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A light in the darkness
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| H&N photo by Andrew Mariman Roberta Haney, 52, suffers from bipolar, borderline and post-traumatic stress disorder and takes 12 prescription drugs to offset the symptoms. Haney is on permanent disability due to her issues and uses that money to pay for bills and medications. |
Local woman finds relief with diagnosis
By JILL AHO
H&N Staff Writer
It’s been nearly 20 years since Roberta Haney had a fight with her sister and then decided to drive to Reno to get drunk.
She drove from Klamath Falls to Reno and got drunk at a hotel. She wanted to get a room, but ended up sleeping in her car in the parking lot. Someone knocked on the window, telling her she couldn’t sleep there.
Haney then drove around for hours, crashing her car into two other vehicles. She kept driving until she was stopped by police and charged with hit and run. She spent three months in jail.
“That’s when the psychiatrist at the jail diagnosed me with bipolar disorder with post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder,” the 52-year-old Haney recalled. She was relieved by the news.
“Relief that I wasn’t crazy, that there was a reason why I was acting out the way I was,” she said during a recent interview.
Instability
People with borderline personality disorder have unstable and intense personal relationships, and often, irrational fears of abandonment. They have trouble with self-identity; their self-image often shifts abruptly and dramatically.
Haney is among hundreds of Klamath Basin residents who suffer from mental illnesses ranging from major depression to schizophrenia. Proper diagnosis and treatment are key, experts say.Today, the Klamath Falls woman sits with her hands still and doesn’t fidget. As she talks, she thinks about her answers carefully, her blue eyes serene.
Before her time in jail, Haney did drugs, drank alcohol and pursued men as conquests. She destroyed relationships without understanding why.
“I had an inner sense that I needed help, but I didn’t know with what,” Haney said. She started drinking in high school, and then continued to self-medicate until she was diagnosed and prescribed medication to help her cope.
“When I was put on meds, I just straightened out,” Haney said.
Borderline personality disorder, which is more common in women than in men, often occurs with other psychiatric problems. In Haney’s case, she believes that PTSD was a major contributor.
Abuse connection
The National Institute of Mental Health reports that between 40 and 71 percent of borderline personality disorder patients say they have been sexually abused, and that many, but not all, report a history of abuse, neglect or separation as young children.
Haney was sexually abused and beaten as a young child. When she was in her mid-20s, her mother died.
“I didn’t remember (the abuse), I pushed it so far out of my head,” she said.
Although Haney attempted to confront her father about what happened to her as a child, he denied it.
The Mayo Clinic reports relationships of people with the disorder are often in turmoil and can be described as love-hate relationships. Patients can exhibit risky behaviors, such as unsafe sex, risky driving, gambling sprees or taking illicit drugs.
Relationship trouble
Before getting medication, Haney found herself pursuing relationships with men for the sheer satisfaction of winning.
“It was like I was God’s gift to men. I couldn’t have just one,” she said. “I had to have, or try to get, as many as I could.”
She got married at 18, then again at 23, and again in her 30s. Some details are fuzzy, a side effect of her medications. She is currently taking Clorazapam, and Lorazepam, both anti-anxiety drugs; Neurontin, an anticonvulsant; and Geodon, an anti-psychotic drug used to treat bipolar disorder.
“I would end the marriage and walk out because I always thought there was something greener. I was looking for someone to help me but all I got was either sex or somebody wanting to do drugs. Nobody wanting to help me,” she said.
Finding focus
Haney is now married to a man who understands her emotional instability.
Lance Trickey met Haney long after her diagnosis and after her third husband died.
“I touched her hand to shake her hand and something picked me up and threw me across the room and set me in my chair and said, ‘Be a good boy,’ ” Trickey said.
Trickey, a former drug and alcohol user, found his peace in Alcoholics Anonymous.
“She understands the 12 steps,” he said. “We use those when we’re getting to a friction point.”
Haney says with the addition of medication, she has been reborn.
“I never recognized any of the symptoms I had,” she said. “Before, I just thought that was life.”
Editor's note: First in a periodic series about mental health in the Basin and resources that are available. Read more in the print edition of Thursday's Herald and News.
She drove from Klamath Falls to Reno and got drunk at a hotel. She wanted to get a room, but ended up sleeping in her car in the parking lot. Someone knocked on the window, telling her she couldn’t sleep there.
Haney then drove around for hours, crashing her car into two other vehicles. She kept driving until she was stopped by police and charged with hit and run. She spent three months in jail.
“That’s when the psychiatrist at the jail diagnosed me with bipolar disorder with post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder,” the 52-year-old Haney recalled. She was relieved by the news.
“Relief that I wasn’t crazy, that there was a reason why I was acting out the way I was,” she said during a recent interview.
Instability
People with borderline personality disorder have unstable and intense personal relationships, and often, irrational fears of abandonment. They have trouble with self-identity; their self-image often shifts abruptly and dramatically.
Haney is among hundreds of Klamath Basin residents who suffer from mental illnesses ranging from major depression to schizophrenia. Proper diagnosis and treatment are key, experts say.Today, the Klamath Falls woman sits with her hands still and doesn’t fidget. As she talks, she thinks about her answers carefully, her blue eyes serene.
Before her time in jail, Haney did drugs, drank alcohol and pursued men as conquests. She destroyed relationships without understanding why.
“I had an inner sense that I needed help, but I didn’t know with what,” Haney said. She started drinking in high school, and then continued to self-medicate until she was diagnosed and prescribed medication to help her cope.
“When I was put on meds, I just straightened out,” Haney said.
Borderline personality disorder, which is more common in women than in men, often occurs with other psychiatric problems. In Haney’s case, she believes that PTSD was a major contributor.
Abuse connection
The National Institute of Mental Health reports that between 40 and 71 percent of borderline personality disorder patients say they have been sexually abused, and that many, but not all, report a history of abuse, neglect or separation as young children.
Haney was sexually abused and beaten as a young child. When she was in her mid-20s, her mother died.
“I didn’t remember (the abuse), I pushed it so far out of my head,” she said.
Although Haney attempted to confront her father about what happened to her as a child, he denied it.
The Mayo Clinic reports relationships of people with the disorder are often in turmoil and can be described as love-hate relationships. Patients can exhibit risky behaviors, such as unsafe sex, risky driving, gambling sprees or taking illicit drugs.
Relationship trouble
Before getting medication, Haney found herself pursuing relationships with men for the sheer satisfaction of winning.
“It was like I was God’s gift to men. I couldn’t have just one,” she said. “I had to have, or try to get, as many as I could.”
She got married at 18, then again at 23, and again in her 30s. Some details are fuzzy, a side effect of her medications. She is currently taking Clorazapam, and Lorazepam, both anti-anxiety drugs; Neurontin, an anticonvulsant; and Geodon, an anti-psychotic drug used to treat bipolar disorder.
“I would end the marriage and walk out because I always thought there was something greener. I was looking for someone to help me but all I got was either sex or somebody wanting to do drugs. Nobody wanting to help me,” she said.
Finding focus
Haney is now married to a man who understands her emotional instability.
Lance Trickey met Haney long after her diagnosis and after her third husband died.
“I touched her hand to shake her hand and something picked me up and threw me across the room and set me in my chair and said, ‘Be a good boy,’ ” Trickey said.
Trickey, a former drug and alcohol user, found his peace in Alcoholics Anonymous.
“She understands the 12 steps,” he said. “We use those when we’re getting to a friction point.”
Haney says with the addition of medication, she has been reborn.
“I never recognized any of the symptoms I had,” she said. “Before, I just thought that was life.”
Editor's note: First in a periodic series about mental health in the Basin and resources that are available. Read more in the print edition of Thursday's Herald and News.
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of HeraldAndNews.com. Comment Disclaimer: The editors of heraldandnews.com reserve the right to refuse publication of any comment posted for consideration. We may refuse for any reason, including use of profanity, disparaging comments, libelous comments, etc. Any reader who notices a comment they believe is particularly offensive, should notify us at webmaster@heraldandnews.com.
Hope wrote on Oct 16, 2008 11:09 AM:
" I applaud Haney for being soo open about her experiences. I too was sexually abused and just recently told my Mom. I am involved in AA and recommend the Twelve Steps because it helps people who have made choices they regret in life to make amends and move forward in life.. forgiving and understanding the damage we have caused. There is help and hope in recovery, one must search their heart and clear the damage to move forward. Thank you for your honesty and I encourage others to do the same!! "
TVCali wrote on Oct 16, 2008 7:22 AM:
" Awesome! She is an inspiration to me. I wish my own mother would recognize her mental illness and get help for it. She has been destructive in a lot of ways, especially to the members of her family who love her (she lives in KFalls currently). What does it take for family members to help the mentally ill in KFalls? I am in Northern California and would love to be able to get help for my mother. Thanks for printing this story and I look forward to the other stories in this series. "
Kini wrote on Oct 16, 2008 7:09 AM:
" Deprive us of our fourth Amendment rights and due process = "A Light in the Darkness."
..."That's when the psychiatrist at the jail diagnosed me with bipolar disorder with post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder."
Unstable and intense personal relationships, and often, irrational fears of abandonment. They have trouble with self-identity; their self-image often shifts abruptly and dramatically.
Never mind of any of it is true. Take your medication and put on your moo moo.
Find out what else the psychiatrist at the jail diagnosed me with at:
http://www.phobiaguide.com/ "
..."That's when the psychiatrist at the jail diagnosed me with bipolar disorder with post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder."
Unstable and intense personal relationships, and often, irrational fears of abandonment. They have trouble with self-identity; their self-image often shifts abruptly and dramatically.
Never mind of any of it is true. Take your medication and put on your moo moo.
Find out what else the psychiatrist at the jail diagnosed me with at:
http://www.phobiaguide.com/ "
RSS
sleepless in Klamath Falls wrote on Oct 18, 2008 11:40 AM: