Copyright 1999 The Denver Post Corporation
The
Denver Post
December 26, 1999 Sunday 2D EDITION
SECTION: PERSPECTIVE; Pg. G-02
LENGTH: 736 words
HEADLINE: We
can cure mental illness
BYLINE: By Pius Kamau,
BODY:
I recently took care of a youth who
identified himself as a Nazi. Some things about him were similar to
Nathan Thill; but other details set him apart form the murderous
racist.
His mother, a concerned and caring woman, who acted as
his advocate and intermediary between her confused son and the
medical personnel, accompanied him. In all that's been chronicled
about Thill, there has been little mention of family involvement in
his life. It was as if an alien ship dropped him off. My patient, a
22-year-old man had an abscess of his forearm which I wanted to drain
under general anesthesia. He'd rather die than be put to sleep, he
said. The location of the abscess made me think of drug use; but he
swore he hadn't main-lined for a year. Further examination of his
arms showed a constellation of tattooed symbols- stars, gods and
astrological signs. On each finger of his hand he had letters that
spelled out NAZI.
Yet this Nazi was different from the raging maniac
who murdered Oumar Dia. He politely asked me to drain his abscess
and let him go home; he didn't rave, or curse. And I wasn't given
the silent treatment I'd gotten from a previous skinhead who had
a Swastika tattooed on his chest.
My patient's mother told me
that he was on medications for several mental maladies. He wasn't
himself because he hadn't taken his medications for several days.
He'd been to several institutions in the past; his tattoos came from
there.
This brings me to the question of whether the mentally
ill always comprehend the implication of their actions. I don't
for one moment think my patient is a Nazi; he may have been
influenced by other deluded souls in correction or rehab centers; but
a Nazi he isn't. He, like many of these lost souls, doesn't know
what Nazi means or a Nazi is. Furthermore, I think many of
our so-called Nazis are mentally ill or terribly lonely and lost
souls.
It also brings me to the recent report by Dr. David
Satcher, the Surgeon General, on the state of the nation's mental
health. One out of five Americans has some form of mental illness,
he says. It's a universal American problem; it affects all of
us. Every day it affects me directly, with my patients, their
family members. Many of my colleagues and co-workers could use a
good therapist - their behavior points to mental illness.
The
way we categorize the mentally ill as 'crazies' is wrong, according
to Satcher. Mental illness is a disease; a quantifiable condition
like all other diagnoses in our medical texts. He explains that
schizophrenia and other mental diseases - like the abscess in my
young patient - are caused through chemical intermediaries. They're
as organic as the abscess. They therefore should be treated similarly
- aggressively and compassionately. Health care
coverage should be made available for mental
illness, replacing today's hit and miss pattern.
I drained my
patient's abscess and let him go home, even though he was probably
mentally 'unstable'. In our medical world we deal with lesions;
things we can excise, analyze and define microscopically or by X-ray.
Mental illness doesn't fit into any of these categories; it's a
nebulous abstraction, that we'd rather not deal with. I'm as guilty
as the next guy is; I'm sure we can all do better.
We've
criminalized mental illness; many of our inmates are mentally ill.
Many serve their time and leave jail no better than when they went
in. Awareness that mental illness is as common as it is would lead to
a more effective way of dealing with the mentally ill. It would lead
to more therapy for our prison inmates and our loved ones - each one
of us has one in our families. The way we treat mentally ill children
could certainly improve.
My patient in a deluded moment may have
identified with Nazis; but a loving mother has stayed on top of his
situation and continued to insist he take his medications. Perhaps
other Nathan Thills of the world would be best served by a society
willing to deal more actively, fairly and candidly with mental
illness. We as a nation have the means; what we need is the will.
Pius K. Kamau is a cardiovascular, thoracic and
general-surgery physician. He was born and raised in Kenya and
immigrated to the U.S. in 1971.
LOAD-DATE:
December 28, 1999 
