I did it! I challenged myself to do a seven-day marathon bringing as much valuable information as possible about mental illnesses! To everybody who read the information, THANK YOU!!!!! Now you are armed with valuable information to save an untreated mentally ill person and help him or her achieve wellness, quality of life. Sure, there is a whole heck of a lot of information I could not “squeeze” in and I will share them through my regular blogs about living with Bipolar. Keep in mind, Bipolar is a mental illness and it is my hope that you do not get stuck on that label, but continue to read my blogs to help ALL mentally ill persons.
God is in the house! I thank Him for blessing me with sanity to be able to enlighten everyone and if my life ended today, I know what purpose is and what His love is. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord! (I read so much new information this week that it felt like taking the Masters Program again, but in 7 days!!! Whew!! This may seem minor to you, but it was a major, major accomplishment and I am filled with joy because I tinkered with just how to end my (own) National Mental Illness Awareness Week. I prayed for the perfect wrap-up and here it is….
If you have a mentally ill sibling, child, or parent, here is some information you need to be planning for and especially if your mentally-ill loved one is Untreated!!! If you die, it could be drastic for your loved one and somebody, SOMEBODY will need to pick up the task of caring for the mentally ill person. If you are currently the person taking care of a mentally ill family member, you need to start discussing important information with other family members. There is nothing wrong with that because NO MATTER WHAT, sharing is productive and ensures a quality of life for all.
There are several ways to plan for the care of a loved one:
BEST: Psychiatric Advance Directive (PAD) is a legal document with instructions for the care a mentally ill person will need in your absence (illness, death) if that person cannot make competent decisions on his/her own. NAMI offers a nine-step course in this Peer-to-Peer PAD. I have one with my family and in short, my adult daughter and son are in charge of me until I stabilize. They know my wishes and what I DO NOT want. For example, they know I do NOT ever want Electrical Shock Therapy! My primary physician and Psyche doctor also know my wishes. Does this sound like a Living Will? Well, it is very similar and I have that, too. I also update it on my birthday if there are any changes.
Now, there is another benefit to me having a PAD and that is because I have a severely developmentally-delayed son. I had to consider what to do for him should I be “unstable” and decisions regarding his healthcare are needed. My PAD spells out exactly what conditions must occur for my children to step in. With this PAD, a Durable Power of Attorney is necessary in most states and that also covers issues that may arise such as whether or not to put me on life-support technology.
Briefly, I shared before how sometimes a medical crisis may trigger a “Bipolar Episode.” In this case, I am NOT competent to make decisions about my healthcare. This happened to me once. I needed to have emergency gall-stone surgery and I was thrown into a manic depressive episode. When I stabilized, it was a week post surgery. My daughter and mother made all the medical decisions and mental healthcare choices for me. I was able to resume making my own decisions within 14 days. Trust me, when you are in a manic episode, you are NOT capable of making good decisions. For instance, I demanded the drainage bag be removed all day long and even tried to remove it myself!!!! That drainage bag depressed me and made me believe that I was a martian or something with this “thing” stuck on me. Of course, the bag was to further save my life because of the poison being directed out of my body. I was not competent to empty that bag on my own regularly. The idea of poison seeping back into my blood stream is beyond “icky,” it was fatalistic. Thus, my PAD and DPOA contributed to saving me from myself and getting competent (mental/physical) healthcare. Do yourselves and your loved ones a favor and develop a PAD/DPOA.
In most cases, you can draw up these documents yourself. Visit NAMI and get started.
At any given moment, a sibling may need to step in to replace an aging parent who cares for an adult with a mental illness. This is why it is crucial to know what to do and how to do it. Having periodic discussions with family keeps the family in the loop. When families are in the loop, statistically, the mentally-ill person continues to receive the best of care and support when an aging parent dies. They will continue living a quality of life. They will continue with therapies and treatments and be productive. They will better cope with the grief we all experience when a parent dies. Also, families are more willing to pick up the task when they have been kept abreast of the mentally-ill person’s diagnosis and treatments. (Are you afraid of people with a mental illness? I was, too) Many families abandon a mentally-ill person after the primary family caretaker dies because they just don’t know what to do. (Many mentally ill people end up homeless because of this, too) This leads to stigmas, you know. Share the family secret with a few other family members so mental healthcare continues.
BEST: What’s a Special Needs Trust (SNT)?
A SNT is a trust set up by parents, grandparents, or other third-party to provide for goods and services that government programs do NOT cover (SSDI, SSI, Medicare/Medicaid). When a SNT is set up, monies can be used to help care for the mentally-ill person without penalty. Most importantly, if or when the mentally-ill person dies, the SNT does NOT reimburse the government for providing care!!!!! Did y’all know that? Most African-Americans do NOT know this and if there is money in an account, the state/government takes it when the individual dies. Be smart, open up a SNT according to your state’s guidelines. Generally speaking, SNT’s are irrevocable and a third-party can make gifts to it upon death, too. SNT’s are not considered “available resources” by Medicare/Medicaid, also. Federal law authorizes SNT’s and individual states have strict guidelines for its use. Learn what your state regulates and consider setting one up and making gifts of maybe $50 per month. There has to be a third-party making “gifts” to that SNT (Trustee)! Don’t be over-whelmed by this process. It is much simpler than it seems, but you do have to be careful to use correct language in your document. For example: (The New York statute)…The Grantor intends that the trust assets be used to supplement, not supplant, impair, or diminish, any benefits or assistance of any federal, state, county, city, or other governmental entity for which the beneficiary may otherwise be eligible or which the beneficiary may be receiving…[EPTL§7-1.12(e)(1)]….This information is taken directly from NAMINews.
BEST: Ever heard of Adult Guardianships?
This is a court-ordered guardianship over a person deemed mentally incompetent to make decisions on his/her own. Two physicians must certify this incompetency. A Psychiatrist may be one of the two doctors. It is up to the court to determine the full scope of authority such as guardianship over person or property or both.
It is important if your child or sibling or family member is 16 years of age, to begin the guardianship process!!!! Waiting until the child is 18-21 is too late without a good fight from, for example, the state if your loved one is in a long-term facility.
It is also costly and YOU have to foot the bill. Plan for this as well in your own WILL!!! If no family member petitions the court for guardianship, the court MAY appoint a public guardian (State Agency such as Social Services….oh, nooooo!).
Of course, if the mentally-ill person is capable of making competent decisions, he/she can continue doing so and can appoint his/her own guardian as an alternative.
BEST: What is a Payee Representative?
This person is responsible for directing the payment of all monies received by a mentally-ill person from SSI, SSDI, Social Services benefits, etc. THIS IS WHERE families tend to split over silly stuff. All I can say is that the PR has a legal and fiduciary duty to provide for the needs of the mentally ill person. It should not be used to manipulate, harass, control, demoralize, humiliate, crack-the-whip, indulge in self-gratification, yadda, yadda, yadda…Also, a mentally-ill person may gain competency and learn to manage their own funds. LET THEM!!!
THANK YOU ALL FOR ALLOWING ME TO FULFILL ONE OF MY DREAMS THIS WEEK!!!!!!
PLEASE CONSIDER PURCHASING A SILVER RIBBON FROM NAMI. THE SILVER RIBBON (STERLING SILVER) IS THE NATIONAL SYMBOL FOR MENTAL ILLNESS AWARENESS. SHOW YOU CARE ABOUT THE MENTALLY ILL TODAY AND WEAR YOUR PIN PROUDLY!J
The National Alliance on Mental Illness:
www.nami.org Agnes B. Levine
Author of: "Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work By An African-American Bipolar Woman" ISBN 0975461206 Winter 2008 Release Pending
www.myspace.com/coolingwellwater (Subscribe Now)
Founder/President: Levine-Oliver Publisher, the Exclusive publishing home of Swaggie Coleman. Visit Swaggie's Voice© at:
http://swaggiecoleman.blogspot.com and please consider to cast your vote on
http://aambcvoting.blogspot.com for Professional Blogger of the Year in the African-Americans on the Move Book Club Awards Nomination (not HBCU sites). Thank you! (Y I P P I E):)
Posted By: agnes levine
Sunday, October 12th 2008 at 8:27PM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
