A history of madness in the family

I’m sure all of you - okay, maybe just one or two of you - have a nutty aunt, or a crazy uncle. For me, madness was always a little more up close and personal. Those of you who’ve read my brother’s book, Running With Scissors, have some idea what I’m talking about.

And those of you who haven’t read it – go buy it and come back once you’ve read it. And pre-order Look Me in the Eye while you're at it . . .

My parents were both nutty, but of the two, my mother was more consistent. Starting when I was about 13, she made regular visits to the state hospital. Her form of insanity was serious - eat your cigarettes under the gaze of the ceiling demons, then kill them all sort of crazy. My father, on the other hand, was only caged up once, for drunkenness and depression.

My father was violent, and my mother never was. Both were highly disturbing, in their own ways.


Here's a photo of the nuthouse where they were incarcerated. http://www.pbase.com/robisonphoto/image/56970459



For a long time, I lived in fear that the same thing would happen to me. One day, I decided to do something. I decided to research the odds of sinking into madness. I started by making a chart, listing all my family members and what was wrong with them.

When I reviewed my list, I realized that those who went bad, did so young. I was over forty – beyond the age where any of my relatives had turned. Whew! That was a big relief.

As I looked closer, I saw something else. The insanity, depression, drunkenness . . . it was not evenly distributed. There was a distinct pattern of madness, on my mother’s side of the family. A pattern of madness . . . what a nice set of words. You can just see them, frothing at the mouth . . .shaking the bars of the cage . . . throwing vile things at the jailers as they passed.

I set out to research my family history, and over a period of six years I amassed a database of 14,000 ancestors, close relatives, and distant cousins. As I spoke with second, third, and fourth cousins I’d never met, I learned a lot.

My immediate family wasn’t that bad, and they were varied – especially on my mother’s side. Some talked to toasters, and others drank themselves to death. But not all of them were crazy. Many of those who weren’t, were brilliant. Music was another thread that ran though my mother’s side of the family. My grandfather was a songwriter. One of my uncles was a dirt poor molasses farmer, and he lived in a house without electricity or indoor toilets. But he had a piano. And he named three of his kids Tenor, Alto, and Soprano.

Others on my mother's side were writers. My brother and I are just the latest manifestation of a long line of writing talent. And before our words went into books, my ancestors preached them. All over the south, and before that, back in Germany. Writing has a long tradition for us.

As I dug deeper it became clear that the Richter side of my family is distinguished by these things:
- We are highly creative
- We write, paint, compose and perform music
- Some of us have an aptitude for numbers
- Others have an aptitude for philosophy and the esoteric
- Some never fit in, and sink into depression or drinking
- And a few tip over the edge, into out-and-out madness.

Some of you might think a history like that is troubling. For me, it was a relief. I realized that I was not doomed to end my days in a cage. Whatever was going to happen to me in terms of mental illness has probably already happened. And I now understand where my Aspergianism comes from, at least in part. Traits such as I exhibit are visible in other Richter relatives, though it’s hard to follow as we go back in time.

Still, my grandmother always told me I was the sum of my ancestors, and the evidence I collected suggests that’s true. Almost any trait I possess can be picked out of the biography of one or more ancestors. The combination manifested in me may be unique, but the building blocks all came before.

Have you researched your own past? Here’s a link to my database if you’d like to see what I’ve done. http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=johnrobison

Some Aspergian and autistic people may be the way they are as a result of accidental metal or chemical poisoning, or some disease or accident. Others of us are probably mostly a result of genetics. It's possible that it's a combination of both.

I don't doubt that a skilled observer could have picked up a good many of my Aspergian traits in my parents. Other factors certainly may have magnified them, but it's clear (to me at least) that's where they started, for me.

I wonder if the prognosis for people like me/us will turn out to be the same, or different? I suspect that autism is going to get more complex the more we learn. I’m afraid we may have situations where three autistic kids look and act alike, but one inherited his autism, another kid became autistic as a result of a disease, and a third became autistic as a result of mercury or lead poisoning or by some means as yet unknown. Different treatments and therapies may be needed to help each child achieve his potential. All three may have vastly different potentials. But most worrisome of all, the treatment that helps one kid might hurt another.

I consider that myself. I've read about metal poisoning, enough that I've started testing myself. And it definitely makes me wonder how much of the way I am today is a result of my physical environment. Before starting down this road, I had not really considered my phsical environment to be a big contributor to my developed self. I'd not seen beyond genetics and "training, discipline, or nurture."

I used to think I had all the answers. Hell, when I was ten, I knew I had 'em all! Now, I don’t know what to say when I see parents arguing about treatments for their kids. What saves one could seriously harm another. How’s a parent to know what to do??

This is a problem that’s going to get harder before it gets easier, I’m afraid.