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She defies her bipolar diagnosis
Succeeding in spite of it Despite the diagnosis of bipolar disorder and the bleak prognosis, Brown went on to marry, raise a family, earn a master’s
MARCH 2019
I N S I D E …
PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER MYERS
By Carol Sorgen Charita Cole Brown remembers being “weepy and clingy” as a child, but she didn’t experience her first significant bout of depression until high school. She rebounded from that and went on to college at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where she majored in English. But during her first semester, she suffered another round of depression and withdrew from school for a semester. “I always knew I would return [to school],” said Brown. “I’m a fighter.” But while finishing her final semester, Brown had a psychotic breakdown so severe that doctors predicted she would never lead a normal life and would eventually require custodial care. Her diagnosis: bipolar disorder. Formerly called manic depression, bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings, including emotional highs and lows. It affects nearly 5.7 million adult Americans every year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. The symptoms and their severity can vary. A person with bipolar disorder may have distinct manic or depressed states, but may also have extended periods — sometimes years — without any symptoms. A person can also experience both extremes simultaneously or in rapid sequence. Brown, now 59 and residing in Baltimore City, has recently published a book, Defying the Verdict: My Bipolar Life (Curbside Splendor Publishing), that she hopes will help shed light on the disorder itself and lessen the stigma that surrounds mental illness in general. The median age at which bipolar disorder begins is 25, although the illness can start in early childhood or as late as one’s 40s and 50s. It is found in all ages, races, ethnic groups and social classes, and in men as often as women. More than two-thirds of people with bipolar disorder have at least one close relative with the illness or with major depression. Brown’s maternal grandmother and maternal great-uncle also suffered from the condition.
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L E I S U R E & T R AV E L
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ARTS & STYLE Charita Cole Brown was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was in college. She wrote her recent book, Defying the Verdict: My Bipolar Life, to help people understand the disorder and to challenge the stereotypes that surround mental illness generally. Brown had a career in elementary education, and now is a mental wellness advocate for numerous organizations.
degree in teaching, and enjoy a career as an elementary school educator. She emphasized that bipolar disorder, while not curable, is highly treatable. She said her success was possible because she sought treatment and has continued to “work her plan.” “However, more than half of Americans living with the disorder won’t seek treatment,” she noted. “The fact that the U.S. suicide rate for people who have bipolar disorder is 20 times higher than that of the general population is even more sobering.” Brown, who serves on the Board of Directors for the Maryland chapter of National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and is a
mental wellness advocate for numerous other programs, said she felt compelled to write her book to encourage people living with the disorder to seek treatment. Bipolar disorder is a lifelong condition and, Brown admits, a difficult one. “If I had an enemy, I wouldn’t wish this on him or her,” she said.
Treating bipolar disorder Treatment is available to manage symptoms. It may include lifelong mood-balancing medications, day treatment programs to provide support and counseling, substance See CHARITA BROWN, page 10
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