Hard to save life when you don't know which way to turn

Michael Becker's loved ones left their house in Prairie View on Sept. 17, 2007, with no idea that the 19-year-old's lifetime battles were about to come to a tragic end on the family couch.

"I remember leaving for work, and I could hear him snoring," says mother Sharon Martin-Becker, an accountant who was relieved that her son Michael wasn't out somewhere getting into trouble. "Well, he's home. He's OK."

Martin-Becker and her ex-husband, Elliott Becker, Michael's father, had been through so much trauma with their son. Struggling with his bipolar mental illness, Michael often turned to illicit drugs. His worried parents spent Michael's teenage years reacting to Michael's problems, reading books and seeking treatment after treatment - turning one way and then the other for something that might help the boy.

"Poor Jeremy found him," remembers Martin-Becker, who lives in Prairie View. Michael's younger brother came home from high school to discover Michael hadn't gotten up.

"My son calls me in a panic. He (Michael) was blue and cold and dead," remembers Elliott Becker, who lives in Buffalo Grove.

Michael had overdosed on methadone.

"A month before he died is when I first heard the term 'dual diagnosis,'" his mother says, referring to the phrase used to describe people who suffer from the co-occurring disorders of mental illness and substance abuse.

Studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest that half of all people with severe mental disorders also fall prey to substance abuse. Many places are equipped to handle mental health issues. Even more can deal with substance abuse. But finding successful treatment for someone with a dual diagnosis can be tough.

"We encounter parents all the time who have someone with mental illness who is abusing drugs, and it's hard to get help," says Gina Valio, president of the Elk Grove/Schaumburg chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (www.nami.org).

Aspiring to bring attention to dual diagnosis, Michael Becker's parents have started a charity called the Michael Becker Foundation. They hope their Web site at www.michaelbeckerfoundation.org will provide information as well as links to experts on the subject.

They've scheduled a fundraising "Live Clear" concert featuring the up-and-coming band Daphne Willis & Co. from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 10, at Flatlander's Restaurant & Brewery, 200 Village Green in Lincolnshire.

"We're just trying to help out any way we can," says guitarist Ryan Kolberg, of the band. Kolberg, 25, says he met Elliott Becker through friends at the Wheeling Park District, where Becker is director of finance and business operations.

"This is happening a lot. I know it is," Becker, 50, says of people struggling with dual diagnosis. "Our goal is to bring it to the front so other people can be saved."

He's already told Michael's story in speeches before civic groups and teenagers.

Evidence of Michael's bipolar condition surfaced early. His parents remember his traumatic episodes of night terrors, his uncontrollable crying and his throwing fits as a child.

"He would get hysterical to the point he couldn't calm himself down anymore," his mother recalls. "When other people see a yellow, they slow down. When he sees a yellow he speeds up. Once he got on that path, he couldn't stop himself."

A bright kid who could make friends easily, Michael discovered drugs and his teen years were a litany of treatments and trouble.

"He really was a sweet kid," his dad says. "But it was eight years of trauma, trauma, trauma. No parent should ever go through this."

The Web site of the federal government's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (www.samhsa.gov) says, "People with dual disorders have a much better chance of recovery from both disorders when they receive combined, or integrated mental health and substance abuse treatment from the same clinician or treatment team."

Michael would be kicked out of mental health facilities because of his drug problem. Drug rehab didn't address his mental illness. Now, his parents want others to know about the problems of dual diagnosis so they might be able to get the proper help in time.

"There's a major, major guilt component to this," Becker says, showing a pamphlet with a photograph of a young Michael. "I couldn't help him, so I need to help someone else."