(UPDATED) CBS SERIES ON MENTAL HEALTH TODAY “STATE OF MIND”
COMPILED BY LUCY WARNER
MAY 28, 2017

FINAL EPISODE 5 ON DBS OR DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION ADDED ON MAY 31, 2017.

THE IMPENDING REPUBLICAN ATTACK ON OUR MEDICAL CARE SYSTEM IN THE USA, IS IN MY VIEW, THE MOST IMPORTANT SUBJECT WE FACE TODAY; EXCEPT, THAT IS, FOR THE CURRENT GOVERNMENTAL SITUATION, HAVING TO DO WITH THE DEEPLY DISHONEST DONALD TRUMP’S ACCESSION TO THE OFFICE OF US PRESIDENT IN NOVEMBER OF 2016, APPARENTLY WITH THE LIKELY AID OF OUR NATIONAL ENEMY, RUSSIA; WHICH I AND SO MANY OTHERS CONSIDER TO BE A TRUE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS, ESPECIALLY SINCE HE HAS ALREADY BEGUN DISMANTLING IMPORTANT RULES AND REGULATIONS, AND SOME LAWS. I CAN ONLY HOPE THAT SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE AGAINST HIM FOR ELECTION FRAUD AND WORSE WILL BE FOUND TO START IMPEACHMENT PROCEDURES.

ON OUR MEDICAL SYSTEM, THE SUBJECT OF MENTAL HEALTH CARE HAS BEEN THE “REDHEADED STEPCHILD,” WHEN GOOD CARE IS ACTUALLY KEY TO A HEALTHY SOCIETY, AND THEREFORE A HEALTHY GOVERNMENT. THAT ATTITUDE ISN’T JUST CRUEL, IT’S THE PATH TO DISASTER. IN MY LIFETIME THERE HAS BEEN CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS, BUT THE STIGMA AND, TOO OFTEN, THE ABUSE, THAT THE MENTALLY ILL SUFFER BEGINNING IN THEIR OWN FAMILY, IS SHAMEFUL IN 2017. THOSE WHO HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WELL-ADJUSTED AND HAPPY DON’T USUALLY UNDERSTAND MUCH AT ALL ABOUT IT, AND A LARGER GROUP OF PEOPLE JUST DON’T CARE VERY MUCH. IT MAKES ME SAD TO SAY THAT, BUT I THINK IT’S TRUE. I’M HOPING THAT THESE DISCUSSIONS WILL HELP SOME TO SEE THE PROBLEMS AND SOME OF THEIR SOLUTIONS.


EPISODE 1

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mental-health-where-are-we-uncharted-state-of-mind-episode-1/
By ANGELICA FUSCO, STEVEN ROSENBAUM CBS NEWS May 3, 2017, 10:55 AM
State of Mind Episode 1: Where we are as a nation

"CBS Evening News Uncharted: State of Mind" is a new five-part digital series airing in May with new episodes released every Wednesday. The series will examine the state of mental health care in America in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month. More than 43 million Americans suffer from mental illness.

State of Mind Episode 2: Hidden battles
State of Mind Episode 3: To suffer in silence

Rocky Schwartz is not going to stay silent anymore.

Her two sons, ages 23 and 24, have severe mental illnesses and substance abuse problems.

"One has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and substance abuse," she said. "My other son has OCD, social anxiety, depressive disorder, addiction and ADHD."

The two young men, whose identities CBS News has agreed to keep private, started to show signs of mental illness in their teens.

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Rocky's sons. CBS News agreed to keep their identities private. SCHWARTZ FAMILY

"Our lives have changed dramatically as a result," Rocky said.

In the beginning, it was difficult for Rocky's family to accept the diagnoses. Rocky says she stopped walking the dog in her neighborhood and changed grocery stores so she wouldn't have to see people she knew and explain what her sons were going through.

"I didn't know what to say. And I was ashamed," she said.

Her sons' conditions became increasingly worse. Rocky's older son's first suicide attempt landed him in a hospital psychiatric ward.

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Rocky Schwartz CBS NEWS

"After about seven days in the psychiatric ward, my husband and I met with a doctor and the rest of the clinical staff, and they are aware that the insurance quits paying early on and they said, 'Don't worry your son needs to stay longer,'" she said.

"We gave them our Visa card and said, 'Please, don't discharge him until you feel that he is safe and we will deal with the insurance company afterwards.' And the insurance refused to pay after that day. Doctors kept him for another week."

Fighting with insurance

Battles with insurance companies became constant for Rocky and her husband. Both sons have had numerous rounds of outpatient and inpatient psychiatric and addiction care over the last six years, and Rocky's out-of-pocket expenses have exceeded $300,000.

The family has also lost seven insurance appeals -- the latest in March of this year. CBS News reached out to Rocky's insurance providers, but they wouldn't comment on her cases because of privacy laws.

"And in case you're wondering where the heck we got that, you know the first rehab, we used a home equity loan, and then we had college savings accounts and we depleted those, and we've been tapping into our retirement," Rocky said.

"And the last go around, I swore I would never do it again, but my son was close to death and he had already lived on the street for three months and at some point I made the decision that I'd rather spend this money to try to save his life than pay for a funeral. And it's just money, I don't care. I mean I care ... I don't care," she said.

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Rocky kept records of her insurance appeals. CBS NEWS

After all her family has been through, Rocky finally decided that it was time she spoke out.

"When you're trying to care for somebody that you love and trying to keep them safe and trying to maintain your sanity, having to keep fighting and dealing with bureaucracy, at times it's easier to say, 'I'm not doing this anymore,'" she said.

Mental Health Parity Act

Rocky's situation is not unique. Many families across the nation are fighting for their loved ones to get equal treatment and coverage from insurance companies.

In 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act into law. That act requires insurance companies to cover mental and substance abuse equally, as they would physical illnesses. But not all states adequately enforce it, according to advocates.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that 60 percent of Americans suffering from mental illness don't receive the care they need.

Rocky is a member of the New Jersey Parity Coalition, a group of lobbyist, advocates, social workers and families fighting to get equal treatment for people living with mental illness in their state.

CBS News' mental health experts were clear that the issues of parity and insurance coverage are key to making health care more accessible.

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Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy CBS NEWS

"The fight for those who suffer from mental illness and addiction really is a fight to integrate them into the larger health care community, which they've really been prohibited from because of the nature of this separate and unequal treatment of mental illness and addiction," said former Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, who is now an advocate for mental health.

"We have to get the insurance companies to comply with the federal Mental Health and Addiction Parity Act," he said.

Another law on the books that is meant to help Americans living with mental illness is the 21st Century Cures Act, which was signed by President Obama in 2016.

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Rep. Tim Murphy CBS NEWS

Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, who also holds a Ph.D. in psychology, introduced the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act to help those struggling with mental health, which was rolled into the 21st Century Cures Act.

"When someone has hit the absolute lowest spot in their life, when they're considering suicide or just given up, we want access to be instantaneous. Not a waiting period of a day or two days or even hours," Murphy said.

Breaking the stigma

Our experts agree that the stigma surrounding mental illness contributes to the lack of political action to address the issue.

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Dr. Glenda Wrenn CBS NEWS

"Who wants to be the champion of mental illness issues? You know you don't necessarily see elected officials championing those issues, said Dr. Glenda Wrenn, a psychiatrist and the director of behavioral health for the Satcher Health Leadership Institute.

"The only answer for why we have no resources to put against such an enormous problem is because of the stigma that is really a derivation of the perception that people who suffer from a brain illness really can get it together on their own, that somehow this is some character flaw," Rep. Kennedy said.

Rocky wrestled with the same stigma when her sons began to struggle with mental illness. But says she's speaking out now because there is nothing to be ashamed about.

"These are brain diseases and I think the only way we stop it is to talk about it," she said. "And so I'm not going to be silent anymore and I'm going to keep fighting."


EPISODE 2

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/veterans-mental-health-hidden-battles-uncharted-state-of-mind-episode-2/
By ROMAN FEESER CBS NEWS May 10, 2017, 10:00 AM
State of Mind Episode 2: Hidden battles

"CBS Evening News Uncharted: State of Mind" is a new five-part digital series airing in May with new episodes released every Wednesday. The series will examine the state of mental health care in America in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month. More than 43 million Americans suffer from mental illness.

State of Mind Episode 1: Where we are as a nation
State of Mind Episode 3: To suffer in silence

A mother's grief

"I have a hole in my heart that is awful ... I never thought this would ever happen until you lose a child. You just can't imagine what happens," Beverly Kittoe explains while trying to hold back tears.

"It's hard for me to want to do things and see people. It's awful, it's awful."

On July 8, 2016, her son Brandon Ketchum took his life after being turned away from the VA Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa.

Brandon served in the Marine Corps from 2004 to 2008, the height of the Iraq War. He missed serving his country after being discharged, so he joined the Army National Guard not long after.

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Beverly Kittoe CBS NEWS

While serving in the National Guard, he was injured and evacuated to Germany; He ended up having a seizure, and after a lot of testing he was diagnosed with PTSD. When he finally returned to civilian life he clearly wasn't the same man, according to Beverly.

The National Center for PTSD says that between 11 and 20 percent of veterans who served in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom suffer from PTSD in a given year.

"On July 7 he went to the VA and asked to be admitted. He asked to be admitted to the psych ward and they told him no, that the beds were full and that he needed to go home and take his medication," Beverly said.

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Brandon Ketchum KETCHUM FAMILY

Brandon was discovered by his girlfriend the next day. "My boyfriend shot himself. He's already dead," she told the 911 dispatcher. He was discovered surrounded by photos of him and his young daughter.

According to a 2014 report from the Department of Veterans Affairs, an average of 20 veterans died from suicide each day, and approximately 66 percent of all veteran deaths from suicide were the result of firearm injuries.

Beverly says she's angry that the VA didn't do what they were supposed to do to support her son in his hour of need. "When you ask for help, when you ask to be admitted to the psychiatric unit, what's it going to hurt? Let them put them there for 24 hours or 48 hours until they can find a place to send them. That's my main concern over this: When you ask for help give them help. That's the least they can do for our veterans," she said.

"That the approach or the impact of when people are coming back from conflict is -- not just on that service member but on the entire family. And so I totally understand how difficult situations are," said Dr. David Shulkin, the U.S. Secretary for Veterans Affairs, when CBS News asked about Brandon's case.

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Sec. David Shulkin CBS NEWS

"I can't even imagine the pain that a mother like Brandon's mother is going through. And I do believe that we need to not only reach out and support them, but also learn how we can avoid such a tragedy from ever happening again," Shulkin said.

It has been 10 months since Brandon's suicide, and Beverly still hasn't heard anything regarding his case from the VA and why he was told to go home.

These days it's hard for Beverly to move on and deal with her grief.

"When men and women join the service and deal with what they dealt with overseas, you know some of the things that I heard what Brandon went through … when they come back they should be given every opportunity to get the help that they need. I would like them to send their kids to war and see what happens to them and maybe they will understand that this is a serious problem," she said.

Saving Petty Officer Ryan Chavez

For many veterans, the wounds of war don't remain on the battlefield. "Seeing the first casualties there, seeing the first group of Marines die, it was real. It became real," said former Marines Petty Officer Ryan Chavez.

"When I got back from Iraq, people talk about PTSD and I was thinking, 'well why I don't feel anything like that? That's just a bunch of mumbo jumbo it's non-existent,'" he said.

"Then I started losing concentration. I started having increase nightmares about deployment or being in battle or shooting, getting shot at and all these battle scene where I have to save somebody."

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Ryan Chavez CBS NEWS

Ryan turned to drinking to ease the pain.

According to the National Center for PTSD, about 1 in 10 soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan seen by the VA have a problem with alcohol or other drugs.

After unsuccessful attempts to get sober, Ryan turned to the VA in New Mexico for help. He was diagnosed with PTSD and dropped out of college. He says the experience with the VA was less than helpful. "I was basically prescribed sleep medications, anti-depressants and basically sent out the door."

The medications didn't help; Ryan attempted suicide twice.

Realizing he could no longer continue down this self-destructive path and finding the services at the VA lacking, he began a search online and found The Veterans for Entheogenic Therapy (VET).

VET organizes trips for veterans to experience ayahuasca ceremonies.

Ayahuasca is a tropical vine native to the Amazon region, noted for its hallucinogenic properties. Although ayahuasca plants are legal in the U.S., brews made using the plant create a controlled Schedule I drug which the DEA deems illegal.

"We don't condone using hallucinogens," said Shulkin, the secretary of Veteran Affairs. "But we do understand that conditions that particularly impact veterans where there aren't approached to therapy that are showing consistent cures that people are looking for new alternatives and exploring different ways and the VA is part of that."

"A while after I took the medicine I started to sift through those questions: 'Why does mankind have to go through this kind of suffering?' and 'What's missing? How do I reconnect? How do I get back to who I was? And who I am. Who am I?'" Ryan said.

"I started receiving answers whether it was produced by my own intuition or whether it was inspired by being in an altered state ... but those answers are some of the sanest I've come to know," he said.

Ryan has made it his mission to help other veterans who are suffering. "I think that's part of what is driving me right now. The prospect of, you know ... being able to help others."

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Rep. Tim Murphy CBS NEWS

Congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania says that, in general, unconventional therapies are in need for veterans who are struggling with mental health issues, but issued a warning when it comes to treatment that hasn't had enough research.

"As a scientist I look to see where is the evidence, does this work?" Murphy said. "Sometimes the person who just continues to feel hopeless will reach out to other things they may think has an impact upon them and if they do and it's helping them OK, but I want them to be careful about that because sometimes a treatment can be more harmful. And sometimes it can delay effective treatment."

Hope and empowerment

In 1989, Frantz Fortune came to the United States from Haiti to study business. While Fortune was in school, the U.S. was engaged in the Gulf War.

Fortune said the news of soldiers dying in combat troubled him, so it inspired him to want to give back.

"When I heard that number ... for me it was alarming: 300,000 homeless veterans," he said. "How come I was using those guys to give me protection ... now they are homeless and there's nothing I can do? That is what it was for me and so I had to do something."

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Frantz Fortune CBS NEWS

That was how his idea for the Veterans Empowerment Organization of Atlanta (VEO) was born. The VEO is a transitional and permanent housing solution for homeless veterans in the metro Atlanta area, serving up to 100 veterans at a time.

The VEO offers life-skill training, substance abuse treatments and mental health counseling for homeless vets. They also find vets living-wage jobs.

This type of program can be a welcome change from the VA. "With this program we bring any veteran regardless of a pre-existing condition. We don't ask the questions," Frantz said.

The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans says that about 11 percent of the homeless population are veterans, and half of homeless vets suffer from mental illness.

"When those veterans serve they don't serve the VA ... they don't serve the government. They serve all of us regardless if we're at war," adds Frantz. "It's not the VA's problem or the government's problem. It's all of our problem."



EPISODE 3


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/asian-americans-minorities-mental-health-uncharted-state-of-mind-episode-3/
By NIA STEVENS CBS NEWS May 17, 2017, 11:15 AM
State of Mind Episode 3: To suffer in silence

"CBS Evening News Uncharted: State of Mind" is a new five-part digital series airing in May with new episodes released every Wednesday. The series will examine the state of mental health care in America in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month. More than 43 million Americans suffer from mental illness.

State of Mind Episode 1: Where we are as a nation

State of Mind Episode 2: Hidden battles

Asian-Americans are three times less likely to seek mental health services than whites.

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Dr. Kevin Nadal CBS NEWS

According to Dr. Kevin Nadal, president of the Asian American Psychological Association and professor at John Jay College in New York, many Asian-American families hold a "notion of shame and stigma" around mental illness and that "bringing shame to one's family can be especially detrimental to a person's mental health."

Sara, a 30-year-old Chinese-American who asked that CBS News not use her last name, is one example.

Sara spent much of her adolescence coping with depression and striving to meet her own high academic expectations.

Bullied in school and at home by her older sister, she says her upbringing did not allow her to talk to anyone about her emotional issues, silencing her into isolation and letting her problems fester.

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Sara CBS NEWS/NIA STEVENS

She puts her family's struggle to talk about mental health down to the stigma surrounding mental health and illnesses within their community. "Honestly my dad doesn't even believe that I have a mental illness," she said.

In her eyes, reputation was one of the main factors for her family's unwillingness to speak openly about their emotions. But after various instances of bullying and school intervention, Sara's mother sought help for her daughter -- and family.

But in addition to her depression and bullying, Sara says that when she was 15 years old, she was molested by a relative during a family trip. She kept silent, and several months later, she says the relative touched her again while at the beach with family.

Sara claims that when she screamed for help, her family laughed it off -- assuming she was scared of sharks in the water. Sara says she didn't tell her family what happened until about six months later. But even after she convinced them she was telling the truth, she believes her parents still minimized her trauma.

Nadal says that the Asian-American community sometimes turns a "blind eye to things like sexual assault," domestic violence and child abuse because of shame or stigma.

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Sara CBS NEWS/NIA STEVENS

One year later, Sara attempted suicide after she says a classmate sent her hurtful messages online. "I had very little self-esteem then," she said. "I know that even if she hadn't said anything that if that wasn't the time I would have tried to commit suicide eventually."

Following the first attempt, Sara had countless more suicide attempts and was in and out of hospitals as a result. "I hated my life, I hated myself," she said.

In her late teens, Sara was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. She was dealing with symptoms like hallucinations, auditory delusions, paranoia and depression all at once.

But with intense therapy and a search for the right medication, she began to get better.

Sara says her family believes her issues can be solved with vitamins and self-reflection. Social worker Thomas Michelena says that for many, "it's hard to see mental health problems as you would see something of a physical ailment."

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Thomas Michelena, LMSW CBS NEWS

Even with the severe symptoms that come with schizoaffective disorder, her father still does not want her taking medication.

"Medication gave me my life back. If I didn't take medication I'd probably be dead," she said.

"I stopped hating myself so much and started forgiving myself, I started liking myself and not being so worried about what everyone thought of me."

For Sara, hope is what keeps her fighting to survive.

If you're having suicidal thoughts or know someone that is, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK. For Asian language services from the Asian American Suicide Prevention and Education, call 1-877-990-8585.



EPISODE 4


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/police-first-responders-mental-health-uncharted-state-of-mind-episode-4/
By ALEXANDER ROMANO CBS NEWS May 24, 2017, 9:50 AM
State of Mind Episode 4: Training to deal with mental illness

"CBS Evening News Uncharted: State of Mind" is a new five-part digital series airing in May with new episodes released every Wednesday. The series will examine the state of mental health care in America in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month. More than 43 million Americans suffer from mental illness.

State of Mind Episode 1: Where we are as a nation

State of Mind Episode 2: Hidden battles

State of Mind Episode 3: To suffer in silence

More than half of all prison and jail inmates in the U.S. have mental health issues, according to a study by the Justice Department. Police departments and hospitals throughout the country are working to change the way they interact with mentally ill individuals to keep them out of the criminal justice system.

"It's very important that police are trained on how to handle that situation, so instead of it ramping up to be a problem, it calms down to be something that is not going to end up as a crime committed," said U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), who is a practicing psychologist.

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Dr. Glenda Wrenn CBS NEWS

To properly deal with someone who is mentally ill, Dr. Glenda Wren of the Kennedy Center for Mental Health said that "we need to have police officers that are trained to properly recognize mental health presentations and then have a place to refer people to [for treatment]."

A 2015 Washington Post study found that as many as one in four people killed in officer-involved shootings were mentally ill. Many police departments across the country have implemented Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) to prepare officers' encounters with mentally ill individuals.

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Susan Herman, the NYPD deputy commissioner for collaborative policing CBS NEWS

In 2016 alone, the NYPD received approximately 157,000 calls involving someone in a mental health crisis.

"The whole idea was how do we keep people out of the criminal justice system, who don't need to be in there, to resolve whatever issue they have," said Susan Herman, the NYPD deputy commissioner for collaborative policing.

The New York City program was created out of Mayor Bill de Blasio's 2014 Task Force on Behavioral Health and the Criminal Justice System. Currently, the NYPD has trained over 5,000 out of their 35,000 uniformed officers in CIT.

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Police officers and an actor in the NYPD's Crisis Intervention Training CBS NEWS

A panel of community members who struggle with mental illnesses helps advise the NYPD and participate in the department's CIT training. CBS News attended a recent session.

Leonard, one of the panel's members, told the officers "we depend on you to protect us, even if we don't know we want you to protect us or we're not prepared for you to protect us."

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Panelists at the NYPD training session CBS NEWS

Ron, another panelist, added that officers should reach out to someone who is emotionally disturbed and work on "making that connection, even if it's just 'hey do you need a bottle of water?' 'Hi how are you feeling today?'"

"Making those little connections add up. They will recognize on some level that you were the person who helped them out and that will account for a lot as they progress," he said.

Hospitals and their employees are also on the front lines of dealing with people who have behavioral health issues. In New York, the jail system is the second biggest provider of mental health services, according to Kristy Loewenstein, director of nurse education for Zucker Hillside Hospital, an inpatient psychiatric facility in Queens, New York.

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Kristy Loewenstein CBS NEWS

Many hospitals are now regularly training to handle patients that have behavioral health issues. First and foremost hospital staff wants to avoid using physical force to de-escalate a situation.

"Our words are the best tools that we have. If we can become really proficient at verbally de-escalating patients, we don't have to worry about physically intervening," Lowenstein said.

The NYPD says they aim to have thousands more officers trained in the CIT program within the next three years.

If your community is interested in creating a crisis intervention team, contact the National Alliance on Mental Illness at 800-950-NAMI, or click here.



DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION, OR DBS, INVOLVES AN ELECTRODE IMPLANT RUN BY A BATTERY UNDER THE SKIN OF THE CHEST LIKE A HEART PACEMAKER. IT IS REMOVABLE LATER IF NEEDED, WITHOUT DAMAGE TO THE BRAIN.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/depression-neurosurgery-dbs-mental-health-uncharted-state-of-mind-episode-5/
By LUISA GARCIA CBS NEWS May 31, 2017, 2:36 PM
State of Mind Episode 5: Out of the depths

"CBS Evening News Uncharted: State of Mind" is a five-part digital series that started airing in May, with new episodes released every Wednesday. The series examines the state of mental health care in America in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month. More than 43 million Americans suffer from mental illness.

State of Mind Episode 1: Where we are as a nation
State of Mind Episode 2: Hidden battles
State of Mind Episode 3: To suffer in silence
State of Mind Episode 4: Training to deal with mental illness
State of Mind Episode 5: Out of the depths


Vito Randazzo's battle with severe depression started 18 years ago when his youngest daughter, Emily, was born. The unexpected illness left him so crippled that he had to stop going to work.

"You feel like you're going crazy and you constantly feel like you want to kill yourself because there is no way out," he said. "Every single day was a push just to survive."

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Vito and Kathy Randazzo CBS NEWS

Emily and her 20-year-old sister, Sarah, had to grow up faster than most kids in order to help their father cope with his depression and suicidal thoughts.

"There are times where you think, 'what if I grew up without a dad or not even grew up, what if I have to continue without my father,'" Emily said, in tears. "It is just not something any child wants to hear or think about at all."

"The word suicide hits you in the face, it hits you like a truck whenever you hear it," said Sarah.

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Emily and Sarah Randazzo CBS NEWS

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 25 million Americans suffer from depression each year. More than 50 percent of all people who die by suicide suffer from major depression.

"This disease was wearing him down to the point where he wanted to give up," said Kathy Randazzo, Vito's wife. "When you have no hope, nowhere else to go, no treatments, medications, nothing, what do you do?"

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Dr. Robert Levine CBS NEWS

Dr. Robert Levine has been Vito's psychiatrist for 15 years.

"He is one of my most difficult patients because he responded to so little," Levine said.

"I must have tried over a hundred different medications and a hundred different combinations of medications which weren't working at all," Vito said.

Some of the antidepressants that Vito took caused paranoia and hallucinations.

"I thought someone was always out to get me," Vito said. "In one instance, I thought someone was in the home. I saw someone walk down my hallway."

"He would have to go room by room to make sure no one was behind the doors and then go downstairs to the basement and make sure everything was locked," Kathy said. "Then he would have to do it all over again just in order to convince himself that nobody is watching."

Insomnia was a symptom of Vito's depression; He would go months with virtually no sleep.

To alleviate the sleeplessness, Vito underwent 60 rounds of electroconvulsive therapy. Small electric currents were passed through his brain to intentionally trigger brief seizures, but it did not help for long.

"I felt pretty much the same way he did, dispirited," Levine said. "As a physician you shouldn't but you always, it is always a tendency to blame yourself, to think that if only you had tried something else he would have responded."

As a last resort, Dr. Sameer Sheth and his neurosurgery team at Columbia University Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital suggested the use of deep brain stimulation, or DBS, to treat Vito's depression.

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Dr. Sameer Sheth CBS NEWS

"We actually stimulate the brain usually using electrical energy and the reason that is done is because the brain is a bunch of neuron and nerve cells that communicate using electrical rhythms," Sheth said. "When those electrical rhythms and that communication is not working properly you see disorders."

DBS is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for depression. In Vito's case, Sheth received approval as an off-label clinical case for compassionate use.

"Some people think that it is excessive that I am going to get brain surgery for a disease," Vito said. "But at that point I had no other option … I didn't have a life at that point."

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COURTESY MEDTRONIC

This surgical procedure, most commonly used to treat tremors, involves the placement of an electrode on each side of the patient's brain. The spot is specifically targeted based on their symptoms and MRI scans. The thin, insulated wires connect to a battery pack that delivers electrical stimulation and sits under the skin in the upper chest, similar to a heart pacemaker.

Vito was awake for part of the procedure.

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Vito was awake during part of his brain surgery. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER AND NEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL

"Being on an operating table and the room becomes brighter, colors [more] vivid," Vito said. "Your chest feels lighter, like somebody's not sitting on your chest anymore. [The] headache that you've had for 18 years finally subsides."

"It's not a guarantee, we are getting better and better but there is still room for improvement," Sheth said. "Most importantly, this is not something that you do and then you're done. Vito for example, continues to work very hard through the depression that is still there."

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Vito after surgery RANDAZZO FAMILY

DBS is not a permanent procedure. It can be removed at any point without damage or change to the brain.

"About seven months in is when we started to notice very subtle things that he didn't even recognize yet," Kathy said. "It might be that when I got home from work I would hear him in the kitchen and he would be singing, which as silly as it sounds, it is something he hasn't done in a long time. As time went on, you would see him interacting more with the girls and just overall just see that a weight was lifted off of him."

"It's very dangerous to generalize from one case, but the results for Vito are so spectacular that you have to believe that there really has been a quantum leap in the treatment for severe depression," Levine said.

"It has been life changing, it really has," Vito said. "What I'm looking forward to the most are just the simple things in life… I am not looking for grandeur. I'm just looking to live my life. I lost 18 years and now I'm living life again."