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56 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, April 20, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 20, 2005 Ruth Berger, left, and Laura Shatto talk with Medford police officers about what it�s like to be mentally ill. The workshop was organized to help officers learn better ways to respond to people with mental illness. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Police learn about mental illness Mentally ill people hold training session for Medford officers so they’ll learn how to better handle some calls By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune "I’m supposed to introduce this program," Ruth Berger said, "but I feel like puking." Thirty police officers were watching her, all waiting to hear her talk about her struggle with schizophrenia. Beside her sat Laura Shatto, who has major depression. Both had come from Ashland to tell Medford police what it’s like to live with mental illness. "Who better to teach about mental illness than someone who has mental illness?" Berger said. For two hours Berger and Shatto told the cops how mental illness changed their lives. "I didn’t think I could live through what I lived through," said Berger, 24. "I heard voices seven days a week ... I had conversations with Zeus and God. Advertisement "I thought World War III was breaking out," she said, recalling one episode that brought her a visit from police. "I called the cops. I thought you would want to know." Shatto, 42, recalled her own suicide attempt. "I felt like I had no choices. I felt so sad all the time." The Medford Police Department invited the women to speak to help officers understand how mentally ill people feel and how they react when police are called to help them. Detective Diane Sandler arranged the presentation by contacting the Southern Oregon chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Sandler said MPD decided to give officers special training for working with mentally ill people after two mentally ill men were shot to death by Jackson County law enforcement officers in 1999 and 2000. In both cases, the men appeared ready to harm police officers. "There was a public outcry to determine how police dealt with mentally ill people," Sandler said. "Folks with mental illness and their families started asking how the police are trained to deal with mentally ill people. We took a big gulp and said, ‘We’d better do that.’" Sandler said there have been several training sessions over the years, but this program marked the first time that police invited NAMI. "We were overjoyed," said Pat Ames, a NAMI volunteer. "Other NAMI chapters have beaten at the doors of police departments without much success." Berger and Shatto used their personal experiences and a national NAMI video called "In Our Own Voice." The video, which is used by local NAMI groups across the country, describes in general terms the steps that people with mental illness go through to carry on with life. Local speakers such as Berger and Shatto bring the video to life with their personal stories. Berger explained that accepting mental illness is the first step toward learning to live with it. "You have to realize you were dealt a completely different hand from 99 percent of the population," she said. "You have to realize there’s a fire burning inside you." "Acceptance is so difficult because of the limitations it puts on your life," said Shatto, who had to abandon her college education when depression took over her life. She talked of the "blame-fault thing" that causes many mentally ill people to think they’re responsible for their own illness "and that I should pull myself up by my boot straps." The women’s stories prompted a raft of questions from officers. One wanted to know the best way to approach mentally ill people. Another asked if mentally ill people can "feel it" when they’re sliding into an episode. Berger and Shatto answered every question as best they could. Both encouraged police to "go slow" and take more time with people who are obviously mentally ill. Shatto said "the slide" into an episode is often hard to recognize. "Sometimes it takes other people to tell you," she said. Officers in turn shared their stories about encounters with the mentally ill. One explained how hard it is for him to treat mentally ill people like they’re sick because "they don’t look ill." Several told how situations that they thought were under control suddenly turned violent. "It’s not just you cops who have a hard time dealing with us," Berger said. "It’s us who have a hard time dealing with ourselves." After the program Sandler, the police detective, said it marked the first time police officers had a real dialogue with mentally ill people. "We had officers not only asking questions but telling about their experiences." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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