Mental-health treatment void in Colo.

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Joe Mahoney/ I-News at Rocky Mountain PBS

Alex Meredith, 29, sorts clothes hangers at his part-time job at Arc Thrift Store in Lakewood. Meredith was diagnosed with autism when he was very young. He also displayed symptoms of mental illness obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, psychosis and depression. Seeking treatment for these conditions means navigating a fragmented system with funding quirks and huge gaps in care.

Joe Mahoney/ I-News at Rocky Mountain PBS

Alex Meredith, 29, sorts clothes hangers at his part-time job at Arc Thrift Store in Lakewood. Meredith was diagnosed with autism when he was very young. He also displayed symptoms of mental illness obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, psychosis and depression. Seeking treatment for these conditions means navigating a fragmented system with funding quirks and huge gaps in care.

A raised red oval, a couple of inches in diameter, sits at the top of Alex Merediths forehead.

It is the physical mark of a besieged mind.

Meredith, who is 29, started bashing himself in the head when he was in his teens. Now, his parents can see it coming. A tranquil moment of drawing at the kitchen table cedes to Merediths high-pitched squeal, his wrists colliding. Once he starts hitting himself, theres nothing to do but freeze and wait for it to pass.

Meredith was diagnosed with autism when he was very young. Later, his parents were told he also displayed symptoms of mental illness obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, psychosis and depression.

For Carol and John Meredith, Alexs parents, the search for treatment has brought them to psychiatrists and psychologists, to mental-health centers and the community-centered boards that serve people with autism and other developmental disabilities. Carol Meredith heads The Arc of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, an organization that advocates for people with disabilities, and has access to more than the usual range of leads and contacts.

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Mental-health treatment void in Colo.