Shed A Light Foundation
In loving memory of Barry Bohlander.
In loving memory of Barry 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.
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 Program began. Our goals are:
- To raise funds to help support research and advocacy through NAMI (the National Alliance for the Mentally
Ill).
- 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.
- To provide emotional support for families dealing with mental illness through our Personal Renewal Mini
Relaxation Retreats where these services are available.
- To support the Compassionate Friends organization, which provides emotional support for families who
have lost children and adult siblings who have lost a brother or sister.
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, 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 stabilized, then
slips again ... that is for those lucky enough to have family support and intervention.
Many people afflicted with schizophrenia have no support and receive no treatment while at the same time, their
personal reality changes dramatically. 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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