2 weeks Ago By Todd R. Hansen
FAIRFIELD – Jason Scully would like to have a regular 9-to-5 job; be married someday; maybe welcome a foster child into his home. They are all dreams that seem closer today than ever. "I had a mantra I wrote down everyday: I want to die," Scully told the Solano County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
He said he was scared all the time, "fearful." Giving the speech was a challenge. The emotions took hold a time or two.
Supervisor Monica Brown even said it was OK to quit if it was too much for him. The board would learn that Scully also struggles with quit, and he continued. Twice he and his sister were put into foster care.
His return home would only escalate his problems. Scully was 14 at the time, living in a tent in the backyard of his mother's house, and really had no idea about the mental health crisis he was living with day to day. A few years later, ready to graduate, he did not get to walk across the stage with his classmates.
A teacher, who had bullied him many times in the past, had taken his robe and cap and threw them away. Then a member of his family took their life. It was a life-changing experience.
"I knew I didn't want to die, but I didn't know how to do that," Scully said. There was silence in the board chamber. He had a grip on everyone's attention.
The situation was so bad at times that Scully could not bring himself to eat or brush his teeth. Eventually, however, he found help through the county mental health programs. Now Scully is a state-certified peer support specialist working with Solano County Behavioral Health.
He also volunteers with NAMI and leads a writers' group at one of the county libraries. He enjoys writing. When he finished his speech, the supervisors, the staff and members of the public who filled the board chambers all rose to their feet.
The standing ovation echoed. The presentation was part of the board's recognition of May as Mental Health Awareness Month. The supervisors also recognized May 5-11 as Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week, so Scully's story was not the only one to inspire the board.
Ellohe Seyoum also told her story about her difficulties during pregnancy. She too found help through Solano County services, and despite doing well now, she still checks in from time to time to talk to those individuals who helped her through her crisis. But like Scully, Seyoum's story begins with a tough childhood, one that did not have a lot of support from her emigrant mother, who had her own issues adjusting to life in the U.
S. after coming from Ethiopia. She was pregnant with her daughter at the time.
Seyoum said she struggled with mental health, too, though was not really aware of it, and eventually looked for a new life by joining the Army. She said she is still friends with a number of people with whom she served, but joked that the Army may not have been the best choice for dealing with mental health issues. But her real problems would start after she was out of the Army and had become pregnant.
Most of those issues were physical at first, but eventually tested her mental health, too. The county Public Health maternal nursing staff would become her support, and now she is a happy mom with a healthy daughter. Supervisor John Vasquez, as he is fond of saying, pointed out those are just two examples of the many services the county provides to the Solano County residents.
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