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The Clubhouse InterviewsINTERVIEW WITH FRANK BLANKENSHIP
What are the roadblocks to recovery? Frank: People labeled mentally ill need to stop fixating on the label in order to stand on their own two feet. We need to stop looking at mental illness as a sickness. Perceiving ourselves as sick impedes our ability to function. We need to be encouraged to see ourselves as capable. What did you think of the Tom Cruise interview? (Referring to the interview with Matt Lauer that appeared on the Today Show of June 24th, 2005 in which Tom Cruise lambasted psychiatry as a pseudo-science, and rejected the legitimacy of psychiatric medications.) Frank: Right on target. What about those who are in severe distress? Do you think they might need medications? Frank: The solution is likely to be far worse than the problem. I believe in alternatives such as acupuncture and yoga. Do you think hospitalization is necessary for some people? Frank: Only on a voluntary basis. How would you interpret "mental illness" and what are the solutions? Frank: I think we need to work on strengthening people,
rather than weakening them. The mental health system is a debilitating system that
creates dependency. Our present system works on people's vulnerabilities rather than
on their strengths. We need to work on increasing our self-esteem. We need to have
people hired in more fulfilling positions, not in jobs that go nowhere. We need to
work on utilizing the innate creativity of consumer survivors and build more
connections within the community. INTERVIEW WITH FRANK BLANKENSHIP
What is CELT? Frank: The Consumer Empowerment and Leadership Training, a training program run by Mental Health America Virginia, formerly the Mental Health Association of Virginia. What will you do with this training? Frank: I will be battling the present push by some of our state legislators to enact involuntary outpatient commitment laws. It's easy to forget when you are dealing with people who have had a history of psychiatric hospitalizations that you are dealing with American citizens, citizens entitled to the same rights as every other American. What are your ultimate goals for mental health reformation? Frank: I wouldn't refer to it as reformation. Mental health reform is what the commission established to review the issue of involuntary outpatient commitment laws claims to be about. Transformation or revolution, are the more preferred terms in my book for the changes that need to occur in the system. I want to see people actually recover and leave the system entirely. What do you do when you feel out of sorts or unable to cope? Frank: People have bad days but people have good days too. If you put things in their proper perspective, you're not blowing one or another aspect of your life out of proportion. The idea is to see your self as a person who has some control over his or her emotions and not as a person who is overwhelmed by these emotions. Do you use any support systems for help? Frank: Yes and no. I would not join a bipolar,
schizophrenia, or AA type of support group. I see working for human
rights and against the infringement of such by the psychiatric system
as a matter that puts me in touch with with some terrific and supportive
people. These people are all the support system I need.
INTERVIEW WITH FRANK BLANKENSHIP
Do you think psychiatric medications serve a purpose for people who need them? Frank: I think of these drugs as social control agents. I question the use of drugs that limit, impair, or disable the normal functioning of the brain. What has been your experience with psychiatric medications? Frank: After leaving the hospital following my first admission, I was taking thorazine. I had a job too. Six months of thorazine and I felt really down. I threw out the thorazine and I vowed never to take any such vile chemical agents again of my own volition. I also write poetry on occasion and as any creative person will tell you, taking psychiatric medications can have a very negative effect on creativity. Do you think some people benefit from taking psychiatric medications? Frank: Yeah, sure. The staff who administer the drugs benefit from the effects they have on their charges. These drugs are used to pacify consumer survivors and that's just what they do. Nobody is going to talk back or offer much physical resistance with enough Haldol in their system. Do you think psychiatric medications have improved over the last 20 to 30 years. Frank: They're more likely to kill you. Excessive weight gain, diabetes, heart disease and other physical ailments are among the side effects of the newer atypical neuroleptic drugs developed to lessen the aggrivating side effects of the original neuroleptic drugs, and these side effects can shorten a person's lifespan appreciably. If psychiatric medications are so bad, why do we call them antipsychotic medications? Frank: The term "antipsychotic drug" grew I imagine out of the
pharmaceutical companies campaign to sell the idea that these drugs are effective
treatments for people suffering from psychosis. Another term for the same class of drugs
is neuroleptic and refers to the Greek "lept" (to take hold of), and "neuro" (nerves).
INTERVIEW WITH FRANK BLANKENSHIP
What do you think the barriers to recovery are? Frank: If the "sickness" is dependence, then "recovery" is about achieving independence. The main barriers to this recovery, as I see it, are three in number:
How do you experience symptoms defined by the mental health system? Frank: I wouldn't let the mental health system define my experience. How do you respond to these symptoms in a recovery oriented system? Frank: The question is actually how would a recovery oriented
system respond to a person displaying those behaviors we think of as being
symptomatic of a "mental illness". Most of the "consumer" survivors outside
of the state hospital are relatively symptom free or they would not be allowed outside
of the state hospital. The idea is to help people handle the stress that might put
them back in the hospital. A recovery oriented system must deal with those barriers
to recovery mentioned earlier, or people won't truly break free of their "illnesses"
and/or the mental health care service system itself.
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