Do you ever why I am so passionate about the work I get to do as Executive Director of Connecticut Legal Rights Project? Gather around and let me tell you a story... what I hinted at yesterday. https://twitter.com/connconnection/status/1314887857799131137

Thirty years ago today I was grabbed by Harvard University police officers after I walked out of the psychiatrist's office in the basement of Pound Hall at Harvard Law School. I had walked out because the doctor told me she had prepared papers to put me in a psychiatric hospital.

After the HUPD brought me back to her office, I was asked by the ambulance attendants if they would have to use handcuffs on me or if I would go into the ambulance "willingly." I asked for a piece of paper and a pen - which they gave to me - and I was brought to McLean Hospital.

Little did I know that October 11, 1990 was the day I became an advocate for people with mental health conditions. I didn't do a fantastic job for my first client (myself) but the lessons I learned from that experience are ones I still use today.

Persistence. Patience. Endurance. Not quitting. Putting one foot in front of the other. Plodding (and plotting) on until something you could never imagine happening occurs. https://twitter.com/connconnection/status/1315065759408828416?s=21

On October 11, 2014 I “celebrated” the 24th anniversary of my civil commitment by “running” my first ever half marathon in Hartford.

It’s October 11, 2020. The work continues. Later today I’ll walk a 10K with a friend as part of virtual Hartford Marathon weekend.

It’s a privilege and an honor to have the opportunity to do the work I do. Working at the intersection of the law and mental health can also be exhausting, because it’s not just a job for me. I’ve lived it.

I don’t need awareness. I am well past the point of caring about stigma. I — and so many others — need policy change.

We need to fight discrimination. We need access to community-based treatment for those who want it. We need informed consent. We need to acknowledge prescribed harm and address it effectively. We need to acknowledge traumatic effect of treatment imposed by force & work to end it.

So, if you’re still reading, may I present to you the agenda I’ll be dedicating myself to for however long it’s takes to accomplish: https://twitter.com/ctlegalrights/status/1311063548022448128?s=21