Dad documents Dale Erwin's struggle with bipolar disorder

JOHNSONVILLE - Al Erwin knows firsthand the problems and sufferings associated with dealing with a family member who is manic-depressive or has bipolar disorder.
And well he might, he and his wife, Hannah, a Johnsonville native, having experienced living with their only son, who was afflicted for 18 years before mysteriously disappearing on a sailing trip, never to be heard from again.
In his recently published book, I’m A Free Man, Al says the consequences of manic depression (or bipolar disorder) to family are grave. The family not only finds itself directed and dictated to the subject, but by outsiders as well. “The trauma of having a family member out of control is all consuming and no one is prepared to cope with it,” Al says.
In writing this book and baring the trials and tribulations he and Hannah endured, one of his aims to inform the professional mental health people of the family’s plight. Not only inform, but to aid the doctors, all related employees, friends and relatives involved, so that they may help instead of hinder.
If you are not embarrassed or afraid to bring up the subject of mental illness or manic depression, you will be totally surprised at the number of people who will open up and begin to tell you of their own problems relating to the disorder. After a while you will begin to think there is an epidemic.
Al’s only son, Dale, was 17 the summer before his senior year. He was a healthy young man, his parents thought. But on a camping trip on the upper peninsula of Michigan in 1977 with his dad, his best friend and two other close relatives, Al was taken by surprise when he witnessed irritability and disrespect from Dale without cause. His tone and defiance surprised his dad. Al didn’t say anything. He just let it slide.
When the camping was over and they drove to Al’s parents home in Michigan. His dad, who had always been able to penetrate to the core of things, said to Al soon after their arrival, “Something is wrong with Dale, isn’t there?”
“Yeah, I know”, was Al’s reply.
Back at home in Florence, S. C. Hannah said to Al, “Something is wrong with Dale.” Al tried to say it was exhaustion, since Dale had driven most of the way home. She knew better.
Things went from bad to worse. His mother had difficulty getting him to school that first day and things escalated from that time on. He didn’t go to school; he quit his job that he enjoyed so much in the sports department of J. C. Penny. It was just downhill for Dale and the family.
He worked sporadically, getting certified in welding and pipefitting. He married and had two children, all the time having episodes of the illness that put him in the mental ward at the local hospital in Florence or in Webber Bryant Hospital in Columbia for periods of time.
He developed a liking for sailing and bought a used sailboat he enjoyed fixing up, just like he wanted it. On Friday, December 2, 1994, Dale went to Georgetown, S.C. on a solo sailing trip. He had invited two family members to accompany him, but neither of them could go. He put the boat in from the East Bay Park where his truck and trailer were found. When he didn’t return by Sunday afternoon an alarm went out and a search was on involving many different agencies. Although they continued to look on a lesser scale through May 1995, neither the blue striped Cal 21 sailboat with white sails, nor the 35-year-old Dale Erwin who was piloting the boat have ever been seen or heard from again.
Dale had said many times, when he was incarcerated in mental facilities, “I’m a free men, why can they just lock me up this way?”
Riding back home from Georgetown one evening after going to look out at the bay with the hopes of seeing the boat, Al turned to Hannah and said, “He always said, “I’m a free man! Maybe he is free now, free from all the suffering and torture we have seen him endure for these 18 years.”
Hence the title of this book, “I’m A Free Man”.
Published by Beeline Press of Hemingway, copies are available from the author: Albert Roy Erwin, 2201 Broad Drive, Florence, S.C. 29505-6107, and 1-843-413-1894. They may also be ordered online with a credit card at: http://www.lulu.com/content/1347509.