By: Chuck (Wilderness Hermit Charlie)  

 I live in the wilderness area along a remote stretch of Southern California coast between Carrillo State Beach near Point Dome and Zomma Beach and the Gaveota Bend 60 mi. west of Malibu.

I am a widower my lat wife’s name is Janice. We where maried 2 years befor she died.I feel she is steel waiting for me on the other side. I’ve had had many relationships scants Janice's death. Something that she wanted me to do. We had no children.

 I do have a profusion of symptoms starting with extreme oppositional thinking, Weird and sometimes paranoid thoughts, hearing voices when there is no one around and most notably seeing things that are not real. Don’t get me wrong most of the time I am able to deal with the day to day stresses of my live in such a way that I am not always having symptoms. On a lucky day I just have a few oppositional thoughts that don’t last long.

In my case along with many others where horribly abused in a very religious surroundings. I grow up in an orphanage in Inglewood California that was ran bay conservative evangelical Baptist. It was during the height of the cold war. When every ones was up tight abut the treat of world inhalation. I was placed there by the States Child Protection Department because my father had died and my mother was not able to care for us 3 boys. The "childrens homes" called CBH only haired Evangelical types that had had children of there own. They was supposable screened to prevent any perverts or weirdoes. During the time I was there 1956 to 1962 from age 6 to just before my 13th Berth day. Was very stressful times for everyone in America and Europe with the constant nuclear threat. It may sound strange now days but everyone was preoccupied with building bomb shelters and on how to survive the impending nuclear holocaust. No one was concerned that some orphans weirs being physical or in some cases sexually abused. So all the so called normies that work there was taking out all there frustrations of the world by lining us up and slapping and hitting use kids very chance they got. It wasn't just the 2 or 3 times a day that we where lined up that we where yield at and slapped around as hared as the 30 to 50 year old could slap us around. Any time your path crossed a staff person they would hall off and slap you across the face as hared as they could. But that was nothing compared to shower time when the House parents would reach their hand into your shower and tern the cold water completely off and the hot water on making you stand there burning in the hot water. They did in order that the could hit you as hared as they can with out leaving any bruises on there of 8 to 12 year old victims. These was a daily currents for 7 years of my life.

Yes even after all these years I stele have Post Traumatic Stress syndrome from the events of my childhood. 

I have been diagnosed a lot of times, usually with some kind of schizophrenia or another. I don’t know what that means. I think that means you have a lot of symptoms but they don’t know exactly why or what category to put you in. 

I do not know what a personality disorder is. When I was in the navy I was tolled that I had a defective personality.

Yes I have been on meads. It seams their always coming out with new so called “wonder” drugs. If only we take our mead they say we would all be cured. Well I’ve seen what meds do to people. At best it ruins their quality of life and greatly runes their life experience. It’s a funny thing after a drug has out
for 10 years or so thy always seem to figure out that the so called wonder drug never rally did much for anyone symptoms.

No I’m not on medication; I’m waiting till I hear of some one how has actually been cured. I have yet to discover a med that will make me beater.

I work as a janitor and have other duties at the Socialization Center in Santa Barbara. I’m an Acoustical Carpenter by trade and have helped in install meanly of the sealing at UCSB. My biggest challenge and accomplishment as a carpenter was installing the sealing at Campbell Hall. I find when ever I’m around people that I can relate too and specially others how I sheer thing in commend with, such as hearing voices, I hear leas voice and they’re not as loud or as threatening.

At the Social center in S.B., I have gotten to know a number of people some have and still do hear voices. We do often joke around some however it’s a wild place and most live a sedated life on meads. I gist I’m lucky I’ve never gotten to the point where I wanted to jest give up and let others manage and control my life. I do find my social support system lacing.

The coping strategies I use to help me with the voices is too avoid stress and to be around as many friendly people as much as possible.

After seeing two deferent therapists for 6 years each I finally came to the conclusion that therapy can only do so much four you.
It helped me some and the help that it dead is steal with me.

I have learned to manage my symptoms well enough that I have been able to function relatively well enough on my own. I have been in and out of 6 or 7 physic wards. I might add they never did me much good. Jest gave me a lot of side effects, made it harder to function and harder to appease my voices. Instead of jest hearing voices I then had to deal with side effects. With lasted for months after. And also then with withdrawal symptoms, both of with interfered with interacting with others either or in a personal or social way. Witch of course made all the voice in my head all the louder and angrier.

I plan on staying out of hospitals. 

I was physically, emotionally and sexually abused.  I have already described some of the physical abuse that I suffered while at the Childrens Home where I grow up. The childhood Home was also a place of psychological abuse. The people how worked at the “Home” at the time thought that the world was coming to an end and that what they did, did not make any deferments or would they ever be healed accountable. Us kids were tolled that we would all be died with in 7 years, that none of us would ever see our 18th birth day.


A man does not like to admit to having been the victim of sexually abused. Use kids absolutely hated it. At the home us kids had to let any and all adults run their hands down our pants any time they wanted to. It was not as hared on us boys. However for the girls it was not as easy. Many where traumatized. Looking back the sexual abuse that I suffered may seam trivial compared to others. I think it was some times worst to whiteness the abuse and not be able to do any thing abut it that to be the abused.

I feel that I have accumulated much wisdom in dealing with our unique challenges in life and would like to be able to pass some of what I’ve learned on to others.

I live in the past, present and future all at once in the Wilderness time zone.

The qualities I look for in a friend, is some one I can be myself with. Some one I have something in common with. How is not going to judge, or change me. However will give me enough feedback that I can judge and change myself.

I would describe my self as a kind of hermit I've lived by myself for so long I wouldn't know how to adjust to living in a big city.

Hermit Charlie's home in the Wilderness

My favorite film would probably be it's a Wild, Wild, Wild World.

My much-loved TV show is Gilligan's Island.

I like to listen the old time Rock-n-Roll music.