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.
years, he was 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
- 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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