GLENDALE, AZ (AZFamily) — A Glendale woman says her brother ended up in jail after she spent months trying to get him treatment for a mental health crisis.
Angela Myer said her brother, Adam Kennedy, has “always struggled” with mental health issues. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and clinical depression.
“I love my brother with all my heart. Like I said, he’s a good person,” Myer said.
Family sought treatment for months
Myer said Kennedy moved in with her in Glendale in July so she could help him get treatment. She said it took weeks to get him his medications, and she still has not been able to get him a bed in a mental health center.
“Literally they kept turning him away. They kept saying the beds are full, the beds are full,” Myer said.
Myer said part of the difficulty stems from stigma.
“A lot of it is that stigma with mental health and taking medication,” Myer said. “Well, I don’t need it; I can fix it myself. And that’s not the way to go, that’s not the way to be.”
Asked what the effort to get him help has been like, Myer said, “Oh my gosh, heartbreaking.”
Brother arrested after going missing
Late last month, Kennedy went for a walk and did not return, according to Myer. She checked hospitals and the sheriff’s office and learned he had been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct with a weapon.
Leslie Carpenter, with the Treatment Advocacy Center, a national nonprofit focused on getting timely treatment to people with severe mental illness, said she was not surprised to hear that outcome.
“Not at all,” Carpenter said.
“We would much rather someone get treatment rather than punishment for being sick,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter said taxpayers pay for the bed whether the person is in jail or in a medical facility where they could get help.
Myer said she worries about what happens if Kennedy does not get treatment.
“He’ll end up dead. Definitely, he’ll end up dead,” Myer said.
Advocacy groups say Arizona short on beds
Advocacy groups say there should be 50 beds for people experiencing a mental health crisis per 100,000 people. Arizona has four beds for that many people.
Proposition 409 passed last year with 51% of Maricopa County voters. It allocates nearly $900 million to fund expansions at Valleywise Health, including a new 200-bed behavioral health hospital that will replace the old facility.
Valleywise says additional resources are coming, but demand continues to rise, making it harder to keep up.
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