The psychiatrist of the opera | va greater los angeles health care | veterans affairs

Then, a dim light from above casts a huge shadow of the moth flying circles around it.   The opera starts. The piano beats a haunting melody. The voices of the chorus resonate in perfect

pitch and heart- wrenching lyrics.  Oh, who can understand what war is? To see what you see: to run, to crawl, to fight,  To hear the sounds of war: guns, screams fire… … I dissolve, my soul

explodes. Did we do wrong? Uncle Sam! Were we right? I cannot feel! I feel too much!  After what happened! Along my journey in the night! So what’s so special? The feelings are real. The 

stories are real. And the  man who wrote it, Dr. Kenneth Wells, is not a Doctor of Music or Theater, but a Doctor of Psychiatry at the Greater Los Angeles VA. Wells has two passions: mental

health and opera.  His idea to join the two together came from a   desire to bring to the community a better understanding of mental struggles among Veterans. It resulted in Veteran

Journeys, an opera performed to packed  auditoriums. To understand his motivation for writing the opera, we should delve into his work at the VA. THE VETERANS, THE HOMELESS, AND THE

COMMUNITy  Wells works at the Homeless Clinic where he brings a ray of hope to Veterans  who struggle with mental health   issues, and he does so in more ways than one.   A member of

numerous organizations, he is co-director of the UCLA VA Center of Excellence.   "Our mission is to improve the  health and social outcomes of  Veterans who are homeless and who

struggle with mental  health issues and substance use  disorders,” Wells explained. “We also support research to develop  innovative ways to assists Veterans who struggle with mental

illness”   Wells and his colleagues strive to find and use creative ways to help Veterans afflicted by numerous conditions so they can lead fulfilling lives. His work focuses on a range of

struggles  from personality disorder to drug use; from schizophrenia to depression.  “We have a program that engages patients with the arts that is very effective. We had a patient   (not

mine) with borderline personality disorder  Who wrote a show and it became an off- Broadway play,” Wells said.   That is one way that Wells uses art in therapy. The other way is to bring the

community an  understanding of what Veterans go through and perhaps alleviate some of the fears that people have of those who struggle with mental issues.  THEY HEAR VOICES  Wells wants

people to know more and fear less those with mental illness. Take for example Schizophrenia -those people who hear voices and who we shy away from. Many people think that those who struggle

with schizophrenia cannot function in society and are dangerous, But that’s not so.  “Hearing voices or seeing visions is a condition in the brain. Those who experience it may feel they are

 persecuted and believe these feelings are real, and that can happen, but more typically they are the people who are victimized,” Wells explained.  And as for leading a productive life,

Wells tells the story or Elyn Saks, whose life’s accomplishments are beyond imagination.  THERE’S LIFE WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA  Elyn began experiencing The Center Cannot Hold Opera symptoms of

mental illness at eight years old. She had a full-blown episode when attending Oxford University. And then another breakdown while she was a student at Yale Law School. At that time, she was

forcibly re-strained and forced to take anti-psychotic medication. Despite living with schizophrenia, Elyn went on to finish school. Today, Elyn is an Associate Dean, professor of Law,

Psychology, and Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences. She’s also won the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship prize that’s unofficially known as the Genius Prize.   Then there’s the brilliant

mathematician John Nash, whose story was depicted in the movie A Beautiful Mind. Nash was a mathematician who made fundamental contributions to game theory, algebraic geometry, and geometry.

  Nash and fellow game theorists won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, followed by several other prizes.   Nash began showing signs of mental illness in his early 30s. He spent several

years at psychiatric hospitals being treated for schizophrenia. After 1970, his condition slowly improved, allowing him to return to academic work.   Schizophrenia is a chronic mental

disorder that affects a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This      disorder causes hallucinations, delusions, and difficulty concentrating. “Schizophrenia can be improved through

 medication. There are different treatments available. They may not provide a cure for everyone, but definitely help reduce the frequency and the extent of delusions, allowing people to

manage and live productive lives,” Wells said.  INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO COMMUNITY Wells goes beyond raising community awareness of mental illness. He actually gets the community to        

participate. Take for example depression that afflicts people worldwide.  “We can have psychiatrists sit in their office and wait for people to come. But if you're depressed, for

example, you will most likely stay at home and sit in your shell. Also people who are depressed may not identify themselves as  depressed. We work with churches and parks to get people to

seek treatment.  “Those who work in these places can notice that something is wrong with a person they know. If the clergy has a means to contact somebody in the healthcare system and say,

‘hey, this person is having issues,’ we expedite a way for them to get seen right now.”  “It’s the same with parks. Many of these recreational program employees may notice that somebody is

depressed and stopped participating. They can contact  us and we do early interventions rather than waiting six months,” Wells explained.  VETERAN JOURNEYS - THE AUDIENCE CRIED  Wells has

been so inspired by hearing Veterans’ stories that he decided they need to be told, and what better venue than an opera?  “I was in a homeless clinic and we started this national study with

interviews of veterans and family members. I thought why don’t we do an opera about them? I got the Institutional Review Board’s permission to use that to write an opera.   “Veteran Journeys

is inspired by true stories,  integrating characters together, and sometimes using actual thoughts or words from the interviews. It tells the story of surviving post-traumatic stress

disorder, homelessness, and trauma of war,” Wells said.  The audience reaction was intense “When we did the post discussion literally people were crying. They     said ‘I have never seen my

story told. And now I can talk about my journey and the pain it has caused me.’ Even cast members talked about their history of trauma.”  PSYCHIATRISTS HAVE DREAMS TOO  There’s a whole other

story to Wells’ decision to use art as a method to reach people. “People really feel  it's really hard to deal with mental health in the community. But when you use art, they relate to

it in  a different way,” Wells said. That's when I  decided to go ahead and follow up  on, my dream since I was 12 years old.”  Wells grew up in a family of professional and artistic

duality. His grandfather was vice president of Bell Telephone and a choir director. His father was an engineer and a visual artist. When Wells was 14, he started his first choir at church

and had a youth choir that performed in LA.  “I was arranging pieces for that choir and singing trios with my brother and his girlfriend." MY LONG TIME FRIEND CONTRACTED CANCER  “In

junior high, I met someone who became my best friend. We used to go to his home every day after school and listen to opera. He had a huge record collection, and I have developed a love for

it and always wanted to write one. But, but  I never had the time. I’m a doctor and a family man” When my best friend, Rick, turned 40 years old, he was diagnosed with cancer and I got him a

second opinion that saved his life.   While we were waiting for him to recover, I said to him ‘let's write an opera libretto.’ So we did. I tried to get  famous composers to compose

it. And they said, ‘no, you have to write it  yourself.’ So I did. Because my friend  survived, he got to sing in the premiere.”