Children are indeed our greatest treasure and people are our most valuable resource—sadly, many children experience the pain and horror of abuse [sexual, physical, and emotional] and far too many know the silent suffering of neglect, indifference and being unloved by those who brought them into this world. Michael Skinner was one of those children who suffered severe and protracted sexual, physical, and emotional abuse at the hands of both of his parents and some of their friends. He knew only too well the callous indifference, neglect, and never knowing or feeling love or caring from his parents. These things he kept inside and could not share with others because of the deep shame and fear that he felt.

 

 

 

Michael at 7

“Go to where the silence is and say something”

                                                                  Author unknown

    For most of his life Michael kept all of the pain, sorrow, and shame locked inside, and found relief through music and his endeavors as a professional musician and later on as a manager and talent agent in the music business. He found great joy and accomplishment from being happily married and the proud father to five wonderful children. Sadly, his past was to come back and haunt him and change his life in a most profound way and not one that he wanted or expected.

 

   In 1992 and 1993 he started to experience flashbacks and depression from the pain of the past, despite all of his best efforts to try to keep it at bay and to keep his life as he knew it, it wasn’t to be. He experienced severe depression and many flashbacks of the horrors he had endured as a child. There were several hospitalizations, day treatment centers, counseling and so much more to help relieve his suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and major depression. His symptoms and depression were compounded and exacerbated when his wife, his partner of twenty-one years left him due to his being “mentally ill”. Things only went from bad to worse when she kept him from their children, yet there was never a history of abuse or violence to either his wife or to their children. The stigma and discrimination he experienced in the court system made an unfortunate situation only worse. The pains and effects of stigma and discrimination associated with the diagnosis of a “mental illness” were also felt by the loss of many of his childhood friends and business associates due to their own fears and lack of understanding around mental health concerns and sexual abuse. And yet, that same stigma and discrimination he experienced at the hands of some of the treating professionals made his road to recovery that much harder.

 

   Michael’s story of Triumph Over Tragedy is indeed a remarkable one and despite all of the losses in his life, including the suicides of two of his brothers and two friends, he still shows hope and promise of what life can be. He shares part of his painful past but it is the message of hope, motivation, and inspiration that compels him to share in his speaking and singing to others – that life is to be lived and enjoyed and to acknowledge that many in life are survivors of many painful experiences, but he wants to share how to learn to thrive, and not just survive.