Ila Couch talks to Creative Arts Therapist and spoken word poet Jocelyn Bates about her work with medicated youth in the juvenile justice system and the poem Medication, inspired by her experiences.

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It wasn’t all that long ago I thought Bob Dylan was unlistenable and Neil Young whiny. In my defense I had an early introduction to The Beatles which made me partial to sweet melodies and boys who looked like John Lennon. Martin Scorsese’s Documentary, No Direction Home forever changed my opinion of Dylan as did my side of stage experience at a Neil Young concert. Sometimes it takes a while for ears and brain to engage, shifting one from hearing to listening.

Five years ago I wound up quite unexpectedly in a bar above a bar in downtown Jersey City where I was subjected to spoken word poetry. If someone had invited me to an evening of spoken word poetry I probably wouldn’t have gone. Something about the breathy, staccato delivery really irritated me. In short, spoken word poetry was wanky. As it was I stumbled into the evening without expectation so when Jocelyn Bates took the mic and delivered a poem called Medication, I listened.

Afterwards I introduced myself to Jocelyn and we got talking about her work as an Expressive Arts Therapist. I already knew the health care system in the United States was screwed up but listening to Jocelyn’s experience of working with medicated kids in the juvenile justice system was heart breaking.  A week later we got together and I interviewed her about her work and the experiences that shaped her poem Medication.

When we met back in 2004 the FDA had not officially approved the use of antidepressants for patients under the age of 18. Just weeks ago the FDA approved an anti-depressant called Lexapro even though the US Justice Department charged the company of illegally marketing to children and giving pediatricians kickbacks in the form of travel and tickets to sporting events. With competition from American Idols and the corporatisation of entertainment it's harder for the Dylans and Youngs of this generation to be heard but as Jocelyn says, If we’re going to change the country right now it’s got to start with the artists.  They’re the only ones who are bold enough to say anything.

What is your poem about:

The Poem’s name is Medication and is inspired by my work as an Expressive Art Therapist and having to answer to insurance companies. Not only does an insurance company push medication because it’s cheaper, they also give you a limited time frame for therapy.
Everything answers to insurance companies. It’s mandatory if you are a therapist to give the option of taking Prozac or Lithium as an option as soon as you meet someone with depression or you could get sued by the drug companies. It’s a sick thing because people want instant gratification – they want to be healed so a lot of times people will go for that and they’re not going to go for long term therapy.

So this poem comes out of that, it comes out of me seeing too many people who are addicted to drugs, addicted to Prozac who can’t get off it. Not knowing the side effects, not knowing that Prozac can kill the liver, that you can get addicted to Prozac. Not knowing that all of these medications have side effects that are worse than what you’re taking it for in the first place.

How did you get into this line of work?

I was working in the Juvenile Justice system and also NOW theatre which is out of Patterson New Jersey. They bring drama to the kids ages 11 – 21 in medium security prisons. There they actually drug up kids a lot because they don’t want to deal with the anger. Sometimes a kid will come in. One day they’re the most complete normal kid and the next day they can’t get off the bench. They can’t move their head. They’re so out of it. That’s how they deal with anger there.

The first year I was in school so I basically had to be there when they administered drugs and I didn’t think so much of it then because I was too involved in being a therapist to these kids. Then I took a pharmaceutical course, Pharma-Psychology which teaches you all the drugs and what they do to you and then I started paying attention. The next year I worked in a clinic and this is where I had to answer to all the insurance companies.

So probably a year in to doing therapy I realized the impact it has because when you are doing therapy for a kid who has been sexually or physically traumatized and they’re on Prozac they don’t ever deal with the problem. They’ll be in a therapy session with you and you’ll see that they’re not connecting. They’re not dealing with the issues. They’re on some vacation and they can’t actually come to and deal with the problem.

What happens to these kids once they’re out of the system?

A lot of them don’t have health insurance. They’re not going into a situation where they can get health insurance. They’re not given these prescription drugs once they leave the jail. What happens is they’re suppressing all of their anger. As soon as they get out they don’t have a prescription for this Prozac or whatever they’re giving them. When they get out they don’t have that prescription anymore so it bubbles out and its rage. It’s been suppressed for so long and I think it comes out by going and getting drugs on the street.

I mainly deal with kids between 15 & 18. I would say probably, we’ve worked with 56 kids and I’ve seen at least 25 kids who are heavily dosed. I will actually get the side effect for each drug these kids are on. I’ll find out, what drug they’re on and I’ll go on the internet and find out every side effect. They’re like, “oh my god, that’s why? That’s why I can’t stop sweating, I can’t sleep…that’s why.” They usually try and stop trying it after I’ve given them the side effects because they’re not given the education and I don’t know how someone can make someone take medication without giving them the side effects. That’s a right everyone should have.