From ABC News (10/21/09):
Glenn Close and Family Tackle Stigma of Mental Illness
Actress Inspired by Sister Jessie Close, Nephew, to Raise Awareness
By KATIE ESCHERICH
For more than 25 years, actress Glenn Close has wowed audiences with memorable performances. But her latest role in a public service announcement addressing the stigma of mental illness hits particularly close to home.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about one in four adults in the United States have a diagnosable mental disorder. Close is speaking out for the first time on television about the legacy of mental illness in her own family. Her sister, Jessie Close, has bipolar disorder, and Jessie's son Calen Pick, 28, has schizo-affective disorder.
"Mental illness is just part of the human condition," the actress said today on "Good Morning America," adding that her family hopes that the sisters' campaign will help foster a dialogue about a condition that we should "talk about as openly as cancer or diabetes."
Glenn Close, an Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony award winner and Oscar nominee currently starring in the series "Damages," is also the creator of a nonprofit organization called BringChange2Mind, which she founded to raise awareness about mental illness and to provide support and information to the mentally ill and their families...
Glenn Close and Family Tackle Stigma of Mental Illness
Actress Inspired by Sister Jessie Close, Nephew, to Raise Awareness
By KATIE ESCHERICH
For more than 25 years, actress Glenn Close has wowed audiences with memorable performances. But her latest role in a public service announcement addressing the stigma of mental illness hits particularly close to home.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about one in four adults in the United States have a diagnosable mental disorder. Close is speaking out for the first time on television about the legacy of mental illness in her own family. Her sister, Jessie Close, has bipolar disorder, and Jessie's son Calen Pick, 28, has schizo-affective disorder.
"Mental illness is just part of the human condition," the actress said today on "Good Morning America," adding that her family hopes that the sisters' campaign will help foster a dialogue about a condition that we should "talk about as openly as cancer or diabetes."
Glenn Close, an Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony award winner and Oscar nominee currently starring in the series "Damages," is also the creator of a nonprofit organization called BringChange2Mind, which she founded to raise awareness about mental illness and to provide support and information to the mentally ill and their families...
I am hopeful that people will not get hung up on terms or use of terms and appreciate the willingness of this family to come forward and talk about this illness. Thank You for taking a stand and using your celebrity status for a positive cause that may open some minds and hearts to one of the largest Illnesses this country faces today. The consequences to a family that suffer with the person that has a mental illness is or can be just as dibilitating.
God Bless You and yours!
Carr
Posted by: Carr Floyd | October 31, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Mrs. Glen Close,
Thank you for bringing this much needed topic to the surface.My husband and I don't know where to turn.He was the pillar of the community and when he had his stroke 3 years ago everything changed. We no longer had friends calling and with our company going down the tubes made matters worse. He has been on anti depressants but has become an alcoholic. He has even tried to take his life. To make a long story short I don't know where to turn for help. Our lives have become a living nightmare. I wake up each morning and hope for a new day then find him passed out in the middle of the afternoon. I beg and plead with him that we can have a new life and begin again but he is so depressed. He says that alcohol makes the pain go away. He promises each day that he will go to meetings but we have no support and I cannot ask family or children for any more help. We have already disrupted their lives. Is there somewhere we can turn for help? He has been to a treatment center but that has not helped.I don't know where to turn and I feel smoothered. I keep praying each day that god will see him safely home but worry that our lives could be over if he does not make the right decisions.
Posted by: Kaki Cotton | November 11, 2009 at 07:22 PM
Dear Mrs. Close,
I agree- Tackle The Stigma! I am a 31 yr old woman who has been coping with a mental illness since the age of 5. When I finally decided to start changing myself instead of everyone around me and learning to love myself, I then began to learn how to live as a survivor. After four group homes, over 100 hospitaliztions, multiple suicide attempts, and every type of therapy and medication possible I have now managed to live on my own for four years and find some balance in my life. I continue to take my meds for bipolar disorder, PTSD, and borderline personality disorder- as well as see my psychiatrist and therapist regularly. Where am I trying to go with this? I could go on and on with my experience. The people I have met, the amazing things I have learned. All I know is that I have these dreams inside of me that are too big to contain. So where do I turn? I advocate for people every day with mental illness- but only because they are my friends. I know you know about clubhouses. So do I. They are my saving grace. One of the things that triggered me to start writing e-mails to people was the oil spill on the gulf coast. I got this "nutty" idea that maybe one person from a clubhouse in my area (like me) could go to clubhouses all over the coast just to offer inspiration, hope, love, and a helping hand. Problem is, that I, like many others who carry a mental illness ,live from check to check. I budget my money as best I can. However, it does not leave for much else. Could you use my help? Please let me know.
Posted by: Megan Dowling | June 26, 2010 at 10:25 PM