What’s wrong with Robert?

What’s Wrong with Robert?

By Christine Johnson

When the director, Rory Kennedy, began the new HBO documentary “A Boy’s Life”, she planned to make a movie about a poor, rural boy who was unable to get the psychiatric care he needed. The story she filmed was quite different and unexpected.

At the opening we meet a seven-year-old boy named Robert. According to his grandmother, Anna, Robert is very ill. He takes multiple psychoactive medications, often literally forced down his throat by his grandmother, and has been diagnosed with multiple psychiatric syndromes, disorders, and illnesses.

As we learn more about his life we find ourselves nodding our heads as the root of his problems seem clear. Robert was born to a sixteen-year-old, desperately poor mother named Robanna who claims that Robert’s father raped her. She mentions involvement with drugs and the rage she felt when she discovered she was pregnant. Robanna’s mother, Anna, claims that she took custody of Robert and his younger brother because of Robanna’s abuse and neglect. No wonder the child takes Ritalin and Buspar.

Robert’s grandmother, Anna, recites a catalog of her grandsons’ symptoms and crimes claiming that he has killed several pet cats and dogs, attempted to hang himself multiple times, and grows bitterly depressed. Interestingly, while supposedly being deeply depressed, he also allegedly has ADHD. Robert bounces off of the walls in the background as his grandmother tries to speak to the camera, as if in confirmation that there is a terrible problem with him.

Soon we see Robert at school and much to the viewer’s surprise we learn that he is a prize pupil. He earns a place on the Honor Roll nearly every quarter, is attentive, well behaved, and very typical. His teacher, Mrs. Long, sings his praises and mentions that he is a delightful child. His school principal, a lovely woman named Vicky Beckham, is deeply concerned about Robert – not because there is something wrong with him, but because there is something terribly wrong with his family life. What we see on camera confirms their statements. In school Robert seems to be a different child from the one we saw at home. He is attentive, eager, able to work on a task for long periods of time, and gets along well with his peers.

Then we learn from Robert’s state appointed therapist, Dr. Virginia Fee, that Robert’s grandmother Anna has taken him to many different mental health professionals. Whenever they imply too forcefully that there is nothing wrong with Robert, Anna drops them and finds another, more cooperative clinic. It becomes apparent that Anna tries to induce psychological symptoms in Robert so that she can be his martyr, his guardian angel, and his defender. She seems unstable herself and unaware of the damage she causes her grandson.

By the end of the film we are not surprised to find Robert removed from his grandmother’s home and living with his mother. Robanna has matured a great deal and seems to blossom as a mother. She is not ideal, but is far better for Robert and his younger brother than her mother was. After viewers witness an earlier scene in which Anna tries to cure Robanna of a thyroid problem via faith healing, we come to realize that poor Robanna had probably been damaged by her mother’s illness as well. That she can recover and become a decent mother is a testament to the power of the human spirit to recover and grow.

The film “A Boy’s Life” is fascinating because it adds yet another layer of complication to the debate on how to best help mentally ill people while respecting their civil rights. I have often argued that the patient or the patient’s family must make the decisions. I discuss the family because I assume that they have the ill person’s best interests at heart, but that is not the case with Robert. In his case his grandmother Anna was causing him great harm.

Another famous example of abusive family is Francis Farmer’s mother. Her need for total control is the impetus for much of Francis’ suffering. When Francis is released it is into her mother’s custody. All her mother needs to do is report her to her psychiatrist and then Francis will be returned to the “snake pit” mental hospital. She uses these threats to control her daughter until she tires of her rebelliousness and sends her away to the hospital again.

Luckily Robert’s story ended fairly well. We don’t know what will happen when he grows up, but we do know that he now has as fair a chance at a successful life as any other American child does. This is because of the devotion of his therapist, his principal, and his teacher. For once the system functioned exactly as it is meant to. When Robert’s guardian is detected as being unfit, his case is carefully followed until there is a positive resolution. In many cases the system is already set-up to address these issues, they just need proper funding and staffing to make them work.

Thank goodness for principals like Vicky Beckham, teachers like Emma Long, and therapists like Virginia Fee. They are the people who do their best to save people like Robert every day. I implore them not to give up. Even if they don’t see the results of their work, they should know that the loving compassion they show to kids like Robert does have a great effect on them. They know that somewhere, out there, there are adults that think they are good kids. And that helps.

For more information please see http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/boys_life/