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Patty Duke stops in Milwaukee to debunk stigmas ... and have a good time. |
 | By Molly Snyder Edler   OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writer E-mail author | Author bio More articles by Molly Snyder Edler |
| Published June 13, 2005 at 5:20 a.m. |
|
In 1967, Patty Duke played the role of Neely O'Hara in the marvelously camp film, "The Valley of The Dolls." In the movie (and in the book), prescription drugs destroy O'Hara's world, but in Duke's real life, they are the saving grace.
By the time Duke was diagnosed with manic depressive disorder at age 35, she had already suffered decades of hearing voices, panic attacks, hallucinations and grandiose behaviors like spending exorbitant amounts of money. However, once she started taking lithium, one of the most common drugs taken by people who are bi-polar (manic depressive), she was able to function again.
On Wednesday, June 15, Duke will fly from her home in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to Milwaukee to speak at IndependenceFirst's annual Power Lunch at the Midwest Airlines Center Ballroom about her struggle with manic depression and success strategies she has learned.
"The stigma of manic depression keeps people from getting the help they need, and being a people person, I feel it's my job to rally us and help us deal with the stigma together," says Duke, 58.
Duke, the star of "The Patty Duke Show" and a bundle of films and made-for-TV movies, says many manic depressives believe that taking medicine means losing creativity.
"One of my hurdles is trying to convince people that they will not lose their creativity or live in a monotone world if they take medication," she says. "Medication is an important tool and a way to successfully live life."
IndependenceFirst is a non-profit organization that helps people with disabilities live independently in Milwaukee. Individual tickets are $50 and corporate tables are available. Call (414) 291-7520 for tickets or more information.
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6 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review. |
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Posted by OMCreader on June 14, 2005 at 7:33 a.m. (report)
Evangeline Denton said: Dear Miss Duke, I have admired your work in the films I've seen you in, but my main admiration is in your willingness to help other people with bi-polar disorder. As you must be well aware, the level of distrust by the public of persons "acting weird" is still horrendous. I've even reached the point that I object with anyone being called weird anymore - after all, who's to say (other than God & a good Psychiatrist) who's normal and who isn't. Anyway, I have several friends with bi-polar disorder in varying degrees. The worst part is that some still insist they can "handle" it and haven't sought medical help, others were forced to get help when their lives came apart. Had they only received help sooner.... You are doing many people a very large favor when you publicize your personal situation. You and others like you are living proof that there is "life after mental illness"!! One young man recently diagnosed, but symptomatic for at least 20 years, has always resisted the diagnosis in part because he "saw what Lithium did to his mother". He could not be convinced that part of her problems lay in the fact that she was often noncompliant with meds, and always refused "talk therapy" because her life was "nobody else's business". I worked in mental health for a while and know that people generally respond to the combination better than either one alone. Anyway, Thanks again for helping so many people. Please keep the subject "alive" for all the others out here that need to hear it.
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Posted by OMCreader on June 13, 2005 at 6:09 p.m. (report)
Funki said: That's Crazy!
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Posted by OMCreader on June 13, 2005 at 2:43 p.m. (report)
DG said: At the Midwest Airlines center
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Posted by OMCreader on June 13, 2005 at 1:47 p.m. (report)
yo, clean: said: says midwest express ballroom. any better than that is gonna require a liitle mapquest action.
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Posted by OMCreader on June 13, 2005 at 12:03 p.m. (report)
Clean said: Unless I'm missing something, the article doesn't say where the lunch is being held!!
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