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I think this lesson was introduced to me when, as a child, I was surrounded by the constant screaming sounds of the over 2,000 patients at Worcester State Hospital 24 hours a day, seven days a week. While it should come as no surprise that suffering is an integral part of mental illness it was only through contact with individuals that the lesson was fully brought home.

Lesson #5 – People with Mental Illnesses Endure Great Suffering

While there are many causes of suffering associated with mental illness, the following examples demonstrate two widely different extremes. Both cases describe how eternal actions can create powerful pain to an individual.

I really got to know Percy when I had to take him for his treatment sessions. He was patient at Westborough State Hospital in the late 1950’s who was prescribed Insulin Shock Therapy (IST). I think that it was this process that fully ingrained in me the notion of compassion for those who are suffering the trials and tribulation of mental illness. For it was in witnessing this “therapeutic” intervention that I came to realize that the treatment can be just as terrifying and painful as the illness itself.
For all the sadness that surrounded Percy most of the time, nothing compared to the anguish and stark pain he registered as he was undergoing his IST and the hour or so immediately following the termination of the treatment. I did note that by the following summer when I returned to work Percy was less sad and in less pain. I believe that this was due to the “Thorazine Revolution,” as he was on a high dose of that medication and totally off IST.

Sol was a Holocaust survivor. He avoided the camps with the help of a Polish farm family who passed him off as a Christian. Along with his wife, who happened also to come from his small Polish village and whom he met after the war, he immigrated to this country. The overt sign of Sol’s wartime experience was severe head banging, which led to his psychiatric hospitalization. He readily admitted that this reaction was based on guilt for having survived by lying about his being Jewish, while most of his Jewish village perished. When he arrived at Fountain House, he was a sad figure with little hope for any future satisfaction. This added to his suffering for he also felt guilt for not being able to support his family, which included a son. How Sol’s suffering was dealt with will be described in a later lesson.

As an addendum to this lesson, we would be most interested in hearing from others examples of suffering that have been experienced. We also wish to remind readers that these postings are drawn from a larger monograph, pending publication. Any references, citations or quotations must be with the express permission of the authors, contacted at the following e-mail address:

tandcassociates@gmail.com