Bio.

CONTENT WARNING: abuse, homophobia, ableism, gaslighting, homelessness

Grew up in rural Montana with his parents and three older sisters. All four children had synesthesia and were home schooled. The four siblings were very close to each other, but there was frequent friction between them and their parents, especially between Doug and his father.

Doug was pressured to pursue a more "stable" career than art. It was a perfectly fine hobby for his sisters, but Douglas Sr had a different image for his only son. Eventually, Doug relented and tried to appease his father by pursuing a degree in architectural engineering. He went to university out of state, mostly through scholarships and student loans.

During college, Doug began showing more signs of schizophrenia. He’d feel tired and not really know why and socialization especially became a chore. For a while, he figured it was more to do with the change from home school to a college educational setting, plus going from living in a small mountain village to an urban area. But over time it became fairly obvious to Doug that it wasn’t just difficult adjusting, as he kept feeling worse over time. He did go to the school’s counseling service, but from his initial descriptions, the counselors gave him resources for dealing with depression and anxiety. His parents scoffed at the idea of Doug needing more in depth therapy, telling him he would just have to work harder and focus more on school.

But things just kept getting worse for Doug and he couldn’t find anyone willing to take him seriously when he explained that he was struggling. Even when he started describing psychotic episodes to the counseling office, the counselor assumed this was due to synesthesia. It was Doug’s boyfriend at the time, an I/O psychology grad student named Julian, who was the first to suggest looking into schizophrenia as a diagnosis. Doug brought this up the next counseling session he had and the counseling office started looking for a therapist and psychiatrist to refer him to.

Unfortunately, before that was finalized, Doug was put on academic probation for his slipping grades and lost his scholarship. Having had health insurance through the school and housing via the dorms, Doug was screwed. Julian, who lived in an apartment off-campus, suggested Doug stay with him while they got this sorted out.

Doug tried to get his parents’ help with health insurance, but because they disapproved of him living with another man, his parents only agreed to help on the condition the Doug move back home. Figuring it would be better to stay where he had support and didn’t have to be forced to pretend to be straight, Doug decided to stay with Julian and find another way. During this time, Doug was in touch with his older sisters, talking about moving to be nearer to them (Isabel was living in Seattle and Victoria was living in northern California, while Clara still lived with their parents in Montana). Isabel and Victoria were willing to help Doug settle in their respective cities, but couldn’t afford to pay for him to move out there. So Doug put school aside for the time being and tried to get a job, despite his worsening mental state. Staying employed long-term was incredibly difficult for him and, rather than managing to save to move back to the northwest, most money Doug did manage to earn went to helping Julian pay the bills (despite Julian being capable of paying them on his own).

Over time, Julian discouraged Doug from seeking employment, convincing him that staying home and doing "chores" was adequate contribution. And with Julian paying for everything, he would leverage that over Doug how he wanted. Doug tried to reach out to his parents as things were getting worse, but his father still refused to support Doug after he had decided to live with another man. Shortly after, Julian stopped paying for Doug’s phone bill, significantly impairing his ability to get in contact with his family. Julian also monitored Doug’s internet activity, further cutting Doug off from seeking help.

After a couple of years of struggling with Julian's controlling and gaslighting, Doug broke down, packed a bag, and ran away.

Doug's been living on the streets for about a decade.