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Wayne Dowling 
Wayne Dowling takes life one step at a time now, knowing that every day is another on the road to recovery. Dowling, 59, was diagnosed over a quarter century ago with bipolar disorder, a condition that makes him subject to wild mood swings. But with the help of medication and the chance to help others who are afflicted with mental illness, Dowling is writing a happy ending in his book of life.
His days are spent working with the county's mentally ill as a 'community friend' with the Mental Health Association of San Mateo County. His days are spent taking the mentally ill into the community, walking in the park, taking them to see airplanes depart from San Francisco International, visiting Golden Gate Park, taking them shopping or simply talking to them - anything that helps them communicate with a world that often shuns them.
"I can tell, just by the interaction they have with others, that I'm letting these people out of their shell," said Dowling, who was first diagnosed as a schizophrenic back in 1967. "What hurts most is that many of the people who suffer mental illness are being rejected by society. We don't deal with these people; we put blinders on instead of helping them."
Dowling knows first hand the problems the mentally ill face. It's bad enough, he said, that most people shun the mentally ill. What's worse is that those that are mentally ill also have to battle their demons, just as he has. Dowling admits that his mental illness probably wrecked his two marriages. It's probably the reason he's estranged from a 26-year-old daughter and has little contact with an older brother, he said.
But through all his problems, Dowling has managed to earn a post-graduate degree (in psychology from California State University, Hayward) and live a varied life that included stints as a musician, counselor with the California Youth Authority and a Redwood City cabbie.
Excerpted from Redwood City Independent, June 19, 2001.
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