| WELCOME ! INTRODUCTORY NOTE Pete as a person with schizophrenia lived within the confines of his own mental world. The author explores that world in a critique of the medical record of those years; 28 years in Evansville State Hospital, Evansville, Indiana, and 19 more in two nursing homes. When you have read that chapter of the book, you might ask if that was all there was to Pete's life. If so, it is not a pleasant one. The author chose to not leave the reader with just that institutional picture of his father. Never is one event, even for forty-seven years, the whole story of ones life. We are much healthier mentally if we see the big picture of existence. So the author demonstrated the big picture of Dad's life by the inclusion of other chapters. Mental health issues are raised in each segment. One of Gene's speeches is entitled “Our Life, a Segment of the Ages.” It is based on this concept of life being larger than any one event. Mental health issues are raised as the author explores Pete's ancestry, the childhood of his four children, school days in rural Sullivan County, Indiana. A sequel to Pete's journey from Evansville Woodmere to MacaNell and onto Woodlawn Nursing Home, was his wife Fleda's paying off the farm, dealing with the mental health system, finally being in court to defend her actions. Fleda was a part of Pete's story, with a love that weathered the storm. And the story doesn't end without hearing about our need to have something bigger than self to hang onto in tough times, and being able to survive victoriously with support of community and faith-based actions. |
Copyright, 2004 Rev 2005 All Rights Reserved |
A son reflects on his father's forty-seven year confinement with mental illness, seeking understanding,
hope, and caring for our mentally ill.
hope, and caring for our mentally ill.
| CHAPTER SYNOPSIS |
| CH 1 LAYING OFF A LAND Setting the stage with general background and finding hidden treasure in similarities and differences of Pete's experiences with Rip Van Winkle's lost years. |
| CH 2 A BACKWARD OUTLOOK A look at our beginnings and endings, seen and unseen, our place in that grand scheme, with issues of mental health using the family's genealogy. |
| CH 3 FROM GRANDMA'S TO GRADUATION Notes mental health issues for today as the author tells his story of growing up in Sullivan County, Indiana, in the 1930s and 1940s. |
| CH 4 SLATE BOARDS TO COMPUTERS With memories of a supportive school setting, the author shares ideas about mental health in the classroom. |
| CH 5 WOODMERE TO WOODLAWN On the basis of Pete's 47 years of medical records from Evansville State Hospital and two nursing homes in Indiana, the author critiques the work of all those who work with patients. |
| CH 6 CONFIDENCE AND CENTS With confidence gained in childhood experiences, the author's mother, Fleda, managed her affairs admirably, including court battles regarding her husband's care. |
| CH 7 KNEELING TO DANCE Pete's family found support in their neighborhood, understood their limitations and potential, received and gave in the name of their faith. |
| LINGERING QUESTIONS While there is much improvement over the last century in mental health delivery, much needs to be done. |
| TIES THAT BIND THE BOOK TOGETHER 1.The inherent worth of every person, including persons handicapped in mind and/or body. 2.Life's Big Picture: Mental health means seeing ourselves as a segment of the ages, our ancestry, our life on earth, and our legacy, all as a whole event. 3.Facing our limitations: We must seek the assistance of others and that of a greater power to find success. 4.Genuine caring about others: May be an instinct or learned, but a challenge and saving act for self and for others; a necessary ingredient in a sane society. 5.Issues of caring then (1948-1995) are still issues today in any hospital, nursing home, or mental health facility today. 6.The author's purpose: To find hidden treasure in the loss of his father's forty-seven years of confinement; Offering Pete's unique legacy for mental health. |
| MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES FROM DAD'S ANCESTRY TO HIS LEGACY |
| Gene's blog: http://www.filedandforgotten.blogspot.com |
F O R P E T E 'S S A K E
by Gene Gilbreath
by Gene Gilbreath
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