When Alex McKeithen went to Paris to study abroad, he never thought he’d end up in the middle of the Arc de Triomphe — naked.
“Bzzzz! The apocalypse is here! Today!” McKeithen remembers screaming the day of psychological snap. Compiling the events leading up to this moment and his recovery after, McKeithen has found redemption and solace in a memoir about the experience, The Seventh Angel.
McKeithen is a graduate from Davidson College, and during his junior year he decided to study abroad in Europe. McKeithen wrote his first novel The Seventh Angel about his experience having a manic episode overseas. He publicized his book during a seminar at the Psychology Department Monday.
“With U2’s album Joshua Tree on repeat, I became hypnotized by the music and my surroundings,” McKeithen said.
McKeithen said he became overwhelmed with feeling as if he had a special purpose. Every time he would close his eyes to pray, he’d open them to see the flight of a nearby dove.
“The sun was on me all the time pushing me higher and higher,” McKeithen said. “I eventually had a naturally high feeling.”
After traveling around Europe, McKeithen made his way to Paris — alone, all the while still listening to U2. Everywhere he went he read the Book of Revelation, from the beginning to the end, until he was convinced he was the “seventh angel.”
“Bzzzz went my alarm, three times to the sound of six — three sixes, the sign of the devil,” McKeithen said.
McKeithen said he was convinced that the world was going to end that day and that he was meant to deliver the message. After tearing up all of his money and waking his roommates, McKeithen embarked on his mission to save the world.
He ran to every church nearby, warning all the pastors and passersby, all the while giving his belongings to homeless people he saw along the way.
McKeithen began undressing on his journey from church to church until he was eventually down to his T-shirt and undies — both white, for purity.
“For the first time in my life I was hoping God wasn’t asking for more,” McKeithen said. “I didn’t want to be naked.”
McKeithen said since he was wearing a white T-shirt and white underpants, he wouldn’t have to undress to his bear skin, but in that manic moment, he said he wasn’t about to ignore the word of God.
“I begged God not to make me get naked,” McKeithen said. “But I realized that humans should no longer be ashamed of their bodies.”
Off came his shirt, and then his undies, and before shame set in, he was completely naked in the middle of Paris. McKeithen said he began running up a hill towards the Arc de Triomphe — a military monument located in the world’s largest roundabout with 10 lanes of fast-paced traffic.
“People began gawking and laughing at me,” McKeithen said. “It was cold … and yes, I did have some shrinkage.”
McKeithen ran straight into traffic in the roundabout, but he had a purpose to deliver the message of the end of the world. The Parisian police caught him by the time he got to the second lane, McKeithen said.
“There’s really no place for a naked guy to go in the broad daylight of Paris,” McKeithen said.
McKeithen said he ended up in a cell with a bowl of water, some bread, a mattress, two small windows and a wooden door with stick figures scratched into it. The stick figures on the door depicted a man running into the door and McKeithen said he thought these were instructions God wanted him to see.
“I decided to put the water bowl on my head and run full force into the window so I could break out and continue spreading the message,” McKeithen said.
After his experience overbroad, McKeithen was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. His doctors told him what happened overseas was the most interesting manic episode they’ve ever seen, McKeithen said.
McKeithen said he wrote his memoir to reach out to people struggling with Bipolar disorder, and his act of engagement and humility is a powerful way to relay his experiences of finding redemption in the eyes of God and society.
