Some people who have read my book about our family’s experience with son Jim’s schizophrenia and substance abuse lament that it doesn’t have a happier ending. I am pleased to share that since the book ended two years ago, Jim is on a better medication, is sober and doing incredibly well.
There is no better Mother’s Day gift than to have healthy children. This year both our childrenare healthy and believe you me, I don’t take it for granted. When Angela and Jim were small, they scrawled large, bold signatures across the bottom of cards Roger helped them buy and presented them with warm, moist kisses. Read more about Best Mother’s Day Gift[…]
Unlike most people, 2020 was a good year for our family in many ways. My long-in-the-making book, “Fix What You Can: Schizophrenia and a Lawmaker’s Fight for Her Son,” was released. Son Jim stayed sober the entire year for the first time in a long while. He yearned to go to work more than he Read more about 2020[…]
Posted Oct. 6, 2020 in Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice/ The Quadriga If a tree falls in the forest but no one hears it, does it make a noise? If a law is passed but no one is educated to implement it, does it have any effect? The hardest I ever Read more about Does a Law No One Knows About Have Any Effect?[…]
People are often surprised when someone attempts or dies by suicide. Our family was shocked the first time our son Jim overdosed, trying to obey voices in his head. Jim has schizo-affective disorder. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 5 percent of people with schizophrenia commit suicide, five times the rate of the Read more about Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month[…]
Published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on June 9, 2020 When I read in the Star Tribune (June 8) that some city council members are calling for dismantling the Minneapolis Police Department, suggesting instead sending mental health professionals to respond to certain emergencies, I thought of my son’s first mental health crisis. His psychologist had Read more about Separating police, mental health response isn’t easy[…]
Many people are seeking mental health support during the sheltering-in-place COVID-19 siege. Social media is fraught with posts about the anxiety and depression it can cause, and the National Institute of Mental Health is researching how stressors related to the virus affect mental health. Our son Jim, who has a mental illness, is staying with Read more about Quarantine[…]
In February, I asked Dr. E Fuller Torrey for a testimonial for my soon-to-be-released book about my son’s mental illness (Fix What You Can: Schizophrenia and a Lawmaker’s Fight for Her Son). Dr. Torrey signed his response letter “Fuller,” thrilling me more than a hand-signed letter I once received from a President I admired. He Read more about Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, Hero[…]
A recent hearing of the Minnesota House of Representatives Housing Committee probed the intersection of mental illness and housing. I expected to hear stories of despair and facts about dire shortages. I wasn’t disappointed, but people who told their stories about how their lives were turned around when they finally found a safe place Read more about Housing First[…]
A Letter to my fifteen-year-old granddaughter Dear Taylor, I learned a lot about marijuana and mental illness at a recent National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Conference. I want to share some of it with you while it’s still fresh on my mind, because it scared me. I don’t want you to get schizophrenia like Read more about Young Brains & Marijuana[…]