Published May 21, 2020 in  The Miami Herald. " I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.” - Hunter S. Thompson BY THEO KARANTSALIS Psychiatrists describe me as charming, unpredictable and dangerous. "Although Mr. Karantsalis is currently stable, he has a severe mental illness with high potential for deterioration, despite adequate treatment," one doctor warns. Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder make strange bedfellows, and treatment includes mega-doses of anti-psychotics, mood stabilizers, anti-depressants, and, for good measure ..read more

Note: This post has upset my family. Sorry, maybe we can just call it fiction? BY THEO KARANTSALIS If you suffer from schizophrenia or bipolar, you might want to cross meth off your drugs-to-do list.  My parents expected big things from me in 1984 but I bailed on college to tend to more pressing matters like mania, delusions and psychosis.  Around that time, I was a driver earning $3.25 an hour and it beat working as a cashier at a Santee mini-mart nestled between a Hell's Angel's biker bar and a strip club.  Pete was the boss and his vocabulary centered on the word 'fuck.' Scarface memorabili ..read more

  BY THEO KARANTSALIS Since childhood, I have peered into another dimension and have observed inter-connected, fantastical shapes and colors with intricate designs that breathe, vary in scale, and communicate without words, but this description dilutes their grandeur.  A magnificent - and real - angel from heaven hovered behind my bedroom door, ate age 8, where I often played Partridge family 45's on an old record player from the fifties like "I Think I Love You."   Frightened, I ran and told my mother who was skeptical and alarmed. Visions were part of our lives, I thought, and I believed my ..read more

BY THEO KARANTSALIS Note: Dear family, this is fiction. Sorry for the bad language. If you suffer from schizophrenia or bipolar, you might want to cross meth off your drugs-to-do list.  My parents expected big things from me in 1984 but I bailed on college to tend to more pressing matters like mania, delusions and psychosis.  Around that time, I was a driver earning $3.25 an hour and it beat working as a cashier at a Santee mini-mart nestled between a Hell's Angel's biker bar and a strip club.  Pete was the boss and his vocabulary centered on the word 'fuck.' Scarface memorabilia tackily grace ..read more

This Bible verse helps me move forward. 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me ..read more

  BY THEO KARANTSALIS My first suicide attempt came at age 12 after a long bout of depression. In 1974, I was a seventh grader at Will C. Wood Middle School in Alameda, Calif. A regular day at school included lots of mischief like switching the spark plug wires on teachers' cars, shooting fire extinguishers in the hall, playing with clackers or shooting spit balls at Mrs. Cooper.  It was a great day when I beaned her in the back of the head once and she turned around and fire an eraser at the head of Mike, who sat next to me. And it was an even better day when I kicked in the same fence plank ..read more

  BY THEO KARANTSALIS The vibration of a Milwaukee Sawzall at its highest setting would make my arms go numb by the time I finished cutting roofs off cars, an unusual habit. Unless you are in the throes of psychosis due to schizophrenia or bipolar.  Cutting up American cars like my 1960 Chrysler Imperial was tougher which required extra measures. That is why I preferred foreign cars, especially BMW 2002s. Suggested reading: Depression and Mania in Bipolar Disorder ..read more

  BY THEO KARANTSALIS The fine line between sanity and madness blurs as a jittery librarian in downtown Miami with body sores, unkempt hair and tattered clothes gives fiery sidewalk lectures. Onlookers who recognize the senior librarian shake their heads as they toss a dollar or a get-well note into a tip jar with the hash tag #litwithfire scrawled on it. As the 57-year-old hippie throwback from San Francisco rambles on about spiritual warfare, chem trails and legalizing weed, a struggle between rational and irrational thought plays out on the public stage. I am Theo Karantsalis, a longt ..read more

Note: This story has deeply upset my mother and I apologize for that. My wife is a bit upset, too. Let's call it fiction, yes?   BY THEO KARANTSALIS There is one drug you might want to cross off your list if you suffer from schizophrenia or bipolar: methamphetamine. I bailed on college in 1983, told my parents I graduated and took a job driving exotic sports cars back and forth to Los Angeles. Though it only paid minimum wage, it beat my night shift cashier job at an AMPM Mini Mart, in Santee, next to a biker bar and a nasty strip club.  My boss, Pete, had his office decorated with Scarface me ..read more

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