental health facility has been there for her eight times. She was also hospitalized at the Topeka State Hospital at one time, where she was once put into five-point restraint: ankles, wrists, and waist bound in leather straps. She also had some very unpleasant experiences in a seclusion room for too-long periods of time. Currently Jo Ann has a support team consisting of herself, her case manager and five other mental health care professionals.

Steve:

Steve grew up in a traditional family, with an older sister. But he never felt "right." He had no compulsion to succeed. His childhood was bleak and disappointing. At seventeen he attempted suicide. He spent two months in a psychiatric unit where he felt the need to talk about his problems, but found no one interested in listening to him. He felt a condescending attitude on the part of his doctors. While there he learned to manipulate the system, telling his doctors what he perceived they wanted to hear. Soon he was sent home, and was still disappointed with life. Low grades in high school kept him from college, so he joined the Navy to get out of Iowa. He became a Corpsman Medic-a good position for someone with depression, because he could self-medicate. It was a great situation-good times-and he had his first dating experiences. He was stationed on the West Coast and spent some time in the Persian Gulf during the war of 1990.

He learned to trust someone other than himself when he married and moved to Texas. There he went to college and did well academically. He became a trauma nurse, working the night shift in a trauma center and functioning well-until his wife sought a divorce.

Again he attempted suicide. He spent three weeks at the Menninger Clinic, again playing the system. Then he found himself homeless in Topeka, 1999 and 2000. Since becoming involved with NAMI Steve has been doing well, finding the support he needs in wrap-around care facilities.

Shannon:

Shannon also has bi-polar disorder. She finds help is available for those who have the desire and resources to stay well, but finds consumers may need guidance in finding the support options they need.

Personally, Shannon had no support system. Her mother committed suicide when Shannon was eight years old. By the age of sixteen Shannon had severe problems, but found no support from her father. They do not speak.

Shannon's mental health is currently stabilized with drug therapy, and problems arise only when she has trouble getting prescriptions for medication or has trouble paying for the medication she needs. She finds NAMI is an organization willing to walk consumers through the process of helping themselves and others.

Her personal interest is in helping children and adolescents in getting help. Consumers need a safe place, support, and acceptance.
She says, “We aren't bad people, but we have been stigmatized by society when we are branded as 'mentally ill'. Kansas has the desire and the ability to help. But individuals must do their part in working with the system. I find that I can not change anything that is past history, but I can control what happens to me today and tomorrow.”

Q & A:

What does this panel perceive as Shawnee County's top five mental health needs?

1. Start by helping children, helping families.
2. Need funding to help consumers afford medication and care.
3. Need more beds in facilities and/or more temporary-care options.
4. Need community-based programs for consumers and their families.
5. Monitor the needs of veterans. They are next in line to lose help and are in great need.

Group homes should be more carefully monitored. Breakthrough Congregate on Golden Avenue in Topeka is the only good local care home. Their advantage is that they help teach residents to care for themselves…cook, clean, do laundry, etc. Each resident is required to be gone from the home between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. They, therefore, get out into the community, take classes and socialize.
Many group homes call themselves "boarding houses," thus avoiding state regulations.

NAMI Kansas is a state affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. They provide support, advocacy and education dedicated to improving the lives of families and individuals affected by brain disorders that manifest as mental illness. They collaborate with their colleagues in the mental health system to ensure the development and implementation of appropriate public policy and equitable distribution of public funds. They support and encourage medical research relating to brain disorders and participate in community research programs.

NAMI Kansas, P.O. Box 675, Topeka, KS,
66601-0675, 800-539-2660,
NAMIKansas@nami.org, www.nami.org

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