Saturday, January 21, 2012

Terry Bradshaw

If Terry Bradshaw can do it…

By Christine Stapleton
Uber philanthropist Audrey Gruss’ mother suffered from depression and she remembers what it was like growing up with a mentally ill mother. Gruss now lives part-time in a breathtaking oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach. Gruss has raised tens of milloins of dollars for other charities. Two years ago she decided to start her own. She created Hope for Depression with $25 million of her own money. The goal of the groups is to fund international international cutting edge research that seeks to integrate neuroscience with psychology.
When you see Audrey Gruss, a striking blonde always impeccably dressed and coiffed, you do not think football. Polo, yes. Football, no. Yet Gruss picked four-time Super Bowl champion Terry Bradshaw to speak at her second-annual fundraiser luncheon for Hope for Depression. Bradshaw was a very, very good choice. If you did not know that Bradshaw has depression, he will be more than happy to tell you about it. He is not bashful, even in a ballroom full of weathly impeccably dress and coiffed Palm Beach women. You gotta love a manly man who is willing to stand up in front of a bunch of women and confess that he gets choked up when he sees an elderly couple holding hands.
There he was, up on the dais, telling us how he hated every minute of every Super Bowl he won (FOUR!) and a dark cloud descended on him in the weeks after. The depression would paralyze him. He knew something was wrong. His three marriages failed. He dawged around for years, doing things he is not proud of. He hit bottom when he realized he would not be raising his two young daughters. He went to his preacher – “and cried my eyes out.” He went to a therapist and “cried my eyes out.” Then he went to a psychiatrist where he got an answer: “The diagnosis was a relieft. It explained why I had done so many things.”
So the quarterback who needed a cortisone shot in his elbow to relieve the pain before every game figured there must be a shot or a pill to fix his depression. No. He started antidepressants AND therapy and continues with both – eight years later. The depression still comes but now he knows what it is and what to do.
I waited around the ballroom after lunch, watching Bradshaw sign autographs and pose for pictures. When I interviewed him he was funny, charming and, at age 60, still buff. He’s the kind of guy who looks you right in the eye when you ask a question and pulls in close when he answers. He looks so happy, healthy and so comfortable in his own skin. This is why people doubt us. When we do the footwork – therapy, medications, diet, exercise, sleep, reaching out for help at the first sign of trouble – and we get well, we get REALLY well.
Anyone who has ever been in a clinical depression knows that when it finally lifts, your life is not the same. It’s like the commercial for the allergy drug Claritin. You take the medicine and a dull film is peeled away and you can breathe. Everything is bright and colorful. You have unimaginable gratitude. Every morning you wake up like Scrooge on Christmas. You take nothing for granted.
People who do not believe in mental illness see us like this and doubt us. “Hey, who wouldn’t be happy if they had just taken two months off work – with pay – slept all day and lost 20 pounds?” If we had come back to the office with a cane or a stubble of new hair on our head no one would doubt us.
I finally realized I cannot control how people think. I can only control how I think. I know what I went through was real. I look and listen to Terry Bradshaw and I think – “See, he understands how it feels. He believes it is real. If depression can take down a manly man like Terry Bradshaw, it can take down anyone. If a manly man like Terry Bradshaw can ask for help, so can I.”
Thanks Terry.

Thursday, January 12, 2012



New Year, New Outlook
"If winter has you down in the dumps, take a look at the cover story in our new Winter issue. It might cheer you up to know that good qualities seem to go along with having bipolar disorder.

Research done by Nassir Ghaemi, MD, a psychiatrist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston (and a member of our advisory board), and others has found that people who have bipolar disorder also tend to have “certain specific psychological characteristics … that are generally viewed as valuable and beneficial morally or socially.” Namely: spirituality, empathy, creativity, realism, and resilience.

It may be that the genetic and neurological arrangements that give rise to bipolar are also responsible for those beneficial traits. It may be that living with a chronic illness such as bipolar strengthens certain qualities like empathy and resilience.

Whatever the case, having some pluses to set against the difficulties and demands that bipolar brings us provides a helpful new perspective. As Sara L. puts it in “Accentuate the Positives”: “It’s a belief about having bipolar disorder that really can make or break our ability to live well.” So think positive!"




It is nice to know that there is some good that comes along with such a difficult illness.  :)

I survived the holidays again this year.  We didn't get Bree and her family with us so I had a bit of a hard time getting into the spirit of Christmas.  I get to look forward to having them here next year.  I have been happy to see that I have been able to handle some major stressful events in my life this past year without breaking down.  We have made so much progress in understanding how to head off the signs of me heading downhill.  Brent has been a rock.  I depend on his support to keep me balanced and it has made all the difference.  I am so thankful to be in a good place.  I have not been this well since my diagnosis, and actually a couple of years before that when I didn't understand what was happening to me.  I don't think I am naive to the fact that things could change in the future, but I do know that we will be better equipped to deal with the situation.  I have gratitude in my heart for my wellness.  These are a few pictures from the month of December.

Christmas Eve jammies from Grandma Dede.  :)
 Brent and I Christmas Day
Dustin, Bailey and I
The highlight of the month for Bailey-
meeting David Archuleta and going to his concert!
The night of the concert.
I actually really enjoyed it.
Brent won first place at two different parties
with two different sweaters. :)
The annual Mall Game that we host every year
Just for fun. :)