DMH 01 Memorandum from Sandra Banawich
Chairman,
I would like to comment on the Governments Draft
Mental Health Bill and include some of my personal experiences
of Mental Health Services. In particular I am concerned with Government
proposals for compulsory medication in the community and extending
powers to cover people who may commit an offence, on the off chance
they might Government proposes to 'treat' them. How does this
stop these people making a decision to hurt or kill someone? In
my experience Medication doesn't stop you thinking, many Sane
people carry out crimes everyday if someone on Medication still
commits a crime what will the Government do next to the Mentally
ill community? This Bill is misguided and drawn in haste as an
answer to a Media driven Psycho-phobic public. If you want to
punish someone who has committed an offence already then we have
Laws for that but to do it by way of medication seems barbaric
make Life mean Life and protect our right to innocence until proven
guilty.
Compulsory treatment in the community is in my opinion
as a Schizophrenic service user and former councillor with responsibility
for chair of Social Care and Health Scrutiny is both not needed
and flawed. Medications for my condition are at best unpleasant
and sometimes harmful. In my case I was prescribed Zyprexa (olanzepine)
for schizophrenia and developed type 2 diabetes in using it. I
now have a very serious illness as a result of taking my medication,
if it were to be forced on me what redress would I and thousands
of others have. Will there be a compensation fund for victims
of damage caused by forced Medication? Will we have redress through
the courts via Human Rights freedom from torture legislation?
I am serious about these questions as this issue affects my life
on a daily basis. The playing field between psychiatrists and
service user is already not level why put more mistrust and helplessness
into the balance, we need better and safer drugs and people who
treat us as responsible people with choices and freedoms that
other mainstream patients have. Sectioning already exists if necessary
the whole point of being in the community is to live a normal
life not be in a form of oppression. It is o.k. for professionals
to argue about these things but I would urge you to consider the
service users themselves and how these decisions affect them we
are real people with real lives not the Schizo knifeman as portrayed
by the media.
September 2004
Annex
In Addition to my e-mail could you also include
this article that appear online in the Guardian news site in 2001
Mental health | Social care
Time to take a whole-life approach to mental illness
Mental health service users deserve a treatment strategy
that addresses their need for support but allows a certain level
of freedom, writes Sandra Banawich
Tuesday April 17, 2001
Schizophrenia is a serious illness, one that has
an impact on every aspect of the sufferer's life. When drawing
up a strategy for treatment, we need to address the effects of
the illness on a person's life and develop a whole-life strategy.
A whole-life approach should look at the user's relationships
and family. It is stressful for relatives to support a mentally
ill person, and relationships can break down. In these circumstances,
advice on relationships for all members of the family would be
helpful, along with support groups or befriending schemes when
these relationships are no longer working.
Mental health service users can lead productive,
well-ordered lives, if they are given opportunities and support.
It is time for the government and mental health service providers
to put resources into real choices and opportunities - to commit
to providing real inclusion and equal opportunities for the service
user, and to protect their human rights.
Of course, treatment and hospitalisation play a vital
role under the Mental Health Act 1983 - and are a necessary evil
at times. Voluntary treatment in the community, however, gives
service users greater control over their own lives and is more
beneficial in the long term.
At present, there is a delicate balance of trust
and confidence between service users and providers. This could
be undermined by government proposals, set out in the recent mental
health white paper, for compulsory community treatment.
Where medication is concerned, there should be room
for negotiation between the service user and provider. Being allowed
to lower or increase medication levels or try different medication
is vital in finding a solution that works for the sufferer.
Mental health crisis teams provide valuable support
in the community and often prevent the need for hospitalisation.
If the government goes ahead with the white paper on mental health,
then it must be supported by a commitment from all involved in
the mental health field to train service users as advocates and
mentors.
Advocates need to have a legally recognised status,
which is stronger than next of kin, so that the service users'
opinions are heard and carry weight with officials.
Mental health groups, charities and drop-in centres
can provide a safe environment for service users - but are we
creating a mental health sub-culture? Is this really what we mean
by social inclusion?
We need more schemes centred on encouraging the mentally
ill to rejoin the rest of society, providing links to community
groups, education and employment. Such schemes would offer real
opportunities to mental health service users.
- Sandra Banawich was diagnosed with schizophrenia
10 years ago and was treated under section in hospital. She is
married with four children and is receiving treatment from a local
community mental health team. She is a Labour councillor on St
Helens borough council, Merseyside, and a member of Mind.
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