A Safety Pin and Gratitude for HB 2646

It's funny how timing happens. Today H.B. 2646 The Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act is being marked up in the House of Representative Energy and Commerce Committee. It has been over a year since this bill was introduced. It will address many of the holes in the current mental health system. It comes at a time when many are going on record as demanding better access to mental health treatment. I hope the bill is passed as quickly as possible.

Over the years I have called and emailed the congressional offices many times. Below is the message I sent today. I am not passing out Silver Ribbons at the rally. I am asking that everyone please put a safety pin in their lapel instead. This is a symbol that we believe in brain science and are making sure it is funded. Thank you.

Thank you for taking the time for fully considering the substance of H.B. 2646 today. This fall it will be eighteen years since I lost my mother, Margaret Ray, to suicide. I have tried to make things better. Recent statistics would indicate that my efforts have not been successful. All I did was pass out Silver Ribbons. I think I already gave you one. If you don’t have one and want to show support for Mental Health reform please just put a silver safety pin in your lapel as a sign that you believe we can cure brain diseases.  It is an excellent bill.


When I was in school the Surgeon General released a report on Mental Illness and stated that it was the greatest Public Health threat facing the country. I had the opportunity to see the science of brain imagery and the cutting edge of research first hand when I went on a book promotion tour in 2000. Over the past sixteen years I have endeavored to keep up with the reading and have changed and evolved some of my understanding of what a brain disease looks like. We've come to understand profound things about ourselves and our brains. We have tried some programs that worked and sadly are seeing the glaring mistakes that were made. We need more beds and a general increase in funding. H.B. 2646 addresses many of these issues and takes steps to move forward with best practices.


During that long ago tour, I passed out silver ribbons as part of a larger national effort. (I also inherited the foundation for my poor mother who took her life when I was a law student. When she took her life she left a hole in mine and because she involved the media, she put a huge red flag on my internet background check. Whether or not you believe in stigma against the mentally ill, I believe that it has had a strong impact on my career options.) At the time several of the national mental health advocacy organizations were supporting the silver ribbon for the brain campaign. Mental health is just not something people want to talk about. I don't think anyone wants to wear a silver ribbon.

Almost everyone is touched by a story of mental illness. If they haven't experienced it yet, they are either very young or incredibly self absorbed. Helping someone with any kind of bought of illness can be exhausting, it is harder when the illness must remain a secret. Over the past few decades, getting mental health treatment in the US has been a struggle for many resulting in long sad stories. I have found that if you wear a silver ribbon and put yourself out there as a mental health advocate, people are going to tell you horribly sad stories that you can't do anything to help.

So, thank you for doing the hard work of listening to all the families who have called in and told their stories to you during this lobbying effort. I wish I was there with a basket of silver ribbons. If you wish to show your support, please put a silver safety pin on your lapel to show that we take care of invisible diseases too and everyone will try to be grateful.

Sincerely,

Anna-Lisa Johanson, JD-MPH

Please join me in wearing a safety pin as a sign that you believe that science will overcome mental illness. In these sad days, it's a way of saying that we are doing the best we can. 

Best Christmas Ever!

This year for the Holidays all of my favorite Mental Illness Policy Programs were introduced for additional funding and I felt like my work was done. The Silver Tree was 

glowing. 

. 

The Silver Ribbon Campaign For the Brain

In 1998 on an October night my Mother, Margaret Ray, became the first punch line in Mental Illness.  When she committed suicide, she made the front page of the NYT, my name was also printed in the story and as a result, she chose my career as a Mental Health Advocate.

Throughout my childhood my mother suffered from a brain disease that made her progressively sicker. Her psychosis and brain damage from chronic illness led her to believe that she was in a romantic relationship with a late night talk show host. Her name became a joke about stalking (http://investigation.discovery.com/investigation/crime-countdowns/stalkers/stalkers-05.html). It should have been a statement about our inability to get care for a brilliant, beautiful mother.

After my mother died, my family founded The Margaret Ray Memorial Foundation. My Grandmother and I both worked on legislation and every level of advocacy over the last 15 years to change the way that Mental Illness is treated in the US.

At every opportunity we give silver pins that have a sticker stating "compliments of the Margaret Ray Memorial Foundation" we have distributed hundreds if not thousands of silver pins.

The Silver Ribbon Campaign is for all brain diseases: Autism, Mental Illness, Alzheimer, and the tragic brain tumors that sneak up and strike down adults in their prime.

In the last decade everything about our Mental Health Policy has changed.

Most states have Assisted Outpatient Treatment (I worked for Treatment Advocacy Center when they were writing the model AOT law) the new Affordable Care Act will cover services for all brain diseases equally. Now is the best time in history to have a brain disease.

The work is not done. We all need to wear a silver ribbon. I wear one everyday. If you would like one, please contact me, NARSAD, NAMI, The Margaret Ray Foundation (me) or make your own.

The number of children with Autism spectrum disorders is tragic. We have an aging population that will need detection and treatment of Alzhiemers. As we still struggle to come to terms with the few acts of violence from automatic weapons finding their way into the hands of a few severely mentally ill indivduals who slipped through the cracks, we need to come together and wear a Silver Ribbon.

So often the answer is a "known known." The Silver Ribbon Campaign was not my idea. It is time for those who have struggled for years, one in four will suffer from an episode of mental illness, to step forward, put on a Silver lapel pin, and support each other.

If the color pink could unite women across the country, please help me use Silver to unite everyone.

Our minds have always been our greatest gift. 

Happy New Year.

Cheers,
ALJ