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 minute. 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 month 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. 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. Brian McAnally was an example of how easy it was to have someone institutionalized back in those days.


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.]