Overview

Thunderstruck is a man's story of mental illness, trauma, and redemption. Michael Jarosi had a loving family, athletic promise, and had earned a soccer scholarship to The University of Virginia. But two weeks before his high school graduation, Michael and his father Frank were both struck by lightning on a soccer field. Frank was killed and Michael, standing yards away, was rendered unconscious and burned. The lightning strike left Michael with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which went undiagnosed and untreated for years. After his third year at college, Michael was hospitalized and diagnosed with type I bipolar disorder. The remainder of his adult life has been marked by bipolar manic episodes and hospitalizations. Michael escaped an Alabama criminal psychiatric facility where he was being tortured, and has also been homeless.Along the way, Michael earned a law degree at age 35, passed the Ohio Bar Exam, and is a licensed attorney today. After being homeless then taken in by a Salvation Army shelter in Chicago in 2015, Michael has been on a path of spiritual redemption and self-redemption. Modern genetic mapping technology has allowed researchers to prove that type I bipolar disorder, and other serious mental illnesses, are hereditary and the result of defective genes and defective synapses in the brain. Michael believes this is one part of changing the societal stigma and the self-stigma attached to mental illness, in that we now have hard evidence that these mental illnesses are not the result of character defects.Thunderstruck has helped people with mental illness, and their families, have understanding and hope. And more broadly, the book has proved a valuable resource for all who have suffered the adversities of life.

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