Karen Brown

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“A Burden to be Well: Sisters and Brothers of the Mentally Ill” is a 30-minute radio documentary that delves into the often unexamined experience of “well” siblings who grow up in a family coping with mental illness. It profiles two sets of siblings in particular: a New Hampshire family dealing with their middle daughter’s bipolar diagnosis while trying to raise two other children; and a pair of twin sisters, one with schizophrenia, and the other – a psychiatrist – without. This documentary, which aired in 2006 on WFCR and NPR (in shortened form) won a PRNDI award, among others.

Written and Produced by Karen Brown
Edited by Mary Beth Kirchner, American Radion Works

First aired on WFCR in Amherst, MA on June 8, 2006.

Reporting was made possible by a Rosalynn Carter Fellowship in Mental Health Journalism.

Upper photo: Deb, Audrey, and Rose Stanas
Lower photo: Carolyn and Pamela Spiro

Listen Now (58 minutes):

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“The Wild Child: Coping with a Bipolar Youth”is an hour-long radio documentary that follows three young people, and their families, as they navigate adolescence with a severe mental illness. The piece includes first-hand accounts from the young people themselves, as well as information from researchers and advocates. This story aired in 2005 on WFCR and on PRI’s American Radio Works. It won a national Edward R. Murrow Award and First Place from the Association of Health Care Journalists, among other awards.

Written and produced by Karen Brown.
Edited by John Dankosky.

A version of this story aired on NPR (1-18-05), “Public Schools Struggle with Bipolar Disorder.” To listen, click here. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4457271

“Love, War and PTSD” is a two-part series that profiles a married couple living with post-traumatic

Anna and Peter, by Karen Brown

stress disorder following the husband’s tour in the military. In the first part, Anna and Peter Mohan tell – in their own words – the story of Peter’s return from Iraq and how the effects of trauma changed him and the dynamics of their marriage. The second story, recorded six months later, chronicles the final unraveling of their relationship as they both, as individuals, try to move on. This story, which aired in 2007 on WFCR as well as NPR, won several national awards, including the Edward R. Murrow award for feature reporting.

Listen Now - Original Story (11 minutes):

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Listen Now - Follow Up, Six Months Later (7 minutes):

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Listen here (10 minutes):

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This is the story of Dereyk Patterson, a man trying to repatriate the bones of a Viet Cong soldier — stolen by his father during the Vietnam War. Dereyk’s father, Steve Patterson, died in 2002 in a helicopter accident, leaving the remains behind in his garage. As Dereyk tries to do the right thing, he also tries to come to terms with his own stormy relationship with his father, and to understand what would drive a young man to take such a morbid “souvenir” in the first place. This piece first ran on WFCR in Amherst, MA in June of 2003.  It won a Massachusetts Associated Press Award in 2004.

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“Trauma and Recovery: A Cambodian Refugee Experience” is a 30 minute documentary that chronicles the struggles of Cambodian survivors of the Khmer Rouge, focusing on a community that now lives in Western Massachusetts. The piece looks at the challenges of post-traumatic stress in this community, as well as the cultural complications of trying to find mental healthcare in a still-foreign land. This story aired on WFCR and other stations in 2002. It won the 2002 Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize.

An hour long version of this story also aired on the radio series, The Infinite Mind.