Re:realistic fleets

Sept. 23, 1997

Dear SCI list:

Happy Fall everyone.

The below person -- Garnet -- is not a member. Garnet is a relative
of a psychiatric survivor and he is going through a rough time
involving his mother, who is an electroshock survivor.	Anyone want
to chat with him by e-mail? I've sent him info about group, etc. If
you e-mail him, tell him you're a Support Coalition. 

Good news:  I got an update from Garnet and he said that as far as he
knows his mother is not NOW receiving electroshock. She's in Ohio. 

If you do choose to respond, please tell the list you're doing so, so
we don't innundate him with mail. Thanks

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 20 Sep 1997 00:18:15 -0700
From: "Garnet R. Chaney" <gchaney@webmill.com>
To: 'Support Coalition - David Oaks' <dendron@efn.org>
Subject: RE: more info on group

Thank you for the FAQ.	My mother in Ohio has been undergoing ECT for
the past year or two. She was recently hospitalized again, with
swelling and water retention in her legs that was starting to back up
into her lungs. She is also diabetic, and has gained an incredible
amount of weight in the past few years. I last visited her at
Christmas, and almost didn't recognize her, having last seen her 4 or
5 years earlier, at that time still looking much as I had always
remembered her from childhood.....

Either at Christmas, or early on the phone when I first heard about
the ECT, my mom was mentioning that it had to be done because she was
having difficulty with sleeplessness, and worrying about being
sleepless, which then kept her awake further. 

Last night I spoke with her on the phone, after speaking with my
father's dad, who lives with my mom and dad. My mom started off with,
(in a can you believe this kind of voice) 

"I just spent a week in the psycho ward for my nerves."

OH, ok mom. I hope your feeling better now.

"Steven was there too for his nerves."

(Steven is my younger brother. He had a screaming/breakdown kind of
acting out after joining the military and discovering it much too
difficult. He was discharged. I had not heard of him having any
further mental health involvements.) 

Oh mom, did they let you two share a room? <laugh>

(My mom totally missed the joke. She went on....)

"I'm going to die soon. I'm going to go to heaven. Daddy's going to
heaven.

"Grandpa is going to go to heaven. Are you going to go to heaven, Garnet
Ray?

Yes mom. 

"I'm going to see Jesus soon. I've been killing spiders on the back
porch."

Oh my mother, Sarah (my wife) and I just got done catching tarantulas
in the California desert. 

"Oh my. Your Uncle Paul has a tarantula. It walks around the
apartment and makes noises. He paid $200 for it." 

(We then talked some more about spiders, and a mobile home my wife
and I just bought.  A little while later, like a record playing, my
mom goes back to:) 

"My doctor says I'm going to die soon. I have to wear oxygen now. Doctor
says I
have emphazema. Cant smoke in the  house. I'm going to see Jesus soon.
Are 
you going to see Jesus soon?"

Yes mom.

So the conversation went. 4 times during a 15 minute conversation my
mom went back to telling me about dieing soon, and seeing Jesus. At
one point she started talking about her sisters husband, Uncle Harry,
who underwent a quad bypass recently, and now has sore legs. She was
almost starting to cry, and I mentioned how well Aunt Joe Ann must be
doing since her bypass at Christmas time. That cheered her up some as
she mentioned that Aunt Joe Anne wasnt needing to go back to the
hospital at all.

Towards the end she mentioned "I need to go and take my pills now. My
doctor says I need to take my pills so I can die soon. I'm going to
take my pills and go to bed." 

She also mentioned again about killing the spiders, and about Uncle
Paul's $200 tarantula, with no clue she'd just mentioned about them a
few minutes earlier. She mentioned about the oxygen and that smoking
can only be done outside. I asked her

Mom, you arent going outside to smoke still, are you?
"Yea. I've been killing the spiders."

Well, OK Mom. Go and get a good nights rest. Night night.
------------------------------------------------------------

I've never heard my mom so out of it before. I dont know if they did
ECT on her this last trip. I understand she spent a lot of the trip
in the pulmonary ward also regarding the emphazema.  Maybe her mental
state is just because of the meds being out of stasis in an attempt
to deal with the water retention, but I am quite concerned. 

I tried calling the hospital where she has been treated just to ask
if I could talk to one of their doctors who could explain the pros of
the ECT procedure. I told them I understand they couldnt talk
directly about my moms particular case, I just wanted information
about the procedure, that I hadnt been able to find too much positive
about it.  After transfering me around several times, they finally
gave me to a nurse who was very defensive and complained that she
could not violate confidentiality.  OK fine. Just recommend a doctor
who deals in the procedure. She wouldnt. She had five patients
waiting in line for her attention.  Eventhough I was very
conciliatory, telling her I had went to the affiliated church across
the street from the hospital, etc., she was as unhelpful as she could
be. 

I've always felt the psychologists primarily exist to create
dependencies, and perhaps it is the same with the psychiatrists also. 
I could go on and on about my encounters with psychological type
people during the past fews of single parent raising of my strong
willed son.  Whenever I see news stories of bad things happening at a
school, and how the school is providing psychologists to talk to the
children about it, the hair on the back of my neck always raises at
the thought of that uncontrolled access to the kids that is being
snuck by the parents. 

- Garnet