Tracy Capers Seeks to Eliminate Stigma of Mental Illness

Tracey Capers didn’t know much about mental illness until she encountered the disease in its most extreme form. 

“I thought it was someone talking to themselves on the street,” said the 46-year-old Brooklyn resident. “I had these stereotypical perceptions of mental illness.” 

That all changed when her brother, Tim Capers, was found deceased in a river in New Jersey in 1992. Though the cause was never determined on his death certificate, Capers believes her brother-committed suicide.

“My brother was just a success story,” said Capers. “He was popular in high school, he was a wrestling champion—the epitome of discipline and accomplishment in terms of academic and athletic prowess.”

Tim Capers—who along with his two sibilings and parents grew up at the Winbrook Apartments housing complex in White Plains and went on to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he was on the dean’s list; and later went on to get jobs as a computer engineer at Prodigy and IBM.

“It was about a year before he died when it became obvious that something was wrong,” said Capers.

She recalls her brother’s behavior changing after he lost his job, including: disappearing for days changes in speech pattern, rapid weight loss and paranoia. 

“It’s made me more sensitive to the whole concept of mental illness and the use of language—how we easily just throw around terms without really knowing what they mean and what they mean to people, like ‘crazy,’” said Capers.

“I was suffering inside with shame alone. I got over my taboo with therapy. Mental illness doesn’t need to be or shouldn’t be a taboo. They need to get help—the person with the disease and the people who support them.”

In an effort to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness—Capers has shared her story on her blog “Familiar Minds,” at familiarminds.wordpress.com.  

She is inviting those who are dealing with disease or have been affected by someone who is suffering from mental illness to also share their stories. 

“So many people are suffering in silence and in secrecy,” said Capers. “There is denial, and they are not seeking help. There could be a family member you know that is undiagnosed and could be helped and supported.”

Capers hopes that having individuals share their stories will shatter the ignominy of mental illness.

“Talking about my brother’s suicide is not a comfortable conversation, but by having this conversation I hope to give a voice and hope and courage to somebody in the same situation,” said Capers.

The executive vice president of programs and organization development at Bed-Stuy Restoration Plaza Corp., a non-profit community development corporation—Capers hopes to use some of the essays from her blog for a book.

Submissions should be 250 to 500 words and must be submitted to familiarminds@gmail.com no later than December 30. Click here for details.