A Case of Recovery
Anybody can experience mental illness in their life.
A decade ago, Professor Patrick W. Corrigan wrote Justin Trudeau — then Canada’s prime minister — and stated that knowledge of my story was in the public interest, as it would “serve to challenge the stigma of mental illness, raise awareness of recovery, and inspire hope for people with mental health problems and their families” (Patrick W. Corrigan, February 22, 2016).
Three decades ago, while experiencing acute psychosis, I walked through a department store in downtown Toronto naked (Toronto Sun, November 15, 1996).
As addressed in a 2006 short film (The Naked Advocate), and at my 2011 talk at Canberra’s Street Theatre for a program by Australia’s public broadcaster (ABC), and in my chapter (Changing My Mind) in Coming Out Proud to Erase the Stigma of Mental Illness, my mental health dramatically deteriorated after I became a whistleblower and publicly campaigned for an investigation into a case of systemic corruption (hereinafter referred to as “the File 1000-121 Affair”). The scheme was designed to unjustly enrich private media companies, adopted by officials at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), who had been appointed by Brian Mulroney when he was prime minister.
After politicians declined to investigate the highly unorthodox media subsidy scheme, despite the facts and direct questions to prime minister Jean Chrétien in Parliament (House of Commons, March 30, 1995), I took matters into my own hands. I personally sued the corporation benefitting most from the scheme, a company that was controlled by billionaire Edward (Ted) S. Rogers Jr. Fifteen months before I experienced that traumatic life-altering episode of psychosis, and months after I initiated Mahar v. Rogers Cablesystems Ltd. with the help of a pro-bono legal team, a respected news anchor on Global Television reported that I was personally challenging “some of the most powerful vested interests in the country” (Peter Kent, August 8, 1995).
It was definitely a stressful period of time.
Five months before that acute psychosis in 1996, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, while experiencing severe depression and suicidal.
My own recovery process required a decade. During the period from November 1996 to February 2016, I migrated to Australia in 2001, and became a mental health advocate, starting by becoming a volunteer educator in a program to reduce stigma and encourage help-seeking behaviour for high school students experiencing mental health problems (MIEACT);
completed a degree in social work, conducted a presentation on my recovery from bipolar disorder at the World Psychiatric Association International Congress (A Case of Recovery, December 1, 2007), and subsequently worked in a mental health recovery-oriented service in Canberra (LinkedIn).
Two months after my presentation in Melbourne at the World Psychiatric Association International Congress, I went to Canada and presented at a public hearing conducted by the CRTC, where I advocated for a judicial review into the File 1000-121 Affair. Hours later, I issued a press release through Canada NewsWire that was covered by a number of news companies, including Reuters. As a result, the following day a Member of Parliament stated in the House of Commons that citizens were “owed more than $1.2 billion” (House of Commons, February 8, 2008). However, once again, Canadian politicians did not initiate an investigation into the ongoing — although modified — scheme.
Over the past two decades, since immigrating to Australia, I have shared aspects of my experience of severe mental illness and recovery in a variety of roles and settings to different cohorts, includina mental health advocate in a short film (The Naked Advocate – 2006); a peer worker in a community recovery program (PHaMs); as a mental health advocate a talk at The Street Theatre in Canberra in (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – 2011); a chapter in Coming Out Proud to Erase the Stigma of Mental Illness (Changing My Mind – 2015); a case study of the File 1000-121 Affair (One Media Law – 2016) and at a number of mental health conference. Recently, I co-facilitated groups about psychosis and recovery to individuals with psychosis.