Lack of individual social, political and legal support for mentally ill

Lack of individual social, political and legal support for mentally ill:

Discrimination is the first problem when living with mental illness. For example, a police confrontation at my work became a "concern" for the civic group that I was in. When I complained about stigma and discrimination they blamed it on me. That is the reason for the second problem, a lack of serious advocates for helping the mentally ill.

Doctors and drugs do not help with social, political, and legal issues suffered from being called mentally ill. How do people find help with these "non-medical" issues? The answer is to look at the experience of victims of these issues like myself. See below.

I had expected NAMI (the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill), the ACLU, and other advocates to care. The reality is that individuals with mental illness are expected to be their own advocates. This expectation is absurd because mental illness is associated with confusion, weakness, isolation, and stigma. How can a person be their own advocate when faced with bigotry and hate of mental illness? Who teaches us how to deal with these issues?

A social worker said that I must not have written nice enough letters, etc. Am I expected to write perfect letters while suffering with bipolar disorder? Such statements only add to the stigma and apparent blame of my being weak or "sick". He even was worried that I might get arrested for my current protesting. Why must people suggest jail because I try standing up for myself?

I expect to be attacked or ignored because it is my experience for over 15 years. If I ignore these issues then they continue, so giving up is not an option as many people suggest.

Evidence - lack of individual social, political and legal support for mentally ill:

My own evidence and experience. Links to evidence and/or experience of others.

In va-award-mental-illness.pdf a veterans compensation doctor noticed the seriousness of these issues. But the VA is refusing to help me because my "regular doctors" are ignoring my complaints. (If it was an obvious physical disability then I could expect more help.)
When I made a plea for help to the wrong people in fears.pdf the result was report-1.pdf (actually it was much worse, see Bowling Green, Ohio, police confrontation). More details on the civic group webpage.
Here are the replies from the Prosecutor in Bowling Green, Ohio, when I claimed that I was being attacked: "prosecutor-2-n-3.pdf". More details on the state breaking law webpage.
Complaining about conduct of the BG Prosecutor resulted in this reply: reger-ethics-complaint.pdf. The legal system protects it's own, public be damned. Notice that a complaint about a lawyer is called "private" while complaints against citizens are open to the public in police and court records.
I looked for support with "my issues" nationally in 2004 resulting in these replies from the ACLU and government: "help-justice-reply.pdf" and "senators.pdf". More details on the failed help '04 webpage.
I looked for advocates to help me with my VA mental health support problems. Here is NAMI's reply: "letter-from-nami.pdf . They claim to be "The Nation's Voice on Mental Illness". Obviously this does not include support for individuals with mental illness, like myself.
Toledo's mental health board shows how little concern there is for the non-medical side of mental health: mental-health-board.pdf.
Note: there are many books dealing with these issues. Books do not solve the problems, their merit seems more for making money. If someone is serious about these issues then they should provide the information for free.

Individual stories:
Experience with Paranoid Schizophrenia and police:
InjusticeUnveiled.com
Tom Lane's story of attempted "suicide by police":
Justice for Mentally Ill
Karly Long's story and death, problems with the "mental health system":
www.KarlyLong.net/new_page_1.htm
Suicides in Georgia mental health care system:
Six. Almost Seven..

Employment:
Here is a good example about employment from the BBC:
'My mental illness puts bosses off'.
Associating mental illness employment with danger on the APA.org website:
Securing the workplace: Are our fears misplaced?.
Work discrimination of mental illness from ExpertLaw.com:
Tormenting the Mentally Ill: A Case of Disability Discrimination.

10-22-06: I have more examples. I will be adding them as I have time. Additional evidence can be found by looking at the rest of this website.

Your life is in the hands of people with mental illness. You can ignore the issue but we still exist. Your actions towards us determine if we are like Albert Einstein or Hitler. Ignoring mental health is the most dangerous thing that people can do! The mind is the birthplace of ideas and action.

It is absurd that most advocates for mental health seem to focus on medical issues while ignoring social and legal issues. Some of us experiencing isolation and confusion from mental illness we are expected to "support ourselves".

It is easier to write about these issues than talk about them.

I also believe that protesting is doing me good because of the people that I meet.

Next Topic: Help me start an organization to advocate for and support individuals.

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