Why Mental Health?
A reintroduction to me and my 988 column
May is national Mental Health Awareness Month, so I thought it might be a good time to reintroduce myself, my column, and why I write about mental health.
I’ve been writing and publishing for twenty years now. My main bread and butter is fiction, and in the last two decades I wrote five novels with three of them published, and have a New York literary agent who handles my book projects and sales. I regularly write short stories and personal essays with several published in literary magazines over the years, and I do a lot of freelance nonfiction writing, too, like articles for the A&E Network series True Crime where I profile interesting criminal cases and other crime-related stories. I’m also one of the managing editors of the flash essay journal Past Ten, and recently secured a book deal for a print anthology releasing next year.
I split my workdays as a core faculty member of the Lindenwood University Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program where I teach online workshops in novel, short story, memoir, essay, and flash essay, along with literature classes and graduate thesis courses. I love working with my students, and online teaching suits me well as I have more control over my work schedule and leaves me dedicated time each day for my creative writing projects. It’s a full workload, but I love it.
So, how did I end up writing a twice-monthly column on mental healthcare issues in Iowa?
If you’re already familiar with my Substack writing then you likely know the story of what happened to my neighbors in 2017, when a husband, wife, and daughter were tragically killed by their seriously mentally ill son/brother in the grips of psychosis. He was a young man who desperately needed inpatient treatment at the time, but couldn’t get a psychiatric bed in the entire state of Iowa because of our derelict mental healthcare, and was sent home from the ER back to his family.
Looking back, I can’t explain exactly what made me feel so strongly about getting involved in this issue. Years ago, I read a quote that said something like, Sometimes you get to choose your battles, and sometimes they choose you.
And that was me in April of 2017. I felt like this battle chose me.
I started by writing about mental healthcare failures in Iowa within weeks of my neighbors’ deaths. I joined NAMI’s yearly fundraiser walk, registered for NAMI Day on the Hill, and learned how lobby my legislators for mental healthcare reform bills.
And, I got to know the young man, Chase, at the center of that terrible, tragic story, now serving three consecutive life sentences in prison. Chase and I have forged a close relationship over the years, and he eventually started to call me his “godmother,” a nod to my Hindu Goddess name, Kali, but also because he believes his birth mother, who loved him very much, sent me to help look out for him in her place.
Seven years later, I agree, and I think of his mother often.
There have been times in my writing career where I felt bogged down by all the required hustle, rejection, and self-promotion. The publishing industry isn’t known for being a warm and fuzzy place, so I’ve learned to build in space for my writing that feels untouched by the tough industry machine. A space that isn’t about me, or the bloody knuckles fight to publish my writing, or hustle for my next writing gig. It’s a space to use my skills to try and make a difference for others. For families like my neighbors, for individuals living with serious mental illnesses, like Chase.
Last October, I had the opportunity to teach several nonfiction writing sessions at the Okoboji Writers Retreat, an event created by Julie Gammack. While there, I learned about another group she leads called The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, and the amazing work the IWC members were publishing on the Substack platform every week. I soon signed up for an account, created a profile, and my 988 column launched in October. I named it “988” after the national mental health crisis hotline number.
In the seven months since, I’ve written articles about the mental healthcare workforce shortage, mental health struggles in public schools, the criminalization of mental illness, and mental health legislation issues this past session. Weirdly, it feels like the more I write on this subject, there’s more than ever to say and cover.
This week, I’m working on a new Op Ed piece for Bleeding Heartland (editor Laura Belin is a fellow IWC member) that’s a deep dive into the long and complicated life of a critical mental healthcare-associated legislative bill that finally passed this year after six previous attempt. I also have more articles in the coming months that will dig into mental illness-specific topics like anosognosia, our need for “housing that heals,” dealing with HIPAA laws, and other new developments in the Iowa mental health community.
Reader support has been invaluable these last seven months in encouraging me to keep writing about this subject. Thank you to everyone who has provided me help along the way as a paid subscriber, by leaving thoughtful comments, recommending 988 to other readers, or by serving as an informational resource.
Whether we’ve chosen our battle or our battle has chosen us, at least we’re in this one together. ~
To help continue my coverage of mental healthcare issues and reform in our state, consider upgrading to a paid “988” subscription. And thank you to all my subscribers!