The storyteller grew up with a father with an undiagnosed disorder. This was challenging for the family. In this video he opens up about his childhood, the things he missed out on, and the difficulties of his father’s violent mood swings. He recalls the violence and verbal abuse his father would say to his mother, everyone just assumed he had anger issues rather than an underlying mental illness. This went on until around 7th grade in middle school when his father’s symptoms took a turn for the worse. Only then was his father finally diagnosed with schizophrenia and put on medications.
He shares how even on medication, his father would still have schizophrenia relapses at least once a year, causing his childhood to be a generally unstable environment. He speaks out about how this affected his studies, family interactions, and most of all, his social circles. He was often scared to invite friends home, afraid to open up to friends about his situation. He found himself closing himself off more to friends, becoming more isolated. This changed when he started dating his now-wife and felt compelled to open up to her. He never wanted to hide this from her, and finally gathered the courage to tell her, preparing himself for complete rejection. In the end, it turned out for the best, his wife fully accepted him, and even respected him more for telling such a personal thing to her. Jai, in his own words, describes the women in his life, his mom and his wife as his “two superwomen”.
Speaking out about mental health issues and problems that have plagued your childhood can be hard, but ultimately help relieve the burden of your problems by sharing it. He hopes others can find hope and help through his story. This is why we at RCOZ are an open platform where you can upload and access short personal mental health videos, blogs, and stories.