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Former NFL Star Describes Struggle With Bipolar Disorder
Robert Glatter, MD - Forbes Contributor
Sept 5, 2014
The public is growing increasingly aware of mental illness which now affects one in four people. Raising awareness of this fact has also been the result of many public figures speaking candidly about their ongoing struggles.
One former NFL player, Keith O’Neil, who has publicly shared his struggles with bipolar disorder, has been able to raise awareness and provide help to so many who struggle everyday with this mental illness.
Characterized by intense mood swings—from depression to mania—bipolar disorder can also lead to severe depression, insomnia, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and self-harm.
It is estimated that bipolar disorder affects about 3 percent of the population in the US at some point during life. Both genetic and environmental factors seem to play a role in bipolar illness, with periods of chronic stress as well as childhood abuse potentially being implicated in the pathogenesis of this mental illness.
O’Neil speaks candidly about his experiences with bipolar disorder and his ongoing efforts to destigmatize mental illness. Like so many people suffering from bipolar disorder, Mr. O’Neil remembers early symptoms from his childhood, though it took several decades for him to receive a diagnosis.
“I was just diagnosed with bipolar disorder about 4 years ago, so I really, in the past year, have gotten healthy. It’s taken me some time,” O’Neil explained.
Just as mental illness is often not openly discussed in society, it’s pretty much the same way in the NFL, as O’Neil describes. “Within the locker room and complex it’s not really talked about, so it’s not that different compared with society.”
O’Neil did, in fact, seek help while he played for the Colts, and describes how he received support from his his coach, Tony Dungy, during a difficult time in which he struggled to sleep before an important game.
Mr. O’Neil retired from the NFL and founded the 4th and Forever Foundation, which raises awareness and funding for mental health research, after winning the Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts in 2007.
Though Mr. O’Neil had a successful career in football, he struggled with symptoms and often used alcohol to self medicate. He relates a terrible bipolar episode with mania followed by severe depression, after his wife had a miscarriage.
He credits his recovery to a memoir Save Me from Myself, by guitarist Brian “Head” Walsh of the heavy metal band Korn, a rediscovery of his faith, and the care of Dr. Steven Dubovsky, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Buffalo’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, an expert in bipolar disorder.
“Finding the right medications along with my faith has made all the difference in the world,” says Mr. O’Neil, who is currently writing a memoir about his experience with bipolar disorder. “My mission is to educate people.”
O’Neil speaks candidly about his experiences with bipolar disorder and his ongoing efforts to de-stigmatize mental illness. Like so many people suffering from bipolar disorder, Mr. O’Neil remembers early symptoms from his childhood, though it took several decades for him to receive a diagnosis.
On Tuesday, September 16th, Mr. O’Neil will discuss his path to living a productive life as the keynote speaker at Discovery to Recovery: A Path to Healthy Minds, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation’s mental health conference for caregivers, family members, people living with mental illness, and mental health professionals at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center.
“The focus and purpose of the conference is to try to provide information that is useful right now to family members, other loved ones and to the patients themselves, so they can have the best possible way to ensure a productive, happy life,” explained Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., President and CEO of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, which funds cutting-edge research for the understanding, early detection, treatment, prevention and cure of mental illnesses.
Legislation to Make Changes to Mental Health
Tim Murphy-R, a U.S Representative from Pennsylvania, will also be another keynote speaker who will discuss bipartisan legislation that he has been working on to help families and individuals provide better access to mental health services.
As a clinical psychologist for 30 years, Murphy understands firsthand the difficulties that families and individuals face in securing mental health services. And, as the sponsor of legislation that that has the potential to change the way the Federal Government approaches mental health, Murphy realizes that he is on a long and difficult mission.
H.R 3717, “Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act,” would help to expand current services by offering alternative approaches to hospitalization, focusing on evidence-based treatments while removing blocks that prevent Medicare and Medicaid from covering specific types of cost effective methods of care.
More available outpatient care would be a focus of the Act, along with plans to empower primary care physicians to take a larger role in treating mental illness. And, most importantly, passing the Act would allow parents of adult children with mental illness to communicate with their child’s physician, giving them the opportunity and ability to assist with crucial decisions when their child is in crisis.
Robert Glatter, MD - Forbes Contributor
Sept 5, 2014
The public is growing increasingly aware of mental illness which now affects one in four people. Raising awareness of this fact has also been the result of many public figures speaking candidly about their ongoing struggles.
One former NFL player, Keith O’Neil, who has publicly shared his struggles with bipolar disorder, has been able to raise awareness and provide help to so many who struggle everyday with this mental illness.
Characterized by intense mood swings—from depression to mania—bipolar disorder can also lead to severe depression, insomnia, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and self-harm.
It is estimated that bipolar disorder affects about 3 percent of the population in the US at some point during life. Both genetic and environmental factors seem to play a role in bipolar illness, with periods of chronic stress as well as childhood abuse potentially being implicated in the pathogenesis of this mental illness.
O’Neil speaks candidly about his experiences with bipolar disorder and his ongoing efforts to destigmatize mental illness. Like so many people suffering from bipolar disorder, Mr. O’Neil remembers early symptoms from his childhood, though it took several decades for him to receive a diagnosis.
“I was just diagnosed with bipolar disorder about 4 years ago, so I really, in the past year, have gotten healthy. It’s taken me some time,” O’Neil explained.
Just as mental illness is often not openly discussed in society, it’s pretty much the same way in the NFL, as O’Neil describes. “Within the locker room and complex it’s not really talked about, so it’s not that different compared with society.”
O’Neil did, in fact, seek help while he played for the Colts, and describes how he received support from his his coach, Tony Dungy, during a difficult time in which he struggled to sleep before an important game.
Mr. O’Neil retired from the NFL and founded the 4th and Forever Foundation, which raises awareness and funding for mental health research, after winning the Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts in 2007.
Though Mr. O’Neil had a successful career in football, he struggled with symptoms and often used alcohol to self medicate. He relates a terrible bipolar episode with mania followed by severe depression, after his wife had a miscarriage.
He credits his recovery to a memoir Save Me from Myself, by guitarist Brian “Head” Walsh of the heavy metal band Korn, a rediscovery of his faith, and the care of Dr. Steven Dubovsky, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Buffalo’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, an expert in bipolar disorder.
“Finding the right medications along with my faith has made all the difference in the world,” says Mr. O’Neil, who is currently writing a memoir about his experience with bipolar disorder. “My mission is to educate people.”
O’Neil speaks candidly about his experiences with bipolar disorder and his ongoing efforts to de-stigmatize mental illness. Like so many people suffering from bipolar disorder, Mr. O’Neil remembers early symptoms from his childhood, though it took several decades for him to receive a diagnosis.
On Tuesday, September 16th, Mr. O’Neil will discuss his path to living a productive life as the keynote speaker at Discovery to Recovery: A Path to Healthy Minds, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation’s mental health conference for caregivers, family members, people living with mental illness, and mental health professionals at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center.
“The focus and purpose of the conference is to try to provide information that is useful right now to family members, other loved ones and to the patients themselves, so they can have the best possible way to ensure a productive, happy life,” explained Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., President and CEO of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, which funds cutting-edge research for the understanding, early detection, treatment, prevention and cure of mental illnesses.
Legislation to Make Changes to Mental Health
Tim Murphy-R, a U.S Representative from Pennsylvania, will also be another keynote speaker who will discuss bipartisan legislation that he has been working on to help families and individuals provide better access to mental health services.
As a clinical psychologist for 30 years, Murphy understands firsthand the difficulties that families and individuals face in securing mental health services. And, as the sponsor of legislation that that has the potential to change the way the Federal Government approaches mental health, Murphy realizes that he is on a long and difficult mission.
H.R 3717, “Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act,” would help to expand current services by offering alternative approaches to hospitalization, focusing on evidence-based treatments while removing blocks that prevent Medicare and Medicaid from covering specific types of cost effective methods of care.
More available outpatient care would be a focus of the Act, along with plans to empower primary care physicians to take a larger role in treating mental illness. And, most importantly, passing the Act would allow parents of adult children with mental illness to communicate with their child’s physician, giving them the opportunity and ability to assist with crucial decisions when their child is in crisis.
