Last Wednesday, Oscar-nominated and Tony, Emmy, and Golden Globe award-winning actress and mental health advocate Glenn Close and her sister Jessie Close launched BringChange2Mind.org.
Similar to Paige Hemmis’s Blueprint for Hope campaign and Joe Pantoliano’s No Kidding, Me Too! organization, Bring Change 2 Mind is a nonprofit organization geared toward helping raise awareness about mental illness as well as providing information and support to people with mental illness and is already receiving positive reactions from Good Morning America, The View, MSNBC’s Dr. Nancy, and AOL Health and, on launch day, The Huffington Post featured “Mental Illness: The Stigma of Silence,” a Close-written article in which the actress dives into her personal experiences with mental illness - experiences that have played roles in her quite active involvement with mental health advocacy:
I also have the challenge of confronting the far less entertaining reality of mental illness in my own family. As I’ve written and spoken about before, my sister suffers from a bipolar disorder and my nephew from schizoaffective disorder. There has, in fact, been a lot of depression and alcoholism in my family and, traditionally, no one ever spoke about it. It just wasn’t done. The stigma is toxic. And, like millions of others who live with mental illness in their families, I’ve seen what they endure: the struggle of just getting through the day, and the hurt caused every time someone casually describes someone as “crazy,” “nuts,” or “psycho”.
In addition to Close’s PSA, Bring Change 2 Mind so far offers:
Obviously, I think it’s wonderful when celebrities use their star power to help raise mental health awareness and help eradicate stigma, but what I find even more encouraging is that celebrities like Close, Hemmis, and Pantoliano aren’t just sticking their famous names to a cause - these people actually have firsthand experience, whether it’s as a patient or as a loved one, with mental illness.
Visit BringChange2Mind.org to learn more about the organization, and don’t forget to connect with them on Facebook and YouTube, too.
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I hope and pray that Glenn Cose and her sister will wake a lot of people up to the unbearable grief this bi-polar grief thing does to the people have to endure day after day. Have you ever seen the movie ‘Groundhogs Day’ with Bill Murray? That is what my life is. Every day wake up and try not to cry all morning, this while trying to fight off thoughts of ending it all and knowing there is one single person inluding your husband and children who knows what your going through and doesn’t really care because you are disprupting thier life and they would rather you just GO AWAY. My entire family grapples with this. And then yu watch TV hoping to take your mind off and you just sit there and wonder how a normal person must feel and what you wouldn’t give to be normal..how much you would give away to know you are going to just wake up, trip over the dog, get a cup of coffee and just go on with your day and get something done. And smile at my husband and give them kisses and go to bed without the torment in my brain like I do right now. What would I give and why did God allow this to happen to a whole family and make life a living hell for them. Why?
Some great info!
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