Community Currents

Shedding Light on Bipolar Disorder

The voices in her head told Kathleen Bernard to leave her home one February morning wearing nothing but a pair of cowboy boots on her feet

Those same voices told her to knock on the door of the home of her Westcliff Court neighbor. When the neighbor opened the door, the voices told Bernard to punch her neighbor in the back and kick her stereo to the ground because they were in her way.

Police caught up with Bernard circling the motorcycle around Gateway and Skyline and they apprehended her. She was taken into custody, but not before propositioning one of the officers.

Bernard, then age 30, was taken to San Mateo County Medical Center by ambulance and spent the next 72 hours receiving intense psychiatric care. Anti-depressants were prescribed. That episode was the worst manifestation of her mental illnesses - bipolar and schizophrenia - that she had experienced since first being diagnosed at age 15. She was eventually charged with use of a deadly weapon, vehicle theft and vehicle damage.

"I felt the humiliation. It was overwhelming," she said. "I was really humiliated, and then to have it in the paper! At least they didn't put my name in it, but people knew me from the address. People asked me if I was drunk or taking drugs. I said, 'no, I had a psychotic episode.'"

Now Bernard, age 43, is more in control of her mental illness and has developed several ways to cope. She's been down a long, painful road that began in adolescence. She's expressed her deepest feelings in poetry and in an autobiography.

"If my story can help one person understand how devastating mental illness is, if my humiliation can save one person's life in getting help, then it's worth it. It's nothing to be ashamed of. The stigma is very big, but it's an illness and not a curse. It can be treated," she said.

Because she has had more than half her lifetime to reflect on her mental illness, Bernard has become an advocate for more education, funding and research for patients and more support for their families.

She sits on the board of the San Mateo Commission of Mental Health, appointed by County Commissioner Rich Gordon in December. Meeting once a month in San Mateo, the board is a cross section of those who are affected by mental illness - family members, consumers and professionals. Bernard has worked as a plumber's apprentice and holds a cosmetology license. She cuts hair for free for the homeless and volunteers to cut hair in a local hospice.

She recommends the book "Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Consumers and Providers" by E. Fuller Torrey, the movie "A Beautiful Mind" and Patty Duke's book, "A Brilliant Madness: Living With Manic Depressive Illness." On the other hand, she'd like to outlaw those tee shirts that read, "the voices made me do it."

Bipolar disorder affects approximately 5.7 million American adults, or about 2.6 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year. Approximately 2.4 million or about 1.1 percent of American adults have schizophrenia in a given year. Mental illnesses are the second leading cause of death and disability in the world, surpassed only by heart disease. In developed countries, barely 25 percent of government research spending goes to the study of psychiatric disorders. In the rest of the world, funding for mental illness is almost non-existent. (source: World Health Organization).

PWDF Profile

Who We Are

People With Disabilities Foundation is an operating 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California, which focuses on the rights of the mentally disabled.

Services

Advocacy: PWDF advocates for Social Security claimant's disability benefits in eight Bay Area counties. We also provide services in disability rights, on issues regarding returning to work, and in ADA consultations, including areas of employment, health care, and education, among others. There is representation before all levels of federal court and Administrative Law Judges. No one is declined due to their inability to pay, and we offer a sliding scale for attorney's fees.

Education/Public Awareness: To help eliminate the stigma against people with mental disabilities in society, PWDF's educational program organizes workshops and public seminars, provides guest speakers with backgrounds in mental health, and produces educational materials such as videos.

Continuing Education Provider: State Bar of California MCLE, California Board of Behavioral Sciences Continuing Education, and Commission of Rehabilitation Counselor Certification.