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    Finally Being Heard: A Sister Gives Voice to Her Brother
    Finally Being Heard: A Sister Gives Voice to Her Brother
    Finally Being Heard: A Sister Gives Voice to Her Brother
    Ebook449 pages1 hour

    Finally Being Heard: A Sister Gives Voice to Her Brother

    By Patricia Hester Davis and James Earl Hester Jr.

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    About this ebook

    Are We Treating Mental Patients with Dignity?



    Finally Being Heard is an extraordinary compelling story of one mans journey through mental illness and his ultimate triumph. The reader will be moved to tears.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateSep 19, 2005
    ISBN9781467027724
    Finally Being Heard: A Sister Gives Voice to Her Brother
    Author

    Patricia Hester Davis

    James Earl Hester, Jr. grew up near Roxboro, North Carolina.  He graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in Journalism and History.  The inspiring career of this promising newspaper reporter and free lance writer was interrupted when he suffered a mental breakdown at the age of 29.   Patricia Hester Davis, James Earl’s younger sister, is a certified educator with over thirty years of diverse experience ranging from public to institutional schools to private tutoring and diagnostic testing and instruction in psychiatric hospitals.  This experience enabled her to recognize the talents of others and the unique abilities of her brother.  She is also the author of Beatitudes of Learning, a book that focuses on bringing out the uniqueness of all individuals.   Contact the author at: wcdavis@cox.net

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      Book preview

      Finally Being Heard - Patricia Hester Davis

      © 2005 James Earl Hester, Jr. and Patricia Hester Davis. All Rights Reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

      First published by AuthorHouse 09/12/05

      ISBN: 1-4208-7415-2 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4670-2772-4 (ebk)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2005906771

      Contents

      CHAPTER 1

      CHAPTER 2

      CHAPTER 3

      CHAPTER 4

      CHAPTER 5

      CHAPTER 6

      CHAPTER 7

      CHAPTER 8

      CHAPTER 9

      CHAPTER 10

      CHAPTER 11

      CHAPTER 12

      EPILOGUE

      APPENDIX A

      APPENDIX B

      APPENDIX C

      APPENDIX D

      APPENDIX E

      APPENDIX F

      REVIEWERS’ COMMENTS

      This book is a remarkably perceptive and candid first-hand account of the struggle of a man first hospitalized and diagnosed with schizophrenia (later changed to manic-depression) in 1956. His writings show a bright and promising young writer with extraordinary insight into himself and his illness, but with no power to be heard or to have a say in his own mental health treatment. Not only does he reveal the fear and ignorance of many who worked with mental illness at the time, he struggles against the stigma of mental illness in the rural community in which he lives. Despite these challenges, his writings show a lack of self-pity, a journal of personal discovery, and a spiritual maturity that ultimately led to self-acceptance.

      Mrs. Davis compiled this book of her late brother’s writings to help others understand the anguish of mental illness for the individual and for those who love them, and to give voice to a man unable to have a voice of his own.

      Michelle L. Kelley, Ph.D.

      Professor of Psychology,

      Old Dominion University,

      Norfolk, Virginia

      ~

      All people could benefit from reading Finally Being Heard since we are all going through soul growth processes. It is about evolving. As a result of labeling by society, some people are put in categories that don’t fit, and these same people allow this to happen. James Earl was driven to not accept how he was labeled and categorized because he knew it wasn’t true. Many people accept what others project onto them and give up. This book could help others to believe in themselves.

      Lucille Stubbs,

      Licensed Professional Counselor,

      Licensed Marriage & Family

      Therapist, Virginia Beach, Virginia

      ~

      Our son, Robert, was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his mid-20’s over ten years ago in 1994. He is an exceptional musician and artist.

      Patricia Davis provides her brother, James Earl, the venue to insights formerly unavailable. The stigma and medications too often stifle creativeness. Many with treated and untreated illnesses are unable or unwilling to present cogent thoughts and opinions. We experienced our son Robert’s highs and lows, his hurts and disappointments, and frustrations when his opinions were too frequently discounted by medical professionals and family members. James Earl’s prolific writing gift worked through those barriers.

      Today, the phenomenal strides in psychiatric and medication research give doctors more options. Our son had few alternatives to the medication Haldol. Also, available today are many groups such as National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), which provide education and information for family members and friends coping with the diagnosis of mental illness. These organizations provide support, understanding, and guidance, which were not an option for James Earl.

      Thank you, Patricia, for allowing James Earl to be heard.

      Pauline and Jim Russell,

      Norfolk, Virginia

      ~

      In Finally Being Heard, Patricia Davis weaves together her brother’s story in his own brilliantly incisive words. James Earl spared no one, least of all himself. However, it is his description of the mental health world that makes this a must read. His analysis suggests that a most fundamental illness within the mental health profession was and maybe still is endemic to the professionals themselves. Seemingly no one ever listened to him carefully. His diagnosis shifted like fashion design. His intelligence threatened those entrusted to treat him. His treatment was mechanical and unsuited to him as an individual.

      This might be dismissed as the way the mentally ill used to be treated if it weren’t for the evidence that today’s methods are simply more politically correct. Patricia Davis’ own work, Beatitudes of Learning, shows how at-risk and troubled youth are similarly abused today. Only someone with her own professional experience and simultaneous love for her brother could have compiled this book so skillfully and compassionately. Read it for both, and read it to hear the thousands of mental patients who are never heard.

      Randolph Hester,

      Professor,

      University of California,

      Berkley, California

      HESTER FAMILY PICTURE

      Family%20Picture.jpg

      Front: Patricia (Little Sister-8)

      Middle left-to-right: James Earl, Sr. (Father-48)

      Sadie (Mother-46)

      Martha (Oldest Sister-16)

      Back left-to-right: James Earl, Jr. (Oldest Brother-18)

      Sarah Jane (Middle Sister-13)

      Henry Moore (Youngest Brother-11)

      ABOUT THE COVER

      The cover of this book was chosen to signify James Earl’s life, both here on earth and in the heavenly world.

      Just as the rainbow frequently appears after a storm, the rainbow on the cover represents a bridge between the stormy physical and peaceful spiritual worlds. In his physical life, James Earl went through a stormy period during his struggle with mental illness. Although he was able to restore some balance within himself through self-analysis and positive thinking, because of the stigma of mental illness, he was never able to fully regain the respect of others and be taken seriously as a writer. Later on, his thoughts did become more positive and, in the end, he was more at peace with himself.

      The rainbow in the sky signifies the end of his stormy problems with mental illness in his new spiritual life after his death. The dove with an olive leaf is symbolic of the peace achieved after finally being heard as a result of this book.

      FORWARD

      Finally Being Heard is an extraordinary book, a compelling story of one man’s journey to be heard in a world that did not understand him. Patricia Davis shares the story of her brother James Earl’s journey through mental illness and the tremendous impact it had on both James Earl and their family.

      I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to work with Patricia on her book. James Earl was a prolific writer who left behind over 1,300 stories and journal entries, many of which dealt with the pain he endured at being labeled mentally ill.

      When I met Patricia several years ago, she told me that several weeks after her brother had died, he appeared to her in a dream. He wanted her to use his writing to help others. With tremendous dedication, Patricia spent hours working with her brother’s writing, and it was my honor to help her choose passages and to formulate the layout of the material.

      Many times when I read Finally Being Heard during its compilation, I would be moved to tears over the depth of James Earl’s pain and suffering and his desire to be free of the judgment and projections of others. He was a deeply spiritual man who understood the human condition in some ways better than the professionals who were treating him for mental illness.

      I believe readers will find Finally Being Heard a moving story that will enrich their lives and find James Earl to be a spiritual teacher in his own right.

      Thank you, Patricia, for allowing me to participate in such an act of love.

      Cynthia L. Bischoff,

      Communications Coach and Author,

      Leading from the Heart Educator,

      Norfolk, Virginia

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      I have so many people to thank for their contributions to this book. The first person that made it possible to pursue this idea was my husband William Davis (Bill). At the time of James Earl’s death, he allowed me to bring the many boxes of my brother’s writings into our house. He then spent hours filing and indexing all of the stories which made it easy for me to compile the ones necessary to write Finally Being Heard. His

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