Sunday, January 22, 2017

What happened to Brian McAnally? Revisited!

For those who didn't know, Brian McAnally was featured in the 1983 documentary called Children of Darkness which was broadcasted nationally on television in the United States on PBS that same year. Richard Kotuk filmed and directed Children of Darkness documentary. Brian McAnally was the star of the documentary as he was featured all over the place in regard to this documentary. Richard Kotuk focused much of his time filming Brian McAnally due to his strange behavior inside said documentary. The Children of Darkness documentary explored the lack of lack of mental health care in America for juvenile psychiatry. Many seriously emotionally disturbed youth were shown.

To recap, Brian McAnally was first seen punching the backseat of the bus during a trip to the zoo in the beginning of the referenced documentary. He was shown with patients and attendants rode The reason why Brian was punching the backseat of the bus is because Brian had a though in his head a car located behind the bus was following him which led Brian to become paranoid which eventually led him to become physically aggressive with attendants/staff as they tried to restrain Brian McAnally in an effort to calm him down. Despite efforts to calm Brian down, his aggression escalated as his behavior escalated during an attempted restraint by attendants/staff. Brian kept screaming "I want to get off the bus! Let me off the bus!" .

His behavior episode lasted from 2 to 3 minutes. Brian McAnally was eventually secluded to an empty seat on the bus as an attempt by attendants to deescalate his behavior in order to calm him down. (Attendants relocated Brian McAnally to an empty seat during an offscreen moment.) 2 attendants helped Brian calm down as he cried in anger. As Brian cried away in anger, he eventually calmed down. He was tightly hugged and squeezed by attendants in an effort to comfort Brian.

Later on in the documentary, Richard Kotuk takes us to the scene at Eastern State School where 2 attendants have to restrain Brian McAnally by laying him down on the bed because he is trying to pull the dresser over on himself. He was tightly restrained by attendants in an effort to calm him down.


Patient Brian McAnally was a product of an unplanned pregnancy. As result of an unplanned pregnancy, Brian was abandoned by his mother when he was 2 years old. He lived with his father until he was 15. (His mother was Lois Marie McAnally and his father was James McAnally.) His father was very much involved in his life. Every weekend, he would take Brian home to his home in Kensington, Pennsylvania. He father was very much active in his life in his roll as a parent when he was alive.

Brian has had schizophrenia since he was 4 years old. Brian McAnally was admitted to Eastern State School in 1979 because his father could no longer handle him or his behavior episodes combined with his self-injurious behaviors on top of aggression. As of 1979, Brian McAnally was a patient of Eastern State School. From 1979 to 1983 is when Brian lived at Eastern State School in Trevose, Pennsylvania as a patient where he lived for 4 years. The first few years Brian did well at the school. However, a months prior to the filming of Children of Darkness, former Eastern State School childcare worker Mark Williams admits Brian has been regressing. Brian had been hallucinating more with no sense of reality.

Psychotropic drugs were used to control his behavior while at Eastern State School. Doctors suggested that Brian be heavily medicated. It was at Eastern State School that psychotropic drugs became a form of therapy for Brian. Such medicine only made his mental condition worse overtime. Former Eastern State School childcare worker John Brooks states Brian has a likeable personality and that he is mildly retarded.

Back in the day, it seemed ridiculously easy to have someone institutionalized. Brian McAnally was an example of how easy it was to have someone institutionalized back in those days. States such as New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas are examples otherwise. Texas was 50th out of the 50 states for expenditures to provide for the care of people with mental illness or mental retardation. That was in 1986.


Now here is an update about Brian McAnally and his life after Eastern State School.
In 1983 (after Brian McAnally turned 18), he was moved to a brand new group home which was located 4 blocks away from his fathers home in Kensington, Pennsylvania. Brian is thriving and doing pretty well in his group home better than he did at Eastern State School. He wasn’t as anxious or aggressive despite having been diagnosed with mania and schizophrenia earlier in his life. Later on, he was diagnosed with mental retardation.


[Eastern State School went also under the names of Eastern State School & Hospital, Eastern State School/Eastern State Hospital, & Eastern State Hospital during its time of operation as a state institution from 1961 to 1996.]

[During the behavior episode Brian McAnally created on the bus during a field trip to the zoo mainly due to his mental condition and developmental disability, Richard Kotuk filmed other patients, residents, staff, and attendants as the 2 attendants attempted to seclude Brian in an effort to calm his behavior. Much of his behavior episode was offscreen as an audio portion of his behavior episode was played.]

[James McAnally (Jim McAnally) was the father of Brian McAnally. He was 70 years old in 1983. He was featured in the Children of Darkness documentary as well. His mother was Lois Marie McAnally and his father was James McAnally.]

65 comments:

  1. SUCH A UNIQUE, BRIGHT, FULL OF LIFE OR DESIRES THE ONE HE SHARES WITH HIS FATHER, AND LADY FRIEND. SUCH A HANDSOME YOUNG MAN. IT IS TRULY AMAZING HOW MUCH IMPACT ONE PERSON CAN HAVE ON YOUR HEART, I HOPE YOU HAVE HAD PEACE & UNDERSTANDING IN YOUR LIFE & THAT YOU KNOW HOW VERY BEUTIFUL YOU TRULY ARE.
    THANK YOU SO MUCH ... CARA

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    2. Brian sadly passed away at the age of just 53 through his health conditions

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  2. i am james smeaton. i very much enjoyed knowing that brian had his dad for some of his time on this planet. what a good guy, he just needed 'care' not drugs. what a terrible system in the usa. i pray it is better nowadays.

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    1. We hope so too that US Healthcare is better these days, James Smeaton. Brain Mcanally just needed care.

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  3. Jesus fucking Christ this was a torture to read. It actually reads as if a patient wrote this shit. Sort your life out you fuckhead

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    1. Yes. I, Michael Mixerr, have autism. Let's see you write a news article and then come later to receive feedback from me.

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    2. You did just fine, Michael. However, it doesn't really state where Brian is now in 2017. Is he still at the group home he was moved to from Eastern state school?

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    3. Great response Mixerr. That shut him up!!

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    4. They always shut up when answer back with a witty response.

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    5. What's your deal you need to sort yourself out you're obviously a very sad person as people who are content in life don't need to put others down

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    6. They always shut up when I answer back with a witty response.

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    7. Let's not lie. The article was painful, repetitive and badly written. And if you think your reply to someone pointing that out was "witty", you're fuckin retarded. And you said it twice.

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    8. Just saw the documentary on YouTube. It broke my heart. Things were so backwards then. I hope the system has improved. Maybe if the government would spend less money on the military and more on comprehensive healthcare.

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    9. Pardon me but please don't use the loss name in vain😇

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    10. I meant lords name in vain lol

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  4. Anonymous is full of shit. He won't even give his name, because he's a pussy. The article was great!

    -John Arthur

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    1. Why thank you, John Arthur. I agree with your comment also.

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  5. Glad to see Brian is still alive, and doing well. I'm sure that alot of the young people from that documentary never survived very far into adulthood. Watching the documentary a few minutes ago, made my troubles seem very trivial. Thank you for doing such a great job researching and giving us an update to Brian's story.

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    1. You are welcome. I was glad to provide an update.

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    2. Actually hes dead. Apparently he had a fever the group home couldnt break which ended claiming his life.

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    3. This was an old article written before Brian Mcannaly was dead.

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  6. Amazing documentary Children of darkness is, I just watched it yesterday and again today. This feature really shows the raw truth and helps those ignorant to these things to understand better.

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  7. Great article! Just to confirm, has Brian sadly passed? If so, that is truly heartbreaking he seemed like such a kind, lovely soul. Do you have any details?

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    1. Thank you, Lewis. Just to confirm Brian has passed away. Yes.

      On the date of July 28, 2016, Brian McAnally passed away in the group home he was living in. At the time of death, Brian was found dead in his dorm at the group home he was living in at the time. It was due to conditions regarding his health that he passed away. His mania had taken a turn for the worst despite getting emotional healing through therapy. Brian attended meetings with a behavior therapist and counselor on a regular basis. Despite all that, Brian was thriving in his group home better than he did at Eastern State School. Brian McAnally was 53. He left several family members behind whom he hadn’t seen for years.

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  8. What happened to Jerry the young man with Muscular Dystrophy who's parents abandoned him and moved to Las Vegas?

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    1. I would love to know too. His story broke my heart.

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    2. I read he is alive and doing well in Havasu City Arizona where he is employed by an automotive sales group.

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    3. Lake Havasu city, it's where I live. I wonder if I've ever met the man.

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  9. I found the "Children of Darkness" documentary accidentally, and while it broke my heart, it was also an eye-opener. As someone born in 1983, I see things have changed in 30+ years, not sure for the better, but it's good to know people care enough to want to understand and research these things to instruct and teach the world. Thank you.

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    1. I was a graduate from university here in England & in 1991 we had to get 90.000 adults with complex learning disabilities,physical disabilities..mixed with conditions like activism & schizophrenia & basically try & rehome & quite literally start from scratch with some people just explaining the value of money to them so they were safe..A very very exhausting but I credibly rewarding job & if I didn't have MS badly now myself I'd work in this field again in a heartbeat .

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  10. Dearest Brian, I have wondered for so long how you are doing after seeing the documentary Children of Darkness. You have such a sweet character about you that many people do not possess- you are rare in this world and I can only imagine how much you miss your dad. I hope everything is well in your life and that you are happy, as that is what you've always deserved. Much love.

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    1. Sadly he passed away July 28, 2016

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  11. Thank you Michael mixerr! You did a great job on the article and your responses to ignorant people was my cherry on top, bravo!

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  12. Heyyy...great article..it breaks my heart so much when I found out about the children of darkness..however I think they should have named it as "children of God" instead.. Anyways do you have any information about Billy??

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    1. Unfortunately we do not have anymore information regarding Billy Calhoun at this time.

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    2. Any thing on Denise?

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    3. We never found anything on Denise.

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    4. That sucks, I hope Denise didn't kill herself. I hope she finally found some happiness wherever she is. Just sad listening to her about her life.

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    5. If she did there would have to be some record from a OCME for a Jane Doe, anyone know her last name or where she was from. She just up and ran away... Wonder where she went, hopefully she went to a family members house.

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  13. Hello Mixxer, I saw your comment that you have autism. Do you mind elaborating on what type of autism you have? I read your comments and Im thinking Aspergers, but I would like to know.

    Also amazing work with this article, the lad that said it was terrible because it was as if "it reads like a patient wrote it" seems like a prick. And the fact that it was almost as if it was written by a patient makes it more... immersive? I guess? There could be a better word for it, but immersive is what Ill go with.

    -Jack

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    1. Jack, I have high functioning autism. I am on the high end of the spectrum of autism.

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    2. I have 6 members of my extended family who has aspergers...5 be ing very high functioning..in fact I am quite sure my mum who is 92 yrs old has it ,ironically she was a documentary about aspergers & suddenly recognised herself in it ...Thanks for your honesty & hopefully you'll open up a few people's minds reading this today..hugs to yiu..Sophie x

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  14. WOW I'm Fred Herbert and I'm a bail bondsman. I think Mixxer is mentally ill ANDDDD!!!!!!! do you think that's because I'm Mexican that I'm saying this?

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  15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZsmWZfDOy8

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  16. Hello, i am Dylan Kelley. I have learned that Brian is my grandmother's brother. I dont really have much info but i am related to him vaguely. Thought people might find it nice knowing part of his family is here

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  17. Thanks for sharing this update! I've watched Children of Darkness a couple of times now and this is one of the only websites that has more current information. I'm glad to see your website is still active!

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  18. Thank you very much for share this information, I just finished to watch the Documentary and all of this stories where truly interesting, Thank you for adding this additional information by answering the comments too.

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    1. You are welcome. I was glad to provide updates about Brian McAnally. He certainly was a character.

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  19. I heard Brian passed away in summer 2018 in Philadelphia. His girlfriend was still a good friend to him until the end. He lived in some sort of assisted living facility at the time of his passing.

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  21. I do not see anything wrong with the article, actually, this page is very helpful, great job..

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  22. brian holy king of mental hospitrals 1980

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  23. brian mcannally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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