Meeting
of minds: Couple forms Blount mental health support group
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Mark
A. Large/The Daily Times
Larry
and Linda Drain, of
Maryville, have started a Blount County Chapter of the Depression and
Bipolar Support Alliance. The first meeting is Tuesday at Blount
Christian Church. Linda was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in July
2007.
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By Melanie Tucker
of The Daily Times Staff
Out of their struggles has come
strength.
Out of their misery, hope prevails.
And
now that Larry and Linda Drain have identified the elephant in the
room, they want to connect with others who may be fighting the same war.
The
Drains, who reside in Maryville, are starting up a chapter of the
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, a national organization based
in Chicago that focuses on these most prevalent mental illnesses.
Linda, who was born an epileptic, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder
in July 2007. This couple now wants to openly share their story to show
others who are victims there is help.
Linda
had a vagus nerve
stimulator implanted in her chest about three years ago to help control
her epileptic seizures. This was after years of medication and even
brain surgery. The implant never seemed to work, Linda said, seated in
her living room last week. But on July 10, 2007 she did more than
complain.
Larry
was at work and his wife called, frantic, and
told him she was going to take the implant out herself. Larry, who has
been married to her for 26 years, didn’t take her serious. “Who cuts
their own chest open?” he remembers thinking.
He came
home to a
sleeping Linda. But the next morning he discovered she had in fact
tried to remove the chest implant. There was a 3-inch gash in her
chest, and she had even gone so far as to take a hammer and beat
herself in the chest, trying to break the stimulator.
When Larry
told his wife he would call the police if she didn’t stop hurting
herself, she ran and was found two hours later, hiding in a closet.
Larry said Linda had scared the officer so badly he almost pulled out
his gun and shot her.
“That was the day we found out the name of the elephant,” Larry
explained. “Linda was bipolar.”
Bipolar
disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder
that causes unusual shifts in a person’s mood, energy and ability to
function, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. About
5.7 million American adults or about 2.6 percent of the population age
18 and older in any given year have bipolar, the NIMH reported. Bipolar
typically develops in late adolescence or early adulthood.
Symptoms
of manic behavior can include increased energy, excessively euphoric
mood, extreme irritability, racing thoughts, need for very little sleep
and restlessness. Signs of depression are decreased energy, loss of
interest in activities once enjoyed, feelings of guilt or helplessness,
empty mood, difficulty concentrating and feeling fatigued. Those with
bipolar disorder swing back and forth between these two with periods of
normal moods in between. Some become suicidal.
Looking back,
Linda believes she suffered for years with the disorder before doctors
made the diagnosis. She said her epilepsy was complicated by itself and
depression is often associated with that illness. “There was just so
many other things going on that my bipolar was overlooked,” she said.
The
vagus nerve stimulator was turned off at the time of Linda’s new
diagnosis with bipolar. She has also been placed on medication for the
condition and said she is feeling better than she has in years.
“I
can think more clearly,” she explained. “Before, I had racing thoughts
and depression. Now I don’t have all the distractions and I am more in
control.”
The Drains are starting a chapter of the Depression
and Bipolar Support Alliance because there isn’t one here and they want
to reach out to others like themselves. Larry said it’s often very
difficult for persons withe depression or bipolar disorder to ask for
help because of the stigma attached to mental illness. They hope that
by sharing their day-to-day battles those who need support will want to
become part of this group.
This is not a group that will
dispense medical advice, Larry stressed. He said the purpose is to
bring people together with similar concerns, provide professional
speakers and someone to listen. The Drains want to put together a data
base of mental health care providers once the chapter is established.
“We are not experts,” Larry said. “We don’t have all of the answers. We
don’t even know all the questions.”
Linda’s
epilepsy is under control, and she is responding to the bipolar
medication. She said she used to feel so guilty for her unexplained
behavior. She recalled breaking every dish in her kitchen during one
rage and said she is grateful to now know what was going on.
“In retrospect it was obvious,” Larry said. “It was so easy to see that
we never saw it.”
Bipolar
is thought to be partly genetic, and Linda said she believes her father
suffered from the illness. She just wants others to know there is help
and hope.
This couple is thankful for every day and stand strong in
their faith in God. Linda said she believes starting this support group
is part of His plan for her life and she is eager to get started. The
pastor at Blount Christian Church, Barry Clanton, has been very
supportive of the Drains and this chapter upstart.
“The weight is less heavy when it’s shared,” Larry said.
Originally
published: January 07. 2008 3:01AM
Last modified: January 06. 2008 9:48PM
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