Author Archives | Gay Finlayson
Gay Finlayson is a mother of three children, one with autism, one with mental illness, and one a theater professional. She works as the policy and advocacy manager at the Autism Programs at the UNM Center for Development and Disability. She was the co-chair of the Bernalillo County Local Collaborative, and has been on the NM Behavioral Health Planning Council. She’s passionate about creating decent services for individuals with autism and mental illness in New Mexico.
Lack of Mental Health Treatment, Facilities Has Consequences for Families like Mine
Several years ago, my teenage son, out of the blue, began exhibiting signs of mental illness. It was a cruel twist that most families don’t expect, but what followed the diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, was the deepest cut of all. It was the Kafkaesque search for psychiatrists, and for treatment programs and facilities that would provide a sense of safety and a hope of recovery.
I called every psychiatrist in the phone book and couldn’t get him seen. I called my friend Nancy Jo Archer, then director of Hogares. She got Neil an evaluation, a treatment plan, a community support worker, a therapist, and a psychiatrist all available through her agency. Both Neil and I felt hopeful. But then Neil lost his therapist when Hogares was taken over by an Arizona company in the summer of 2013...
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29. October 2014
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