Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2019)
LOCAL A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019 Living with mental illness in the family By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR Stella Queen has felt the helplessness of watching a loved one slip into the grasp of a mental illness many times in her life. “Schizophrenia is just rampant in my family,” the Echo woman said. “I’ve asked God many times why he spared me.” She said her father had schizophrenia, and her brother and grandmother. The illness got her daugh- ter, who died by suicide 10 years ago. It also affected her great-niece, Antonia Cobarubias, who was killed in an unsolved hit-and-run in Hermiston on Aug. 31. Sitting at her kitchen table on a recent afternoon, she jumped from story to story as she reflected on her journey in trying to edu- cate herself on mental ill- ness and advocate for family members. The first thing she remem- bers is reading a textbook in fifth grade in the 1950s that — falsely — stated schizo- phrenia was caused by the way mothers potty trained their children. “I raised my hand and asked how that could be and my teacher sadly said, ‘Oh, we were blamed for a lot of things due to potty train- ing,’” she said. Years later, she tried to ask providers treating her brother what the chances were that her unborn child would inherit the same ill- ness. One hung up on her, she said, while another told her she “wouldn’t be able to understand” if he explained. Her great-niece, Coba- rubias, stayed with Queen on and off after she started hearing voices in her head in her late teens. She said Cobarubias struggled with a drug addiction, but at one point was able to get her own place while staying clean for more than three years. “I was so proud of her,” she said. When Cobarubias slipped back into addic- tion and got evicted, Queen was worried about what her “sweet-spirited” fam- ily member would experi- ence while living out in the cold or heat, among peo- ple who might take advan- tage of her. She reached out to law enforcement with her concerns. They told her that as an adult, it was Cobaru- bias’s right to live where she wanted to. She got similar answers in reaching out to mental health providers and doc- tors treating Cobarubias — if a patient hasn’t signed a waiver allowing someone access to their information, they said, the clinic can’t release information about whether they are making it to appointments or what medications they should be taking. Contributed Photo Antonia Cobarubias and her brother Murray pose for a picture in this photograph from the 1990s. “We’re happy to connect them with resources,” she said. A difficult situation Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Stella Queen poses for a portrait holding a picture of her great-niece Antonia Cobarubias, who was killed in an unsolved hit-and-run in Hermiston in August. Contributed Photo Antonia Cobarubias interacts with her son Trevor in this picture of a camping trip the two took in 2014. “She went from being really good to going down- hill, the difficulty was get- ting someone to listen to me, because I’m not her guard- ian,” Queen said. The situation ended in tragedy, with Cobarubias fatally struck down by a vehicle while she was push- ing a shopping cart along Highway 395 in the middle of the night. It wasn’t the first time Queen dealt with trag- edy. She got her daughter, Dawn Marie Eagle, commit- ted to an inpatient psychiat- ric facility in 2009 after pro- viding convincing evidence she was a danger to herself. But Queen said the facility didn’t notify her when Eagle was released from the facil- ity and returned to her home in Portland. She also said she had no idea until after her daughter took her life not long after that police had made mul- tiple welfare checks to her home, including an inci- dent where her daughter was dumping gallons of laundry detergent on the floor to “get rid of evil spirits.” “I say God dumped on her and the system failed her,” Queen said. Balancing rights and care The balance between a person with a mental illness getting care they need and maintaining their rights to privacy and independence is a difficult one. The pendulum has swung toward independence over the last century, moving away from family mem- bers being able to lock away pesky women indefinitely for “hysteria,” and into an era where some family members feel it is too diffi- cult to get a seriously men- tally ill family member help while they’re in crisis. “All the confidentiality, all the privacy, it enables the mentally ill to (the point) where there’s no help,” Queen said. “It allows them to get hurt.” Kristen Owen, a clinical director for Lifeways, which provides mental health ser- vices in Eastern Oregon, said people with mental illnesses deserve rights just like someone with a cancer diag- nosis should have the right to say they don’t want other people to know the details of their chemotherapy. If someone is a dan- ger to themselves or others, Lifeways can place a hold on them for up to five days while gathering evidence to present to a judge, who may order in-patient treatment. “In essence we are limit- ing their civil rights (during a hold) but there are very high standards to meet,” Owens said. Lifeways does strongly encourage people to bring family members and other “natural supports” into their treatment process when appropriate, she said. During the intake process for a new client they discuss people in the client’s life who might be helpful, and organiza- tions or other providers who might benefit from getting information on the client’s treatment. New clients can fill out a form giving blanket approval for sharing infor- mation with certain people or organizations, or they can check specific boxes allow- ing sharing, such as “Infor- mation necessary to arrange transportation.” “It’s pretty customiz- able,” Owens said. She said that if some- one doesn’t want their fam- ily to know anything about their treatment, Lifeways is bound by law to respect that wish. But that doesn’t mean that family members can’t call and share information, even if they’re not getting any in return. It might seem like their call went nowhere, she said, but behind the scenes a ther- apist might say, “Your mom called yesterday and is really worried about you. Would you be willing to bring her in here to talk about how she might help?” Liz Johnsen, executive director of business excel- lence for Lifeways, said they also have a crisis number (541-276-6207). A major- ity of the calls through that line are hospitals and law enforcement, she said, but “we want to be that same resource for families.” While Lifeways staff say they’re more than happy to answer general questions on mental illness and share resources for people who are trying to help a loved one, Queen said her experience has been that it’s difficult to get someone on the line. Queen’s friend, Mary Baggett of Hermiston, who has an adult family mem- ber with schizophrenia cur- rently living with her, said she also feels alone some- times in navigating life with a family member with men- tal illness. “I feel like there is no place for me to go or call,” she said. She said in her case her family member did sign a release with Lifeways, but just because she knows when his appointments are doesn’t mean she can force him to go when he decides he doesn’t feel like it. The same goes for taking medications. She said family mem- bers can also only do so much to protect their loved ones from people who take advantage of them, finan- cially or otherwise. Most people with men- tal illnesses aren’t prone to violence — according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Ser- vices’ fact sheet on men- tal health myths, the “vast majority of people with mental health problems are no more likely to be violent than anyone else. In fact, people with severe mental illnesses are over 10 times more likely to be victims of violent crime than the gen- eral population.” However, sometimes when someone with a serious mental illness like schizo- phrenia are in crisis they end up doing or saying vio- lent things, frightening their loved ones. Baggett said in that situation it’s especially hard to know where to turn, because family members are worried that they will make things worse for their loved one in the future when they’re doing better. “You could call the police, but that opens a whole new can of worms,” she said. Baggett said she’s never used Lifeways’ crisis line before, but Owens said if it’s not safe for someone to transport their family mem- ber to the hospital during a crisis, Lifeways staff can come to them. Physicians Mutual Insurance Company This is real dental insurance from Physicians Mutual Insurance Company that helps pay for over 350 procedures – cleanings, fillings, crowns, even dentures. • No annual maximum, no deductible • See any dentist you want – including your own • Over 50? Coverage as low as $1 per day Call now to get this FREE Information Kit 1-877-599-0125 dental50plus.com/25 *Individual Plan. Coverage not available in all states. Acceptance guaranteed for one insurance policy/ certificate of this type. Contact us for complete details about this insurance solicitation. This specific offer is not available in CO, NY; call 1-800-969-4781 or respond for similar offer. Certificate C250A (ID: C250E; PA: C250Q); Insurance Policy P150 (GA: P150GA; NY: P150NY; OK: P150OK; TN: P150TN) AW19-1034 6197 NO MORE GUTTER CLEANING, OR YOUR MONEY BACK – GUARANTEED! 0 % 15 %OFF AND! FINANCING* SENIOR & MILITARY DISCOUNTS *Contact us for additional details FREE ESTIMATES! 1-855-536-8838 Promo Number: 285 Mon-Thurs: 8am-11pm, Fri-Sat: 8am-5pm. Sun: 2pm-8pm EST CSLB# 1035795 DOPL #10783658-5501 License# 7656 License# 50145 License# 41354 License# 99338 License# 128344 License# 218294 License# 603 233 977 License# 2102212986 License# 2106212946 License# 2705132153A License# LEAFFNW822JZ License# WV056912 License# WC-29998-H17 Nassau HIC License# H01067000 Registration# 176447 Registration# HIC.0649905 Registration# C127229 Registration# C127230 Registration# 366920918 Registration# PC6475 Regis- tration# IR731804 Registration# 13VH09953900 Registration# PA069383 Suffolk HIC License# 52229-H For more information, call 1-800-962-2819 2x3 EXAMPLE Celebrate your loved ones in our We are so proud of you for serving your country. VETERANS DAY TRIBUTE Free Example: Honoring those who have served and those who are currently serving our country! They’ve served our country with courage and honor. They’ve left behind loved ones to risk their lives while protecting our country. They’ve defended our freedoms and ideals. They make us proud to be Americans. Help us honor them. SALUTE E Love We Evelyn, are so Joe and proud of you Cheryl for serving your country. J OSEPH B. D AVIS Staff Sergeant Joel Davis US Marines Veteran This special section will print in the Hermiston Herald on Nov. 13th, 2019 and in the East Oregonian on Nov. 12th, 2019. There is NO CHARGE to be included. Bring us or send in photos of servicemen, servicewomen or veterans, along with the information in the form to the right, by November 1, 2019. 1x4 EXAMPLE J OSEPH S MITH Thank you for your service! Love Evelyn, Joe and Cheryl If you’d like to purchase a larger space to include a special message, border, flags, or stars and stripes, rates are $40 for a 1x4” space or $60 for a 2x3” space. Private party only. Please call 1-800-962-2819. Love always Marcy, Julie & Emily Service Person’s Name Military Branch Your Name Your Address Your Phone Number Military Rank Currently Serving Veteran (Check One) Deliver to: East Oregonian 211 SE Byers Ave. • Pendleton, OR or e-mail to classifieds@eastoregonian.com
