Anthony is the son of two musicians. His mother, a singer, died some time ago, his father passed relatively recently. Anthony suffers from schizophrenia and now resides in an institution upstate New York where he receives psychiatric medication, counselling, and medical and dental care. This is the "happy ending" to a tortuous situation where he was found living in a utter squalor in his downstate home he had shared with his father who had been refusing treatment for his son for many years. Anthony was found in a catatonic state, lying in his underwear, in an unheated home filled floor to ceiling with stacks of newspapers and other detritus.
I became acquainted with Anthony in a legal capacity and visited him upstate during the course of several years. He is the gentlest of souls, a man who takes great pleasure in participating is group activities and volunteer opportunities, a man who is well-liked by residents and staff at his residence. He is also man tortured by paranoia and fragmented memories. Piecing together his story, I learned that he had once been acquainted with the guitar and piano. I am no longer helping Anthony in a legal capacity, but I remain his lifelong friend. My hope for him is that he rediscovers music - for music is the surest source of internal healing. See @Robert Gupta's talks on TED about music and medicine, music and sanity.
No comments:
Post a Comment