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Receiving the proper diagnosis for an illness is critical for understanding and treating a person. This is just as true for a mental illness as a physical one. In this episode Kenneth Jackson shares the anguish and consequences that came from years of living without a proper mental health diagnosis, and how life-changing the eventual correct diagnosis has been.

For the first years of his life Kenneth Jackson made decisions – and had decisions made for him – based on bad information. His rare condition was only properly diagnosed at age 19 and in that time Mr. Jackson had found himself repeatedly misunderstood, frustrated, and floundering.

However, Mr. Jackson’s story is proof that it is never too late to turn your life around. Kenneth Jackson was finally given the treatment he needed and also used the therapeutic power of art to help heal from the suffering he had experienced. After serving time behind bars for actions he’d taken before his diagnosis, Mr. Jackson became a professional graphic designer, an active member of the community, and an advocate for others who are living in the unsettling uncertainty of being undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

Dr. Lisa MacLean, Chief Clinical Wellness Officer of Henry Ford Health, also joins us in this episode to explain why getting the right diagnosis for a mental illness is so critical, and why a misdiagnosis can be so detrimental.