Anyone Considering Martin's Mental Illness?

[GoonBoss]

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression/index.shtml

Something you may wish to read.

What does that bring to the discussion?

 

[So Be]

I have gone through tons of courses on depression. Enough to know that half of us could be diagnosed with it at any given time. And enough to know it's not the same as most mental disorders. It's temporary, and in almost all cases, not nearly as severe. I know you are reaching for anything you can in this thread, but I think it's time to give up.

You said that depression isn't that big a deal, and that is not true. Since we do not know what Martin's problem is, it does not matter. Just making a correction, not a reach.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

Cog said Martin sent him a message saying that he did not release anything. No one knows the type or severity of the mental illness. In fact no one knows anything of who did what and why.

Giving opinions is fine but the name calling and making fun of the guy, at this point, crosses the line.

I agree. I have a personal experience within my family that I have been reluctant to mention, but since there's been so much over the top animosity on this board, including a ridiculous idea that the person simply needs to get over it, or that prison examples are somehow all we need to know, I'll share my story:

My mom suffered with mental issues for the final 45 years of her life. It started when I was a kid, barely 3 years old. All I knew was mom was gone for some reason and I didn't understand it. It lasted for a full month. My dad later -- decades later -- shared the details. My mom had a breakdown at a restaurant. She was ranting and using foul language, words and actions that didn't even sound like her. My dad realized the severity. Luckily he didn't take her home and pretend it never happened, or simply tell her to get over it. My mom underwent shock therapy and other treatments of the era. Keep in mind this was the early to mid '60s. The doctor who was treating my mom told my dad to sell the home and take other steps, that the situation was so serious it would require full time attention and extreme financial resources. Fortunately, my dad was sharp enough to ignore that advice also. He wanted mom to come home to familiar surroundings, and not have any confusion toward why we had moved, or any guilt that she might have caused it. Dad took a leave from his work but otherwise he kept the family together, and things as normal as possible at home. My grandparents played a role, helping out with the two young kids.

There was a rule in that era, at least in Florida, that if a person were committed to a mental health facility for at least 30 days it would remain permanently on their record. My dad found out about it. He didn't want to jeopardize my mom's teaching career. She was an applauded elementary school teacher and had been the focus of an article in the Miami Herald just three years earlier, including a picture. I still have that article. Dad convinced the doctor to release her and transfer to a regular hospital, one day before the 30 day barrier.

Mom was prescribed the preferred medication of that era. It helped immensely, and she was able to come home and resume her career the following school year. She taught for nearly another 30 years. When she retired, her school threw a big retirement party, with countless speeches and praise. I flew back from Las Vegas to attend. I always knew mom was special, but that day really startled me, to see the scope, how many she had impacted. Old students attended, and many others contacted her after hearing the news. To this day, not many of mom's friends ever realized that she had mental issues, and how serious they were. I had to dance around it while giving her eulogy nearly 5 years ago. I wanted to mention it as a positive -- something she had overcome -- but I realized the stigmas, the conventional wisdom that somehow it was a weakness, something that could have been avoided.

It hardly ended in the '60s. In 1984 mom had another breakdown. She announced to my father that she was going to divorce him and marry god. I offer that to demonstrate how far this this can reach, from someone who otherwise seems perfectly normal. I was already in Las Vegas in 1984. My dad told me later that he thought it was not salvageable, that the marriage would end, since she was fighting him and refusing to see a specialist. My youngest sister was still in elementary school. She remembers plans to leave with mom, so she could marry god. Obviously the old medication was not helping anymore but the patient doesn't understand that. They can't see themselves rationally. Everything seems fine. Again, the situation fortunately shifted for the better when my mom woke up one morning and had just enough clarity to talk to my dad openly, saying she didn't feel right and asking him what she should do. He hugged her and told her they needed to investigate the situation, to find out the proper course. Dad found another specialist. He changed the medication and mom improved markedly. Again, let me emphasize that mom was always very social, playing in bridge leagues and bowling leagues several nights per week. Her friends did not realize her troubles, including the vast majority of people who she taught with at the elementary schools. You can't merely look at text messages or similar to grasp the full story. That only shows up at home.

In 2004, not long after my best friend was murdered in Las Vegas, I was depressed and seldom leaving home. I returned to Miami that summer and my parents suggested I see a psychiatrist. I agreed. The guy was a farce. He was more interested in my gambling tales than any attempt to help me. I was immediately skeptical at how effectively he was treating my mom. Sure enough, mom had another episode that summer, acting strangely during a trip to the Saratoga area. She was crying and making nonsensical statements when the food from our camper's freezer, for example, had to be switched to a nearby camper to stay fresh. Dad found a different psychiatrist, once we returned to Miami. I wrote a 7 page letter to her, describing in full detail everything that had happened during the summer trip. The specialist called the letter a "bombshell" and told my mom that if everything were true, she wasn't being honest during their sessions. Mom agreed, and became more candid. Her medication was changed to Abilify. That really helped. My mom's final years were troubled from a physical standpoint but I'm thrilled that she became more like her old self, certainly much better than earlier in the 2000s. I'm proud of that letter, that I took that step, even if my mom was initially shocked. The psychiatrist mentioned the letter to my mom, including the source, and asked permission to read it. Fortunately my mom said yes. But the phone call she made to me in the aftermath was something I'll never forget. She was stern and shocked, scolding me almost like when I was a kid. I convinced her that it was a tortured decision for me, but designed to help.

I've mentioned previously that my mom died due to complications from MRSA. Nearly a year earlier she had a diabetic coma that nearly killed her when her blood sugar plummeted to dangerous levels. It was a long recovery, many months. I stayed in Miami to help. I'll never forget the visit to one doctor, a foot specialist, of all things. He watched my mom walk and talk for less than a minute and immediately -- and I mean immediately -- diagnosed her history with mental issues. He pulled my dad aside and asked him if mom had been treated for mental issues beginning in the '60s. He even named the specific drug. My dad was amazed, and called me over to join in the conversation. The foot doctor guessed everything correctly, including her subsequent medications. It was as if he was reading from mom's medical history. That doctor emphasized to us that we were in for tough sledding, that there was no full cure for what she had, for what her system had endured for decades. But he told us it was dramatically better now, that someone who had my mom's early symptoms is treated effectively, without the life long side effects and lasting damage.

This post has gone on long enough. I understand the posters here who have never experienced anything similar and choose to condemn Jonathan Martin, dismissing any possibility that he may legitimately be in need of treatment and concern. IMO, none of this is clear cut, particularly from afar. I'll certainly default to help and not attack. In my family the female members seem to be vulnerable in high percentage but the males have experienced very few issues.

 

[ohall]

I see LOTS of posts ripping and making fun of Martin, who was and is being treated for mental illness. Does that not matter at all or, do some posters do the same in real life?

As a human being of course I worry for him, I hope he gets the help that he needs. However what he did mental illness or not, is inexcusable. He ran from what the issue was and then he decided to slash and burn after he went for that help. He compounded his mistake with another mistake.

 

[finfan54]

I see LOTS of posts ripping and making fun of Martin, who was and is being treated for mental illness. Does that not matter at all or, do some posters do the same in real life?

I will wait to feel sorry after him and his lawyers collect on their 50 mil.