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by Toby Serrouya
Paralegal, Mother, Donor – Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
Alan at high school graduation with mom (right) and grandmother (left)
My son was first diagnosed with a debilitating form of bipolar disorder when he was 19. His diagnosis was changed eight years later to schizophrenia and he died at the age of 27 and a half.
Alan began to exhibit signs of obsessive behavior in junior high school. In high school, though he was in all honors classes in a very advanced private school, had trouble completing his assignments on time and being ready to go anywhere on time. The car pool was always waiting for him!
But it was when he was a sophomore at Yeshiva University that things took a dark turn. Alan began to sleep all day, not go to classes, and he even stopped eating. We received calls from his friends in the dorm telling us that something was very wrong with him. We took him out of school for a long Thanksgiving recess break and had an evaluation done by the Chief of Psychiatry at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, NJ. It was there Alan was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The doctor advised us to take Alan out of school with a leave of absence, and have him begin therapy immediately. I didn’t realize it at the time, but there were no medications that existed that could help him in the long-term. There is still much work to be done in terms of research breakthroughs and medications. It was only after Alan’s death that I learned how low a priority fund-raising is for mental illness – it is the “step child” of all fund-raising endeavors, even at the Congressional level.
So I decided to organize my own annual fundraiser, A Walk for a Cure, back in May 2001, and looked around for an organization to donate funds to. A good friend of mine, Janet Reckenbeil, gave me a NY Times clipping of a wonderful article that talked about the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (then called NARSAD), and the rest is history.
The psychiatrist wanted to put Alan on medication ─ Alan fought it for a long while, but finally agreed. We quickly learned that until the right combination was found, each medication could exacerbate the symptoms it was meant to alleviate. We finally found an effective combination with lithium as the catalyst.
Alan, celebrating college graduation with mom and friends
Lithium enabled Alan to return to college, read and focus again, and ultimately graduate, going on to get a great job. Unfortunately, this medication began to attack his kidneys and he had to be taken off of it. His doctor was never able to find an adequate substitute.
Because people often mask the signs of mental illness, some of my friends thought Alan was faking it and that I was spoiling him, and even refused to accept his diagnosis. It wasn’t until Alan died that those around him accepted the truth.
One devastating night in 2000, the police department called and gave us the news every parent dreads: that our son had been in a terrible accident, and to come to the police department as soon as possible. On the ride to the police department, I kept asking why we weren’t going to the hospital, but I soon learned why. My beautiful private school-educated son had jumped to his death from the roof of his apartment building. He was just 27 and a half years old.
Once I returned to work after a period of mourning, my colleagues greeted me and told me that they were going to help me heal ─ and they did! Part of my healing process after Alan died was to take their suggestion to write a book. The solitary, healing exercise brought back happy memories of raising Alan, which had been eclipsed by all the years of his illness. I wrote the dedication “in loving memory to my son Alan who always wanted to do the right thing and have all of those whom he knew and loved do the right thing as well.”
People still view mental illness as something that only the homeless or criminals have. The only way to change this is to share stories of people like my son, and to let others know that mental illness can strike anyone – your mother, your sister, your best friend, your son. That’s why I want to keep fighting and tell others to keep fighting mental illness, and keep raising money for the wonderful research that is funded by NARSAD Grants.
Me (Rob) and my kids Hannah, Daniel and Rachel
By Rob Laitman
Runner, Father, Donor – Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
Five years ago my son Daniel was diagnosed with schizophrenia and our lives were turned upside down. He was just starting his sophomore year of high school when he was diagnosed and was in and out of hospital day programs for much of that year. Over the next 2 years we would see many doctors and Daniel would be on many different medications. While he is now on a medical regimen that he is doing well on, and while he finished high school on time in a great program and is now in community college, we all long for the day when his disease will be cured, not just kept under control. He still has symptoms most days and has learned to live with them, but we would love for him to be free of “the voices”.
Last January, Daniel, Daniel’s sister Hannah, their cousin Joey, and myself ran the Disney World Half-Marathon together and raised almost $15,000 for the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. That was just the beginning! On January 7,2012, we did it again. We participated again in the Disney Half Marathon, and I ran the full marathon the next day. The weekend was great! Hannah, Daniel, Rachel and I finished the half marathon in about 2 hrs 37 minutes…..Rachel has not run for almost a year, but she finished! I completed the full marathon in 3 hours and 19 minutes, which is faster than I planned – I felt great!
We all know someone with a mental illness and we can all be part of the search to find better treatments and cures for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety and eating disorders and the many other types of mental illness that are out there. I hope they never affect you, but chances are that one of them will touch you or someone you love. Help us to raise funds for research and you be part of the cure!
We aren’t finished! There are more marathons this year. Would you like to join us? Whether or not you are a runner, I would like to invite you to support Team Daniel and TeamUp! Please share this blog link with family and friends, make a donation, or even better, join us in a run! (See our schedule below.) I am really hoping to recruit more Team members. What an inspiration it would be to see a sea of Team Daniel / BBRF tee shirts running in the marathon!
I personally offer to support runners up to $1000 if they raise at least $5000 for the Foundation. I will do this up to 10 runners.
For more information about joining Team Daniel please email my wife Ann or myself: Ann Laitman at anncmandel@aol.com or Robert Laitman at rslaitman@aol.com.
Team Daniel marathons in support of Brain & Behavior Research Foundation:
• Boston Marathon, April 2012
• New Jersey Marathon, May 2012
• New York Marathon, November 2012
We are in the lottery for…
• Chicago, Illinois
• St. George, Utah
Please enjoy this video “Grateful” – written and performed by my daughter Rachel Laitman:
My name is Ken Harrison and like so many of you, I know first-hand the challenges of caring for a loved one with mental illness. And while each of us faces unique issues, the need for better treatments and therapies is what we are all in search of.
That’s where the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation makes a difference. As a board member and an advocate, I’ve agreed to Chair TeamUp! America to support research in communities throughout the country, and I’m inviting you to join me by forming a team in your neighborhood.
TeamUp! America is a community-driven fundraising challenge with a goal to raise $250,000 by November 16, 2011. 100% of the money you raise will fund leading research institutions in your home state.
As the nation’s leading not for profit funding mental illness, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation has been funding breakthroughs to help the 1 in 4 Americans* diagnosed with a mental illness for nearly 25 years. Guided by an all volunteer Scientific Council that includes 2 Nobel Prize winning scientists, the Foundation is committed to funding cures.
The TeamUp! America campaign will not only raise much needed money for research – research that will one day fund those cures, but it will also lessen the stigma that 77 million Americans* deal with each and every day. Please join me and your neighbors as we Team Up! America.
It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!
1. Join the TeamUp! America campaign at http://www.bbrfoundation.org/TeamUpAmerica
2. Build your team with your family, friends, and neighbors
3. Hold a fundraiser or make a donation to show your support
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at events@bbrfoundation.org or call 800.829.8289.
Thanks for supporting TeamUp! America.
Sincerely,
Ken
John Ken Harrison, II
Board Member, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
Chairman, TeamUp! America
*Based on the 2010 US Census: 77 million of the 311 million Americans (www.census.gov) or 1 in 4 Americans experiences a brain and behavior disorder each year (National Institute of Mental Health)
