Like many teens, Brandon Staglin of Staglin Family Vineyard seized the summer of 1990. But after taking a week-long scuba diving trip with a friend, the return to his parents’ house was anything but ordinary. Tucked into his familiar bed, Staglin was about to take a terrifying journey.

“I had my first psychotic ‘episode’ in the summer of 1990. It was the A-number-one scariest thing I have ever experienced. ... It was like half of my head suddenly disappeared, the right half. ... I was awake for the next four days, wandering the local streets in search of the part of me I thought I had lost.”

Staglin was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 18.

Now 36, Staglin joins his family — including parents, Garen and Shari and sister, Shannon — in the mission of spreading awareness about mental illness and raising funds for the research of brain disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. Including grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the annual Staglin Family Music Festival for Mental Health has amassed more than $53 million for such research since 1994, “making the festival the highest grossing fundraising event related to wine without an auction,” said Tom Fuller, the Staglins’ publicist.

Renowned medical institutions across the nation benefit from the festival’s proceeds. Some recipients include researchers at the UCSF Center for Neurobiology and Psychiatry, the International Prodromal Research Network, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, the UCLA Center for the Assessment and Prevention of Prodromal States, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, the Roskamp Institute, Aldea Inc., Stanford University and the University of Southern Florida.

Working toward the common goals of individually-tailored treatments and a cure for schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, researchers funded by festival proceeds are obligated to share research information. In the meantime, the Staglins are optimistic about the eventual development of future screening techniques which would prevent mental illnesses before they strike.

“In contrast to ten years ago, when we only saw (the illnesses) after the fact, now we may be able to prevent their onset. People should understand that there’s hope,” said Garen Staglin. “For a long time, there was no hope.”

A primary focus of the Staglin Music Festival is to raise money to conquer mental illness, but its purpose is twofold. Although many brain disorders such as schizophrenia occur equally in populations throughout the world, millions keep silent about their conditions. In sharing their story and encouraging others to do the same, the Staglins are doing their part to battle the stigma of mental illness.

The unseen impact of mental illness

The conditions’ impact on the productivity of the American workforce is profound.

The onset of depression, schizophrenia and other brain disorders often occurs during people’s productive years, with more than 26 percent of American adults — about 57 million people — “suffering from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year,” according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

A study by the World Health Organization, the World Bank and Harvard University “reveal(s) that mental illness, including suicide, accounts for over 15 percent of the burden of disease in established market economies ... more than the disease burden caused by all cancers,” according to NIMH.Complicating the vast human and fiscal impacts of mental illness is the often trial and error nature of treatment, which can be especially challenging for people living with more than one mental illness. Jaye Vanderhurst, director of Napa County Public Health’s Mental Health Division, said it is not uncommon for adults seeking mental health treatment through the county to have multiple mental health diagnoses.

Of adults receiving services through the organization, 305 individuals, or about 17 percent, have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, while 260 individuals, or approximately 14 percent, live with Bipolar Disorder, she said, adding that 274 people — about 15 percent — are diagnosed with depression.

In children seeking mental health services through the county, schizophrenia is extremely rare, but children’s rates of bipolar disorder and depression are similar to those of their adult counterparts, Vanderhurst said.