tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89754195229809590482011-11-27T18:55:05.949-05:00Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.comBlogger321100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-69439379493536501602010-04-07T20:47:00.006-04:002010-04-07T22:13:21.787-04:00

Kendra’s Law is a New York law that allows courts to order certain violent and/or recidivist mentally ill individuals to accept treatment as a condition for living in the community. This is called Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT). It also allows courts to commit the mental health system to providing the treatment. Some people, as a result of mental illness, have great difficulty taking

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-51131014126593645032010-04-06T17:23:00.001-04:002010-04-06T17:44:44.540-04:00

My nephew sent me this message today: Hi Ilene, Dad and I had a long discussion over Easter weekend regarding the IMD exclusion. This exclusion is nothing short of disgusting. It is a prime example of how the poor and mis-fortunate are treated in our country. I apologize but I was never fully aware of how, why, and when this exclusion was enacted. Let me know how I can help! This was my

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-23567232926092582912010-04-05T19:49:00.002-04:002010-04-05T20:00:26.535-04:00

This is the first time I have linked another persons blog to mine...This is spot on... The New York Crank: America already has death panels. They're called health insurance companies. Even though the health insurance reform bill has passed and is now law, the very fact that these same insurance companies are actively looking for ways to get around the law is witness to the need to read this

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-1662098117521252702010-03-27T13:12:00.011-04:002010-03-27T14:17:09.871-04:00

I read an article the other day entitled Healthcare Reform – What’s In It For You Today? This was my reply: As an advocate for people with severe mental illness (the guy pictured with me in my profile is my twin brother Paul who was committed to a state mental hospital in 1977) this health care reform bill means almost nothing. Since Paul is no longer alive, I am speaking for him and for the

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-82242188814142670142010-03-17T11:02:00.001-04:002010-03-17T11:04:27.677-04:00

Yesterday we all learned that Chicago O'Hare Airport will be implementing the full-body scanners. If we won't go through the full-body scanner, we will be subjected to a pat-down, instead. Those are our only options. If I have to choose between going through a full-body scanner or be subjected to a pat-down, I say neither! Maybe it's because I was sexually assaulted when I was 18, but there is

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-49337111999438739212010-02-26T12:02:00.018-05:002010-02-26T20:36:39.356-05:00

My letter to President Obama, which I will mail to him today.  I will enclose the articles I have written so far about Paul, the issues on long-term care for people like Paul, and the Medicaid Institutes for Mental Diseases (IMD) Exclusion. Dear Mr. President, I admired your efforts yesterday to try and get some bipartisan discussion on how we can reform the health insurance system so it is

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-81339625774842343322010-02-13T13:10:00.000-05:002010-02-13T13:10:04.069-05:00

How's that for a newspaper headline?  I had to come up with something that would sound like it could be one of those headlines that scrolls across MSNBC or one of those other headline news organizations.  The truth of the statement, however, is undeniable.  Once again, I regale my readers with the horrors of the community mental health system as experienced by the people who need treatment the

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-77337794442217328992010-02-09T10:58:00.003-05:002010-02-09T11:05:41.070-05:00

She'll only speak for cash The mean and greedy witch Nothing is new, I've seen that kind before Watching and reading Ooh, she's speakin to you but her eyes are on her palm So many came to see What they thought they were gettin' for tea The woman is wily, a she-dog tamed by the purr of a Snow Cat Money's the matter If you're in it for speeches, you ain't gonna get too far   (Oh-oh, here she

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-80313386770592306692010-02-08T18:57:00.005-05:002010-02-08T19:19:36.366-05:00

One of my daily activities these days is to roam the web, looking for references to mental illness.  If I come across something that illustrates the writers' ignorance of the issues, I try to enlighten them.  I try to be polite and informative. Today, I ran across an article about a woman who killed her 8-yr old boy who was autistic.  She was labeled a "socialite" in the title, which con-notates

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-44794413769698944002010-02-07T21:02:00.011-05:002010-02-08T18:08:34.457-05:00

Notes On Your Hand  - A Ballad to Sarah Palin - to the tune of "Pants On The Ground" by Ilene Flannery Wells Notes on your hand Notes on your hand Lookin' like a fool with your Notes on your hand With the bumpit in your hair Your smirk on your face Lookin' like a fool with your notes on your hand Call yourself a patriot Lookin' like a fool Answerin' the questions with your notes on your

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-52842014719396326712010-02-05T15:55:00.001-05:002010-02-05T19:34:49.842-05:00

The following is a letter to the editor I wrote to the Times-Union newspaper in Albany, in support of making Kenra's Law permanent in New York.  This was in response to an editorial by DJ Jaffe, co-founder of the Treatment Advocacy center. To The Editor, I would like to echo Mr. Jaffe's and the Treatment Advocacy Center's opinion that Kendra's Law be made permanent.  Many of whom I call the "

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-13410437608629161972010-02-03T12:13:00.003-05:002010-02-03T12:28:58.676-05:00

All of you who know me, know that I am dedicating my life to helping people like my brother Paul, who have severe mental illness.  I even started a cause on Facebook called Paul's Legacy Foundation to help raise awareness on the issues facing the sickest of the sick, those who should be in long-term care but are on the streets or in jail.  However, if the sky were to part and all were made right

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-5906444422943726112010-01-31T14:05:00.000-05:002010-01-31T14:25:07.872-05:00

The following is a copy of an e-mail I just sent to Media Matters. This falls in the pet-peeve/Mother Clucker creating category. This is what gets my feather's ruffled up!I am very sensitive when the terms mental illness, schizophrenia, psychotic, etc., are bandied about incorrectly, but when an organization like Media Matters reprints it and basically blows it off as a shortcoming, I get

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-6459169103631358232010-01-26T18:42:00.001-05:002010-01-26T21:28:28.486-05:00

DJ Jaffe, co-founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center wrote, "Trying to gain sympathy for mental illness, by only displaying the highest functioning individuals, is like trying to end hunger by showing the well-fed." He is spot on.This was a line I took from an article DJ wrote about Mental Illness Awareness Week (first full week in October). He explained that many agencies try to end "stigma"

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-53554336066064953152010-01-24T19:51:00.000-05:002010-01-24T19:51:45.347-05:00

I can relate to this. I felt this way after Paul died. I don't feel this way now. I am determined, perpetually.Why I cried

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-68987398086225964182010-01-24T12:43:00.000-05:002010-01-25T12:17:24.641-05:00

Would You Do This to Your Grandmother? I started to write about "the economics of long-term care for chronic mental illness" as Dr. Insel of the National Institute of Mental Health so succinctly put it. I believe that the costs for police, ambulance, social services, etc, during my brother Paul's tenure of freedom, combined with the Mental Health services he received, probably cost more than had

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-35976458542770331842010-01-22T12:07:00.001-05:002010-01-22T17:27:03.076-05:00

Okay, this is a post that is a direct result of what I like to call "getting my Irish up". I just heard that James Dobson/Focus on the Family group will air a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl to proselytize against abortion. I say, keep your proselytizing out of my football viewing.Everyone who knows me knows I am a big football fan. They also know I am pro-choice. But even if I were

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-2345224258598358732010-01-20T08:50:00.000-05:002010-01-20T20:02:05.481-05:00

When a tragic event like the earthquake in Haiti occurs, the hotlines are a buzz and now we can even text our donations to help the hundreds of thousands left homeless and in need. Everything is made easy for us. Our news programs flash the telephone and text numbers while bombarding us with devastating images. I just received my umpteenth e-mail alert. While I applaud these efforts; the

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-80400584849304579532010-01-17T17:09:00.001-05:002010-01-17T21:04:18.642-05:00

Who knew that if you just sent the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health a well thought out question, that you would get a response, and so quickly, I might add? And, in spite of spelling his name wrong right off the bat! Who knew that no one has put together the information I am seeking (yet)?By the way, it was perfect timing because I had been talking to the Treatment Advocacy

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-9906294864331618502010-01-04T10:28:00.000-05:002010-01-04T10:30:42.066-05:00

Yesterday began my official boycott of anything owned by Rupert Murdoch including Fox TV, Fox News (which I never watched anyway), FX and whatever other TV stations he controls. I never read the newspapers and magazines he owns, except for the Wall Street Journal, but I don’t subscribe to the WSJ. I will however, purposefully NOT link to any articles on the internet that I see originates from

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-78628253687024160682009-12-28T17:09:00.000-05:002010-01-04T11:54:12.521-05:00

This personal account will be published in a Psychiatric trade journal in the near future. It is a version of Paul's story that I have been telling for over a year - to anyone that will listen. I sent my "Health Care Reform Letter" to the editor of this journal, in response to an article I found on-line from several years ago about long-term care for the severely mentally ill. They responded

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-45334299829136491652009-12-28T11:06:00.000-05:002009-12-28T11:08:37.292-05:00

I celebrated my 50th birthday on Christmas day. I wrote this as my Facebook status that day...Thanks to all who sent birthday wishes! Here's to Paul! He brought a lot to my life and I will always be glad I was his twin. I decided to be reborn today, in a sense, as a singleton. But today, I celebrate Paul.He is always with me, that will not change. I was given a gift, and I will cherish it always

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-19537468143971104722009-12-10T11:41:00.000-05:002009-12-10T12:14:32.899-05:00

Okay all of you Chinese food eating, Diet Coke drinking people out there...read this...Lone atrial fibrillation precipitated by MSG and AspartameI'll leave the title in the approximate font size I tried to copy. It means I am yelling at you. Clink on the link to the article from the OpEdNews. Roughly translated, eating too much MSG and drinking too much Aspartame can kill you.I have long

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-74729968589119884722009-12-04T10:35:00.000-05:002009-12-05T13:42:46.235-05:00

I am taking an on-line grant writing class. One of the assignments is to create an "elevator speech" for the organization for which we are writing. My organization is the yet to be formally established "Paul's Legacy Foundation".As most of you know, Paul was my twin brother. He passed away on May 1, 2008 from lung cancer. He spent the previous 33 years in psychiatric hospitals (his first 22

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-37703436455137930612009-12-03T10:09:00.000-05:002009-12-03T21:19:10.745-05:00

Hey – I’m a “g”! One of my teenage nieces wrote this on her Facebook wall post: "supppppp shawty, I be wlking to daaaa bus stop.. word." That niece of mine is a white girl, living in a nice suburb outside of a large West Coast city. Her father is an executive for a large corporation which all of you know by name. I started calling her “El-G” – her initials. It seems to work. I

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-1100618160575434402009-12-02T08:49:00.000-05:002009-12-02T14:25:57.193-05:00

What is the difference between Maurice Clemmons, who ambushed four police officers at a coffee shop in Washington, and Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who ambushed dozens of military officers at Ft. Hood?They are both examples of how untreated mental illness can cause violence, but Clemmons was Christian and Hasan was Muslim.That’s about it.I only point this out because no one is talking about terrorism

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-68625199715457702192009-11-30T09:31:00.000-05:002010-01-20T10:05:50.824-05:00

I recorded a video for the Fred Friendly seminars while at the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) convention in July. It roughly outlines my brother Paul's life in the Mental Health system and my quest to get others to see that not all mentally ill people can live an independent life. To see me on You Tube, click the link below:I'm on You Tube:Also, please learn more about the IMD

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-25620530512843506252009-11-18T17:06:00.000-05:002009-11-18T17:13:33.316-05:00

I was a teenager during the ‘70s. During that time, we saw the rise of the glam rockers, including David Bowie. Wearing make up went to the extreme with Kiss. So when I noticed my teenage son was wearing make up, I really didn’t think too much about it. One morning I noticed that he had smudges under his eyes. I asked him if he was wearing make up and when he said yes, I said, “Well, wash

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-57363890631722653332009-11-18T16:05:00.000-05:002009-12-06T09:08:19.116-05:00

Update - 11/30/09: Some of my family and friends were disturbed by this...This is how I imagined the news article would read if there had been a sharp object in my dishwasher the night a big spider crawled out of my sink while I was doing dishes...I thought it was pretty funny, but you can decide for yourself...November 11, 2009 - New York - A 49-year old woman was found dead on her kitchen floor

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-2540714941701569302009-11-16T22:07:00.001-05:002010-03-24T22:26:08.098-04:00

The first thing I remember is seeing a man coming towards me. He had a gun in one hand and the other hand was out, motioning me to stay put and be quiet. I was in my bed. It was 3am on a hot August night. I had nothing on but my underwear. As he came towards me, he took off his pants. I didn’t have much time to assess the situation before it all happened. It looked like he had just climbed

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-83472499053357476492009-11-14T12:58:00.003-05:002010-03-17T10:25:57.779-04:00

Just weeks before we learned that my twin brother Paul had cancer, his case manager at the nursing home informed us that he could stay there indefinitely. This was music to our ears. This was the first place that treated him like a sick person (he had recurring pneumonia due to his emphysema - or so we thought) who happened to be mentally ill instead of a mentally ill person who happened to be

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975419522980959048.post-76942038939130877452009-11-13T17:29:00.000-05:002009-11-14T12:58:10.241-05:00

You know the old saying, “I need a vacation from my vacation”? Well, this was taken to the extreme in the summer of 2004 when I took a long distance trip with my husband and our 17-year old twin sons. We drove to the Delaware shores from our former home in Wisconsin. The drive out was uneventful and we had a great time at the beach with four of my sisters and their families. However, the trip

Flanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060597310904262745noreply@blogger.com0