LISA KANEMOTO, PARENT

Thirty-five years ago, with a sudden onset, David, our handsome, intelligent and promising son was stricken with mental illness. Schizophrenia……it felt like a blow with a sledgehammer when we were given the diagnosis. We could not accept this verdict. We were certain that with our love, our care and the best doctors he was going to be all right. For years we lived in denial, in fear, hope and despair. Helplessly we watched him suffer and wrestle with this most cruel disease of the brain and with the side effects of the potent medicines. We started isolating ourselves from all our friends. We kept the illness a secret. Often my rage against God, fate, indifferent psychiatrists, bureaucracy and a flawed system kept me only an arm length away from leashing out at unfairness. My heart is shredded, but my burden has become more bearable since I was led to the Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Here I find enormous support, much needed education and the fighting spirit to turn my sorrow into advocacy.