Randy Seaver of Biddeford is a freelance writer.
A lot of people are talking about mental health/mental illness today. Lots of speculation and lots of misinformation. I understand. We are all feeling raw; angry, tired and afraid. Things like the mass shootings in Lewiston aren’t supposed to happen here.
As someone who has been hospitalized on various psychiatric units nearly 30 times over the past 42 years. I want to share a bit of perspective and clarify some misinformation.
Let’s start with the really hard part: Several weeks ago, I wrote a story for Saco Bay News that explored mental health resources here in southern Maine. According to officials at Sweetser, one of Maine’s most well-known providers of top-notch mental health services, there are more than 2,000 people on a waiting list to get services in southern Maine.
Allow me to repeat that number: More than 2,000 individuals are seeking help but are on a waiting list.
We need more services. You want more services, but that’s going to require money. Lots of money. How much more in taxes are you ready to spend? $1 a day? $5 a day?
If you are a new patient, it’s very difficult to get an appointment with a psychiatrist who can prescribe medications or other services such as ECT, or electroconvulsive therapy treatments. Again, the waiting list is very long. The co-pays are high, and many psychiatrists do not take MaineCare or Medicare. Regardless, you wait weeks for an appointment. That’s if you’re lucky.
There are essentially two types of hospitalizations on psychiatric units: Voluntary or Involuntary, which is commonly referred to as being “blue-papered” because of the required documents to keep you against your will.
I have been hospitalized both as a voluntary and as an involuntary patient. In the old days (1980s and before), we had long-term facilities such as AMHI (Augusta Mental Health Institute) and BMHI (Bangor Mental Health Institute). Those were deplorable places, but today we have far fewer “available” beds and an ever-increasing demand for services. Our current systems are literally bursting at the seams.
Today, it is not uncommon to see mental health patients languish in emergency department triage rooms for days because there are no available beds. It’s not the fault of the hospital or staff. It’s simply because the need and demand for services is overwhelming.
Although things may have changed a bit since I was last blue-papered, you can only hold someone for 10 days, unless you can get a judge to extend the restraint in order to address an imminent threat to self or others. (Those policies change from state-to-state and the commitment system is complex).
I have been hospitalized in four states. Arizona, Tennessee, Oregon and Maine. (It’s pretty much the same story across the country). But when I was younger, the waiting lists were much shorter. The services were much more accessible. I never had to wait days for treatment.
This particular situation is still evolving. None of us have all the facts. But please, let’s not point blame at mental health providers or the court system. There are many, many factors to consider and every case is unique.
All mass-shooters have mental health issues. But the vast and overwhelming majority of people with a diagnosed mental illness are not a danger to you, your family or your friends. In fact, stigma prevents many people from seeking help in the first place.
There will be time for analysis. Time to discuss what’s broken. A time to discuss a whole lot of things that went wrong, but please (as hard as it is right now) don’t start blaming people. We don’t have the facts. I wish for all of you, peace and comfort during this difficult time, and I will close by reminding you of this one fact:
Only a few hours before this tragic event happened, there were still more than 2,000 people in southern Maine on a waitlist for mental health services.
