Lack of Coordinated Care Leads to Tragedy
(Dec. 4, 2017) As a child, Matt was a handful, but he became a talented musician.
He worked towards a college degree, although he never finished -- he was too preoccupied by the people he heard talking to him through the TV.
His diagnosis: schizoaffective disorder.
Our mom was amazing -- a teacher, caring big sister, Valedictorian of her class, special education major, and Master’s graduate. She mentored many teachers before retiring.
And she sprang into action to help Matt, applying for assistance programs and seeking private case management. This was her nature: to protect her loved ones.
Matt, however, was convinced that prescription medications were a part of a conspiracy to harm him. Therefore he self-medicated with drugs and alcohol.
He suspected that relatives were clones.
Mom feared he would choose suicide, but wondered if it might be his only hope for relief.
When my parents would vacation, Matt’s care fell to me. One such time, Matt wound up in jail.
Family members recommended against bailing him out. Although I that decision was difficult, Matt spent 2 days in solitary confinement.
When he was released, Mom helped Matt clear his felony record.
Then, in 2015 my parents attended my cousin’s wedding out East.
An unnerving feeling compelled me to cancel my flight. Again, Matt became my unruly charge.
I checked in on him. He had been drinking heavily and talking irrationally. He shut off the power to stop the voices. His place was dark, hot and spooky.
Worried, I updated my mom.
She contacted Matt’s psychiatrist, case manager, and the local hospital. “Make sure he is taking his medication,” they repeatedly counseled.
I asked the police to do a well check. Matt told them he had a sword, “for protection.”
Matt needed supervision. It was obvious. But the police doubted a hospital would admit him. Someone would need to stay with him – yours truly.
When I arrived, Matt answered the door. Drunk and distraught, he muttered, “It’s Joe’s fault. Tell him to get the money from Mars.”
Then, he dropped this bomb: “I don’t want to kill myself or murder anyone… unless I have to.”
I convinced him to come home with me, where I would feel (slightly) safer.
He passed out on my couch. I hid any sharp objects and texted my mother.
“We will be home in the morning,” she responded. “Get some sleep.”
I could not.
In the morning, Matt paced, saying he needed to go home.
When my parents returned, they tried to get Matt back on track with his medical care. Mom pleaded for help.
She invited my family over for dinner to catch up about the wedding. We never had the chance.
Thirty minutes later, the unimaginable: My brother killed my mom.
The police arrived to break the news. The details of their deadly confrontation mattered little. She was gone.
I felt angry.
Questions abounded: Should my brother be named in the obituary or included in memorial collages?
More than 1000 people paid respects.
Neither Dad nor I wanted to be near the crime scene, so our family assisted.
Dad and I didn’t believe incarceration was the answer, we wanted him to get treatment.
Matt was deemed not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, and transferred to a mental health institution, to be held indefinitely.
Seeing Matt on the news was hard. The media portrayed him as a monster, and misconstrued facts.
Eventually, I went to visit Matt. I needed to know he was okay.
He seemed to know he had done wrong, but not the depth of hurt he caused.
Matt admits that he withheld symptoms, fearing the negative stigma of mental illness, and the burden he would pose.
His psychiatrist believes biweekly injections might have controlled his symptoms, as they are now.
Although part of a specially trained mental health Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), the police officer I contacted prior to the incident advised against taking Matt to the hospital. Too often they turned away the individuals she brought in for evaluation.
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| Dad and Mom. Photo provided by Sara Hausser |
I question: What if?
We met with Betsy Johnson from the Treatment Advocacy Center and learned about assisted outpatient treatment – a court-ordered treatment option for certain individuals with severe mental illnesses.
With mandatory treatment, might Matt’s symptoms have been manageable? I believe, yes.
Last month would have been my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. Now Dad lives alone.
Matt is in a more stable environment now, taking his medications and receiving therapy. He no longer hears voices.
I feel pieces to the puzzle of Matt’s mental illness were overlooked, but I remain hopeful that by sharing our traumatic story another family might avoid a looming tragedy of its own.
by Sara Hausser
UPDATE (MAY 22, 2018):
"Several months ago, I shared the experience I had with my brother who succumbed to the symptoms of his serious mental illness and took our mother's life. It was difficult to share, and, obviously, a difficult experience to live through. It is with mixed feelings that I am sharing the fact that our story took another sad turn.
"As my hometown newspaper recently chronicled, my brother, who was found “not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect,” is being considered for a conditional release from his commitment. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
"It’s a painful situation, but if I could impart one message it would be this: with appropriate treatment, people like my brother who – through no fault of their own – suffer from a serious mental illness, can stabilize. With the current support he has been receiving, he had been doing great.
"My family’s fate has largely been written, but for the sake of countless others, there is simply no excuse for policy makers to wait; we need to eliminate barriers to treatment for people with serious mental illnesses now, before tragedy strikes again."