What SUCCESS STORIES™ are and why they matter

 

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the fastest growing disease in the world. One of the challenges in finding a cure is false and damaging stories about what PD is including:

• It’s just tremors.

• You don’t look like you have Parkinson’s.

• It’s not that bad.

 

These narratives drive the idea that PD is not that important or too difficult to address. PD affects people in ways we don’t see: apathy, anxiety, fatigue, hallucinations, and delusions to name a few. Success Stories™ rewrite fear, stigma, ignorance and hopelessness. They help us see the person rather than the diagnosis. Success Stories™ are not biographies. They are creative, original, human explorations to help show PD and the perspectives of those living with it differently through clear and engaging storytelling.

 

Historically, Success Stories™ have changed entire disease landscapes:

• HIV/AIDS (Silence = Death → Action to antiretroviral therapy (ART))

• MADD (Grief → Policy Revolution leading to massively reduced number of deaths)

• When the world understands the problem it invests in the solution.

 

The Success Stories™ in this calendar were created in Cinema Therapy courses run by Yes, And…eXercise! (YAX)—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit using improvisation and storytelling to improve quality of life. These stories showcase powerful personal narratives of courage, creativity, humor, and growth. Each month highlights a different voice from the PD community—individuals who have stepped into their own hero’s journey to reclaim identity, meaning, and self-worth. Their stories remind us that while PD can take things away, it also opens new doors for connection, resilience, and purpose. Thank you for helping to make PD the next Success Story™ by joining our Sustainers Circle and receiving your copy.