Evelyn Roth

From out of a Dark Corner Evelyn Roth

From Out of a Dark Corner is a true story of the work I did in a halfway house for young people with major mental illness. I organized a musical group there and met a man with severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, (O. C. D), who had a beautiful voice and was living in the facility. He had been in and out of state hospitals for over twenty years, taking medication for his disorder, which caused him to act very drugged. He was erroneously diagnosed with schizophrenia from several psychiatrists over the years and was destined to live a terrible life, never knowing what living on the "outside" would be like. I had just graduated Florida International University with a degree in psychology and applied whatever knowledge I had about mental illness in order to help this man. At the time I was married to another man but later divorced him because I fell in love with "Marty" Also, after reading Dr. Leonard Cammer's book, Freedom from Compulsion I diagnosed Marty's problem correctly and spent years helping him with his repetitive rituals and excessive hand washing. I was also able to help him relive his childhood with his mentally sick mother until he got much better. I chose the title From Out of a Dark Corner because "Marty" spent day after day sitting in his bedroom, in a corner, not doing much of anything except attending the halfway house which was no help to him. Today, "Marty" doesn't take any medication for O. C. D. and lives a normal life, singing professionally and socializing with my friends, who do not know of his past. He also helped me to leave "my dark corner" so to speak, because I always feared that I would become psychotic like my poor mother was, suffering in a state hospital, as she did. This didn't happen and I am very grateful to "Marty" because his love also helped me to leave "my dark corner" This is an uplifting story, something we can all benefit from in today's world.