Shed A Light Foundation
In loving memory of Barry James Bohlander
In loving memory of Barry James Bohlander
No one who ever met Barry Bohlander could ever forget his big smile, generous
nature, incredible talent, amazing intellect, or his handsome good looks. He was a
gifted musician and natural athlete, a loving son and brother who made friends
quickly. He positively impacted so many lives from the time he was a youngster and
the new kid in town or the newest patient admitted to the hospital. Everyone loved
Barry.
challenged by schizophrenia and fought to the end to overcome the disease, to find
relief from the chaos within his own mind. In just 5 short years, his hopes and dreams
of a future with unlimited potential turned sharply into a journey to find answers in
hopes of simply living with clear thinking, being able to live independently and create
a meaningful life.
Barry's positive energy radiated from him, like a candle's soft glow. And it is with
that vision that our Shed A Light Foundation began. Our goals are:
- To raise funds to help support research and advocacy for those with mental
illness.
- To provide financial assistance for organizations that specifically help those with
schizophrenia and/or other mental illnesses.
- Expand education about mental illness and its impact on those afflicted and their
families through writing, public speaking, and information on this website with
links to other important resources.
There is no cure for schizophrenia, but medication, hospitalization, and
psychosocial rehabilitation can help those afflicted lead happy and productive
lives.
Unfortunately, many patients stop treatment when either their symptoms seem to
clear up, or their flawed belief system creates denial of the illness, or the side effects
of the medication become too unpleasant. This can and does lead to a roller-coaster
ride - in and out of hospitals - as a person slips into a psychotic state, then stabilizes,
then slips again.
For those who are lucky enough to have family support and intervention, there is
hope. But many people afflicted with schizophrenia have no support and receive no
treatment. At the same time, their personal reality changes dramatically. Finding
help is challenging at best. Rather than getting medical treatment, many wind up
alienated from their friends and family, many end up in the criminal justice system.
Consider what E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., wrote in Surviving Schizophrenia:
"Schizophrenia is a cruel disease. The lives of those affected are often chronicles of
constricted experiences, muted motions, missed opportunities, unfulfilled
expectations. It leads to a twilight existence, a twentieth-century underground man.
The fate of these patients has been worsened by our propensity to misunderstand,
our failure to provide adequate treatment and rehabilitation, our meager research
efforts. A disease which should be found, in the phrase of T. S. Elliott, in the "frigid
purgatorial fires" has become through our ignorance and neglect a living hell."
ABOUT SCHIZOPHRENIA: (From the www.nami.org website.)
"Schizophrenia is a devastating brain disorder that affects approximately 2.2 million
American adults, or 1.1 percent of the population age 18 and older. Schizophrenia
interferes with a person's ability to think clearly, to distinguish reality from fantasy, to
manage emotions, make decisions, and relate to others. The first signs of
schizophrenia typically emerge in the teenage years or early twenties. Most people
with schizophrenia suffer chronically or episodically throughout their lives, and are
often stigmatized by lack of public understanding about the disease."
Like many other medical illnesses, such as cancer or diabetes, schizophrenia seems to
be caused by a combination of problems including genetic vulnerability and
environmental factors that occur during a person's development. Recent research has
identified the first genes that appear to increase risk for schizophrenia. Like cancer
and diabetes, the genes only increase the chances of becoming ill, and do not cause
the illness all by themselves."
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