Sometime in mid-2014, for the first time in my life – at the age of 37 years old, I acknowledged my mental health was deteriorating. Actually, by then it had already taken a nosedive, but it was a gradual process to get to that point where I was suffocating in my own despair.I was afraid and unsure how to proceed, and that hopelessness and helplessness culminated into a crippling depression and severe anxiety where it seemingly reached a point of no return with my first attempt at suicide.
There has been progress made to destigmatize mental illness through these last several years, but as a near middle-aged man when I first experienced this debilitating disorder, it was not quite yet socially acceptable to make public, which is likely why it’s often called a silent killer.
This dedicated page on the “Once In A Lifetime” website will be all about mental health.
Blog Entres | Mental Illness
This Unpopular Law Needs To Finally Die
If you had told me on April 25, 2007 when I decided to start a documentary about dogfighting, that I would still be investing all my time 14 years later on issues related to dogs labeled “pit bulls” in the year 2021, I probably would have called you crazy. Sure,…
River Fire Films Releases Concept Trailer
My Cleveland-based video production company, River Fire Films, released the concept trailer this week for the upcoming doc-series titled “Once In A Lifetime” (OIAL), giving interested viewers a glimpse of what the 5-6 one hour episode documentary will be once finished. While this doc-series may have officially began production the…
This May Come As A Surprise…
This may come as a surprise to some – no matter how many times someone labels me as such, I am not a “pit bull” advocate. I became one once, but then something happened. No, I didn’t have a negative experience with an alleged “pit bull” dog and decide to…
The Defining Moments How I Got Here: The Intro
Over the course of production for this doc-series, I will be writing blog entries pertaining to subtopics the film covers. I’ve shrunk it down to 6 primary categories: Dogfighting; Breed Specific Legislation; the Animal Welfare and Sheltering Systems; the Human-Canine Bond; Racism and Classism; and Mental Illness. If there was…
Don’t Know What You Got, ‘Til It’s All Gone.
I never really wanted three dogs…it just sorta happened, which is partially why the process of gathering my thoughts for the contents of this blog entry have been so painful to digest and write about. But, since the evening of July 8, 2020, it’s been long overdue. I can’t seem…
Once In A Lifetime 