Four area residents speak about their personal struggles

Derek Stonebraker

Each of these individuals stood as a member on a mental health awareness panel entitled "Depression Among College Students" Wednesday evening in the Bovee University Center Maroon Room.

Joanie Anderson

Anderson, a 47-year-old Midland resident, was diagnosed with severe depression when she was 18 and has since suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as Borderline Personality Disorder.

Anderson grew up in an abusive home, and at 9 years old, began cutting herself to try to ease the pain. She first attempted suicide at 19.

"When I married my husband a few years later, my symptoms subsided," Joanie said. "I was stable for a while." Unfortunately, this was only temporary bliss for Joanie, as her husband, 33 at the time, committed suicide shortly thereafter. He struggled with Bipolar Disorder.

Anderson was so torn apart by this that she had to have people assist her with everyday tasks. She was fed, reminded to bathe, and remained literally unable to function until well after the tragedy.

"I would sit inside smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee with the blinds shut every day," Anderson said.

In 2001, she had a close call with protective services that would change her life. Her daughter, Kindy, who Joanie said sometimes would take care of her, was taken away from her.

Anderson had told her therapist that she was going to attempt suicide, and that she wanted to take her 16-year-old daughter with her so she wouldn't be left behind.

Twenty-seven hospital stays later, Anderson now works for the Community of Mental Health in Midland as a certified peer support specialist.

Dixie Keane

Keane's story started at the age of two in her birthplace of Alma, when her sister took her to a bridge and left her to die.

Two years later, her mother passed away.

As Keane grew older in her father's care, things didn't get much better. Dixie was molested, she was hurt by babysitters and her stepmother put her into a children's home.

"I constantly felt like pieces of garbage being thrown around that nobody wanted," she explained.

Another stepmother beat her almost every day, and when she eventually tried to confront her father about the possibility of having a mental health issue, she was cut off from him.

She also remembers being told in the seventh grade that she was not attractive.

"When you're young like that, you believe those things," Keane said.

Keane says that after 40 years of trying between 75 and 100 different combinations of medication, six or seven hospitalizations, and two bouts of homelessness, she has finally began to accept herself. She now talks openly about her illness instead of wearing what she calls "the mask," a facade she said she used to wear every day.

Keane, now 47, works as a specialist for CMH in Midland.

Lynn Morrow

Morrow, a 38-year-old Mount Pleasant resident, is currently on disability and taking care of her children, without whom, she said, she would be dead.

At 10 years old, her father attempted suicide in front of her entire family.

When she was 12, she tried to explain to her parents the anxiety she felt. She would vomit and faint frequently, but her parents would simply tell her to calm down.

Later, Morrow would discover that she had Generalized Anxiety Disorder as well as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Morrow also had random flashbacks, the significance of which she could not identify for years: vivid images of particular rooms from her childhood home. Later, Morrow found out that these were places where she was sexually assaulted.

Morrow's parents were also heavy drug users, and with such easy access to them, she began using drugs, including cocaine at the age of 13. She was an addict for 24 years.

Morrow has been clean for two years and sees a psychiatrist at the CMH.

She suggests anyone struggling from mental health issues to read the book "Reinvent Your Life," by Jeff Young.

Sean Weatherman

About a year ago, Weatherman, a 36-year-old Mount Pleasant resident, attempted suicide outside of the Charles V. Park Library, ingesting vodka combined with any medication he could find.

Someone found Weatherman in a snow bank and he woke up in a hospital.

Weatherman spent time in an adult foster home, where he had to be forced against his will to bathe, eat, and get better.

"It's a huge step to be able to speak here tonight," Weatherman said. "A year ago, you couldn't get me to speak to even my best friends," he said.

Weatherman reiterated the importance of recognizing mental illnesses as a very serious medical condition, and not a case of simply "snapping out of it," as he was often told to do in his youth.

"I'm really thankful to have a great group of friends who don't look at me differently because of this," Weatherman said.

studentlife@cm-life.com