In the Shadow of Eight

In January 2018, after nearly two years at Fairmount Behavioral Health, Collin was abruptly transferred to a new “residential facility.” After a long drive, he arrived at George Junior Republic (GJR), a facility that he describes as starkly different from Fairmount: clean, calm, and well maintained, with classrooms and boys closer to his own age.

The staff at GJR listened to him like no one at Fairmount had, and the staff psychiatrist, Dr. Karl, immediately began to question his extensive medication regimen. They started tapering him off most of the drugs—medications that Collin later researched and discovered were commonly used to treat conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, though he had never been told he had any of those disorders. One day, his counselor, Mr. Simon, arranged a phone call with his father. The conversation was their first in years and was intensely emotional. Jon told Collin to “hang on” and promised to bring him home. They began speaking once a week, and though their conversations were awkward at first, Collin recalls feeling deeply reassured by his father’s concern. After six months, Jon revealed that he had been searching for Collin and only learned he was at Fairmount from the letter sent by Collin’s Fairmount roommate, Ryan.