Back to the beginning...

 My battle with depression and mania started very early. I was 13 when I had my first episode. Of course we didn't know what to call it back then . We didn't know about early onset .My parents and I knew that something was very wrong. Here's what happened...

When I was 13 I went to a golf camp in Delaware called "Swings the Thing". Despite it's corny name the camp was very popular in the North East . I started out pretty even keel in the beginning of the camp, but gradually became over excited and over the top.(We call that hypomania now). I over participated, practicing well into the evening even though we started at 8 in the morning. I was hardly sleeping and nonetheless, full of energy. I remember thinking that I was talking too loud and my speech was rushed. I also remember my thoughts racing as I tried to absorb everything that was being taught.

Some may chalk all this up to youthful exuberance. I know that it was much more. My first experience with mania became more apparent when my father picked me up to take me back home to Pennsylvania.

I had been told that the next camp was in California at Pebble Beach. I made it known to my Dad that I was going despite the cross country trip and the expense! He tried to rationalize with me that it was an impossible request. Yet the more he tried to reason with me the louder and combative I became. It was so over the top that my parents didn't know what to do. Several days followed , hallmarked with bouts of extreme behavior and over the top actions. I finally calmed down, and within weeks descended into a dark depression.

Again, we as a family did not know what to do. Back in the day, there was less knowledge of mental illness and even more stigma than now. I lived through depression in my high school years and wasn't diagnosed until I was 21.

Because I experienced the devastating blows of mental illness so young, I wish schools today would include the topic of mental illness in their health curriculum. The majority of symptoms start in the late teens to early twenties. Maybe early education would curb the rising tide of despair and hopelessness found in this age group. If caught and treated early, imagine the amount of suffering that would be alleviated. It's time to educate our children and ourselves about mental illness!!