Mental Health Needs Your Help

[BoBar]

Originally Posted by Blewvane

You might want to look into what other services he is entitled to as well, such as free legal aid for example. It is NOT normal for doctors to change medications that are effective. Speak to a solicitor.

Thanks Blewvane, I will. I was told it's procedure for each new Dr. to try their own methods of care with each new patient. I never understood why they would change something that was helping him. & to be honest, I have no idea what a solicitor is (HAHA, dont judge me) :-) Gonna google that shit & do some research

[30564U]

The hospital is located in Atascadero CA (about 20 miles north of San Luis Obispo) and is called the California State Hospital-Atascadero. He probably did his state prison time at the California Men's Colony located in San Luis Obispo. That prison has a large population of mentally ill inmates and is usually where Atascadero folks do their time when incarcerated. Your poor brother's problems are anything but uncommon. The mental health situation in California (and for that matter, everywhere else) is beyond broken and needs to be addressed very very soon. Most, if not all, the bad guys I dealt with over my 30+ years was either officially diagnosed as mentally ill or undiagnosed mentally ill. In fact, most drug users are simply trying to ham handedly self treat their illness with crapy drugs (ie: cocaine and methamphetamine for ADHD and opiates for depression, etc.). Access to our mental health system is drought with stupid and outdated rules and laws that do nothing but hinder treatment. Law enforcement (usually the front line in dealing with these folks) are almost universally despised by the mental health system. The mental health folks do nothing to assist law enforcement or to train police officers in how to navigate the system. It's a total utter mess. Dean mine was absolutely correct in recommending a conservatorship. It'll take a while, but it's the only way to take charge. Please don't think you can manage your brother alone or take custody of him...this never works out and will only place you in danger. Don't give up on your brother. Since he's technically a "parolee" while he's in custody at Atascadero, he will have a Parole Agent assigned who's on site at the hospital. Find out who the Agent is by calling the hospital. Get in contact with the Agent and ask what he or she thinks. Get the Agent's input and suggestions and make them understand that you their to support your brother and assist the Agent and hospital staff in helping your poor brother. Good luck...and don't give up.

[30564U]

Hey Dean...do you ever get the impression no one listens to our advice? I was under the impression she actually gave a damn about said nutter brother...apparently not so much. Oh well...I appreciated your post and advice. If I ever get a half wit brother I'm gonna go down and a conservatorship whether the goofball needs it or not. Thank you for your advise...you are appreciated...at least by me.

[deanmine]

Originally Posted by 30564U

impression no one listens to our advice

I do Good Things For People in a selfish manner..... IT makes ME feel GooD... and if it helps someone else..... hey even better! but to do things in hopes that people will apprciate u .... well.... thats like getting pregnant in hopes he will love u more.....lol

[BoBar]

Wow! My appologies for giving you the impession that I didnt care about your advice, because your wrong. Your post was very informational & I appretiate any useful help/advice that would better my brothers life. But God damn it man! LoL...How you gonna go from being so helpful in your first post, to talkin shit in the next? I'll try & be a bit quicker with my responce next time, to prevent any misunderstandings ;-) Shit! LOL....Anyway, yes 30564U, your absolutely correct about where he spent his time & where he is now. You seem to be knowledgable in this area. As far as a conservator, he's had one now for about the past 10 years or so. Based on what you & Dean has said about conservatorship, Im getting the impression that a conservator has a bit of leverage when dealing with the well being of the one being conserved? I thought the only responsibility a conservator had was to manage that persons $$$. Im definately gonna look into that. As it is right now, Im not even allowed to visit him, due to a FTA on my record over a speeding ticket from about 7-8 years ago. So Im very currious that if I were to become his conservator, would the hospital still be allowed to denie me entrance into the building?

[deanmine]

u could also .... either have him.. or mail a letter to the doctor who he sees expressing ur feelings about ur brother and what u think of his treatment so far..... the doc wont be able to give u any information.. but u can give him all u want.....!

my thought was..... who controls the money controls the behavior. lol.. ya know what i mean...

[BoBar]

Ok cool Thanx Dean ;-)

[deanmine]

so can i ask u questions now...lol

[30564U]

You might want to discuss your exile and inability to visit you brother with a local attorney. If find it very odd that the simpletons at Atascadero would deny you access for an FTA...that's not a legal reason to deny hospital visitation. Unless...he's still considered to be serving state prison time while incarcerated in Atascadero. He might not be actually "on parole" yet. In which case the California Dept. Of Coorections can deny access for the slightest little glitch on your criminal/driving history. If that's the case, then hold off on the lawyer consult until he's officially on parole in Atascadero.

Yea...it's complicated...and can get even more complicated. You can be a prisoner/inmate in CDC custody, then be soo nutty that you're sent to Atascadero for treatment (then CDC rules apply). Then you can be "paroled" while still in custody at Atascadero and remain at Atascadero for your entire three years of parole. But...and this is a big butt...if you commit a crime while on parole inside Atascadero then you can be re-sentenced, given a new state prison term, go back to the Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, and then be too nutty and need treatment, and then be sent back to Atascadero to start the whole process over again (I told you it was a broken system). Then of course there's the whole Sexually Violent Predator thing if you commit a sex crime...but that's for a different discussion...I don't want to confuse you.

Now, it sounds to me like he's still in CDC custody...so that explains the refusal to allow your visitation over basically chicken shit stuff. Check to make sure I'm right on this. If I'm not, then talk with a lawyer...a lawyer letter sent to the Superintendant of the hospital and the Director of the state hospital system will do wonders for smoothing the way...trust me on this. You might also discuss a conservatorship with the lawyer as well. It sounds to me like your bother has a court appointed conservator (and that's far better than no conservator), but if I'm not mistaken, you also can be a conservator. Now a conservatorship is a great deal of responsibility that you might not be quite ready for...yet. It's nothing to be ashamed of if you can't or don't want to do it...it's a lot of work and it will be time consuming and a whole new world for you to learn about...trust me, it's going to be a big learning curve. Thank God your brother has money coming in and a nice sister. I highly encourage you to talk with his current conservator, doctors, counselors, and a good nut attorney (not a nutty attorney, but an attorney that specializes in nuts...big difference). Make sure your brother's "team" knows you and knows that you're there to assist them in treating your brother. Be patient...this relationship building stuff can take a while and be frustrating (many state hospital employees are semi-retarded and are actually former patients of the hospital...just kidding, but maybe they are?), but the squeaky wheel gets the oil. If you get into this and find that it's too much or too hard...don't be ashamed if you choose not to take it on...it's a lot.

[BoBar]

Originally Posted by deanmine

so can i ask u questions now...lol

Sure, go for it ;-)