(Apr. 20, 2015) The suicide of Treatment Advocacy Center executive director Doris A. Fuller’s daughter is a lead story in the April 21 Health & Science section of the Washington Post, including information about the science behind serious mental illness in young adults. Natalie died March 14 in Baltimore at the age of 28.
At the Post’s request, Doris expanded her blog “On Losing My Darling Natalie” to tell more about her daughter’s personal battle with psychosis and to describe what researchers are learning about why the onset of psychotic disorders clusters around adolescence and young adulthood. The article also links to the Treatment Advocacy Center’s latest documentary video, “Mental Illness on Trial,” in which Natalie is featured.
“Some consensus has emerged around the concept that psychotic breaks like Natalie's are not, as they may seem, abrupt but rather are the climax of a long buildup,” Fuller writes. “This idea suggests the possibility, both tantalizing and controversial, that children might someday be screened for psychosis indicators the way they are screened for other health risks, with the hope of reducing the onset of psychosis much as we have reduced the prevalence of heart attacks.”
One of Natalie’s poignant poems is also being published by the Post. Natalie embraced a practice of writing only in ink and without revising. Here is another she wrote about her struggles and longing for a different life.
On and off
that’s how I am
like a light switch.
One day I make perfect sense
the next day I’m nonsense
the next day I’m insane
and then I’m an angel
I wish I could be myself
100%.