Alonzo Spellman was one of the first NFL players to go public about BiPolar Disorder. When he went off his meds, he was arrested going down his street, naked with a gun in his hand.
I had an employee that struggled with it and they had to take her off the meds that worked because of the buildup in the kidneys, a common side effect. Getting her balanced with new meds was an eye opening experience and her husband and daughter were worn down. She took 3 times the amount of time any other salesperson took and some of my employees wanted to now why. I should have told them.
I remember when Gregory was first busted by the NFL, his response was how he had let his Mom down and disappointed her but I picture her as Bullet and his wife and while frustration can't help but be a part of it, disappointment, no, I don't think so. But he was not forthcoming on his need for pot.
I made fun of Gregory, well, because that's what I do and called him Ganjory and made light of something very serious, serious enough that he was willing to throw away a NFL career not to feel like he felt. I am pulling for him.
In order to accept mental health problems as real as any other health problem, most either have to know someone or experience that themselves. I am an example of the latter and was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and that border is BiPolar but this was 30 years ago when we were taking our younger son through the process of assessment. I used to wonder why my wife demanded I be in every assessment session but I think I know. I was being set up because like Bullet's daughter, I was in denial.
You see, accepting you have a mental issue is hard, almost impossible for some, because of the stigma attached to it by ignorant people. There is something wrong with you that you should correct, snap out of it. Men don't have mental health problems, that's for women with the blues. It is a health issue that carries the additional symptom of shame with it and a kind of aloneness that cannot be described. Many end in suicide because of it.
When I see the reactions to mental health here as I did in the Simon Biles thread or when Dak admitted he was fighting something deep within himself and posters try to make that a flaw within them, it unsettles me a bit. And you don't want someone on the border unsettled, do you? Seriously, either learn more about mental health issues or ignore them but save the ignorant comments about something you know nothing about and be glad you know nothing about it.
Bullet, great thread, as usual, and thanks for sharing about your daughter. I am pulling for Randy and her.
