Let me tell you a story…
I have been using the services of the mental health system for a long time—a long, long time. I have observed that some of the ways that they do things are non-productuve.
Let me tell y=u a story to illustrate what I want to say. I used to live in a rural area in eastern Oregon, an area of cattle ranching and lumbering. Many of the local men went hunting every year, or more often.
We had many visitors, every fall, from all of the big cities in Oregon and Washington state: Portland; Spokane; Seattle. These were men whom I would describe as “casual hunters”. They got out their guns and hunted once a year. They weren’t from the woods.
Every year, or or more of these visitors got lost in the woods. Every year, the local l=mberjacks and ranchers (cowboys) would drive out to the spot where the los= party was last seen—where they left their car on the side of the road.
I realized th=t none of the locals stood by the side of the highway and shouted out into the woods: “Yoo-hoo! We’re right here! You come and find us, and we’ll show you the way back to town.” If the guys could find their way back to the highway by themselves, they could have gotten into their car and got=en themselves back to town.
No, the local men went out into the woods and looked until they found the lost guys, even if it took days. They got tired, and hungry, and thirsty, but they kept looking.
What I see me=tal health professionals do to people with mental illnesses is to say, “=ou come where we are, and we’ll give you services.” If the client doesn’t, they assume that the person just won’t, and they write him/her off as “uncooperative”. They never consider that, maybe, that person can’t.
What I keep asking for is, “You need to come out where I am. Come find me, where my needs are, and give me services here.”
They just don't get it.
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