Lifetime Achievement
Past President, NAMI Western Massachusetts
Her Work on Behalf of the Mentally Ill Became a Lifelong Mission
Bernice Drumheller
When Bernice Drumheller’s son, Mark, was in grade school, she noticed he was having some issues.
“He showed symptoms of some kind of illness early in life,” she recalled. “I noticed some peculiarities; he was my youngest son of four, and I didn’t see any of those signs in my other three children, so I knew that there was something going on with my youngest son.”
That something was mental illness, she said, noting that, as early as age 4, Mark seemed to be depressed and didn’t talk much.
Drumheller’s concern led her to become a school aide so she could keep an eye on him — and also on how the school was “going to deal with his situation.”
You might say that was the very beginning of what would become deep involvement in efforts to help those with mental illness and their families — work that would move beyond Mark’s school and into several different settings, as we’ll see.
“When Mark became a teenager, at 14 and 15, that’s when real problems started to develop,” she went on, noting that he was skipping school, having trouble making his grades, and resisting calls to attend a resource center because he was embarrassed to do so.
Fast-forwarding a little, she said Mark did graduate from high school, but his problems mounted, and his illness took new turns. He would eventually be hospitalized and later sent to Brattleboro Retreat in Vermont. It was there that Drumheller met a social worker who introduced her to an organization called NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and that’s where our story begins an exciting new chapter.
Indeed, she would receive some help from the organization, which now boasts 600 local affiliates — and then spend the next 30 years helping it provide assistance to others.
“I noticed some peculiarities; he was my youngest son of four, and I didn’t see any of those signs in my other three children, so I knew that there was something going on with my youngest son.”
She started as a Family-to-Family Education teacher, with that program’s name effectively explaining what it is — individuals in families experiencing mental illness educating others going through the same things (much more on this program later).
But over the years, she would go on to serve on NAMI’s board and as the president of its Western Mass. chapter, now headquartered in Holyoke, for 12 years. For more than three decades, she has been a tireless advocate for those with mental illness and their families — a commitment that has made her a Healthcare Hero in the Lifetime Achievement category.
This award — one of many Drumheller has received over the years, including another lifetime achievement award from NAMI Massachusetts — speaks to the passion she has brought to her work — and the fact that she’s never considered it work.
Bernice Drumheller, right, volunteers at a walkathon to benefit NAMI along with Ruth Stein, who, with her husband, Harold, founded the local chapter.
Instead, it’s a fulfillment of a commitment she made a long time ago to Mark and countless others like him to be their advocate, their champion, and to speak and work on their behalf.
“I swore, when I got involved in this, that it would be a mission for my life,” she told BusinessWest, adding that this mission doesn’t actually get accomplished; the work is ongoing, and it takes many forms.
Over the years, she has testified at the State House as part of an effort to have the Department of Mental Health budget increased to ensure that beds are still available in hospitals and proper care is provided to those receiving services.
She has spoken at National Gun Violence Awareness Day, specifically addressing the public’s misperception that those with a mental-health diagnosis are responsible for gun violence; her message is that they are far more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators of violence.
She appeared with then-Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe to promote the “CEOs Against Stigma” campaign as part of what has become an ongoing fight to battle stigma surrounding those with mental illness, and she has shared her story in crisis-intervention trainings for first responders to mental-health emergencies so they would have a better understanding of these crises.
“Most of her time has been spent giving countless hours serving an organization she believes in and is dedicated to, promoting mental health and well-being throughout the community,” said Tamari Cole, the current president of NAMI Western Massachusetts, who nominated Drumheller for the Healthcare Heroes award, noting that she continues to be a force in this realm.
And at NAMI, she continues to serve on the board and also as a family support-group facilitator, while also raising money for the agency and volunteering several hours monthly.
Her tireless work has served to inspire others, while it is also giving a louder voice to those battling illness, as well as their loved ones.
All this makes her more than worthy of the title Healthcare Hero.
Someone Who ‘Gets It’
Drumheller said her son Mark’s story is typical of many of those with mental illness. And her efforts to understand that illness and help him are typical as well.
In short, families need support, direction, and someone who can relate and understand what they are going through. Someone who, for can lack of a better phrase, can speak that language.
“COVID caused a lot of isolation, and that leads to depression. We’re social beings, and we couldn’t really socialize like we did, and this led to a lot of problems. And now, we have to fix this; we have to fix all these kids who are suffering from anxiety.”
And for many, Drumheller has been, and still is, that someone. But her work has gone much further, as noted earlier, into the realm of advocacy and education — at the local, state, regional, and national levels.
As for Mark, his case exemplifies how the road is hard, but it can take people to a good place, like the one he’s in now — his own apartment where he lives independently.
But, as noted, the road has been a hard one.
After graduating from high school, he struggled, usually without success, to hold onto a job, Drumheller recalled, adding that symptoms of schizophrenia continued to mount.
“When I would send him into a store, he would say, ‘someone’s following me’ — he was paranoid,” she recalled. “He was acting very strangely.”
To understand his illness and help him, she continued to seek the services of a family therapist, who informed her that Mark needed to be hospitalized because he was having a mental breakdown.
“He was sent to Brattleboro Retreat and ran away from there — he was quite a problem there,” she said. “He would hear things, and he would see things that aren’t there. He would think that the radio was talking to him, and the TV was talking to him; he would hear voices.
“He was on a lot of medication, and he got to a point where he couldn’t move,” she went on. “He would lie down, he wouldn’t talk, he wouldn’t move, he wouldn’t do anything.”
Mark would eventually come out of this catatonic state and get better, she recalled, adding that it was about this time that a social worker introduced her to NAMI.
“As soon as I got him home, I called our NAMI affiliate here, and they helped me a lot,” she said. “They were very supportive, and that’s when I got involved.”
That’s an understatement. She joined the organization’s board and soon became a family-to-family teacher.
“We teach families how to cope with people who are living with mental illness,” said Drumheller, who was named by NAMI Massachusetts as a charter member of its Family-to-Family Hall of Fame, adding this is a simple job description, but the work is often difficult, made easier by shared emotions and experiences.
“These families form camaraderie,” she explained. “Someone called me the other day and said, ‘Bernice, I love to talk to you because you understand. Even my immediate family members … they just don’t get it. But you get it.’
“Unless you’re dealing directly with someone who is mentally ill, people just don’t get it,” she went on. “They don’t understand mental illness, and there is such a stigma; I wanted to fight against stigma, I wanted to help educate families of people with mental illness, and I wanted to advocate for people with mental illness.”
She has, and she still does.
Giving Voice
Drumheller recalls being reluctant to take on the role of president of NAMI back in 2007, when she was first asked. There was a lot to the position, and she was working full-time in insurance.
But she eventually acquiesced and would then stay 12 years in that role, the longest tenure of any president. She said she was helped by a strong board and her years of experience as a family-to family teacher, which provided her real insight into the problems being experienced by families — problems she could articulate to constituencies ranging from elected officials who set budgets to the many agencies in this region and beyond that serve the mentally ill and their families.
But it was her drive to fulfill her mission that drove her as she helped carry out NAMI’s broad mission, focused on advocacy, raising awareness about mental illness, education, listening, and leading.
During her tenure, she did a lot of speaking to many different groups, from first responders to student nurses; from senior citizens (about seasonal affective disorder, among other things) to elected leaders in Boston.
“Every year, we had an advocacy day at the state level, and I would go and talk with members of the Legislature about mental illness and the bills that were pending,” she explained. “And I spoke at schools about the importance of trying to spot symptoms in children.”
She also spoke at Smith & Wesson about gun violence and how those with mental illness are far more likely to be the victims of shootings than the perpetrators of gun violence.
And while she doesn’t speak as much as she used to, she continues to volunteer, raise money for NAMI, serve as a family support-group facilitator, and, in general, stress that this work is ongoing.
Indeed, while progress has been made on some fronts, many needs are not being met.
“Even today, there’s still problems with families getting the help they need to cope, and also for the person with the illness,” she explained. “It’s very, very difficult to get resources for them; there are not enough clinicians, and the ones we have don’t get paid enough.”
Meanwhile, the pandemic has exacerbated what already was a mental-health crisis in this country.
“COVID caused a lot of isolation, and that leads to depression,” she said. “We’re social beings, and we couldn’t really socialize like we did, and this led to a lot of problems. And now, we have to fix this; we have to fix all these kids who are suffering from anxiety.”
As for her own son, Drumheller said Mark is doing well these days.
He’s not able to work, because he has a hard time focusing, she noted, but he lives independently, loves music, and takes part in several programs aimed at helping him contribute to the community.
His story is not unique except that it helped to inspire what his mother called a mission, one that she would carry out for the rest of her life.
Not only has she done that, she has inspired others to join her in that mission, while also making continuous strides in combating stigma and improving quality of life for those with mental illness and their families.
In short, Mark helped give the region a Healthcare Hero. And everyone should be thankful.
