Mentally Ill US Citizen Deported

I am in such shock I don't even know where to begin. It would be easier for me to better understand this horrifying true story if it had been a Spanish-speaking only U.S. citizen or even someone who was actually of Mexican descent, but this is just not the case. Mark Lyttle's story is neither of these and it's so sad, I had to laugh to stop from crying.

Mark Lyttle's story broke when Dr. Jacqueline Stevens, associate professor from University of California, Santa Barbara, got hold of the details and blogged about it. According to Dr. Stevens, his story is not unique, 10,000 U.S. citizens get deported annually.

Unfortunately for Mr. Lyttle, 32, born in Salisbury, North Carolina, was probably having a Manic episode when he committed a misdemeanor that landed him jail. Dr. Stevens writes,

Last week I received Mark's "alien file" maintained by the Department of Homeland Security. Among dozens of documents revealing the incompetence and even treachery of ICE, Customs and Border Patrol agents, and an immigration judge in Atlanta are ones triggering a series of events resulting in Mark's four month journey through five countries in Latin America.

On August 27, 2008, according to a guard at the Neuse Correctional Institute, "five or six ladies who do the admin intakes" would have been typing into the North Carolina Offender database vital statistics for the approximately 60 inmates they were screening that day.

For Mark, serving a 100 day sentence for a misdemeanor, this meant a record stating:

Race: OTHER

Complexion: MEDIUM

Ethnicity: ORIENTAL

Place of Birth: MEXICO


Mark says he remembers the interview. The woman told him he had brown skin, so maybe he was from Mexico. She was going to alert ICE to follow up. (Perhaps she did this by typing "Mexico" as Mark's place of birth? I guess Mark was lucky: she could have typed "China" -- of course Mark has no relatives from Asia, either.)

The psychologist that examined him before his first of several deportation diagnosed Mr. Lyttle with Bipolar I.



I don't know what's funnier that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data intake administrators did not know what a Mexican looks like or that a clearly looking black man standing in a Southern state was Mexican and Oriental without a speck of an accent or a Latino name. No, Jose Thomas does not count. If it did NPR and Fox New Sunday commentator Juan Williams should be looking over his shoulder, starting NOW. Mentally ill folks can have a little fun too, but I guess Mr. Lyttle's jokes with the system left him with a bitter taste.

The scandalous part was that it took one day for State Department employee in Guatemala to verify that Mark Lyttle was a U.S. citizen. It's amazing that employees at ICE couldn't afford him the right to do their job properly, a job our tax payer dollars are paying for.

This is one of those cases that gives credence to why organizations like Mind Freedom International exist. It takes Mad Pride to represent and fight to be heard and treated with respect.

Go on Mark Lyttle, tell your story, with you Mad self.

The Afterw@rd

A Right Winger's Take on Mental Ilness

John Hawkins really thinks he knows something about living with mental illness!

The mentally ill are constantly discriminated against. They are stigmatized, rather than embraced. Folks would rather look away than actually face the conditions under which people with mental illness are treated. The list of trials and tribulations goes on and on. But, alas, I can feel Hawkins ignorance. Mental illness does not have a political party affiliation, but his party is definitely making it worse off for those who are mentally ill to receive proper treatment.

Why can't mentally ill people have a right to a second, and yes, even third, opinion? Forcibly, taking any medication should be based on a patient's right to chose. It is up to us to create a safe space for people to freely admit that something is actually wrong.

In Pennsylvania Teen Screen is a test that is given to teens to help "reduce" suicide; however, it was funded by those deep pockets. It makes it difficult to trust this particular industry. Check out Allen Jones' whistleblower's tale.



The Afterw@rd

PS Thanks TorturedSoul for the heads up!

Death Paneling Living Wills

On August 23, 2009, Fox New Sunday ran the following spin bit.



I feel it was disingenuous for FNS to cite "Your Life, Your Choices", as an Obama Administration problem when it was a document produced, distributed, and adopted under the Bush Administration. The document serves as a bad workbook example for end-of-life options and for drafting living will documents.

Granted, all the right winged false spin regarding proposed death panels within health care reform bills, still under negotiation, have virtually killed (at least in the Senate) any hope to have "voluntary end of life counseling". By spinning this story last Sunday, FNS tried to make a link where one doesn't really exists. Tricky, Fox!

However, end-of-life counseling is important. These sensitive discussions among family and friends are most fruitful when folks are healthy and well, not when elderly are knocking on heaven's door and it's simply a second past too late. 1 out of 4 elderly above the age of 65 end their life prematurely. These same individuals visited their doctor's at least 30 days before completion. A counseling session at that time could have raised warning signs for family members and care takers. At the end of the day, those who will suffer most for the proverbial pulling of the plug on the counseling option are those least able to afford it.

With all that said, an interesting point arises regarding our own choices on end of life matters. There seems to be a thin line between suicide and dying with dignity under certain debilitating conditions. Robert Pearlman, author of "Your Life, Your Choices," seems to be straddling that line. What I find is that the pamphlet could use better question structure and word choices. Also, with additional adjustments, it could serve as great indicator for mental health flags. Maybe it was this discussion that allowed for a much needed segue to analyzing suicide rate of soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Another interesting point that the pamphlet brings to light is the inquiry of your church's stand on suicide, but that's for another blog entry.

The Afterw@rd

Having A This-Ability

I was surfing through the web and found that actor Joe Pantoliano was diagnosed with Clinical Depression. He took his diagnosis and transformed it to start an organization called "No Kidding, Me too!"

The mission of the organization is to eliminate the stigma surrounding brain disorders, thereby allowing people to freely claim their this-ability and seek help. He brings his message across with humor, lightness, and depth. All the Afterw@rd can hope for.

I agree with Joey that there is power in claiming your this-ability and using the talents and creativity entrusted for the greater good. Removing the stigma is at the root of it all.

Check out this clip from his upcoming documentary trailer.



Let's all step into our greatness because of our this-abilities.

The Afterw@rd

The Passing of an Advocate

Eunice Kennedy Shriver passed away yesterday. She, indeed was, such a remarkable, trailblazing woman who lived fully and advocated strongly for those with mental health disorders.

She shared not only the Kennedy name but their fire as well in defense of those like her sister, Rosemary Kennedy, who was institutionalized from the age of 23. Eunice openly discussed how we should treat those with mental retardation, convincing the general public that those with mental disabilities can be productive members of society.

I celebrate Eunice's accomplishments and learn from her experiences.

No one need live with and bear the stigma of a mental disorder. The Special Olympics is a repudiation of fringe living and a stand for being fully present where ever you are on the mental spectrum.

Cheers, Eunice, to a life well lived.

The Afterw@rd

Surviving Versus Living

Today is Mami's anniversary of her passing. Today, I am the same age as Mami when she decided to take her life. A date I have been working towards since this blog's inception.

Before I was a survivor.

I'd survive day to day, rationalizing events occurred. I told myself medical services in the 70s were not the same as they are now. No one then knew Spanish. No one really understood what it was she had. The files have all been lost in the abyss of Bellevue. But the reality is I don't have to look too far to see the holes in the health care system.

In the end, it does not really matter. She is now gone and I know I don't have to look too far to know what plagues my family. All I can do is fight for those who still choose live.

While I have always found strength from self-created environments and supportive circles, I now see these groups as a healthy living mechanism. I separate the chaff from the wheat. I love myself enough to take care of myself. I take a bottom up approach. It's an on going project.

I review my life trajectory and see how very different it is from Mami's experience in the States. I see how our achievements differ, how proud of me she would have been, how resilient, resourceful, creative I have become. I do my best to live righteously, lovingly, honestly with all, not too different from the stories I've heard of how Mami was in life.

I feel blessed that even in my darkest hours (and there have been several), I can still see light. I stand firm on not being blind sighted ever again. I proactively move when the time is right. I rest when my body says rest. I sleep when my body says sleep. And I thrive always. I make mistakes and fail, but I make sure to review and not lose the lesson. I am so much stronger for it. I build on those experiences.

I finally feel like love can exists in my life. Her experiences are not mine for I am not her. Life is too short. In fact, love is already here. I just enjoy it when it presents itself. Love comes at just the right time. I receive it and I give it. I make sure to show others how I appreciate their effort, presence, attention and advice, recognizing, I'm not always perfect because perfect is the death of life.

Before I was a survivor.

Today, I move on to living.

The Afterw@rd

P.S. These past couple of years have been interesting to say the least. I would like to thank the following folks for their consistency, caring, and visionary inspiration:

* Rita Project
* Lois Reddick and Gamila Baptiste
* Gino Williams
* The Buckners
* My Community Group
* To all my other friends and family who took time to reach out to me and/or to listen to me when I needed a friend.

Studying Soldier Suicides

Last year, I expressed my disappointment on current soldier suicides rates.

Finally, I can start to breath a little easier. Last October, the National Institute of Mental Health and the Army have teamed up to face soldier suicides head on. They are pulling the ostrich's head out of the sand. And it sounds like more than just lip service:

The five-year, $50 million study...is an ambitious attempt to solve the mystery.

I pray that those who are in the top of their fields are working on this. I look forward to seeing the initial results.

Staying tuned...

The Afterw@rd

Depressing News Indeed

Seeing the Funny?

Early this week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, the introductory monologue, like always, reviewed what seemed like the Yahoo! news of the day. Fallon is still warming up to his new role, but he is much smoother now that his nerves have calmed down. For the first three days he kicked some news (without his typical dead joke wince) about how antidepressants use doubled from 1996 to 2005 and how depression had been diagnosed in kids as young as 3 years old and in second graders. The audience laughed. They must have understood. I think laughter is healthy, even if it is at yourself.

But those in the know, also know, this is no laughing matter. It's the difference of laughing at you rather than with you. Depression is a real deal with scary consequences if symptoms are left untreated. The question of the day was, what does treatment really look like? No article really touched on that.

And that's what scares me.

It's too easy to say, hey, this is just the Pharma movement looking to pump up their billion dollar sales bottomline.

More than 164 million prescriptions were written in 2008 for antidepressants, totaling $9.6 billion in U.S. sales, according to IMS Health.

I've been know to be too idealistic and naive that it hurts. I like to think that's just the wise Latina in me.

I am no doctor, but here is how I see the writing on the wall. Are we going to sit idly by as pills are popped without proper weekly supervision or talk therapy treatment with a patient. Are we all not listening to the same antidepression commercials where the fine print person comes on to say that along with bad breath, acne, constipation and dizziness, etc. that antidepressant treatment in children and young adults causes/increases depression symptoms, including suicidal idealation?

What are we to do? Well, my answer is to pass health care reform. Most people must self-select their treatments based on how much it costs them. In this day of over medication, it's just easier to pop a pill and think it will all be taken care of. (In my opinion, primary care doctors misdiagnose and thus, over prescribe antidepressants, many without really keeping up with the changes in the field of psychiatry.) We now must choose between our very health and our financial survival. In this good US of A, I just find that to be unacceptable.

And yes, I am nervous. You can even say anxious. Why? The Birther Movement, who insist that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya despite all the proof shown, have joined forces with the Swift Boat people, Dick Armey and Freedomworks.org, to kill health care reform for those 50 million people without insurance and for those who think their insurance will last forever under the status quo. All those lobbyist (yes, including Pappas from Freedomworks) are all laughing themselves to the bank. Cha-ching and bling, bling, Dick.



Either we come with it to face the Brooks Brother's protesters or we may just prematurely die or go banckrupt trying to live with the status quo, which ever comes first.

The Afterw@rd

Boy, Interruped TONITE on HBO!

I met Dana Perry, director of "Boy, Interrupted," last June 26 at the HBO premiere of the documentary in Chicago, IL. I looked into her eyes and saw a mother's pain. She is still working through the interruption. It's only logical.

The documentary film, which will be on HBO tonight with an accompanying DVD release tomorrow, tells the story of Evan Perry, Dana Perry's son, who at 15 decided prematurely to end his life. This is a story of a mother's struggle with a bipolar child. This is a story of how silence and denial doesn't out live the truth. Mental illness is real. It's genetic. Its treatable, but only if discussed. It teaches that responsibility and stigma matter. It speaks the vigilance of parents aware of a history gone unspoken.

Regina Weinreich did a very poignant interviewed of Dana and her struggles making this film. It was the Chicken Soup for her soul, yet the truth is that one never truly heals from a passing such as this.

When seeing the film, I found that stigma played a much larger part than discussed. It goes back again to the simple basics of helping people understand what it means to suffer from a disease such as this. Evan, being a manic case, on one extreme, while other milder cases hide in the shadows.

The film is a personal story. But I can't help but wonder about the millions of people who have to deal but lack the resources with which the Perry's were blessed. However, the film is definitely a start and illustration of an open wound.

I hope enough people see it and start to learn what it means to live and to die. And how an interruption affects those left behind.

The Afterw@rd