mental illness

September 6, 2017 - 9:33pm
After losing her daughter, Debi Hobbs is working to increase the quality and accessibility to mental health care for children in the Syracuse area.

She wanted to be like Michael Myers.

Debi Hobbs woke up in the middle of the night fearing something was wrong. She found her daughter, Amaya Stethers, in the closet with a knife. Amaya, who had been diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder and Autism, later told her mother that she wanted to be like famed movie killer.

Even after this episode, Hobbs waited two months, trying everything else in her power, before seeking an inpatient facility for her daughter. When she could, Hobbs avoided the inpatient facilities available around Syracuse.

October 11, 2012 - 11:04am
Former congressman says Americans need to work harder to end the negative stigma that is attached to having a mental illness.

Patrick Kennedy believes there is a stigma attached to mental illnesses which is based off misunderstanding and ignorance.

“When it comes to the physical symptoms of a mental illness, it is behavioral, and we associate behavior with character. So, if you act strange, if you act weird, you’re called crazy, nuts, psycho. Who wants those pejoratives?” said Kennedy.