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Mimi and Don Galvin married during World War II and had twelve children (ten boys and two girls) between 1945 and 1965.
Young Mimi and Don Galvin
Don was an ambitious man, and during their marriage Don studied at Georgetown University, enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve, transferred to the Navy, then enlisted in the Air Force. Don eventually earned a PhD degree, and became a college professor and an advisor to governors and tycoons.
Mimi and Don Galvin at Don's PhD graduation
As Don was off doing his thing, Mimi - largely alone - raised the children in the Galvin home on Hidden Valley Road in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The Galvin home on Hidden Valley Road in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Mimi Galvin and her children in front of the family home
The Galvin family is well known because six of the sons were diagnosed with schizophrenia as young adults.
In this book, author Robert Kolker tells the story of the Galvin family, and discusses their contribution to the study of mental illness by scientists and doctors.
The Galvin offspring, in order, are: Donald, Jim, John, Brian, Michael, Richard, Joe, Mark, Matt, Peter, Margaret, and Mary (who changed her name to Lindsay).
The six boys who fell ill, one after another, are Donald, Jim, Brian, Joe, Matt, and Peter. These young men "took ill at a time when so little was understood about schizophrenia - and so many different theories were colliding with one another - that the search for an explanation overshadowed everything about their lives. They lived through the eras of institutionalization and shock therapy; the debates between psychotherapy versus medication; the needle-in-a-haystack search for genetic markers for the disease; and the profound disagreements about the cause and origin of the illness itself."
Mental Institution
Shock Therapy
Sadly, the children who didn't fall ill suffered terribly as well. Kolker observes, "It is hard enough to individuate oneself in any family with twelve children; here was a family that was defined by dynamics like no other, where the state of being mentally ill became the norm of the household." For the 'healthy' offspring, "being a member of the Galvin family was about either going insane yourself or watching your family go insane....How much longer, they wondered, before it would overtake them, too?"
The Galvin Family
To add to the problem, Mimi and Don Galvin were pillars of the community, proud of their position in society and their comradery with politicians and socialites.
Mimi Galvin
Don Galvin with his falcon
Thus when the Galvin's oldest son Donald fell ill, and began to behave in a bizarre fashion - torturing cats; walking into bonfires; breaking dishes; yelling about attackers in the house; and trying to kill himself and his estranged wife - Mimi and Don tried to keep Donald's illness a secret, hoping he'd get better.
Donald Galvin (school portrait)
Donald Galvin
As son after son succumbed to schizophrenia, secrecy and denial became more difficult and dangerous. For instance, Brian ended up shooting his girlfriend and himself in a murder-suicide;
Brian Galvin was a gifted musician
Brian Galvin
and Jim became a wife beater who sexually molested his sisters Margaret and Mary for years, and abused some of his brothers as well.
Jim Galvin (School portrait)
Jim Galvin
Kolker, who interviewed many Galvin family members and did a huge amount of research, provides an in depth look at the entire Galvin family, and the behavior of the children growing up. Kolker describes a 'pecking order' in which Donald would beat up on his younger siblings....a habit that trickled down. Mimi and Don left the children to sort this out among themselves, in part because Donald, a handsome boy and star athlete, was (apparently) their favorite.
Donald Galvin was a star athlete
Starting in the 1980s, the Galvin family became the subject of a study by researchers trying to understand schizophrenia. "Their genetic material has been analyzed by the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, the National institute of Mental Health, and more than one pharmaceutical company."
Physicians and scientists have been debating the nature/nurture question of schizophrenia for decades, and most now believe the disease has a genetic component, but may be triggered by environmental factors.
As I read about the Galvin family, I speculated about possible stressors (or contributing factors) that could trigger schizophrenia in the genetically fragile boys. For instance, Mimi herself was sexually assaulted by her stepfather when she was a child, and she wouldn't stop having children until her doctor put his foot down; Don Sr. was largely an absentee father who had multiple affairs and refrained from disciplining his children; Donald Jr. (and some of his brothers) were sexually molested by a priest who was a close friend of the family; all the children were in awe of their charismatic/accomplished father and strove to live up to his example, but none could; and more.
By now the Galvins are famous, and the subject of numerous television and YouTube documentaries about schizophrenia. Mary (Lindsay) Galvin has cooperated extensively to tell her family's story, in hopes of disseminating knowledge about this dread illness.
Mary Galvin
"By some estimates, schizophrenia affects an estimated one in 100 people — or more than 3 million people in America, and 82 million people worldwide. Many of the antipsychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia have dangerous side effects; some actually induce psychosis and cause heart problems."
"One in 20 people who have psychotic breaks commit suicide, and although antipsychotic drugs prevent breaks from happening, they often are administered when it is too late. There is no clear way to diagnose schizophrenia; there is no cure, and medications just mute the psychosis."
From left to right: Matthew, Richard, Mark, Mary, Donald, Peter, John, and Michael. March 2022
If you're interested in reading another good book about a schizophrenic son, I recommend He Came in With It: A Portrait of Motherhood and Madness by Miriam Feldman
Rating: 4 stars
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