[The Mental Health Film Board presents: EddieAlbert, Ruth Storey] [Music] [Community Mental Health,An Affiliated Film Production] [SPONSORED BY THE STATES OF CALIFORNIA,MASSACHUSETTS, CONNECTICUT, PENNSYLVANIA, TEXAS] [Photography: ROGER BARLOW, TechnicalConsultants: B. K. HUTCHESON, M.D. DWIGHT RIEMAN, ELIAS J. MARSH, M.D.,ELIZABETH McDONALD, PHILIP ALAN SMITH, Psychiatric Consultant: HARVEY J. TOMPKINS,M.D.] [Written and Produced by: IRVING JACOBS,Directed by: IRVING IERNER] [Beaten man attempts to stand up] [Family in judge's office] [Newpaper editor, Ralph:] Sure, Iremember, last April. And the hearing was heldin judge's chambers, but the story was all over town. A really vicious crime. Judge Parker was inno mood for coddling. This was no slum case. It couldn't be blamed onpoverty or physical neglect. Just a kid who thoughthe was tough, so tough that he didn't carewhat he did to people or what people did to him. When Judge Parkerthrew the book at him, he didn't back downan inch, they said. Why should he care thata man had been crippled for life for a measly $1.16? It was tough on everybody. That was the title of myeditorial, "Tough on Everybody." I approved the verdictwholeheartedly. [Sarah:] I know. I discussed your editorialwith some friends the day it appeared. But we thought it was more thanthe $1.16 that caused that boy to strikeout with a wrench. It was something muchdeeper, something that should have been noticedin him long before the crime was committed, we felt. Wetalked that afternoon about setting up services inKent, which would help spot this kind of trouble earlier. Marian Wright said that theMental Health Association had been considering thesame idea for years, but they haven't beenable to swing it alone. Well, I thought we couldall work at it together. And Kitty Andersonsaid she thought the state governmenthad budgeted funds to help communities like ours. That's all I needed. I wrote down the name ofthe particular department she'd read about. At least I could try. [Newspaper office ambiant sounds] [Sarah:] Well, the following Tuesday,we went down to the state capital with Marion. [Ralph:] Mhm. [Sarah:] And we meta Mr. Ashley there. He's in the offices of acommunity mental health services. [Ralph:] Mhm. [Sarah:] And hesaid he understood what we were talkingabout, but he said that the statesometimes does help. They have to know alot more about us. [Ralph:] I'll just bet. [Sarah:] Well, as usual, Iwas running away with myself. But Mr. Ashley said thatthe state couldn't help us unless we could show thatthe town itself was involved. He didn't mean justa few active ladies. He meant the town, localgovernment, business people, professionals,educators, you know, and everyone who has aresponsible role in the town. [Ralph:] All of them? [Sarah:] Enough to guaranteethat we were undertaking this thing seriously. [Ralph:] Undertaking what thing? [Sarah:] I mean,that's just it. We first have to make a surveyof our needs and our resources. That's the first step. That's why we're setting up theKent Committee for Children. Mr. Ashley has promised tocome at least once a week for the next two months to help. [Ralph:] Who's on the committee? [Sarah:] Well, I have it here. Marian Cox, she's representingthe Mental Health Association. John Brinker for the schools. Jane Anderson forthe voluntary agency. Dr. Wheeler, the psychiatristfor the Medical Association. Bill Knox for the JuniorChamber of Commerce and a Judge Gerhart. And I'm hoping that you'llrepresent the press. I'm approaching others;clergymen, business people. It's going to be a big job. [Ralph:] Big job. I couldn't even seewhat the job was. Fact is, while I runthe newspaper in Kent, I don't considermyself a town leader. If I can get out afairly readable sheet, keep the advertisersreasonably happy, I figure I'm doing a man's job. So I'm not one forcommittees in general. [Faint background music] And this time, it isall especially vague. I couldn't see whatSarah was getting after. Kent isn't perfect. What town is? But it's not a bad place. We live pretty well. The slums that I knew asa kid are just about gone. We've just about doubledour education budget in the last 10 years. And we're proud ofour health services and all the otheragencies in town that do community workof one kind or another. Besides, how do you surveythe mental health of a town? Sure, there's lots ofstrange characters in Kent. So what? I do some pretty foolishthings myself sometimes. No, I wasn't buying it. [Throws paper in disgust] Then, I began to find outthrough my own paper what a survey was about. For the next six months,people all over town were asking andanswering questions. How were our schooladministrators coping with their problem children? Do our businessmen have anabnormal labor turnover? Where do we go for help when wehave vexing personal problems? What are thepressures in Kent that push young people toward crime? Committees of our own peoplewere asking the questions, but they were being helpedby this fella, Ashley, who came to town occasionallyto work with the chairman. Turns out that I'm notthe only layman who would need help on a survey. It's an extremelycomplicated job. And my committeefriends were mighty lucky to have a pro aroundto help plan their questions, to interpret theanswers, to help them get at the significant facts. Ashley even wentout himself on some of the more important contacts. For instance, hewas the one who went to see Dr. Nolte, ourpublic health officer, to tell him what the survey wastrying to do and to find out what his special problems were. They talked about theemotional problems that they'd run intoin public health work. [Dr. Nolte:] Andwhen I have time, I try to see some of theseless involved cases myself. There is an interesting case. The mother resistedrehabilitation surgery on the child for six months. Ms. Evans, the nurse incharge, was at her wit's end. Finally, we got togetherwith her supervisor and learned that the womanlived in mortal fear of what she called the knife. We worked on educating her andthe subject of modern surgery. You can see theresults for yourself. I wonder if you realizethe number of cases that we see here thatresist treatment for one hidden reason or another. Personally, I don't havetime for half of them nor the skill, for that matter. [Mr. Ashley:] Whatif the community could develop some kindof psychiatric facility? Perhaps then youcould get some help on the more difficult cases. [Dr. Nolte:] And could we use it. [Ralph:] Some of the chairmanwho thought of public health as dealing with watersupply and epidemics were surprised that Dr.Nolte was so interested in mental health and illness. It surprised me too,as a matter of fact. For at the public meeting, heldto announce the survey results, Dr. Nolte took the lead inasking for the establishment of a new mental health agency. He praised ourlocal psychiatrist and the nearby state hospital. But he said that the factspointed to Kent's need for a full-teamoperation that would be the nucleus of acommunity-wide assault on mental illness. There are many agenciesin town, including his own, who could helpin this important campaign if we had a central organizationstaffed by specialists to guide the doctors, the teachers,the judges, the policemen, the social agencies, andthe many other groups whose work was involvedwith the emotional problems of the people they were serving. Then, there was a report fromMrs. Bloch of the Mental Health Association who said that hergroup was in absolute agreement with Dr. Nolte. She had many startlingfacts and figures showing the need forincreased mental health services for people of alleconomic levels in Kent. One of the surprisesof the meeting was old Ken Hoffman, whogot up to say that he was with this idea 100%. As a merchant, an employerof many years of experience, he had learned thatpeoples' feelings determined how they worked and lived. Mrs. Flanagan spoke for the PTA. In spite of the improvementof our schools, she said, the disturbed childwas being neglected. The mentally ill,the retarded, the social failures of tomorrowwere in our classrooms today. Now was the time to help them. [Sarah:] Our executivecommittee has very carefully gone over the reportsyou've heard tonight, with the help of Mr.Ashley, our consultant. And I'd like to make to sumup our recommendations to you. One, we need facilities totreat children and adults with serious emotional problems. We must get them. Two, need to try to ensurea good emotional environment for everyone in our community. And, three, we must help thevarious professionals in town do a more effectivejob when they deal with theemotional problems that arise in their everyday work. [Applause] [Ralph:] And that's how Kentdecided to set up a community mental health center. I still didn't knowwhat it was all about, but the people wantedit and selected a group to get it underway. [Audience] The new board had their firstmeeting that very evening after the general meeting. There was plenty ofexcitement and goodwill. A lot of hope, somehighfalutin plans. But Ashley told them itwould not all be easy going. Most of their problemswere still ahead of them, that they had better beprepared for a lot of hard work and disappointmentif they ever wanted to make their center a reality. I'm not sure they all knewwhat he was talking about. The next six months, ifthere was a dance in Kent, it was for thebenefit of the center. When young women's leaguehad an art exhibit, it was for thebenefit of the center. There were concerts,bazaars, fashion shows. They all made somemoney, I suppose, but the total wasn't evena drop in the bucket. I heard from Sarah's husband. She was on the go24 hours a day, soliciting funds, pleading,begging, and getting other people to do the same. Her network of phone callsbranched out through the city, and each call setoff dozens of others. It was hard, foot-wearying,time-taking drudgery. [Worker canvassing businesses] But Sarah is a real hard worker. And she did raise quitea few thousand dollars. And Dr. Nolte was able toget a small annual grant from our city government. But as I hadsuspected, the campaign wasn't really successful. People's hearts weren't touched. Like me, they didn't knowwhat this was all about. What bothered Sarahmost in those days was the lack of interest on thepart of the county supervisors. They were essentialin this enterprise, and they weren't giving. Poor Sarah took it personally. About that time,Ashley blew into town on one of his scheduled visits. [Mr. Ashley:] Isn't theresomeone in this town who could help you? [Sarah:] Of course there is. Bill Watson. [Mr. Ashley:] Well, tellme, who is Bill Watson? [Sarah:] There's no reasonwhy you should know him. He's hardly here anymore. He still has ahouse in the valley. He visits it now and then. He happens to be here now. We were kids together. Later on in years, we wereon the same school board. We had a terrible fight. I haven't spoken to him since. [Mr. Ashley:] Do you reallythink he could help? [Sarah:] He's full ofinfluence and connections. [Mr. Ashley:] Maybe hedoesn't remember the fight with the bitternessthat you attach to it. [Sarah:] Maybe. Maybe it's just my problem. Maybe that's why I neverwent to him for help. [Ralph:] This was justthe kind of thing that would interest Bill Watson. Why hadn't shegone to him first? Pride? Rivalry? The trip to the valley wasnot an easy one for her, but she went. Before she got home thatday, the Kent committee had the use of one ofWatson's empty buildings on Murray Street for 20 years. Rent, $1 per year. Much more important, thiswas the turning point. Suddenly, the gates opened,and money began to come in. Not long after the countysupervisors and the Board of Education hadpledged support, and then the state waswilling to sign an agreement with the local group. Watson's building was convertedinto a modern mental health center, but it took much longerto recruit a professional staff to work in it. They were lucky enough toget hold of a Dr. London, a psychiatrist who wassoon joined by Dr. Klinge, a young clinical psychologist,and Mrs. Powers, one of two psychiatric socialworkers they had hoped to get. I thought they were nicepeople, but I didn't expect any miracles from them. The next six months,I vaguely heard that a few people werebeing sent to the center by doctors, schoolprincipals and so on. And then Sarah turnedup in my office one day with thisfellow Ashley, whom I'd never actually met before. I knew that when Sarahbrings reinforcements, she's out aftersomething special. I began on the defensive. What's he want from me? I've printed allyour announcements. I've assigned my best reportersto cover your news events. You've had twice as much spaceas any other agency in town this past year. Now for heaven's sakes,Sarah, be reasonable. [Sarah:] I know, Ralph. You've been a verygood friend of ours, even though you are asilly old curmudgeon. But what we need now isnot exactly news coverage. I don't think thepeople in the town know what the center's about. What we need is an understandingand a sustained interest, along with thenewspapers to keep our center alive and active. [Ralph:] But, Sarah, Ican't turn this newspaper into a mentalhealth publication. Well, my people, myreaders want news. They're not interestedin psychiatry any more than they'reinterested in basic science or theoretical economics. They want facts. Besides, I don't know whatthis health center does either. Can you write thesestories she wants? [Mr. Ashley:] No,but your staff can. [Ralph:] Why do you say that? [Mr. Ashley:] Because they dosuch a good job of reporting on human problems every day. [Ralph:] What do you mean? [Mr. Ashley:] Well, take a lookat your front page today. A fellow sets fire to ahouse over in Maple Street because a girl turned him down. Well, that guy's gotproblems, I'd say. Wouldn't you? [Ralph:] Yes. [Mr. Ashley:] Here'sa traffic accident. Drunken driver kills alittle boy over in Route 57. Now, why was he drunk? And why was he drivingwhen he was drunk? A divorce story involvingtwo of the nicest people in your town, a suicide. Now how long do you thinkthat woman was suffering with very terrible problems? Here's a girl, a highschool girl, charged with possession of marijuana. What's that all about? How beat does she have to get? Mr. Kohler, how didyour untrained staff write this report on behaviorrelated to emotional problems? It's a honey, and youprinted it on page one. [Ralph:] But these are people. These things really happened. I never thought about itfrom your viewpoint before. Maybe you're right. Mental health clinics,that's technical. I wouldn't know where to begin. [Mr. Ashley:] Well, exactlythe same way you did this. The story's there. It's got drama andhuman interest. Some failures, successor two that no one might have expected. But just go on out there. If you don't like thestory, don't print it. But go on out andsee what's going on. We're not looking forany special favors. [Ralph:] As a newspaper man,I couldn't duck a challenge like that. I sent out my best people. And we turned outthree feature stories. The first one was calledPeople in Trouble. We ran it opposite theeditorials on a Saturday. Naturally, wedisguised the names. The piece began withan account of Peter B, a charming, lovablelittle kid, who I wouldn't have guessed was sick at all. Yet, Dr. London and his teamsoon diagnosed Peter's trouble. Little Peter lived ina world of his own. And he needed careful treatmentin a hospital setting. But without thediagnostic techniques available at the center,chances are Peter's trouble would have remained hidden foryears, when treatment would have been much more difficult. The second incidentwas about Mrs. T, whose problems seemed veryserious when she first came to the center. She'd been referred by theChild Welfare Department after she'd come to them abouthaving her children adopted. Seems that her husbandwas sick in the hospital, and she felt the worldwas coming to an end. That was when theChild Welfare people got Dr. London on the phone. But it turned out that Mrs.T was one of those people who get panicky under pressure. Sure, she had herproblems, but they weren't of the deep, emotional kind. She was assigned to Mrs.Powers for counseling. By the end of thatvery first visit, Mrs. T was in good enoughshape to use some sound advice in facing a lifethat included three small children and a temporarilyincapacitated husband. Her problems werereal and practical. Mrs. Powers was able togive her some practical help in solving them. Mrs. T would see Mrs. Powersagain the following week and go back to the Child WelfareDepartment in the meantime. The story ended witha rather full account of Byron K, a boyof 15 who could only read fifth grade books. It was pitiful to see him try todecipher words that would have been easy for a10-year-old, as he labored with Dr. Klinge,the psychologist, in remedial reading sessions. He showed signs of beingbright and everything except combinations ofletters on a printed page. Other afternoons, hecame to the center to see Dr. London, who talkedwith him about many things. They discussed the boy'sfriends, his feelings about his family,what he thought his reading troubles came from,but no real answer emerged. He admitted his eyes were allright in games and in target practice. It was only when it came toreading that they blurred. When that happened, he said-- [Byron:] Sometimes Ifeel stupid and mad. I guess I am stupid. [Ralph:] Byron seemed to needthis false idea of himself. In the meantime, Byron's motherhad been coming in once a week to discuss the problemwith Mrs. Powers. [Mrs. Powers:] So you doset quite a bit of store by the printed word. [Mrs. K:] Well, naturally. All my life, I've lovedbooks, and my husband too. [Mrs. Powers:] It's avery important part in both your lives. [Mrs. K:] Yes, that'swhy we were so upset that he didn't readlike the other children in his class. Well, and then I suppose Idid push him a little hard. We just can't believethat he's that-- [Mrs. Powers:] Stupid? [Mrs. K:] Yes, that's what I mean. [Mrs. Powers:] I thinkyou were right. Byron isn't stupid. He knew how importantreading was to you. [Mrs. K:] Well, naturally. Our house is full of books. Some evenings, we justsit around and read. [Mrs. Powers:] And Byronchose not to read. He really picked the onething that could get to you and really stir you up. [Mrs. K:] You mean hedoesn't read on purpose? [Mrs. Powers:] Well, not exactly. I'm sure that now, Byron doesn'tknow why he doesn't read, but perhaps in thepast, many times, he needed your attention,and you and your husband were too busy readingto give it to him. Perhaps then he came tosee books as his rivals and couldn't understand whatit was about the printed page you found so much morefascinating than you found him. He could easily come tohate reading and to fear it. Couldn't he? [Mrs. K:] I just can'tbelieve that we've failed. [Mrs. Powers:] I know. You named your boyafter a man of letters. [Ralph:] Mrs. Powers didnot permit Mrs. K's guilt to upset her too much, but itdid provide a strong motive for Mrs. K's attempts tochange some of her attitudes. We had a lot of mailafter that article. And about a month later, weprinted a second one, Lessons in Living, I called it. It dealt with the educationalactivities of the center staff. For example, Dr. Klinge,the psychologist, went out occasionally toone of the electronic plants at the invitation of bothmanagement and union. [Pan of the work area] He held discussion groupsto help the workers prepare for the years when theywould no longer hold down a job at the factory bench. It was not moneyhe talked about. He underlined the importanceof making an effort to build human relationshipsnow that would be meaningful when they got older. He tried to stimulatethem to find ways of using leisuretime which did not depend on muscle and energy. Dr. Klinge reminded themthat pensions could not buy serenity and dignity. Mrs. Powers took her educationalwork into school itself. She met frequently withgroups of teenage girls. [Sue:] Well, John makesall the decisions for us. It doesn't make any differenceto me whether we go to the show or to a malt shop. Is that bad? [Mrs. Powers:] Well, I don't know. What do you think, Janet? [Janet:] I think it's terrible. All he wants to do is bossher around and just push her everywhere. [Mrs. Powers:] Whydo you say that? [Janet:] If I wantto go someplace, I think I have theright to say it. I mean, if I don't want togo to a movie, why should I? And say I want to go dancing. Well, I can always findsomeone who'll take me. [Speaker 1:] Well, I thinkJanet here is the bossy one. I think a boy has a rightto say where he wants to go. [Janet:] He doesn't haveto go with me, you know? [Speaker 1:] Well,that's true, perhaps. But what if you want to goout with this particular boy? Maybe that's why Sue letJohn make the decisions. I think it matters less whereyou go then who you're with. [Mrs. Powers:] When Sue asked us before if that was bad, is it? [Janet:] No, I don'tthink so at all. [Mrs. Powers:] That'sexactly why we're here, to learn why andhow and what we feel about certain things that makesus behave in certain ways. [Ralph:] On other days, thegirls discussed marriage, their relationshipswith their parents, and many otherpersonal subjects. They enjoy the discussions. Some of the classeswere held right at the center, where mentalhealth movies could be shown. The Tuesday andThursday parent groups often saw films dealingwith child development. After the pictureswere over, Dr. London would lead discussions inwhich the parents tried to apply the ideas of thefilm to their own problems. Often, they would behelped to understand the reasons for theirown feelings and actions. Often, they found that theirJohnny's unique behavior was not so unique after all. Talking it overwith other parents helped them to understandtheir children a little better. The third and last of theseries I ran on the center was called HelpingThose Who Help Others. It dealt with the consultativework of the center's staff. For instance, Mrs. Powers wascalled in by the public welfare department. Some of the problemsthat had come up in the handling ofdeprived children she found could be traced tosubtle, negative feelings of certain staff memberstoward the mothers of large families,the very people they were supposed to be helping. The staff would begiven an opportunity to recognize and discusstheir feelings, which should enable them to workbetter in these situations. Sometimes, thecommunity's requirements took the center staff a long wayfrom their clinical background. Dr. Klinge, for instance,was called in at one point by the town'sleading architects, who were busy preparinga new housing project. Their problem hadto do with what were the special requirementsfor aged tenants. Should they be inseparate sections? Did they need rampsinstead of stairs? Were special cookingfacilities necessary? Dr. Klinge was pleasedat the opportunity to contribute informationthat he had long been interested in collecting. He was able to showthe architects what was being done in certainEuropean countries to make life a little betterfor the older people who had outlived most oftheir contemporaries. The most dramaticincident in the story had to do with afamily whom we call the Joneses, who never knewthe community was concerned about them. Mrs. Jones had diedthree months before. But now, Mr. Jones had an evengreater trouble on his mind. His 19-year-old son,William, had been acting very strangely in recent weeks. There were long eveningswhen William just disappeared from the house,prowling around the city. [William out on the town] Mr. Jones had spoken toDr. Kenyon, his minister, but nothing had changed. Although Mr. Jonesnever knew it, Dr. Kenyon was at that verymoment discussing the case with Dr. London, whohad come to the rectory to go over somecenter committee work. When they had finishedtheir business, Dr. Kenyon had brought upthe matter of William Jones. In telling Dr. London thestory, he emphasized the fact that Bill had beensurprisingly composed at his mother's funeral. No tears. No outward signs of grief. [Dr. London:] That couldmean trouble sometimes. [Dr. Kenyon:] And Imissed it completely. Then when he started fightingwith his father and his sister, blaming them for his mother'sdeath, I tried to talk to him. And soon, I realized I wasup against a blank wall. Now he's left his job, andI know he's in real trouble. And I can't help him. [Dr. London:] Asyou know, there is a big differencebetween normal grief and pathological depression. I certainly wouldn'tventure a diagnosis on what you've told me. I think this boy needsa more thorough study before a decision can be made. [Dr. Kenyon:] I thinkI'll call Dr. Wright. [Dr. London:] It's awise thing to do. [Dr. Kenyon nods] [William walking around] [Ralph:] Bill (William) Jones wasliving his bad dreams. [Whimsical music transitionsto hectic pace tempo] He felt that his motherhad been murdered. In him, there was a deep urgeto strike back at anything, at anybody. [An array of long knives at a pawn shop] The decision that Dr.Kenyon had taken that night averted trouble, perhaps serioustrouble, for in less than a week, Bill wouldbe in a hospital under treatmentfor severe illness. That story packed a punch,because it made the work at the center mean somethingthat our readers could understand. Those articles wereprinted three years ago. Now the center has aplanning committee, deciding what stillhas to be done in our town in thefield of mental health. We're trying to encourageour own hospital to handle certain mental casesthat don't really need to be sent off to the state hospital. We want to do somethingabout alcoholism in our town. And there are manyother problems. We are looking for new waysto reach our adolescents and with all the help theyneed to grow into mature adults or to cope with the changingvalues of the modern world. How come I'm onthe board, you ask? Well, it's quite a story. You know that Byron K that wasthat first article we wrote? That's my oldest son. He starts college next year. So I feel I have a stake inthis community mental health business. Don't you? [Uplifting music[ [Ending musical flourish] [For further information to help youdevelop better mental health] [facilities in your community,write to one of the sponsors of this film:] [CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF MENTALHYGIENE - Sacramento;CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH - Hartford;MASSACHUSETTES DEPARTMENT OF MENTALHEALTH - Boston] PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OFWELFARE — Harrisburg;TEXAS STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH - AustinOr, THE MENTAL HEALTH AUTHORITYIn Your Own State Capitol.