Meaningful Dialogue is Key to Success in New Decade

(Comment by Marianne Clayter, member, NC CANSO Board of Directors.)

Well, another year behind us. Another decade behind us. Mental Health reform behind us. Years are made up of days and weeks. Decades are made up of weeks and months. It seems just yesterday we were hearing and talking about Y2K. The world’s computers did not crash and the world did not end.
However, mental health reform crashed and many people’s worlds ended and changed. And in some instances they did crash. Reform is to take “red tape” and pull it all up and put in place programs, policies, procedures—things that are effective and work.
I remember being in a hospital years ago as a visitor. The hospital used different colored tape on their floors to guide visitors to the areas of the hospital they needed to get to. Of course, mental health reform is not that simple. As we start a new year and a new decade I wonder if there is a way for all the MH “players” to come together to sketch out an outline that is inclusive for all. This includes consumers as active participants--not as “tokens” just because MH reform says all these groups need MH consumers on their committees and boards.

I feel “turfism” is keeping all of us from coming together for the wellbeing and benefit of us all. “Do it my way, or else...” seems to ring across the halls and streets. When do we stop? When is enough enough? I hope, I pray that we will no longer all of us want our different ways. We must come together sooner rather than later. We cannot let another decade pass, another year pass, or even another day pass. Adding “red tape” to “red tape” will not and cannot work. The “grass roots” themselves must stand up even if they are dry and parched.
The “roots” are you and I. They are the providers, the MH workers, the administrators, and the consumers. I know many of us are burned out and walking away from the field. Some are struggling to “keep up the good fight.” Some are just joining.

We must have open, honest dialogue. We must all talk. More importantly we must all listen. Let this be the year and the decade that by truly communicating we see an end to all the ineffective means and issues that plague us now.