Organization Honors Advocate for Mentally Ill as Mother of the Year

Frances O’Farrell has felt guilty for more than 25 years about her son’s illness.

Perhaps she could have silenced the voices inside his mind. Maybe she could have prevented his unbearable anguish, she thought.

But there was nothing O’Farrell could have done to stop the schizophrenia that afflicted Michael when he was 15, robbing him of a normal life.

“I have hurt and I have suffered right along with him,” she said. “It’s a grief to all mothers who cope with this problem.”

As a result, she has dedicated much of her time working as an advocate for the mentally ill. The Port Hueneme woman often travels statewide sharing her experiences with other parents. She tries to help them overcome their grief and work toward improving the lives of their children.

“I think we can bear most anything if we are working toward a solution,” O’Farrell said. “If we just sit and fold our hands, it’s impossible to take.”

O’Farrell--a well-known local artist who has painted portraits of Betty Ford and Ronald Reagan’s mother--this month was named Mother of the Year by the California chapter of American Mothers Inc., a nonprofit organization that seeks out outstanding mothers.

For the past eight years, she has been a member of the Ventura County Mental Health Advisory Board and has chaired its legislative committee for the mentally ill.

“My son was a perfect human being,” O’Farrell said, “and then something went wrong--something I shall never quit fighting for doctors to understand. We need more research, and that means more dollars.”

Nearly 200,000 people in the United States suffer from schizophrenia. Blamed on abnormal brain chemistry, the disorder strikes without warning in the late teen-age or early adult years; no cure has been found. Many schizophrenics withdraw into a hallucinatory world, unable to deal with others or take care of themselves.

“There’s a terrible stigma attached to mental illness that I hope I can bring to the attention of the public,” O’Farrell said. “It’s a disease like multiple sclerosis or diabetes.”

O’Farrell, who also has a daughter, has crusaded for research funds and has led protests in Sacramento against budget cuts in programs for the mentally ill.

“She’s a watchdog about the state legislation,” said Richard A. Reinhart, chief psychologist of the county mental health department. “She’ll say: ‘Look! They’re trying to cut the budget, and we’ve got to do something about it. Get on the phone and demand your rights.’ She’s very proactive.”

“She has gone way above and beyond the call of duty,” said Randy Feltman, director of the county mental health department.

O’Farrell is shy about accepting the praise. “I just want to give of whatever resources I have,” she said. “I don’t have a lot of money, but I can give in other ways.”

Recently, she donated the proceeds from an art exhibit that she held in Oxnard to the county mental health department. The money was used to buy Christmas presents for mentally ill children.

O’Farrell said her son is living in a group home and is doing as well as can be expected. Over the years he has been in Camarillo State Hospital and other facilities.

O’Farrell said she visits Michael almost every weekend and talks to him by phone several times a week. She keeps an old painting of Michael when he was 6 among the dozens of canvases she has in the art studio at her home.

She has depicted her son with rosy cheeks and bright blue eyes. He is smiling.

“People have asked me why I have stayed so close to Michael when other parents would have just walked away,” O’Farrell said. “I could never leave him. He was my perfect little baby boy.”