From the Office of the Commissioner

"Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" January 8, 2004

Thomas A. Kirk, Jr., Ph.D. Commissioner

Advocacy Unlimited (AU), Inc., a nonprofit agency funded by DMHAS, recently held one of its graduation ceremonies to recognize ten individuals who completed AU's Advocacy Education Program. The Advocacy Education Program is an intensive 14 session program to educate persons with psychiatric disabilities in self, systems and legislative advocacy skills. To date, there have been approximately 135 persons who have graduated from the training (Advocacy Unlimited, 300 Russell Road, Wethersfield, CT 06109, phone: 800-573-6929).

The ceremony includes prepared speeches written and delivered by each of the graduates. I try not to miss any of these events. The experience is a vivid reminder of the effects of psychiatric disabilities and of what some people have experienced during their interaction with the "system." Their comments are sometimes disheartening yet important to know. But it is also reinforcing to observe the confidence and self-renewal of each person as they tell their story of what the training has meant for them. In so doing, the graduates sometimes refer to the extraordinary challenges faced in their lives and with their illnesses. Their words remind us that our healthcare services must not only focus on helping people to manage their illness, but also that the real challenge is greater than that. It's about helping people to recover a life, to see themselves not solely in terms of their limiting illness, but as persons with skills, interests and goals as any of us have. The words of the graduates echo these sentiments in a powerful way:

• "As a child, I received the message I did not matter... My parents were too busy fighting their own demons, numbing themselves with alcohol. I watched helplessly as they destroyed themselves and each other with alcohol... At age 13, I made another suicide attempt (1st was at age 6) and finally began to receive help... the help was too little too late. I spent my life until my early thirties in and out of hospitals. In between hospital stays I continued to mutilate myself and made a half dozen suicide attempts..." ~ India Ely
  
  
• "Through attending the Advocacy Unlimited course, I have found my passion and sense of purpose to my life... During the course I learned a lot of practical information... more from my fellow classmates. Through their individual voices, they have shared their individual stories. Every one of my classmates has chosen life, despite their pain. What an incredible powerful message is sounded by such strength!" ~ India Ely
  
  
• "The misconceptions that people have of me while I am in recovery caused me to lose a lot of my friends as well as my wife. The stigma is so outrageous. People look at me as if I had some kind of deadly disease which they could catch if they got too close... we are productive and intelligent people, we are decent.. The more people get involved in advocacy and show just how strong we are, then and only then, can we stop... stigma... " ~ Wayne Varney
  
  
• "Yesterday holds my memories and my mistakes. Today I live for the moment to preserve who I am and what I stand for. Tomorrow keeps my dreams alive and my belief in a better day. Tomorrow was never easy, for that matter, tomorrow doesn't exist yet. Yes, indeed because of tomorrow I stand here today and because of today, I can change my sights for the future..." ~ Walt Wetmore

· Also see Commissioner Kirk's "Recovery in Action" message