Family struggles to get mental health care

Theresa Lutz is desperate to find help for her grandson but everywhere she turns, there are closed doors.

She said the 27-year-old was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has struggled with his mental health since he was a teenager. Recently he spent time in jail after repeatedly calling the emergency number in an effort to seek help and was charged with misuse of the 911 system.

“The magistrate will tell you he does not need to be there, but there’s nowhere else for him,” Lutz said. 

Since his release, he’s been living with her, and she and his mother have been trying to find a mental hospital who will accept and treat him but without any success.

“When he goes into one of his meltdowns, he seeks help,” she said. “He has been to various rehabs for his mental health condition.”

Lutz said his most recent episode was triggered by the death of his close friend, and it sent him into a downward spiral. As an adult, he has to seek help himself, and privacy laws sometimes inhibit family from helping or knowing any details of their loved ones’ care. 

She said he went to what is now called Cleveland Crisis and Recovery Center, a small facility on North Washington Street. According to the Partners’ website, “Cleveland Crisis and Recovery Center is home to a “behavioral health urgent care,” where citizens experiencing a mental health or addiction crisis can go for help, instead of waiting in the emergency department.”

The facility is open 24 hours a day, year round, and according to the website, while it specializes in mental health and addiction crisis, medical professionals are on staff to ensure medical stability.

“The behavioral health urgent care treats an average of 50 people per month, and more than 90% of people evaluated at the urgent care choose to receive treatment in some type of community-based behavioral health service,” it states.

Lutz said that has not been their experience and her grandson has repeatedly been turned away.

“But if it’s mental health, they don’t do anything for you,” Lutz said. “It’s above their level. He was turned down for it.”

A message left with the facility was not returned.

Calling for help

Lutz said her grandson, who doesn’t want to be named to protect his privacy, will call police or the ambulance and when they take him to the crisis center, she said the police will see him be turned away.

“They’ll evaluate him and say he’s too acute,” she said. 

They have tried Kings Mountain Hospital’s adult behavioral health unit, but she said they also will turn him away because he does not abuse drugs or alcohol.

His mother, Meredith Lutz, said he has actually sat in the parking lot drinking beer in an effort to receive help.

“The charge nurse has come out and said he doesn’t meet our criteria,” Theresa Lutz said. “He’s not on drugs.”

His mother said Shelby Police have been phenomenal and have done more for them than designated mental health agencies in the county. 

“Police have sat down on our porch and talked to [him],” she said. “The police department has helped us.”

The two women are attempting to gain guardianship so they can better help him access services and get care. Right now, because of privacy laws, they can’t discuss any of his care with providers.

Revolving door

Theresa Lutz said he currently receives some psychiatric services through Monarch and Phoenix who are with Partners Behavioral Health, but the visits are all done virtually which she says isn’t adequate.

His grandmother said in April, he called Partners’ mobile crisis line at 8 a.m. when he was having a manic episode, and the police came by twice. She said they are supposed to send someone out, but they got no response. It was raining and when he didn’t get a response from Partners, he wanted to be taken to the crisis agency or the hospital. She said he was so manic he got out of the car and walked in the rain to the hospital.

Finally, his mom said at 12:30 p.m., Partners finally called back, and she said she was told a psychiatrist hadn’t come out because of the inclement weather.

“I asked what’s a good day to commit suicide? A beautiful day?” Meredith Lutz asked.

She said she feels like he’s regarded at the hospital as the boy who cries wolf for seeking help so often. 

“He’s been there so much. He’s not got any drugs or alcohol in his system, he’s going for mental health. They will let him go in three hours,” Meredith Lutz said.

With his blessing, his family has had him involuntarily committed. The police picked him up, took him to the hospital and had 72 hours to keep and evaluate him.

“He asked us to do that,” Theresa Lutz said. 

She said they kept him for less than an hour. 

Cost of care

Theresa Lutz said they have sought help outside the county, but in order to be admitted to a facility he would need to be on Medicaid, and he doesn’t qualify for full Medicaid. 

The cost of receiving care is thousands of dollars they can’t afford. Most treatment facilities out of the county cost around $5,000 a week. She said he stayed at Frye Regional Medical Center in Hickory for three days, and the bill was $3,500.

She said he works for awhile and then loses jobs. 

“It’s not fair to those who can’t afford it to not be able to get it,” Theresa Lutz said.

She said millions of dollars are raised for cancer, and millions are spent on a new justice center in the county, at the community college and toward other things in the city, but nothing is going towards mental health. 

His mom said they are working on getting guardianship so they can help him apply for disability.

Theresa Lutz said recently, while she was sick, she sat in her house for four days and went down the list of mental health agencies in the county and called every one. 

“And at the end of the day you’re back at the first number you started with,” she said. 

She said they pass her on to someone else. Some don’t return her calls. She has pages of a notebook filled with where she has recorded phone calls to different agencies.

‘Dropped through the hole’

Last month, in desperation, Theresa Lutz attended a Cleveland County commissioner’s meeting and read a letter Meredith wrote about the fight to get her son help and the lack of mental health resources in the county. She said none of the commissioners responded or contacted either one of them later.

“I’m just trying to reach any outlet,” Theresa Lutz said.

She said he calls 911 because they are the only ones who show up and show him concern. 

“You keep calling them because no one else is answering your call. We’re trying to get help for him, and nobody cares,” she said.

She said it’s hard enough for her, and she can’t imagine being in a manic state attempting to get help.

“It makes me crazy,” Theresa Lutz said, wiping away tears. 

At night she thinks about who she can call and what more she can do. She said it takes a toll on her to not be able to find help and as depressing as it is for her, she can’t imagine how it feels for him.

“This is the frustration families with mental health have,” she said. “I’m trying every avenue I can to push it to the surface. Too many people are getting paid to do this, and there’s not any help.”

She said she thinks of people who don’t have advocates, including veterans, and how easily they end up homeless.

“They’re just dropped through the hole,” she said.

The women want to see a facility in the county that provides mental health and psychiatric care. 

“We can’t be the only ones in Cleveland County going through this,” Theresa Lutz said. “It needs to be brought to light how insufficient the mental health system is in Cleveland County.”

Reporter Rebecca Sitzes can be reached at rsitzes@gannett.com.

Source link