Patrice Maniaci says one out of four families in Kern County suffer from mental illness. Her family is one of those families. Her father was a World War II and Korean War veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
"Back then they called it battle fatigue," she said. "He was self-medicated, which caused quite a lot of dysfunction the household."
Maniaci said she blamed herself as a child whenever her dad got angry and she internalized his moods. She now seeks treatment with therapy and support groups.
"Recovery does not end with a 'd' because if I was recovered, I would not continue, but recovery for me is lifetime," she said.
She is president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Kern County. The organization held a conference in Bakersfield to educate mental health professionals, veterans, law enforcement and the community on how to deal with the effects of mental disorders.
Maniaci founded Front Line with Russ Sempell. It's a project that provides support for veterans and their families.
"It's critical with all our participants today to identify and show that teamwork and the united spirit of all of our agencies and organizations to help prevent tragedies," he said.
Tragedy hit Sempell's home when deputies shot and killed his brother 10 years ago. He says his brother Bobbie was bipolar. In light of the recent shooting in Buttonwillow, where two deputies gunned down 18-year-old Christian Chavez who suffered from schizophrenia, Sempell wants the county to do more.
"Every single officer needs to be trained in crisis intervention training. It's a practical matter," he said. "We need to get the budget and finances together to take some officers off the streets to train them."
That's exactly what Deputy Fred Wheeler does. He leads the Crisis Intervention Training and teaches a 40-hour course on how officers should react in a mental illness crisis. He trained about 40 deputies and officers in 2011, the first year for the program. His goal is to train as many officers as possible to offer them one more tool on their belt.
"The best tool we have is our mind," Wheeler said. "If we have enough training where we can make good decisions based on the information received and all the different areas of things we deal with, it helps us to make those decisions."
Deputy Wheeler says the county will train more officers in crisis intervention in the spring and fall.
NAMI holds quarterly conferences on mental health related issues. Their next one will be in April. For more information on NAMI's services, you can call 303-1416 or see
www.frontlinenami.org.
