I have recently retired from NASA with a mental disability. I have a
Masters in Aerospace Engineering with straight A's. I was the Entry
Training Flow supervisor and a senior astronaut instructor for many years.
I led the effort to take us back to capsules because of their better
ability to survive failures on entry. I am an excellent engineer.
It is my experience that NASA has a grossly substandard mental health
system. In my case, in 1999, they allowed my mental health to deteriorate
while at work and did nothing. I am bipolar and my management knew I was
bipolar. I was in a significant episode that included being irritable and
routinely working 36 hours straight. This went on for many weeks. Rather
than help me, I endured mocking and insults about my mental illness from
my management. My management refused to provide me any requested
accommodation, and openly lied to me why they would not grant the
accommodations. I finally generated a strongly and strangely worded email
alleging misconduct by my management. Rather than hear my allegations,
NASA apparently deciding they wanted me locked in a psych ward, so they
lied to my doctors about my conduct at work, worked with Judge Burwell of
Galveston County to have my lock up continued without a hearing or an
attorney, and my father tells me they went so far to ask him for
permission to chemically erase my memory. The lies they told about me
included I was "terrorizing NASA by threatening to come to their homes and
injure them if they don't all resign." They also told my doctors I had
hacked into a personnel database to obtain home addresses so I could
implement this plan. I know these are lies because my actual behavior was
meticulously documented by my management. They went so far as to document
the type of ties I was wearing to work. This extensive documentation
makes no mention of threats of physical violence or hacking into a
database. Also, if this had been my actual conduct, why did NASA welcome
me back to the work force?
Recently I had another episode and asked for sick leave because of massive
panic attacks as I approached the NASA facility. My supervisor granted my
leave. Then NASA turned around and told me I was AWOL until I provided a
detailed medical document from my doctor and I had to provide a new copy
every week I needed leave. NASA's sick leave policy does not require
this to get leave. Going through this process to avoid AWOL stressed me
greatly and I told NASA this. They continued to violate their own sick
leave policy for me to get leave. I have also had to endure more insults
to my mental disability from NASA management. They also told me if I
didn't sign a general release to my doctor, I would probably go on AWOL.
I told them no. They sprung an already filled out release form on my in
front of the Deputy Center director. I of course signed it. A human
resources representative apparently contacted my doctor on the pretence of
being a mental health profession and convinced him I was delusion. I
think they did this because they knew I was attempting to work the issue
of work related stress as part of my problem. This time when I complained
about the misconduct, rather than investigate the misconduct, they fired
me.
I have recently found out my second doctor in 1999 decided mental injury
was my primary factor and most likely to cause any future problems. I
entered the Employee Assistance Program after I came back to work. We did
not work for one second on mental injury. This in spite of the clearly
worded statement by my doctor in 1999. This is significant because the
treatment for bipolar is very different than the treatment for mental
injury. I have a document generated by the head of the Employee
Assistance Program proving she knew about the diagnosis of mental injury.
She is also the one that told the lies to my doctors in 1999. She also
states that my diagnosed mental injury is the number one cause of
workplace violence in the world. I can only wonder why she did not for
one second treat me for this condition if she thought it might cause me to
act out with workplace violence.
In summary, I think I have a story to show NASA's ability to handle mental
health issues is not good. They will do nothing to help a person with a
problem, then overreact if the problem gets out of hand. I have documents
to substantiate everything I have said here. I am currently suing NASA
for compensation under the Equal Opportunity System for the way they
mishandled my mental disability and the Texas board that licenses NASA's
mental health providers has finally had a hearing on their misconduct. I
do not know the outcome of these hearings.
If you think this might be a story for you, I can provide copies of the
documents and names and phone numbers of people involved. As I said,
every allegation I make here is backed up with documentation. Most of it
written my NASA personnel and my doctors.
As I side note to make the story more interesting, NASA sent me to
Deveraux hospital, which is the hospital that took Andrea Yates off of her
medication. The doctor that treated Ms. Yates completely botched my
in-processing and greatly aggravated my mental state at the time. Then I
was seen by a doctor who also mistreated me and my family (ask my mother
about this). It turns out this doctor was forced into psychiatric care by
the Texas Medical Board for some reason, but she continued to be the head
doctor at Deveraux. This link to the Andrea Yates story might spice the
story up. I complained loudly to the Texas Medical Board when I left the
hospital, but they did nothing. If the board had listened to me about
Deveraux and its doctors, maybe Ms. Yates would have not been taken off
her medication. Keep in mind my complaint came after they forced the
doctor into psychiatric care, but they still did nothing.
Danny Deger
832-221-6402
dannydeger@hotmail.com
So far I have 4 "yes'es" and 2 "no's". Anyone