An excerpt from a book written by Dr. Tyrone Waters, “You Would Be Paranoid Too If This Happened to You: U.S. Destructive Practices”

“You Would Be Paranoid Too If This Happened to You: U.S. Destructive Practices” recounts the topic of mental health racism and being a harassed black male in the United States of America, as well as its detrimental practices. Dr. Tyrone Waters, D.D., Drs. tells a true story about mental health.

Here’s an excerpt from the book:

I was pretty much jobless, with an occasional temporary job here and there. Life became stressful. l began thinking paranoid thoughts. I began thinking people were out to get me and that they were following me. I felt the walls of my world closing in around me slowly, as though l was trapped in a cell with nowhere to go. I became fearful of food and eating out at restaurants, thinking that the employees at the restaurants were doing something to the food. When in all actuality and reality, they had not done anything wrong to the food. But it was my paranoia setting in.

Then in 1995, I had my first serious run-in with the law. I was arrested and accused of attempted arson against a State of Oregon Correctional Officer in her van. She accused me of trying to ignite her van on fire. I did no such thing. The police found a gas can containing water in it in my vehicle at the time of my arrest. I was taken to the Justice Center and booked and charged with attempted arson. It all seemed unreal. Why was this happening to me?

The police strip searched me, took away all of my clothes and gave me a paper suit to wear. I was in jail for ninety days before my attorney decided that I was unable to aid and assist in my own defense, not fit to pursue a trial. So I was ordered by Judge Dorothy Baker to go to the Oregon State Hospital for an evaluation, or until fit to stand trial. I was at the Oregon State Hospital for an additional ninety days before doctors determined and diagnosed me with having a mental illness, schizophrenia.