Brenda
Brenda
There is nothing to fear
For more than 50 years, Brenda kept a secret.
As a teenager, she was diagnosed with “adolescent turmoil with depressive overtones”—a condition later defined as bipolar disorder.
Brenda was taken out of her high school in Florida and hospitalized, but no one knew. Then, she was sent out of state to the Arlington School at McLean Hospital, where she earned her diploma and received treatment for her condition.
She went on to college, but none of her classmates knew of her mental health condition.
It was fear that kept me from telling people.
Brenda didn’t share her story with her husband until they were engaged, and she put off telling her daughter about her disorder until she was in high school.
Until now, I was too intimidated to make my condition known to any but a few. But since I’ve shared my secret, I have been getting much positive response.
I think it’s helping others.
“Fortunately, those who don’t or won’t understand mental health are fewer and fewer every day.”
Although it took Brenda a long time to reveal her secret, she has always sought help for her condition. Since her initial diagnosis in the mid-1960s, Brenda has been receiving treatment.
At times, her condition was under control, but, she reports, “big life events like family deaths, moving, and childbirth” would set her off course.
However, working with her doctors, she settled on a medication program that has helped her for some 30 years, allowing her to enjoy a successful career as a writer and editor and work as a volunteer in her community.
Mental health stigma is something that causes fear, mistrust, or disgust, and it keeps people from accepting something or someone.
Fortunately, those who don’t or won’t understand mental health are fewer and fewer every day.
