Bill Compton

William H. "Bill" Compton, Jr., MA (October 6, 1945, Rockford, Illinois – August 27, 2007) was a mental health advocate in California who attained national stature. After suffering a mental health crisis in 1989, he became heavily involved in self-help and patients' rights advocacy issues, including running a large network of peer support groups between 1994 and 2007.

Work in the mental health field

Beginning in 1994, Compton headed Project Return: The Next Step (PR:TNS), a consumer-run self-help network supported by the National Mental Health Association of Greater Los Angeles. In May 2007, the organization was renamed Project Return Peer Support Network. [http://www.mhala.org/news.htm "What's in a Name"] , National Mental Health Association of Greater Los Angeles, "News", accessed August 27, 2007] He became director of the network when the sponsoring organization decided to turn the network's administration over to those who used its services.Steve Lopez, [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez29aug29,1,2386876.column?coll=la-headlines-california "Lives may founder, but yacht sales will flourish"] , "Los Angeles Times", August 29, 2007]

Compton built the network from about thirty peer-support groups to more than one hundred, which employed about one hundred individuals in positions ranging from stipend to full time, serving several thousand individuals with serious mental disorders. The network included projects that Compton developed, such as PR:TNS Discovery Centers, which provided personal and professional growth opportunities, and the Friendship Line, an after-hours phone service that provided peer-to-peer support for people with mental illness. [http://www.nmha.org/go/about-us/go/about-us/who-we-are/executive-leadership/board-biographies/bill-compton Biography of Bill Compton] , Mental Health America (formerly the National Mental Health Association), accessed December 26, 2006]

Compton was on the Board of Directors of Mental Health America (formerly the National Mental Health Association) from 2002 to 2007. [ [http://www.nmha.org/memorial/individuals/Bill_Compton_Resolution.pdf Resolution of the Board of Directors of Mental Health America (pdf)] accessed September 8, 2007] He was also president of the board of Protection & Advocacy, Inc. of California, which focused on protecting the rights of mental health and other disabled consumers throughout California. Beginning in November, 2003, Compton was the chairman of the board of directors for the Pacific Clinic, the largest nonprofit mental health organization in California, based in Pasadena, California; he left that position in 2005. [http://web.archive.org/web/20070222204301/http://www.pacificclinics.org/mental_health_advocate_bill_comp.htm "Mental Health Advocate Bill Compton named to Chair Pacific Clinics Board of Directors"] , press release, Pacific Clinics, November 14, 2003, via [http://www.archive.org archive.org] ] [http://web.archive.org/web/20060619185630/http://www.gmhcn.org/files/Articles/BILLCOMPTONSPRESENTATIONtoNAPAS.html Bill Compton's presentation to NAPAS] , San Diego, January 2006 (via [http://www.archive.org archive.org] )]

In 2005, Compton wrote a one-man play, "Swept Away or The Week That I Went Crazy." He performed it at a number of conferences and schools.

Personal history

Compton was born in 1945 in Rockford, Illinois. He spent his teenage years at a military boarding school in West Virginia; during the 1960s, he was a vocal anti-war activist.Joceyln Y. Stewart, [http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-compton2sep02,1,5457007.story "William H. Compton Jr., 71; Theater lover was advocate for the mentally ill"] "Los Angeles Times", September 2, 2007. ("Note": Compton was "61" years old, not 71, when he died.)] Compton earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1969 in Theater Arts from the University of Akron, and returned to earn a master of arts degree in 1986. During this time he worked as an actor, producer and director in New York, Boston, and eventually Los Angeles. In Boston, in the 1970s, he ran a then-innovative business for theater-goers to purchase tickets by phone, using a credit card. He sold the business, Quickcharge, to a predecessor of Ticketmaster.J.M. Lawrence, [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2007/09/07/william_compton_jr_used_his_own_struggle_to_help_others/ "William Compton Jr.; used his own struggle to help others"] , "Boston Globe", September 7, 2007]

In 1989, in his mid-40s and an event salesperson for a large Los Angeles theater, Compton suffered a complete mental breakdown; [Shawn Hubler, [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/46816428.html?dids=46816428:46816428&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+2%2C+1999&author=Shawn+Hubler&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=1&desc=Amid+Debate+Over+Ethics+and+Drugs%2C+People+Can+Get+Lost "Amid Debate Over Ethics and Drugs, People Can Get Lost"] , "Los Angeles Times", December 2, 1999] his family believes it may have been caused by his use of crystal methamphetamine. When he was diagnosed as having late-onset schizophrenia, he had already left his job and had no health insurance. After three admissions to a private hospital over a nine-month period, paid for by his family, he was transferred to a public hospital. Upon his discharge from there, Compton went to live in a community board and care home. He began hearing voices again, ending up living on the streets for nine months, [Bill Compton, [http://www1.nmha.org/newsroom/bell/2001/6-01-Bell.pdf "Stuck Out There"] , "The Bell" (National Mental Health Association), June 2001] panhandling for money to buy food. [Ian McMillan, [http://www.nursing-standard.co.uk/archives/mhp_pdfs/mhpvol6-10/mhpv6n10p2021.pdf "For a Few Dollars More"] , "Mental Health Practice" (UK), July 2003] In the early 1990s, he made his way to a hospital waiting room, his first step on the road to recovery.

Presentations and testimony

In 2001, while president of the California Network of Mental Health Clients, a statewide alliance of consumers, Compton testified before the state legislature’s Joint Commission on Mental Health Reform.

Compton made presentations at state and national conferences on topics such as establishing and enhancing a network of self-help clubs, running a peer support telephone help line and incorporating the role of consumer-run services into a mental health system. [http://www.narpa.org/compton.htm Biography at National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy (NARPA)] , accessed December 26, 2006] [ [http://www.narpa.org/narpa.2005.htm 2005 National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy conference - list of speakers and topics] ]

He regularly made presentations to graduate students at the University of Southern California School of Social Work and psychology students at the University of California Los Angeles.

Awards and recognition

* In June 2001, the National Mental Health Association (NMHA) presented the Clifford W. Beers Award to Compton at its annual conference in Washington, D.C. [http://www1.nmha.org/newsroom/system/news.vw.cfm?do=vw&rid=294 "NMHA Presents Highest Honor to Consumer Advocate"] , National Mental Health Association press release, May 31, 2001]
* In June 2002, Compton received the Consumer Advocacy Award from the International Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitative Agencies.
* In November 2003, Eli Lilly and Company gave Compton its "Helping Move Lives Forward Reintegration Award" for his mentorship of people with mental illness.
* In 2004, Compton was included in Who's Who in America. [ [http://www.prtns.org/ Project Return: The Next Step (PR:TNS)] , welcome page]
* In 2007, Compton received a proclamation from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for bringing Project Return Peer Support Network members "into a full participation in community life."

References

External links

* [http://www.prtns.org/ PRTNS.org] - Project Return: The Next Step (PR:TNS)