Individuals with a diagnosis of severe mental are often the victims of harm. Harm can be criminalization, an inability to provide basic needs, self-harm such as suicide, or harm from a lack of community support and resources. Sometimes that harm is fatal.  And sometimes that harm comes from the very institutions meant to keep us safe.  Monica Peltier will share her family’s story: how she and her mother served as caregivers for her elder brother, Reginald Wilson, who grappled with schizophrenia for three decades.  In 2018, while in police custody, Reggie experienced devastating harm when he died alone in a Cobb County jail cell while awaiting treatment. Thurmond Gillis Jr. will serve as our expert as we unpack harm and psychosis, how they are related and what we can do to help our loved ones who are often too sick to advocate for themselves.

"Make Them Hear You" is an original podcast from Treatment Advocacy Center - the oldest national non-profit dedicated to eliminating the barriers to treatment for severe mental illness. In this podcast series, Treatment Advocacy Center's Senior Legislative and Policy Counsel, Sabah Muhammad, is the host and leads listeners through courageous conversations which uplift the voices of some of our most vulnerable members of society: individuals of color with a diagnosis of severe mental illness.

Visit Treatment Advocacy Center's website to learn more: treatmentadvocacycenter.org

Direct media inquiries to press@treatmentadvocacycenter.org

"Make Them Hear You" is hosted by Sabah Muhammad.

Produced by Bill Retherford, Sabah Muhammad, and Shannon Zogran.

Written and edited by Sabah Muhammad, Shannon Zogran, Lisa Dailey, and Michael Gray.

Music "Let The Rain Fall Down" by Kirk Osamayo.