Express; 403; Napa: Valley of Lost Souls

Tonight on EXPRESS This is not a state hospital. Boyhood's. But it. Looks to search my heart. Maybe. We don't at this time have the answer in terms of a clear. Can offer anybody an awful lot of hope. I'm not here. I don't know where to ride the major mental illnesses such as we have in our hospital. By some biological neurological disturbance of the brain. They're not just now there's a character to be talked out. We've been butchering people. The trucks that go around here need a lot of dead bodies an award for most of the problem. Were there before and I've seen.

People don't want to have to deal with this problem. They don't want to have to pay for it until it hits home until it hits in their family or in their community then they're asking where are the doctors. Why are these people being drugged. Why are people dying in this institution. How could that be. Hospital have something like 14 hundred patients we have many elderly patients. And then there are some children and adolescents. Eight or nine hundred of the patients in there a mentally ill. What used to be called insanity. And you can't sit down for an hour and talk about your problems when you can't understand what's going on and you think you're getting messages coming in from the satellite taking your liver out and turning you into a worm.

I don't you're not mentally ill. I don't want to hear. That's all I'll say. I'm a political martyr. A senator of the United States of America. My division is. My delusion is that. The problems that Napa State Hospital are. In affect the matter. State hospitals everywhere. It just happens that. The people in Northern California see it reflected in that the State Hospital which is the only state hospital for 12 million people in the northern 44 states or 44 counties of this thing. The easy ones are out. They have been the ones that have been. Transferred into the communities programs or the lesser violent people fewer behavioral disturbances respond better to treatment the patients that are here now. The 5000 that are left in our system are very special patients. A lot of treatment failures lot of treatment resistant type patients a lot of them have very serious

behavioral disturbances and aggressive activities fighting outside the. Law. Some of them are so confused. Or in addition are simply so out of control of their emotions that they are also buying. Votes. I believe officially reported assaults against staff are paying some sort of protein fiber over 500 pounds a month. One out of every four psych techs was hurt on the job in 1985. Were. The most hazardous job in the state. In a bathroom that only has one entrance. A patient came into the bathroom blocking my entrance and attacked me we ended up. We struggled for a while and we ended up so that. I landed on the floor on my knees and she had the back of my head and she was pounding my face into the seat of a chair.

I was a victim of an assault. There is no reason the world that I wouldn't couldn't kill the patient decided to hit me with six or seven more blows. I would have been dead. We are continually under a great deal. We run the unit with people who are exhausted from mandatory overtime or from just overtime. From people who are floated in from other units that do not know that all of this and it's a real condition it's morning very strange. Would you feel for really threatening staff members and placed himself in a fighting stance and swinging out at sundown. Normally we would have tried to talk to him down but he was a lady. And he wasn't going to force trying to talk him down the common man. Some of the violence could be caused by an epileptic on the stock until. Another act of violence is caused by say a so-called schizo frantic person. Who begins to have a

delusional thought and response to that pollution. If you stand there so you get a spectrum of patients who are violent for different reasons and they are all at naptime right now and. We have been in the state hospital system for many years. The patients on this unit. They call OK. Which has resulted in their being unable place to eat. Yeah morning. She attempted to hang herself by a shirt.

I want to make sure she was found out where she was constantly with her so that she doesn't have a chance to do stuff. She cries every minute and that's throughout the night even though you know you. Are still. More towns. So far I think continuously. Since. She was already on that time. She was already pretty. Mannish. Slip away for a few minutes she failed. You know from my talking with her that she doesn't understand by the. Constant supervision. Which may prevent her from asking.

We're going to do it with you as you know that she has hair treatments in the past. A lot of her compulsive therapy they have been very successful causing remission depressive symptoms for a relatively short period of time. Here's a last resort. Here maybe a life saving measure case. For this time to the jury. One consideration. Really. True. How do you feel. All right here. We are here. Carrie what you.

Are What You. Are. Where you are. And you say OK we've been discussing you for a. Coffee. You're. Probably right. Why do you suppose you are as high risk for. Your return to them. Basically. Is this. Simply.

One of the boys. For instruction. Do you feel you're see. Through. You say. OK. I feel I feel better. Yes.

Thank you. First. There are. Strangeness. On the other hand. There are also. That's the way we try to. Seriously. Do you. Have something. You. Always want. All. These folks if you have the time and the energy and the heart to sit down and do it for you might be able to get a little bit of something for them. You know maybe not a lot but maybe a little bit. They may be here forever anyway so you may you may be able to help the system in some ways. But people here are just trying to take it

from the beginning of the shift to the end to shift without anyone getting hurt. And it's not just stuff that gets hurt it's also the patients that get hurt and badly hurt. Marilyn Connors died at the hands of another patient out on the grounds of Napa State Hospital. She can was confronted by a patient who was known to be violent who then apparently sexually molested or stripped her of her clothes. Strangler. And cheese found several days later. This kind of thing only happens because the hospital lets the conditions that allow it to happen continue. They have a group of very violent very dangerous patients on the wards along with some very innocent helpless people like Marilyn Connors Yeah yeah. MARTIN I want to let you have more of my camera. There are. Certain privileges including rights to more grounds on the other hand a lot of the patients obviously are very poorly behaved and

gauging this behavior. I had. The privilege card then becomes just that it becomes a privilege that they earn demonstrate some kind of development of internal control of their behavior. That whole Picard system I think a recognition of the fact that we treat people who are mentally ill. OK. You can't say. You're patient here. Let's open the doors because you're right that that very patient walks across the street to stab somebody. It was his right to be on the ground. You're going to say to me it's his right. The press is going to say so what. Kill somebody. Is it true a woman patient was found murdered on the grounds in the last week. And I don't know.

Maybe that's one for your life as well but I realized we did have a patient last week the male patient who went away last Tuesday. We search for look for. Who was found Saturday. Dead. Back up in the park. Let's. Pray. For the freedom. Just more like. Maybe what you're saying. Yes her. Predecessor. Here's a patient who wandered off on the grounds they reported that he was missing and really no effort was taken no serious or meaningful effort was taken to find him until three or four days later they stumbled upon him dead. When a patient is missing this is a serious matter this is a matter of life and death. But they don't treat it as such. Have you guys got any forms I can borrow.

No I'm sure you do because you guys would have more of these than I would. And fortunately. OK I'll send ray over and then if you gonna give it to him. Okay. All right. Where he will receive. I must as I have pay should go a while. I'm never. Somebody went out with a person on a buddy card and did not return. I just ran away from the person they were with. And how we did it for. A little. Over a year. Thank you and I ran away. It was. One down to a. Trip to. X. It. Got hard. So far down the highway that stopped and asked to get in your car

the policeman stopped to eat it. It sucks and. I don't and never did. And I. Convinced him that I. Said I was taking to the detox sauce but. When a person appears to be a meth and violent or has been violent action somebody with a psychiatric technician staff. Would take the patient to. Apprehend them. All right. Is there a. Soul until they agree with you so to speak. To not be violent. You also want to get. Drugs. Keep. One view and. One of the senators. I was. Just. Another one of your own. The jury was on. His. Medication doesn't mean it. Wasn't good. It's ordered remarks.

This is your first listen. For witnesses. So was leaving Paris. So I didn't want to give you. Thank you. You. Know we used to refer to isn't there a leftist there are used primarily for signals. We have medications are used for anxiety anti-anxiety agents. Those drugs primarily are for psychotic symptoms they treat others. The nation's delusional material hand. They're primarily used for that purpose. The most well known side effects are movement disorders so that people began to move their arms and their muscles and their tongues in their mouths in voluntarily. And began to twitch. There was also.

A mental disorder because the drugs go to the cerebral hemispheres the cortex for our thinking. And. What we may well have been doing is creating. A mental disorder. Superimposed on whatever original mental problem people had. The records of five different hospitals including up. State worse when on medication. However he was placed on medication. And resulted in you being restrained from working for a year. Those drugs historically was with David Hendrickson had caused him to act out to become violent aggressive. Hostile. Then they put him in seclusion and restraints and kept giving you more of the drugs till he reached the point where he became an animal. Then he was put on beta blockers. Very big and catatonic. And

knew for three years. It was like a vegetable. He sat. Staring straight ahead. They just like a beer a towel under him drooling continuously. And as a result of being given these drugs that he should never been given he was in place in restrained seclusion for extended periods of time became catatonic and almost died. Each person is different. It's not just line up stories in timeline of Mellaril time. Not everyone's body chemistry is the same. And. I'm sure there are and I know there are a number of good doctors and. There are. A. Large enough number. One doctor with forty nine patients can't do it. It's impossible. There shouldn't be much more time and effort to read the what may

be. An. Under some controlled conditions and make the change. It's very difficult if. You have a patient that comes on a crowded busy ward. And has a really major history really of violence to say well I'm going to take it on something else because nobody wants to have a violent patient out of control and get injured. Recently his condition has improved dramatically as a result of Dr Bewley his new attitude towards treating David not with the traditional modes of Napoles through threats intimidation and drugs but through them taking him off the drugs and treating him more humanely and letting him have an opportunity to spend time with his family. It's much better he is more alert and aware of things. I was able to

feed himself. And I think since he's dating you know. I can't. Just sit. Here. Killing time I get to listen to him. Son. Comes home and. Haver he comes home his eyes had the. Guts to. Get out. And. It's not just my brother but I'd like to see the families get more. Why are you suing the hospital. For what they've done to my son. And. I know it's not just mine. I was singled out like I had to think of the ones whose families didn't come forward and support them. That's happened to them. They want to have no one over there. It's criminal. It's criminal. I don't that I can I can really comment on a specific lawsuit because it is a litigation that could be inappropriate. But just let me say in general that. It's easy to

file lawsuits. It's more difficult. To prove any allegations. We've never lost a lawsuit here. The flurry of lawsuits reflect bad care I mean they reflect people being angry and I think the thing that stands center stage has been the management of the patient. If you go back 10 15 years ago we had in our state hospitals of 5 to 10 percent were so-called penal code. In other words they were referred to us from the courts. Not guilty by reason insanity unable to stand trial mentally disordered sex offenders about 10 percent. Today we're closer to forty five percent of the total collapse. In this. And they. Are paying the dues as a. Burial. So I grabbed her on the. Tourist thing. There wasn't

even a DNA. Disorder. Barry. As a lawyer. 14 years. From 18 to. This case for. Seven years. Kids. Believe it or not. I was a graduate. For civility charges but he thought I was charming when I was born with a genetic cars consumers Kilkenny. So I became fired because I couldn't stand. While I was. Via a really rich stream via. The solitary confinement for three years. From a book or a mental illness was

detected. At the age of 20. 23 24 25 when this Marion pro clutch. Seeing that I was immune from retarded will find there was something wrong with me killing me. She carries a myth as many He's gonna miss him as a Saudi Oh what a body. I took a two weeks came out just like that. I was accused. Of several. Hours. People would get a peek our. Form was past. I get. The car. Started to get to me. So. On the whole about to pray as I won by a door a broad. Group. Broke the window. Cut my hair. Very poor routine. Until. The maximum security ward. Hearing me stay

on a muni. You don't get no concurrent. You work your way out of here to other wars to get a pink car. People have been killed here more than one by myself. Been working on this unit have stepped over blood on the floor. Circle times since working here so the injuries the assaults the damage physical damage can be severe. Get back to the world. Just listening to my. Team. Do you not. See. The end of this. Helping. To frustrate. Thank you for the night. The red line represents a boundary. This is. What makes it not just people who are going to

limit for themselves what they are for that gives them a limit that they're not supposed to commit crime is for our safety to some of these guys on a voluntary saying they feel like they're going to assault somebody and search and come to us and let us know I feel salty. I need some restraint and just have a little time out chair. When they feel like they can get it together. We release them from their life stay in the walking restraint programs we Review Weekly. I don't. I I don't. Know any Thank you. Well. I think you're the one always hear me. Yeah I say you know when I. OK I thought I saw loophole or

when I have my hand up like they are. Your here asked me I think a one I will name my. Prettiest. Put is Nehemiah temple. Right here I see it kill me. I kid. You meet. Oh August I when I did this you were. Stupid. And from me in a go of it I was put in for beers for two days. It was tough. From a patient's perspective especially from the perspective of the floridly psychotic patient that doesn't fully understand what's going on anyway. You're going to often hear these reports of. Ninety nine point nine percent of them. These reports are going to be somewhat exaggerated. I want to ride on tonight and the lady took me and.

Put me in the wrong maid take off all my clothes. They stripped me and looked like I had rented a very valid question is there what's going on. And they said well we don't know. We don't even know why you're here. The psychologist who made the decision to send him there apparently felt that in order to satisfy his judgment that Mr. had regained his sanity felt that he needed a course of harassment. If you turn to Mr sanity cultural stereotype treatment you say you're a big nigger. And that's when he went to call him a nigger. He say I was a nigger he said I was a nigger and he talked about my nigger mother he was trying to revoke me into violence.

I have been through all this before and I say I want to do it you listen to me. I cried every night I had to deal with this type of brutality. Thank you. Some of those are not so recent and you know that I'm there to. Place some. Time Down is my plea here. Thanks yeah I come from over 37 a huge

fight O'Dowd but I got on this what is more conservative. Well as you know they don't fight enough to ride over and also this is a good now on fighting and I'll begin now told to settle in. The saddle. And what did I do. Come on man you want to go out what you're going to bring in here I'm not you know. Sometime need to stay all night. And join a nation on a sometime we stand and two days. In some town and this is the place I went in and state they demand I want a mans come they let man come to next month. Now this is the Red Room right here that's where we come the smoke and then come to next month. OK just hours far. Down to the nation pretty busy people how they be treated Beason get me out of your god.

To examine your memory back when I was one of these technicians do to me what went on around here. Give me a memory shot over five or six times in memory when she got me. Her. Shuttle. Launch and of course the answer is yes you know it's. Gone a long. One. Long. It was just a. Minute just done. I'm. Going to get. Back to you. Thank you. So much.

With. Your mom looks at the drugs that you used the network at the drugstore to get the beginning throw it. At a van. And. RJ. But there's all that medication. I mean to me. I think 50 milligrams of. Pro-and Xanax keeps me on my boob you know. For about three days a week we have a set of guidelines that was such that we currently use as a maximum for a drug like chlorpromazine or Thorazine. Sixteen hundred milligrams a day. To you or me. We would sleep for quite a long time. We would be very very sedated probably even on a low dose of 25 or 50

milligrams for years and years and years and years of their life is always that way then. That if they say well we want to make sure that you get better. But by the time by the way. This is a BAD. Bad day. The world. Is the loser. To me. Bad sign read move to the words. Man And His Dog. Oh. And then they. Go Oh. You know there's kind of a double stigma attached to the penal code they have the stigma of mental illness and they have stigma of having been involved in the crime. So you have this whole stigma

of the crazed killer or the crazed rapist with a crazed child molesting people that have that double stigma. The community society doesn't want to go around. And that's another reason why they stay longer. But this is a group that there is a choice a week for as long as they're here in the ward. And they. Get to know each other and they get to know that it's OK to be very anxious or to be very angry as long as they don't act out on it and that they'll still be accepted in this group. By their peers and by us or by the group leaders. What like. This is hard to deal Wes. Charlie there was a time when he was yelling because they're injured cause that makes me get agitated and stuff. What I want out what I want when I'm not feeling well I was struck to somebody or no one. I still think if they would talk to me for a few minutes just are starting to get angry not detected. They say you know what our emotion hits you you know that that

shows that you are here and show him you know. This in the morning when you feel like kind of a chip on your shoulder you may be related to the staff. He said that you feel like you go with that. A little bit but wouldn't you know I'm like wow. Thank. God I was challenged he's very verbal even worst foster parents. I swore. I had a chip on my shoulder. I swore I would get. Kill the kids. But I went to prison. I was 18 years old. And. I learned how to. Learn the tough way out of Utah. I lift weights to do my bike up and ran every day. I walked around with a chip on my shoulder you know. My size. Is it is very. Special You can only work especially when you have a crime and I have. My crime was attempted

murder with a knife. That. Don't frighten distaff probably play probably Timothy and be cautious. Six months ago. I took a turn. I feel really good about myself right now. I feel I said. I would go. For. This form for I was a Corn Street. Man. Sometimes I. Talk about some happiness and this is how Tory this stuff to me is not worth coming around. On Russia feet behind the sight of me all the time when you see I think you said you saw. Him. Right scoundrel and. Listen to me nervous the stuff. I have a habit of always. Follows all Sylar could. Keep distance from from happening. There you go. Yes doing something. Keep my

hands busy. Just keep my hands busy learning my metric there are. Just did this did this happen. Civil War people are looking at me or something. Only moving around with a out. That's not a nice once in awhile. I tried to work on this problem my house for many years and just sometimes it goes away for a couple years and I was just going to start when I came to the sward was thought to be introduced at home and relax them with my arms. Oh I just forgot how to do that out just just a few for a while. I still like I'm just here tied up to a sheet draw bridge. That's how I feel. A lot of these. Guys have difficulty controlling their impulses. They just don't think before they act. Their social treasuries. They really don't know what's

appropriate in certain social situations. Their. Upbringing may have been such that they weren't given a lot of the social convention. And yet if you don't care about social convention you may end up in an institution. People tend to take their abuses out on caffeine and nicotine. They don't have enough money maybe to buy thank you cigarettes. Somebody else might offer them two cigarettes for. And I shifted toward $25 and the lower functioning person might be severely enough. I'm hated as far as the thought process is to want to do discourage of them. For the last year but a little

less of the asphalt rather. Than. On the road. There's one thing I need one thing for. You to forget me down. There. A warning. We have a goal of having

40 hours per day average as of this month. It's probably more than 30 minutes. For example they will turn on the radio in their name and any patient that walks past that radio they will get two hours of music appreciation because the radio was on for two hours. If you're sitting in front of the television or watching television it's because it's planned. It's not because there was nothing else to do. You're jumping to the system as easily trackable. It's a system that they say you have X number of hours in a day and they can use a little flush yourself so shut up you don't have to look beyond a clipboard you don't have to look beyond that. You don't have to really see what what is this treatment this is a hospital. This is not not a prison. People should be able to have dissipated in activity and not wait

so long and then all is said when they make one one mistake is want to put them in the wrong and give them some medication. If you if you make a stand in the corner here once in a while he wants to wear his to. 31 year old Sacramento. Transfer here for me to keep. He was transferred to. Me. As a result of. Punching a window on another unit. He worked through the program very quickly. Amazingly. He is now anticipating moving on from here. At a recent testing this spring. Mark and his.

General distrust of their years their potential. Whether or not. Their. Years. Progress. Has been true since. He thinks massive amounts of. Psychiatric drugs the combination. Of action that he would be very psychotic and very dangerous if he were were not taking those drugs. The drugs themselves legally have long term side effects. So they present it. Master problems for any one of them. Are not a problem for us. Our problem is. Can we depend on them to. Hurt someone. If we give them a structure for. Self control. He seems really amazed at how far he's come. I really am convinced that he

is ready for a pee card at least in the limited sense that he wants when he wants one. OK the problem is delusion. Thank you cards. Several inmates for. Nazis. Were after him. There were other patients 97 very racist and he was convinced that those two. Peers of his work. Plus. Years. And it's very possible that those two people in the door without being explained the respect he got charted a little. So soon there. When I walk again I let him know. One thing. The privilege card. When when I begin one to go on the ground because he is

because without fat. I can I word test the stress that I'm When. I can I go to school to educate myself to really educate myself and so they've taken that from me. It's very scary because before you go in there. They already have their minds me of what they're going to say. Well. Actually. This. Is Where I go. After. The. Process. To. Get a peek are you guys.

Here. But I. Got to go through it. You really have to buy shit you know. And. It. Gets passed on to doctor after pilot. Are you saying I told you that we had started three or four. Probably I was close to a month ago so it's going to be a while before we get it. Just. Yet. This. Has been tough. For me. It was a fair. Hearing. Chain reaction. Call

me. I just hate. For me this is worse. There are very few people you know your size that won't get jacked up. Greatly from. That. This is at all caffeinated coffee or. How many tables losing him in that. Tonight I should. Say you know every morning 7:00 a.m. for a little bit where I have a chicken I have. To do. It with yes there are some here somewhere that if they didn't have that much coffee they're dangerous. Right. There's been. You know propositions you know files for why should I offer. $10. For. You or for you know not from me. You know.

Yeah I just think. You know. Your. Money's. Yes that's the point. Point here. Is pride and dignity. No worse. Than. I wouldn't do this. Young man or any other. Questions or. For. Here to be. Free. Thanks. For. Calling. What is the standard that society sets for you to be released from hospital to community program. So what we used to have to prove in court in order for you to move to outpatient treatment.

Was that you were in remission you're mentally you were better and that you were no longer likely. To be in danger. Now the laws change the years are it's now. The defendant with no wonder be a danger to the health and safety of others fallen out there that. What we're did I leave out likely. So we went from a standard that says if you were no longer likely to be a danger. To a much more definitive. And so you would no longer be a danger. Down. You say well why now have they done these things why have they put in this mandatory one year why have they increased the minimum amount of time. The citizens of California want a program. That will make the community safer. That's what the deal with.

So you're so right you. Make you. Treatment rather than punish. Before the violence Aris crisis proportions here and now the physicians primarily were asking for a psychiatrist as executive director of the hospital someone who had experience in running a large psychiatric hospital. Now if a guy was a physical therapist that has experience only in working with the developmentally disabled I think you can learn the clinical issues I don't think that formalized training or lack of it doesn't mean that you can't tell one of the clinical issues yourself. Either on the job or by reading a book or by attending seminars. The other is. That. 90 percent of this job is administrative. If you are out of favor with the administration as one or two physicians are you will find yourself for six or seven months at a time caring for 66

patients in one doctor's case or 48 patients in another physician's case. We have a hundred patients in that hospital supposed to go home. At o'clock in the morning. There's a little truth there. I don't think that's right. We have to have a leadership whose philosophy is treatment training research. And. The hospital has not had such an orientation some of the leadership. There's only one thing to be done. The institution has this class of patients separating patients with two separate categories brain damaged psychologically retardation you have to develop a. Better stance. In which you

can begin to apply some chemical treatment. Governor has no class for the legislature so far as approved 130 million bucks. The building we put in 700 new positions in three years in the state hospitals Napa got about two hundred thirty or forty of them. There's no telling. How much the doctor one patient has now I know this hospital you're talking about 50 to 60000 always your first. Thought is the Best Buy going absolutely. I don't see what outside. I was when I was a tree with bread up give it up. Taxpayers pay $6000 a. Month that would. Get that are you. It's a raw deal on taxpayers. I'm stuck with. My.

File. Yeah yeah. Yeah yeah your world. Oh. JOAN. This is really good you will create your time. This morning. And morning as one of our boys was going home for

lunch. She spotted a. Patient out. On the street. And stopped because our hospital grounds patrolled. My down and picked her up and fly back to my seat her back. Bone. Wow you. Are you. That is yeah. Since this program was taped events continue to unfold at Napa State Hospital on September 22nd. Dr. William Bewley was attacked and severely beaten by a patient. Dr Bewley may lose the sight of his right eye. The hospital administration refused entry to a team of inspectors from Cal OSHA's the state occupational safety body who came to investigate the incident. Patient James almond was declared sane by hospital authorities and a court order for his release has been issued

but Aman's county of origin refuses to accept him and he remains at Napa. And last Wednesday Calvin's treatment team approved his application for AP card. But later that day following a scuffle in the cafeteria. Calvin was sent to a maximum security ward. He spent the past week in wrist in bed restraints. The cafeteria incident may have been provoked by staff or other patients as a result of Calvin's participation in this documentary.