The Minds of Billy Milligan (1981)
Nominated by The Mystery Writers of America for the “Edgar Award” in the Best True Crime Category
This isn’t exactly a review – this is an old book and you can find thousands of them out there if you want to read the scoop…but I have a great story to go with it and something I want to share.
If you have been following my blog for years, most of my stories may not surprise you by now. Like most people, I’ve led an interesting life and just happen to write a blog. My stories get more personal as I gain confidence; in myself and as a writer. Lately, I’ve had that poker theory of ‘all in’. You will either like me or not. It does not really matter to me either way. I am not getting paid to write and you are not getting paid to read! Ha. But, life to me is about truths and things I’ve ‘learned along the way’ and I do have an interesting story. And it involves The Ridges and Billy Milligan.
Who the HECK is Billy Milligan?
Let me get back to that question by telling you why I even KNOW about this person. It starts with a book like most of my stories. See, I read this book that changed me in a small way. It was called Flowers for Algernon. I read that book at a very young age and (for those who don’t know) it tells the story of a mentally disabled man who -through science and technology- became ‘smart’. As you can imagine, he remembers everything; who was mean to him, his own handicaps in life and his struggles are quite realistic. I was hooked. Who was this author?
He was Daniel Keyes, who recently passed away this June. And I read more. That is how I learned of Billy. Keyes wrote The Minds of Billy Milligan (1981) (adapted for cinema as The Crowded Room, 2008.) It was about Ohio! It was about mental illness. It was TRUE.
So – WHO IS Billy Milligan?
He was the first person diagnosed with multiple personality disorder in the United States of America to raise the defense of insanity for crimes he had committed. It worked. He was found guilty, but instead of going to prison, he was sent to live in an insane asylum for life. This included Athens State Hospital, now known as The Ridges, in Athens Ohio.
Athens, Ohio – where I went to college.
Ahhhhh – is it all coming together now?
Now, to do a quick recap of my college life in Athens for those new readers; I was working three jobs, I was being stalked by an ex (who I had to get a restraining order against), I was going to college full-time studying Economics and I FORMED A COLLEGE SOCIETY. Yup, me. I founded and formed, as President, The Ridges Historical Society. Apparently any Ohio University college student can create an official society with the right paperwork! I had help and lots of support and it changed me during a time of high stress.
So, I had a college society, small as it was, about a state owned old crumbling mental institution and why did I care?
Was it parallels in my own life? Was it a distraction from my everyday life? Was it for historical value? Was it because I sympathized with those who suffered in insane asylums and those who had crimes committed against them due to those with mental handicaps that weren’t properly medicated or treated? Maybe. Yes. All? None? Some? The truth is, I don’t know why I was so interested. But, I ultimately wanted to preserve The Ridges and to ultimately create a museum at the site about the history of mental illness and how we have dealt with it in our country. See, Billy committed crimes – including rape crimes against three women on the Ohio State campus (yes, Ohio State is different than Ohio University, thank you!) – and was released in 1988 after ONLY a decade in mental hospitals. Say what?!?!?!?!
Why? It happened all over in the late 1980s. Not to get too political, but politics and laws made in-patient care ‘unsavory’ and Billy was left on the streets. In fact, he is still out there, alive and somewhere in California.
Now do you see WHY I would care? Well, if you are in the USA, you might want to care a little bit about it, too. I mean, we are the most heavily medicated country in the world and seem to be suffering from the most damaging mental illnesses of out-patient people and we still don’t like to talk about or understand mental illness. Isn’t that weird?
I decided to write and talk about this book on a blog post because I recently discussed this very book and my plight of The Ridges as a young college student and it is interesting to see how little has changed in our country on this topic. Ohio University still owns the property (recently destroying one of the ‘haunted’ buildings). George Voinovich (who was Ohio Governor at the time – now retired Senator- and I did write to him about The Ridges) saved parts of it while in office. Me and my fun-loving besties who were in The Ridges Historical Society with me as Prez and they as (what else? – VP, Treasury and Secretary) my crew and we met with our college’s President (Glidden at the time) who talked about its historical significance. We were in some news stories and gained some interest. There was some ghost story program on t.v. that made it – even more– into a ‘spooky place’ and, well, The Ridges is still mostly un-used and no museum. Yet.
Hey, one day I may make it happen! Because if we do not learn our history, we are supposed to be doomed to repeat it. So, let’s not make the same mistake again.
So what did I learn from all this?
- Learn about mental illness. I mean, really understand it. Read about it. Talk to others.
- Seek help. If you or someone you know is dealing with mental issues – SEEK HELP!
- Don’t stop trying. Yes, the state we are in with mental illness in our country seems overwhelming. Yet, we can’t change things alone. If you want us to seriously deal with this issue, find out how and who is coordinating efforts in mental health laws, etc.
It’s always the unknowns that get us, isn’t it? It is what let Billy Milligan be a free man in our society today. I wonder how the three OSU students feel? Is this justice to those who are affected or to those suffering from mental illness to go about their business once they commit crimes? Can we have an honest discussion on whether or not our laws in existence at this moment are working for us? These are laws we created and we seem to continue to ignore this very personal yet very challenging and relevant subject of mental health. Keyes did not ignore it. I’m glad.
So, what do you plan to do now that you know?
The Minds of Billy Milligan (1981)
List Price: $ 7.99
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