Thursdays with NAMI – 7 p.m. September 16, 2021
Chris Yount’s first hospitalization occurred in New York City after he flew in on a whim and took a cab to the NBC offices at the Rockefeller Center. He wanted to ask the staff of David Letterman why there was no response after Chris had mailed in a series of hilarious comedy sketches. But when the taxi dropped him off, he stopped in the lobby and called 9-1-1 instead. He told police he needed help.
Chris had been depressed in high school, but he could focus. In fact, he was valedictorian of his class at Chapel Hill High School in 1985. He dropped out of Duke at least twice for mental health reasons but kept his full scholarship and graduated magna cum laude. After considering math and chemistry, he majored in French, finishing his studies in 1991.
This was the pattern throughout his life. Although he excelled at theater, advocacy, and later social work after finishing graduate school at UNC in 2004, mental illness was always a factor. When his illness knocked him down – with psychosis and/or involuntary hospitalization – he took time to recover and then went back to work. Today Chris enjoys the quiet life of retirement writing and publishing. His first published work, a drama called COLOR ME, came out in August; it is the story of a painter who triumphs over schizophrenia.
Thursdays with NAMI starts at 7pm and is free and open to all. Join us via Facebook Live or click here to register to participate via Zoom and to view the schedule for future sessions.
