Mental Illness and Your Town: 37 Ways for Communities to Help and Heal

By Larry Hayes

A Blueprint for Community Action From Award-Winning Journalist Larry Hayes

Written with authority and compassion, this is the book that rescues mental illness from the shadows and takes the disability into the community.

Learn how each person can play a role to help those who so often suffer alone.

Hear the stories of the people who've found how to triumph over this disability.

Discover how everyone can work together to create a treatment revolution that enriches and saves lives.

Let this guide open your heart and mind to be inspired and challenged to do the work ahead.

A Book that will Change Your Community!
"Larry Hayes provides families with a real self-help manual that is personal and compassionate, yet practical and hands-on. It is long overdue and can only come from someone who has been there--in the trenches. Larry certainly has."
--Stephen C. McCaffrey, President, Mental Health America of Indiana

"With a father's wit and a reporter's well-honed writing skills, Larry Hayes uses his family's story to offer practical suggestions about how communities can help persons with mental illnesses recover and thrive. This is a wonderful blueprint that spells out ways to change lives and help persons seldom seen or heard."
--Pete Earley, author, CRAZY: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness

"Larry Hayes demonstrates in this book a very rare gift that he has, the ability to reduce complex social problems to simple terms. In addition, he fills the book with practical solutions and ways to reduce the somet-imes debilitating effects of mental illness."
--James C. Howell, Ph.D., juvenile justice researcher

• Language: English
• Publisher: Loving Healing Press Inc
• Release date: Mar 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781615998937

Larry Hayes

Larry Hayes helps run an investment fund, and is a trustee for a homeless charity. On Fridays he homeschools his two kids, letting them decide what to study. In the future he hopes to become a treasure hunter, invent a yoghurt that makes you happy, and solve the maths behind the human brain. How to Survive Without Grown-Ups is his debut novel.   

Reviews for Mental Illness and Your Town

[wtshehan · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I tried to read this book on a few occasions and never made it through. I have experience with mental illness due to my mother being in and out of institutions and this book all but ignores what happens when everything fails. The book is also to general to be of much help. One thing I did enjoy was the title. The title reminds me of a 1950's government film that you would see spoofed on MYST2000.

[moxiehart · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Before I start this review, I would like to admit that I have bipolar disorder, so I started this book with some interest. The subject is clearly close to the author's heart since he and his son have both dealt with mental illness. The tone throughout the book was painfully earnest. Sadly, this didn't contribute to the quality of the writing which was, to be frank, boring. I found it incredibly difficult to read this book out of sheer boredom. Maybe it's because I'm more used to literary books about mental illness (Girl, Interrupted and The Bell Jar, for instance) but the book read more like a pamphlet. The book is useful, though. It does have a list of resources in the back and is especially strong when giving advice about dealing with the media. Unfortunately, there isn't a bibliography or any foot- or endnotes, which was disappointing when the author made claims such as the one on page 114 that claims that, "...a certified clubhouse sees that the club member stays on the job a bit longer and enjoys greater job satisfaction. That's the research." What research? Conducted by whom? What was the sample size and was the study peer-reviewed?Finally, many of the author's suggestions are very cost-intensive. This book was written before the recession, but many of the ideas are unfeasible. Another reviewer noted, and I have to agree, that the author acts as if mental illness is the only charitable cause around and the only problem in society. Ultimately, I think that this book would function better as a webpage. Then information could be updated as it changed, there could be links to resources, and the conversational tone would be more appropriate.

[sfisk_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is full of very useful examples and facts, invaluable to any organization or individual interested in becoming an advocate for the mentally ill in their community. The author has much valuable experience with mental health issues and provides many ways for individuals to get involved both personally and professionally.A journalist, Mr. Hayes has an easy to read writing style that gets right to the point. He makes very clear the "who, what, where, when" needed to accomplish the goals he outlines. The liberal use of personal anecdotes helps this book have a warm and positive tone, a refreshing change from the usual cold and clinical texts one usually finds on this subject.Indeed, Mr. Hayes makes the steps he outlines sound almost too easy. Being a professional reporter, he makes reaching out to and interacting with political figures, the press, and large organizations or corporations seem a trivial endeavor. In practice I think most people will not be as comfortable as he has shown himself to be when undertaking these somewhat formidable tasks.But the fact remains he has laid out a very easy to follow roadmap, and also warned of some pitfalls and detours one may encounter on the way. I would recommend this book to anyone who sees the need for change in their community regarding the treatment and care of this particular population.

[lahochstetler · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is a collection of suggestions for community actvism to aid the mentally ill. Working from the position that mental illness is a community issue, Hayes has come up with a variety of potential ways in which communities can be of assistance. Hayes brings both personal and professional qualifications to the book: he is a journalist who has covered mental health issues, and he's a trained minister. Personally, both Hayes and his son have suffered from mental illness. Without question there are helpful suggestions in this book that cover a wide range of approaches and solutions. That said, it is also important to recognize the limitations of this book too. Most of the sugestions in this book seem to deal with moderate to severe mental illness- the sort that might leave the sufferer hospitalized. A focus on serious mental illness is certainly fine, but when Hayes talks about the scope of mental health prblem, he seems to be talking more broadly about all levels of mental illness. Thus, what Hayes sees is a crisis, but those statistics seem to be based on the broad range of mental illnesses, not merely those who suffer from the most severe forms of the disease. So, it seems that there's something of a disconnect here that's not clearly established in the text. I never felt as if I got a good handle on the scope of the problem. For example, Hayes focuses on programs that can help mentally ill persons get into the workforce. There's no mention of the numerous individuals suffering from mild mental illness who still manage to go to work everyday, but find it difficult so to do. Again, it's fine to focus on solutions for those individuals whose illnesses fall on the severe end of hte spectrum, but these are not the only people who make up the staggering numbers of people who suffer from mental illness. I'd suspect they're likely not the majority. The second issue I took with this book is that Hayes seems to hav little sense that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of very good causes, charities that help people and make their lives better, all of which are competing for limited resources. I got little sense in reading this book that Hayes really recognized the limits of time and funding. This is an issue of tone. Throughout the book Hayes seems to be suggesting that mental illness should be the most important issue, but it's unrealistic to expect this to be the only charitable/social cause about which individuals, charities, and municipalities care. I detected what seemed almost to be an undertone of chastisement in the book, suggesting the folly or callousness of those for whom mental health isn't THE single most important social/community issue. In conclusion, I'd like this book to be clearer about what it is and where it is focused. I was also turned off by the tone- there's a fine line between passion and didacticism, and at certain points Hayes seems to cross it.

[arctic1stranger · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is helpful. Very helpful. If you have a loved one with mental illness, or you have a mental illness, you need this book. Those with mental illness will encounter a maze of help...the help is there, but it takes time and persistance to get it. Most seriously mentally ill people are able to navigate the various systems by themselves. This book will be a great help. It covers recognizing symptoms ("Not my child!") and walks you through places where you can get help. The author knows whereof he speaks. His first wife suffered from depression, as did he, and he has a bipolar son. He is journalist, and the book is very well written--not to "literary" but not wooden either. Hayes is working to take mental illness out of the closet, and bring it to the public sphere, so that more people can get help. If you at all interested in the topic of mental illness, this is a good place to start. If you have a mentally ill person in your family, you NEED to read this book.

[jfballenger · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is based on the author’s personal experience with mental illness and his decades of experience as a journalist and advocate writing about mental health issues. It is written with admirable passion and clarity, and would be an excellent brainstorming tool for local advocacy groups or individuals looking for ways to work effectively on social and policy change behalf of people struggling with mental illness. But as with so many mental health advocacy books about, this one unfortunately sidesteps the complexity and conceptual difficulty surrounding the topic. Although Hayes acknowledges that much of mental illness remains beyond the power of medical science to explain, he uncritically accepts the currently dominant biological paradigm, pretending that there is no controversy around the existence and nature of various psychiatric categories. He also completely ignores recent scandals around the corrupting effect of big pharma’s money and influence on psychiatric practice the drug licensing process. He frequently lumps all mental illness into a single category, writing of “the disability,” as though various kinds of psychiatric symptoms all produced the same sort of psychological and social effects. Perhaps most unfortunately, his discussion of stigma is particularly weak – though again this is a fault in most mental health advocacy books going back a century or more. Hayes writes as though all that will be needed to undo the stigma of mental illness will be to better educate the public, to counter the many myths that surround mental illness. But this stigma has persisted despite consistent and highly visible education programs over the decades. This is because the stigma of mental illness is not rooted in ignorance of its etiology, but in anxiety about its symptoms. Successfully addressing stigma will require not education or psychiatric literacy programs, but a different kind of cultural work that de-emphasizes emotional and psychological control and competency as the pillars of selfhood. Individuals or groups using this book for planning purposes should also seek out more nuanced discussions of the nature of mental illness and its stigmatization in society.

[cavalonja · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Mr. Hayes has his heart in the right place but ultimately I found his book to be short on solid, usable strategies for proactive community involvement in mental health issues. Community action in maintaining good mental health in its citizens, and of assisting those afflicted with various forms of mental illness, is recognized as a critical and compassionate goal. However, faced with a shrinking economy and a wide array of more vocal – and less stigmatized – special interests, all vying for tax dollars and public attention, I felt Mr. Hayes’s book fell short in selling his point of view. As a consumer of mental health services, I know firsthand how short-sighted and underfunded the system is. I’m not convinced this book provides an effective blueprint for improving that system via efforts of community leaders and lay people.

[sylviao_21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mr. Hayes has succeeded in creating a work that is both knowledgeable and compassionate, something that I have rarely seen when dealing with the topic of mental illness. He brings a very human face to an almost invisible epidemic which is something that I think is much needed in this day and age, especially here in the United States. Unfortunately, mental illness is such a broad category and includes so many different diagnoses. I felt, at times, that illnesses like depression were over emphasized while others like schizophrenia were almost ignored. All in all, it is an eye-opening little book. I especially appreciated the section on dispelling myths and tempering justice with mercy. I would certainly recommend this book to people who want to know more about helping the mentally ill as well as people who might think that mental illness is not a problem.

[pensivepoet · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is a compendium of mental health ideas for the community. And as such I feel it could be best put to use by consumer activist organizations, mental health service consumers and their personal community (family, friends). And before I move on to what I feel could have been done better, I want to acknowledge what a fabulous collection of activity inspiring ideas Hayes voices. I hope, pray and work for many of his suggestions every day. As so many others already involved in the mental health service field on the professional or community level.As someone who did undergraduate and graduate training in psychology and social work, reading this book felt a little like “preaching to the choir”. And I recognize that professionals or those already immersed in the mental health systems failures and successes were not the intended audience of this book. I do like the almost self-service, topical vignettes as a delivery method for the information. Some chapters could bear with pruning. However, I feel some of the chapters are inadequate in addressing the whole community. Some examples:1) Mother and Child – I commend Hayes for addressing the topic of post-partum depression! But, where are the fathers? Why can’t this topic start with “Start with the caregivers”? Not all children have mothers as their primary caregiver. Or mothers as their caregiver at all. And community is about everyone. So, how about starting with “Care giver self care”? Striving to see that all caregivers no matter their relation to a child know how to recognize and seek treatment for their own emotional distress and stresses. And of course, within a nuclear family model, the fathers have to handle their mental health issues too! If they are present. (The failure of interventions on my adopted fathers mental illness was a huge influence on my upbringing. And I suppose in that sense, I have to speak from my experience that all the mental health of all caregivers is paramount!) Hayes addresses parents as whole, in part, in 4 “Rescue kids in trouble”, but I feel those paragraphs would be better served in the initial chapter under a different heading of “caregivers” or “early life caregivers”.2) I didn’t feel that race or sexual orientation and their effects on mental health care were adequately addressed in this book. If we are indeed regarding as a book for the community as a whole, some people have been left out!3) College Kids Chapter – On page 17 Hayes suggests that part of the reason college kids avoid seeking help is because they fear it would disrupt their college career, that they would be forced to leave school. And when he says this it sounds like he seems to think that such things don’t happen. There are a number of documented instances where mental health evaluations resulted in the uprooting of a students study. I think the problem is that the attitudes of colleges and universities need to be changed. I agree with Hayes, that college as it exists today is a much different entity than the small college he attended, that much more resembled a caring community. A better question is –How can we make college a caring community? And in doing so, better serve the mentally healthy and those experiencing mental illness.4) The helpers – Chapter 11- The idea of establishing a national mental health services directory with local subdivisions that lists a providers preferred situations and clients is a fabulous idea. I would like to see something like this happen across the board of all of healthcare. But I can see many of the objections that would come up on the end of the service provider regarding putting their own personal inclinations and biases out there. I mean, what really would it say about a provider when they list they prefer not to deal with “bipolar disorder” or “schizophrenia”? I see it as a statement of that clinicians own limits. Which is great, self aware and wonderful. But I can see many providers afraid of stating what they feel would be perceived as weaknesses. 5) Enlist Churches – How about “enlist places of worship”? The beauty of working in NY is that I get to see the cooperation of churches, temples and even more informal congregations of people pulling together to serve the homeless and mentally ill of Manhattan. To provide a patchwork network, but, a network nonetheless. To say “enlist churches” I feel is leaving out anyone who participates in a congregation not best defined by that word. 6) Open a suicide hotline – I have the fortunate experience of being someone who has dealt with mental illness in my family, been professionally educated in the topic and surrounding sociological issues and then moved on to volunteering on suicide and rape hotlines in addition to working as a counselor on a professional level. I think it’s terribly unfair to criticize volunteers as Hayes does in this chapter. Even if his statements are under the best intentions. I’ve never monitored the hotline calls of another but I know at least in NY we’ve completed hours of training on active listening including practice before picking up a hotline call. The suggestion of adding an additional level of overhead to already cash strapped nonprofit hotlines seems very unnecessary. The key is to monitor the response of hotline volunteers BEFORE they ever get on the hotline through rigorous training and personal interviews. And even then, often with most volunteers in NY being professionals as well, some hotline clients will not be reached. That’s the cruel nature of the work. I do agree with Hayes and wish that that callers had the ability to get the same counselor later but resources often do not permit this. And the idea can even be impossible in the event that counselor is in the middle of a different call. 7) Mini-contradiction – In the introduction Hayes speaks about taking psychiatric issues out of the ER. And to that I agree I think everything possible should be done so that psychiatric crises stay away from the ER. The ER, even a psychiatric ER, is crowded and chaotic enough. Not the best place for a person when their head is already in chaos. It would be nice (and even ideal), if there could be psychiatrists and counselors within the community who made house calls. But just as few doctors still make house calls for other illnesses, mental illness is not on the list for house calls any time soon. But then on page 138 Hayes complains on having to wait for a social worker from the psychiatric unit to come and evaluate as opposed to a nurse or ER doctor. And aside from the delay that this creates, it isn’t actually the most awful idea. The body of most MD’s training does not allow for adequate hours devoted to the nuances of mental health. There is some coursework. Maybe a rotation. All of it blitzing by so fast in the middle of anatomy and other pathology. A social worker has at least 30 credit hours devoted just to mental health and surrounding issues. The issue is like asking whom would you want to assess what’s broken in your car? A mechanic? Or the guy who works the desk, has gone to a little auto school but for now mostly works on the administrative end of the business. On the whole, I know this was long. But I felt the need to give as much feedback as possible in addition to just an overview-review. So, to recap….What I was given : A smattering over novel suggestions. A smattering of old suggestions desperately begging and deserving of implementation. Some of my favorites : establishing and using crisis intervention teams, knowing your meds, observing special occasions, publishing patient rights and letting each mental health consumer be involved in meaningful work. What more I could want: I feel this part was pretty much accurately evaluated and stated in my numbered points.