Ticket to Work: The Road to Self-Sufficiency, fingers crossed.

Ben has a chance at a job. A real job. Minimum wage, yes, but for him to make it to a second interview, and then to a possible job offer for the summer...well, the tears I feel remind me that I hadn't really even dared to dream this for him.  Ben hasn't had a job in eight years, since he was twenty years old.

He is so excited - it's the validation, the possibility he may be able to earn money, be useful, have something to say about his life other than "I live with roommates and do volunteer work" and - lately - "I go to school part-time", a miracle in itself .  He is also facing, suddenly, questions like:

• What will come up in a background check? Will the employer know about my hospitalizations and diagnosis?
• Will I lose my SSDI? SSI? State help? Medicare? Medicaid?
• What is a "Ticket to Work", and do I have one?
• Will I lose respect and the chance at this job if I reveal my diagnosis?

Practically, I was able to find answers by calling Ticket to Work, and by visiting the Social Security Work Website
The emotional questions are the ones that are more difficult to face

Author Reflections: "Ben Behind His Voices" launch date set

It's real! The official publication date for Ben Behind His Voices is September 16, 2011.  When you search on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, there is a listing.  As a first-time author, I have to admit that this is even more exciting than my first kiss. Yep. At least I think so - the first kiss was so unexpected (another story for another time), while this listing is the culmination of  years of writing, rewriting, query letters, bouncing back, trying again, and finding and reconfirming my own faith in the book's value to others.

Yet this is nothing - nothing - compared to the challenges Ben himself has faced in the same period of time.

Marijuana and Schizophrenia: another view

The latest fad in schizophrenia theory: marijuana caused it. Yet another finger to point, to create the illusion that it is somehow the "fault" of the person who has the illness. Here's an intersting article that tells another side of the story: Marijuana and Schizophrenia: Cause or Therapy?

De. Phil Leveque begins with these words: "This story is engendered by an article in TIME Magazine Feb. 21, 2011 entitled Pot and Schizophrenia: A Dangerous Mix. To put it mildly, TIME is full of crap and so are the authors of the medical article from the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Can Schizophrenia be Prevented?

If you want the facts and latest news about schizophrenia and the people affected by it (those who have been diagnosed and the people who love them), I highly recommend two amazing websites: http://www.nami.org/, and www.schizophrenia.com.

NAMI has taught me that there are nine stages of emotional response for the families of those with mental illness. Whether you are in an earlier stage like crisis/chaos, a middle stage such as anger/grief or a later stage such as understanding, information will - immediately or eventually - help to empower you.

Click on the address or title for the links to each website - NAMI's home page, and a new article found on schizophrenia.com about prevention of schizophrenia.

Legislative Social: Where were the lawmakers?

Here in Connecticut, it's fix-the-state-budget time, and our local NAMI affiliate arranged an event last night that was powerful, organized, and well-attended - except for the state legislators who'd promised to appear. The speakers were inspiring; they had progressed from homeless to productive, from hospital patient to independent citizen, from dropout to Masters Candidate -all with the help of (a)integrated treatment and (b) community. If services are cut for these speakers, they will lose all they have gained. I wish Ben had been there with me to hear their stories; I hope that, someday, he might be willing to share his.

If services are cut, the true cost will be great.

Another family's schizophrenia story

Before we found our publisher for Ben Behind His Voices: One Family's Journey from the Chaos of Schizophrenia to Hope, my agent and I received several quite lovely rejection letters, stating how much they were moved by the story and by the writing - but that they feared it "just wouldn't sell" because of the subject matter.

Now, coming out very soon, another family's story, called Henry's Demons. This is by Patrick Cockburn, his wife, and his son - a UK family, each telling their part of the experience.

Creative writing, then and now

Ben is taking two classes this semester: Directing 101 in the Theatre Department, and Creative Writing. The directing class requires a lot of him, things that his illness have compromised: insight into one's own emotions and the feelings of others, social awareness, stillness, complete connection. Do I tell the professor that Ben has this illness, so she is aware she needs to grade him in accordance with his disability?

And...creative writing. Ben's writing used to look like this:


- and that was before it began to look even more scattered and illegible. Now he is writing haikus, and keeping up with assignments. 200 pages of reading assigned between classes, I fear, may cause him too much stress; yet, it is his journey to complete. He is getting assignments in on time, so far - even, in one case, a day early. That requires a connection of cause and effect I haven't seen in years. Still, I want to make sure he gets a fair shake...do I write to the professor?

Meanwhile in this letter, from a Mom in England who has lost her son to schizophrenia, the story has unfortunately ended quite differently.