Shadowlands

Shadowlands | Three profiled in mental illness series are striving to improve their conditions | a year later

CLARK BROOKS
Staff Writer

27-Feb-1995 Monday

Chuck Elliot | . . .

Chuck Elliot is studying law. . . .

A year ago today, after being profiled in the Union-Tribune's special
section, "Breakdown: Into the shadows of mental illness," the three men are
improving despite serious mental disorders that require daily medication
and periodic therapy.

Photographer Rob Gauthier and I spent hundreds of hours with Elliot,
. . . and their families from October 1992 through February
1994. They allowed us to visit at all hours, often without notice, in the
belief that public understanding helps relieve the stigma surrounding
severe mental illness.

The past year has been a tough one for the men, but not unrewarding.
"Progress" is slow and sometimes seems ephemeral. A look at how they're
doing:

Chuck Elliot

Elliot, 47, has bipolar disorder, also called manic-depressive illness. It
is a chemical imbalance in his brain that causes alternating episodes of
mania and depression.

Elliot's history has been a leaning toward manic episodes. Occasionally he
has quit taking his lithium, lost control and wandered the streets for days
at a time.

During the time he allowed the newspaper to chronicle his day-to-day life,
he met and married Diann Smith following a whirlwind courtship. He also
quit taking his lithium to get an energy boost that soon spiraled to mania.
At one point, police officers hauled him to the emergency room at the
county psychiatric hospital because he was so out of control.

Since he was diagnosed in 1982, Elliot had been hospitalized about twice a
year, usually because he quit taking his medication, saying that it slows
him down too much.

But Elliot has stayed on his "meds" since that June 1993 episode and has
not been placed in emergency care since.

"I now have a very detailed morning routine based on a memory system," he
says. "One step leads to another, and I can't do the next step without the
previous one. So I have to take my meds to get to the next step."

His wife, who has the same illness, helps keep him stable. They live in the
College Area.

Elliot still dabbles with his company -- Mind Star -- which he started two
years ago, hoping to educate and organize mental health patients and
professionals. But he has had little time for it since August, when he
began taking classes at Western State University College of Law.

He carries nine units and says he studies 7 1/2 hours a day, six days a
week.

Elliot calls this endeavor "Law Studies Unlimited." He obtained a student
loan to pay for tuition and expects to complete the required courses in
four years.

"Normal -- well I don't know what normal is -- but usual is three years,"
he says. "But I'm taking four because I haven't gone to school in a
regular curriculum in 20 years."

Elliot, who holds a doctorate of education degree from the University of
Southern California, ran for the county school board last June. He lost,
but he collected 10,463 votes, nearly 16 percent.

"I was expecting 1,000 votes or less," he says. "I spent less than $100 for
advertising."

. . . .

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