get stabilized without being locked up.” My own history verifies Susan’s statements. In one Portland program, I religiously reported to my counselor every time I felt a manic episode coming on. The result was a guaranteed commitment to the state hospital—not a pleasant place to go. Upon switching clinics and psychiatrists I have been allowed treatment with additional medications and rest at home. I have subsequently been out of the hospital for two years. “ You are a young movement, do not be afraid to take action, do not be afraid to make mistakes GOOD LAW? he issue of enforced treatment both inside and outside hospitals divides family and friends from mental health consumers and consumers from each other. Though electro-shock treatment is controversial, it is the wider notion of enforced treatment that affects the mental health consumer population in its broadest terms. The official position of the National Mental Health Consumers Association (NMHCA) is the “ elimination of any form of involuntary treatment.” Joe Rogers, NMHCA president, states in a recent newsletter, “ I think we have to be strategic in our approach by attacking the problem of involuntary treatment. . .and steadily moving it toward what we all desire, which is the elimination of the need for any form of involuntary treatment.” Mental Health laws vary from state to state—there are 50 states with 50 different sets of mental health laws. In Oregon, consumers are not the only ones questioning the new commitment law that went into effect January 1, 1988. Mind Empowered Inc. executive director Jerry Wang takes this position. “ I believe consumers have the right to refuse treatment.. . unless the illness becomes harmful to self and others." Mr. Wang distinguishes his position from any statement issued by the American Psychiatric Association by saying he is for more “ creative pre-hospital' intervention—keeping more people out of the hospital.” Nancy Terry, legislative chair for the Oregon Alliance for Family and Friends of thp Mentally III, says of the new law, “We don’t want them to go to the hospital, but we want help for them, which has been difficult with • previous laws.” A Manhattan friend of mine once told me: “ In New York, if you can wear a three- piece suit, no one cares how crazy you are. It’s the combination of poverty and mental illness that scares people.” Beth Greenspan, a consumer at the Alternatives '88 conference put it succinctly: “ The most stigmatized population in the U.S. is the homeless mentally ill.” As Susan Rogers, Director of Public Information and Education for NMHCA said to me one day, “ Empowerment is the key. . .we will no longer be anyone’s poster child. We don’t want pity, but respect.” Michael T. Wilson of Florida commented that “The day consumers sit in a room, disagree on issues, and walk outside shaking hands will be our day of maturity as a movement.” Isaiah Uliss, closing speaker of the Alternatives ’88 conference, drew on his decades of experience as a union organizer. His words still echo: “You are a young movement, do not be afraid to take action, do not be afraid to make mistakes.” With our movement in America growing at a phenomenal rate, consumers are wrestling with the powers that be and taking some power for themselves. The status quo is being challenged through lobbying, legislation, fighting court battles and organizing fellow consumers. Unlike McMurphy in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, mental patients/consumers will no longer be lo- botomized into submission. Big Nurse will no longer shred our autonomy and rule every part of our being. Mental health consumers are a movement—like the union movement, the civil rights movement, the women’s movement. Our time has come. Though electro-shock treatment is controversial, it is the wider notion of enforced treatment that affects the mental health consumer population in its broadest terms. Writer Evan Kaeser lives in Portland. His story “It Ain’t the King of Hearts” appeared in the Summer, 1985 CSQ. Several legal people and groups have taken up the concerns of consumers vis a vis the new commitment laws. The Oregon Advocacy Center (OAC), a federally funded legal advocate of the disadvantaged-disabled population, which includes the mentally ill, is pursuing test cases of the new law. Bob Joondeph, OAC managing attorney says the new law is patently “ designed to make it easier to commit people.” According to the new law, anyone considered potentially dangerous to self or others who has been committed to a state hospital twice in the past three years can be returned to a state hospital. This clause especially rankles Joondeph. He points out that “ [the law] discriminates against the poor. Only the poor end up in state hospitals.” The ACLU is filing a friend of the court—Amicus Curae—brief in a commitment case challenging the pew law. According to Stevie Remington, director of the Oregon Chapter of the ACLU, this case shows “ . . . grounds on which one should not be deprived of one’s liberties on the basis of perception that at some time in the future that person will be a danger to themselves or others.” Susan Stefan, an attorney with the Mental Health Law Project in Washington, D.C. says , “ I would like to see a very narrowly defined commitment and enforced treatment law." Ms. Stefan suggests we abrogate all potential violence laws and only legislate actual violence laws. 2301 NW SAVIER (at 23rd) PALACE BOOKING (503) 229-0652 PALACE PRODUCTIONS FAX No. 227-6264 po BOX 2843 PORTLAND, OR 97208 32 Clinton St. Quarterly—Fall/Winter 1988 REAL AMERICAN FOOD OPEN 24 HOURS 7 DAYS A WEEK WE DO CATERING 228*3764 — MUSICIAN’S JOB-FINDER SERVICE PROVIDES EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES TO PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS, BANDS, BEGINNERS & SEASONED PERFORMERS PALACE PRODUCTIONS HAS REHEARSAL STUDIO SPACE AND ENTERTAINMENT BOOKINGS AVAILABLE THRU PALACE BOOKING SERVICE FOR INFORMATION CALL OR WRITE:
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