"They’re portrayed as monsters": Mary Galvin Rauch calls out Six Schizophrenic Brothers documentary for misinterpretation

Discovery's new mini-series Six Schizophrenic Brothers documentary is a four-episode docuseries that revolves around the Galvin family who live in Colorado Springs. They came into the medical and media limelight in the 1950s when six of their twelve children were diagnosed with schizophrenia.

The docuseries includes interviews of the Galvin family members who are still alive, including one of the sisters, Mary Galvin Rauch. However, she has recently spoken out after the documentary's release, addressing her disappointment in the series.

In an interview for the Colorado Springs Gazette, Mary said:

"My poor parents. They're portrayed as monsters. They were the kindest, most highly educated parents in the world."

Rauch explains that the series misrepresents what happened and shows her parents portrayed as people who didn't care about their children. She says this was not the case, and the shock value generated through the documentary is not true. The official summary of the Six Schizophrenic Brothers documentary reads:

"The terrifying story of an all-American family torn apart by madness, as six out of 12 siblings develop schizophrenia."

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What is the misrepresentation in the Six Schizophrenic Brothers documentary?

A picture of the Galvin family together (Image via Galvin Family Trust)

Mary Galvin Rauch has spoken to the media about her family and their story and how it was tweaked on screen in the documentary. She said:

"The series misrepresents what happened. My poor parents. They're portrayed as monsters. They were the kindest, most highly educated parents in the world. The series misrepresents schizophrenia grossly."

Though Rauch and her brothers eagerly participated in the documentary and gave interviews, the youngest sister of the Galvin family was not happy with the final series. She explained that the idea and intentions behind the documentary were good, but the final cut did not seem that way and might mislead audiences.

Rauch explained that she wanted to raise awareness about the state of mental health in the world, but the story got turned into a horror film of sorts. The Six Schizophrenic Brothers documentary version that was released focuses too heavily on the violence and abuse and highlights the mental health portion very little, in her opinion.

"[The documentary] has criminalized and stigmatized what is already an uphill battle for all families. It's contributed to the problem and not alleviated it. It's embarrassing for our family in the world of mental health awareness for us to have that happen."

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What is the story behind the Six Schizophrenic Brothers documentary?

The family behind the story in the Six Schizophrenic Brothers documentary (via Galvin Family Trust)

The Six Schizophrenic Brothers documentary is based on the real-life story of the Galvin family, who lived in Colorado Springs in the 1950s. The parents, Don and Mimi Galvin, moved to Hidden Valley Road in the town with twelve of their children. However, six of their boys were diagnosed with symptoms of schizophrenia shortly after this.

Due to an absence of a proper diagnosis and fewer mental healthcare facilities, three of the Galvin sons died by 2003, followed by the death of their father, Don. However, a psychiatrist named Dr DeLisi started researching schizophrenia and came across the family's plight. She requested the Galvin family to be part of her study, and they readily agreed in the hope that a cure could be found.

Even though Dr. DeLisi faced many hurdles and judgment, she managed to discover that schizophrenia had a genetic component. Her findings proved that it was not merely a lack of care that contributed to the mental disorder.

In 2020, Robert Kolker wrote a nonfiction book called Hidden Valley Road, based on DeLisi's research and the Galvin family. This book inspired the Six Schizophrenic Brothers documentary.

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Audiences can watch the documentary streaming on Discovery+ channels via Amazon Prime Video and Max.