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JCt, 111$ them "our folk “Jamal. Mounts on wall and doubles as a pager; £qu to in- trdo . Manna 63~871 our folks". "our In more formal “A THE OAKVILLE BEAVEf save :50 IANDYFAX ' lax machine ',/:'rrr,,rrrlr,: 3995 -: c J. m "" 8200 lllaIalllllU " {MU smut ;dw:' ti Ow" (l du' . After her initial terror subsided. Capponi began to wonder why hos- pitals glve these people "a bus tick.. et,anaddresstmdsentthemintothe real world unprepared." But what bothered her most was the pacirtsrn residents displayed. They uncom- plainingly accepted their lot as one they deserved. They felt they were "We had a lot of cockroaches and we had a lot of pills," she said. "Some 60 drug cards in one home - some for people who had died or moved away - was pretty lucra- tive. so lucrative that the pharmacist delivered presents to the owner of the house (in appreciation)." Capponi is currently with the Gerstein Centre in Toronto where one-third of her staff are "crazies." The Centre offers non-medical, community-based crisis services as an alternative to hospitalization. PERSONAL STRUGGLE Capponi first described her own frustrations with the psychiatric sys- tem and her struggle to empower herself before empowering others. After spending a few months in a psychiatric hospital, she said she lived for three years in a lice and mice-infested "recommended" boarding home in Parkdale, an area of Toronto. It housed 60 former patients, five to a room. At first, the possibility of vio- lence and lack of privacy terrified her. Besides "horrendous" food, there were no locks on its bath- room doors, watches were stolen and there was no clock anywhere to allow residents to keep medical appointments. Rae and other high-ranking omcials the night before. They were recog- nizing her for the work she has done at bringing the plight of psy- chiatric survivors to the attention of those who can do something about it. One of five speakers at the con- ference, Capponi was fresh from accepting the Order of Ontario from Lt. Gov. Hal Jackman, Premier Bob and so e that the wants to So suc Sale ends May 31, 1993 nrran 26 "Cl ti by Halton mun Oakville-based do it again next ye nthu ave :30 Emergency "are Package of 3, lil -8970 ful lton's Mental Health justirlably :ently in Burlington. ill. was the conference puma ti amelp " agency Int If doctors won't tell you (and often they don't). Capponi suggest- ed finding another doctor, one who will level with patients rather than patronizing them. Another way of finding out is by reading. She said doctors use a diagnostic "Bible" called the DSM3 which is written so technically that survivors would need a translator to understand it. How to do it? For starters, Capponi urged her audience to remain on the lowest possible dosage of medication. ask questions about it so that they can learn to dis- tinguish between its effects and the illness and to find out what the side effects are. "If you had cancer or heart dis- ease you'd have a lot of questions about it, right? And if you can get liver and kidney damage (from medication) you have the right to know. Some of those medications can be nasty and scary." empowerment starts with many other psychiatric survivors taking charge of their own rehabilitation. After gaining her own self- empowerment, Capponi went on to publicize the lack of services for her "crazies." She talked to The Toronto Star and was interviewed on CBC. As a result, commissions were appointed to investigate condi- tions and slowly the pendulum began swinging in another direc- tion. But much more is needed, she said, and the full swing toward house is a mistake, maybe it's the only one like this," she told her audience. Sensing that "people weren't supposed to live like this," Capponi, now joined by other con- cerned individuals, began to ques- tion authorities, only to get the usual bureaucratic runaround. The city blamed the province and vice versa. Toronto's public health department sent her to the buildings and inspection department who sent her back to public health. In the course of all that, she learned that ( 3,000 psychiatric survivors were living in the Parkdale area, many in homes as decrepit and poorly-run as hers. Capponi was different. Having been an activist in high school and 2 university student for some time before becoming ill, she still had z residue of fight in her. "I began to think that maybe this LACK OF SERVICES ing punish: mg Only when psychiatric survivors have taken responsibility for them- selves can they then become advo- cates, she noted. Gradually, more and more of them are taking charge. (See learning . . . ' page 17) Another important part of self. empowerment is learning not to fear minor mood swings. Rather tha seeing these as normal, they hag often been misinterpreted as part the illness and have been treated by increasing medication dosages. Psychiatric patients might avoid an episode in hospital if they more, closely diagnosed the behavior that pushes them in. Taking street drugs or alcohol, for instance, can often change behavior to the point that hospitalization is inevitable. In other words, watch your step, she said. And that goes for dangerous verbal messages, too. . However, she warned them not to go off medication altogether, as she once did __ with disastrous results. Today, she self-monitors it, taking it only as needed when she foresees stress in her life. And, from experience, she knows there is one medication that, although good for others, is not good for her. She refuses to take it. Others, too, can find the best medication and dosage by testing them out, but only under supervision. "If you say you’re going to kill yourself tomorrow, they'll lock you up, guys." "And every agency dealing with psychiatric survivors should have a Compendium of Pharmaceuticals or CPS," she added. "Every side effect of every drug has to be in there," SELF -MONITORING Another step in the self-empow- erment process is the completion of Form 44, a kind of living will for psychiatric survivors in case they may one day re-enter a psychiatric hospital. This can state your refusal to take a certain medication and/or undergo shock treatment as well as naming an advocate to speak on your behalf while in hospital, she said. Pat Capponi (Photo by Val Attanasio) But, because it lists symptoms, it is an effective tool.