Heartbreaking downfall of brilliant lawyer, 44, who walked out on his career ... trends now
The relatives of a brilliant lawyer who walked out on his family and career amid a mental health spiral during Covid have spoken of their devastation after he ended up living on the streets of LA.
Two years ago Rob Dart, 44, was an award-winning attorney and doting father living in a $2 million South Pasadena home.
He had overcome a previous mental health crisis a decade earlier, following the end of his marriage which saw him plagued by voices in his head.
Back then, Dart still had the wherewithal to turn to his family for support and he managed to recuperate at home in his childhood bedroom before moving out and reinventing himself as a high flying lawyer.
But in 2022, his life began to unravel once again with the advent of the pandemic, which saw him spending hours working from home.
Rob Dart, 44, was an award winning attorney and doting father until a mental health crisis during Covid sent him on a downward spiral
The once-thriving lawyer plunged into psychosis which left him living on the streets of LA
His mental health struggles started at age 35 during his separation from his now ex-wife but he was able to get a grip on them and start over
Dart quit therapy and his medications and soon lost touch with his family, as well as his job.
He missed rent, his car was impounded and soon after his phone got cut off.
'I got on a plane,' his mom Sherry Dart told the Wall Street Journal. 'I thought I was going to find a dead body.'
When she finally caught up with her son, he was almost unrecognizable - and furious.
Dart allowed his mom to greet her grandson for a short while, before whisking him away. He then proceeded to ignore his mother's repeated phone calls over the next few days.
It was a similar story for Dart's sister Jennifer when she tried to visit him in July, weeks after he had been evicted.
Jennifer scoured the local area before she found her once clean cut brother with matted hair and in total disarray at a Starbucks.
'The only thing I could recognize were his eyes,' she said, describing a similarly hostile reaction.
He moved back to southern California to this $2 million home and forged a career as an award winning attorney
But in 2022, the advent of the pandemic saw him working from home more and he quit therapy and his medications which cause his mental health to plummet resulting in becoming homeless
Dart was one of the millions of Americans whose mental health issues were exacerbated by the pandemic through interruptions to treatment, routine or for other reasons.
In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25 percent, according to a scientific brief released by the World Health Organization (WHO)
Dart's family had hoped that California's more robust laws on detaining those with serious psychotic disorders would provide the safety net he so desperately needed.
In 2022, the CARE Court laws introduced powers for judges to commit mentally ill people into facilities if family members petition the courts.
In most states, loved ones can do little to access treatment on behalf of patients without their consent.
However, Dart's moments of lucidity and his legal background meant he was
