BUTLER TWP Linda and Steve Schmitmeyers' journey is a positive story about mental illness.

“In going through it, I came to understand mental illness and also the stigma associated with it and knew something should be done to destigmatize the illness,” said Linda Schmitmeyer of Middlesex Township. “Mental illness needs to be talked about more openly.”

Linda, a former Butler Eagle features editor and columnist, and former Butler County Community College instructor, and her husband, Steve, who have been married 43 years, read from “Rambler: A Family Pushes Through the Fog of Mental Illness” on Wednesday evening during BC3's first open house for the Heaton Family Learning Commons, a three-year-old facility that was renovated in 2016, to introduce the community to its available materials and services.

The Learning Commons hours are 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays and 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays.

Schmitmeyer graduated from the University of Dayton with a bachelor's in secondary education and earned a graduate degree in English education from Wright State University.

From 1995 to 2001 she was features editor of The Butler Eagle, where she also wrote a column for 13 years. She taught writing and literature courses at BC3 from 1989-1994.

The 387-page nonfiction book published in 2018 is about a family finding a way forward through the fog of mental illness and is told through intimate family scenes and the Schmitmeyers' personal writings, she said. The book is available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites.

Chronicled in the book is Steve Schmitmeyer's mental illness and his love of the Rambler American, an automobile manufactured by American Motors Corp. between 1958 and 1969.

“It was a difficult journey, but we were able to push through that fog that is mental illness and regain a meaningful life,” she said.

At the time of her husband's diagnosis in the 1990s, mental illness was a private discussion, Schmitmeyer said. Steve had a head injury six months before his diagnosis, which was another sensitive topic at the time.

Over time, his diagnosis became schizoaffective disorder, a mental disorder in which a person experiences a combination of schizophrenia symptoms, such as hallucinations or delusions, and mood disorder symptoms, such as depression or mania.

Steve's job became one to heal his mind, while Linda worked to keep the family together, she said.

While Steve, who had been a mechanical engineer, appeared lazy and lethargic, he worked hard to get better, she said, adding he participated in research studies and tried different medications to find the combination that could stabilize his mind.

“People with a mental illness are not lazy or apathetic, they really want to engage in life, but aren't able to,” she said.

Steve, who has been recovered for about 20 years, read a section of the book that covered the personal notes he kept for years during his illness.

“I'm happy,” said Steve, adding he works three days a week. “I feel good about my family.”

One benefit her children have gained was an awareness of their own mental health, she said.

At the time of the diagnosis, her children were 10 and younger. Linda said, adding she had to be in constant communication with them to help them understand mental illness.

She hoped listeners walked away from the reading with hope and an understanding that mental illness is treatable.

Be aware of your own mental health, Linda said, adding early detection is important.

“The stigma prevents people from seeking treatment, and if we talk more openly about it and acknowledge it's something that needs to be taken care of just like our physical health, then I think it will naturally flow that people will talk more openly about mental illnesses, she said.”

BC3 student Gino Ficca, 19, saw the happy ending in the Schmitmeyers' story.

“It was a very interesting lecture about mental illness and how it can be helped,” Ficca said. “He was struggling, but eventually came back more normal — that was the best part, the good part of the story like the happy ending.”

WHAT: National Alliance on Mental Illness Butler County Family-to-Family Education ProgramWHEN: 5:30 p.m. Thursdays; the first session starts ThursdayWHERE: Center for Community Resources, 212 S. Main St., ButlerTO REGISTER: Call 724-431-0069