Rho Theta leader turns past into speaking inspiration

Could you shadow your mother’s schizophrenia, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder – and somehow survive, then thrive in college?

Julie Donaldson, Mt. Hood student and officer for Rho Theta (the international honor society of two-year colleges), has overcome stiff challenges to get where she is now.

Donaldson has earned the good grades required to qualify for Rho Theta. “I think I have OCD about getting straight As, because I cannot let myself have a B… It’s something I’ve wanted to do since high school, being in an honors society,” she said.

It’s been a long, difficult journey to her current success.

Donaldson says she is sociable now, but back in sixth grade, she was very shy. “I never talked and I used to have so much anxiety,” she said. During high school, she said she had “migraines every day” and missed around 40 days of school a year.

Despite missing time, she stayed motivated and graduated with a 3.67 grade point average. “I loved high school and I really wanted to do well academically,” she said.

Life got a little harder when her mother faced serious issues, Donaldson said. “At first, my mom was diagnosed with clinical depression, and then it was later found to be schizophrenia.”

Things worsened, and Donaldson’s life was simply uprooted by her mother’s needs, she said: “No more school and no more work. My hopes and dreams just kind of fell through.”

Her mother got worse, developing intense post-traumatic stress and OCD. Donaldson said her mother couldn’t cook anymore and the two had to remove everything from the house that hinted at their past. “It was all about control,” a major part of her mother’s issues, she said.

 

Donaldson began to adopt her mother’s habits. She started doing everything with her mother, and did what she did because it made her mother feel better. For instance, “if she didn’t eat, I didn’t eat,” she said.

Her mother gained a fear of food, and could only drink down milk. Donaldson said the two lived off milk, only, for about six months. Before long, “I was about 68 pounds and my mom was about 70 pounds,” as they suffered malnourishment, she said. More than anything, she remembers being cold.

The pair would travel to the local grocery store every day. “Our pastime would be watching what other people bought… People would give us money because they thought we were in need, or on drugs,” Donaldson said. It wasn’t a money issue, though, just a fear of food.

Donaldson said she and her mother did not shower or have clean clothes for two years. “I didn’t know that would be such a big part of the schizophrenia,” she said.

Life finally turned in the grocery store parking lot. “We had fallen asleep in the car and awoke to the police knocking on our window,” she said. The police were there with social workers, asking if they were okay. “I don’t know why, but we lied and said we were okay. Thankfully, they didn’t believe us,” she said, answering her silent prayers. “I don’t know why I couldn’t tell them that we needed to go to the hospital.”

Donaldson said social workers determined the two were a danger to themselves. They were put on hospital hold for a week, and were committed to treatment by court order. “I was in the hospital for two months. They put food in front of me that I hadn’t had in years,” she said.

While Donaldson passed through various recovery centers, her mother struggled and wound up in the state hospital, she said. More recently, her mother is doing much better, eating more and living in a group home, she said.

Today, Donaldson shares an apartment with her sister, and, after the dust settled, she began school again at Mt. Hood in the fall of 2011.

There have been bumps in the road, including bad panic attacks, she said. “It got so bad my friend asked me if I had run to class, because I was shaking so much.” Working with counselors on campus has helped, she said, as has going to classes and volunteering, because it kept her busy. She also said her faith in God has greatly helped her through the years.

She’s still undecided on her study major, but has an idea of where she wants to go and is considering early childhood education.

Donaldson also hopes to be a motivational speaker one day and share her compelling story with others, she said. “My main goal is to be an inspiration to others.”