Only say the word and my servant will be healed.

Matthew 8: 10-17 The centurion said to Jesus, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word; and my servant, will be healed.�

I have a brother with a mental illness (bipolar disorder) who is serving a three year term for a crime he committed while he was off his medication. If he had been on his medication and getting proper psychiatric care, he probably wouldn’t have committed the crime in the first place. It was not the first time he had committed this particular crime, but because he looks so clean cut, the question of mental illness was never raised. He just had a “criminal personality�.

Finally he was diagnosed and we understood that his actions were in part due to his illness. I cannot, I will not excuse his crimes totally as being part of his mental illness. He was still able to make a capable moral decision, but often bipolar disorder is it makes a person feel they are above a moral standard and they can do a particular thing without recourse. This I know firsthand, as I too have bipolar disorder. Although I have never committed any crime, I have made some seriously bad decisions in my life while I was manic.

During his current incarceration, those in charge, the centurions, if you will, are responsible for giving him his medications and for his access to counseling. Unlike the centurion who spoke to Jesus on behalf of his servant, my brother’s centurions are not as compassionate or competent. His medications are administered on an irregular schedule, depending on staffing needs rather than his doctor’s orders. His insulin injections are handled only slightly better. Before he was transferred to the prison he is in now, his former prison infirmary messed his medications up so bad his blood sugar was out of control and he was being overdosed on his psychiatric medicines without knowing it. He was in a stupor and no guard paid any attention to that fact until he was transferred to his new facility. Even now, he is not receiving any counseling that would help him deal with his particular demons.

When he is eventually released, he will not have been rehabilitated, he will simply have been the guest of the state. The chances he will again be a “guest� are probably pretty high. This is what happens in our society when we regard mental illness as a moral failure instead of an illness and opt to incarcerate rather than treat the underlying causes of particular behavior patterns.

We must be the centurions to those who cannot speak for themselves, whether they are in prison or are mentally ill. We must ask those in charge to treat our brothers and sisters humanely, to give them what they need to stay well, and to help us help them. We could very easily be in their shoes, but by the grace of God.

The week of October 4th – 10th is Mental Illness Awareness Week, and October 4th is the National Day of Prayer for Mental Illness Recovery and Understanding. I urge you to go the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) site and find out more of what you can do.

Prayer for the Intercession of Saint Dymphna, Patron of Mental Illness
Lord God, Who has graciously chosen Saint Dymphna to be the patroness of those afflicted with mental and nervous disorders, and has caused her to be an inspiration and a symbol of charity to the thousands who invoke her intercession, grant through the prayers of this pure, youthful martyr, relief and consolation to all who suffer from these disturbances, and especially to those for whom we now pray. (Here mention those for whom you wish to pray.)

We beg You to accept and grant the prayers of Saint Dymphna on our behalf. Grant to those we have particularly recommended patience in their sufferings and resignation to Your Divine Will. Fill them with hope and, if it is according to Your Divine Plan, bestow upon them the cure they so earnestly desire. Grant this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.