In Paralyzed Emotions: My Continuing Journey... , Rodney D. Roby opens a deeply personal record that began in 1988 as a series of letters to the psychiatrist he found easier to write to than speak with.
Diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, Rodney wanted Doctor B to understand what was happening beneath his silence. What emerged was an unfiltered account of childhood loneliness, rodeo years, young marriage, family conflict, depression, obsessive guilt, psychosis, psychiatric hospitalization, medication, suicidal crises, faith, and the painful experience of moving through life while feeling emotionally disconnected from it.
Decades later, Rodney returned to those letters and continued writing.
His journey did not end with a diagnosis or a period of stability. Through grief, renewed anxiety, relapse, another frightening mental-health crisis, changing relationships, Christian faith, professional treatment, medication, forgiveness, and the love of his wife, Rodney continued searching for meaning and peace.
This is not a clinical textbook or a promise of easy recovery. It is lived experience: candid, nonlinear, painful, sometimes humorous, and deeply rooted in faith.
For people living with serious mental illness, their families, caregivers, pastors, counsellors, and mental-health professionals, Paralyzed Emotions: My Continuing Journey... offers an intimate look at suffering, survival, dignity, relapse, forgiveness, and the continuing possibility of hope.
