TERRE HAUTE — On the upside, bipolar disorder does generate a considerable amount of energy.
And it’s with an upbeat, raging sense of humor and brutal honesty that one of Terre Haute’s newest authors, Heather Brown, recounts her own struggles with the mental illness also known as manic depression.
Sitting inside the Vigo County Public Library on Saturday morning, Brown hosted one of that day’s two book-signings for “Big Crowd at the Crazy House,” an autobiographical account of her 1997 diagnosis, the struggles leading up to it and those that would follow.
“I started the book 12 years ago,” she said at her table full of books and jeweled page markers, recalling one of her trips into residential treatment. The story of those 12 years and the poetry written therein fills the pages.
Bipolar disorder, she explains early in the book, is a medical condition which causes uncontrollable mood swings, or episodes. On the manic side, individuals experience extreme elation, excessive motor activity and flights of ideas. But on the depressive side, the fall is just as severe, delving into unresponsiveness, inactivity and even suicidal tendencies.
About 5.7 million Americans suffer from the disorder, she said, noting that about 32,000 suicides are attributed to it annually. Brown herself attempted suicide twice since her diagnosis, incidents she describes in the book.
But from the outside, it seems a long stretch for the North Central High School alumnus who would graduate from Indiana State University in May 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in printing management. Brown competed as a bodybuilder, worked as a fitness trainer and model, and branched into multiple business endeavors within the health and fitness industry.
But the ups and downs were extreme, and after the surge of that first year out of school, on Aug. 16, 1997, she was taken in-residence first at Charter Hospital and next at St. Francis Hospital of Indianapolis.
She writes of that initial admission: “The day I lost my mind my mother and sister led me into the insane asylum while I shouted, ‘Show me the money,’ and clapped my hands. I don’t remember it, but that is what they told me … I would become one of the millions that are labeled: Insane, crazy, nuts, psycho; I was bipolar, otherwise known as manic depressive. That’s a hard label to shake. It’s hard to sugar coat the fact that you have been diagnosed insane.”
The years which ensued ebbed and flowed as the fitness model battled 90-pound weight gains caused by her medication, competed in bodybuilding contests, bounced from job to job and in and out of hospitals. Thanks to “miracle drugs,” Brown said she’s put her last “episode” far behind her as she maintains regular employment as an aerobics instructor at Anytime Fitness in Terre Haute.
But it’s been a long, hard haul, one about which she says she’s “totally honest” in the book. Since its publication in October, Brown said the e-mails she’s received from readers have been inspiring. One, from a 13-year-old girl who e-mailed to tell her that she, too, was suicidal invoked a particularly quick and proactive series of responses, she recalled, adding that a close friend of hers recently died by his own hand. Also contained within the book is contact information for those suffering from bipolar disorder and for their families.
“Bipolar people are some of the most creative people,” the 36-year-old entrepreneur of multiple past endeavors said, laughing. “I’m already working on my next book,” she added, describing it as a collection of stories from others who suffer from the disorder.
Keeping busy and motivated tends to help, she offered. “Finding something you love to do and doing it.”
Saturday, Brown was on her way to an afternoon book-signing at A Gathering Place in her hometown of Sullivan, which will be followed by those at BookNation and Baesler’s Market later in January, she said, adding that her book is available there and through her Web site.
At first, telling the world she’s bipolar was a little tough, she said. “Yes, but not as bad as it used to be,” she said of the stigma attached to mental illness. But the more she talks about it, the more people she meets who, like her, are living with it day by day. “Everybody knows somebody that’s bipolar.”
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
Book
• For more information on “Big Crowd at the Crazy House” visit www.bigcrowd
atthecrazyhouse.com, e-mail bigcrowdatthecrazyhouse@gmail.com or call (812) 230-2205. The book is available online as well as in local bookstores.
Local & Bistate
Valley author recounts her battles with mental illness
- Local & Bistate
-
-
Montford Point Marine
In 1943, 19-year-old Ezell Odom was on the sandy beach of a tiny South Pacific island about 7,000 miles from his parent’s home in Terre Haute.
-
K-9 officer Shadow honored as a hero
A Terre Haute K-9 officer injured in the line of duty has been honored as a hero by the Indiana Veterinary Medical Association.
-
Freezin’ for a Reason
Hundreds lined up outside Hulman Center amid frigid air to participate in a warm-hearted cause.
-
Even as law, right-to-work dominates crackerbarrel
The flames of the right-to-work debate were gone, but the coals still seemed to smolder.
-
Vigo School Board to give OK on bonds for DeVaney project
The Vigo County School Board will meet at 6 p.m. Monday in the administration building, 686 Wabash Ave.
-
Bridging the gap to ‘forever’
They can be taken from their homes by strangers for reasons they may not understand, with no possessions other than the clothes they are wearing.
-
Students showcase keen problem-solving skills at Rose-Hulman
For the 16th straight year, Honey Creek Middle School students came out on top in the Wabash Valley MATHCOUNTS competition at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
-
Ivy Tech to celebrate Black History Month
Ivy Tech Community College will celebrate Black History Month with a series of events at its campuses statewide.
-
Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies
Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.
-
Giant welcome home for Steve
Terre Haute was suddenly home to thousands of cheering New York Giants fans Friday as residents welcomed Super Bowl champion Steve Weatherford back home for a parade.
-
‘One for Terre Haute,’ Steve tells crowd at North
“This one was for Terre Haute,” native son Steve Weatherford proclaimed Friday as he shared his Super Bowl victory with the community that helped send him on the path to a world championship.
-
Hometown support vital to success, Weatherford says
Steve Weatherford said Friday he wouldn’t be celebrating a Giants’ Super Bowl victory if not for the support he’s received from his hometown, his parents and mentors in his life.
-
Craning for a rare glimpse
A visitor from the Far East has naturalists flying to Linton, hoping some good comes from one bird’s bad directions.
-
Vigo’s primary election filings complete
The slate is set for the May 8 primary election, with the race for three at-large seats on the Vigo County Council drawing the largest pool of candidates at the county level.
-
Documentary on electric vehicles plays Sunday at Rose
The rising popularity of electric vehicles and their impact on the world eco-system is the focus of a documentary, “Revenge of the Electric Car,” being presented at 3 p.m. Sunday in Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Hatfield Hall Theater.
-
Man gets 10-year sentence in battery case
A West Terre Haute man received a 10-year prison sentence Friday after pleading guilty to aggravated battery for beating a friend caught in bed with the man’s wife.
-
Asian hooded crane lands in Greene County wildlife area
Bird watchers are flocking to a southwestern Indiana wildlife area to try to catch a glimpse of a crane usually spotted only in Asia.
-
Slow drips: It’s maple syrup season in Indiana
More seasonal, colder temperatures will hit the Wabash Valley this weekend, which is ideal weather for maple syrup production, said Keith Ruble, superintendent of the Vigo County Parks and Recreation Department.
However, Ruble voices concern that this year’s maple syrup season may be short.
-
Downtown restaurant celebrates expansion
The streets of Terre Haute were chilly Thursday night, but for the glow of hot pasta inside Louise’s Pizzeria and Cafe.
-
Contract signed for new Y
Papers are signed and the ink is in place for a new YMCA to operate in Terre Haute.
-
City to impose $30 release fee on towed vehicles
The Terre Haute City Council voted without opposition Thursday to impose a new $30 release fee on vehicles towed and impounded by the police as part of a criminal investigation.
-
Valley educators cautious on Indiana’s ‘No Child’ waiver
Indiana is one of 10 states to receive a waiver from federal No Child Left Behind requirements.
-
Driver dies after Illinois school bus crash
“Brace yourself. Brace yourself,” Fay Pickering shouted to her students just before the school bus she was driving crossed U.S. 40 and landed in a ditch Thursday morning.
-
Trial date set for former WTH police chief
A July 23 trial date has been set for a former police chief of West Terre Haute accused of theft.
-
Motorcycle gang member pleads guilty in federal court
A member of an Indianapolis motorcycle gang who delivered methamphetamine to a Terre Haute dealer has pleaded guilty to drug charges in federal court.
-
July trial date set for mother charged with child neglect
A July 30 trial date has been set for a Terre Haute mother charged with neglecting and battering her toddler.
-
Business hosting SPPRAK fundraiser
Java Haute is hosting the latest fundraiser sponsored by SPPRAK — Special People Performing Random Acts of Kindness.
-
Valley high school cooking competition under way today
Clabber Girl Corp. and Gordon Food Services will host the fourth-annual High School Chef Competition, beginning today through Saturday, and again Feb. 18, in the Culinary Classroom at Clabber Girl.
- UPDATE: Marshall, Ill., school bus driver involved in accident dies; cause appears to be cardiac-related
-
Terre Haute road name game
What used to be called U.S. 40 from the Wabash River west through West Terre Haute to Interstate 70 needs to be renamed and, probably, get new street addresses, a Vigo County planner recommends.
- More Local & Bistate Headlines
-
Recording Superstar Whitney Houston Dead at 48
Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room
Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC
Maine GOP Chairman Says Romney Wins Caucuses
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
Fans 'Speechless' Over Houston's Death
Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria
Androgynous Model Walks Runway As Man and Woman
US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany
Snow Strands Italian Towns
Latest Jason Wu Collection Shows Chinese Roots
ShowBiz Minute: Madonna, Beresford-Redman, Pawsc
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Raw Video: Rough Seas Stop Oil Removal
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Stars Show Support at AMFAR Charity Gala
The Pits: Israelis Spit Olives for Glory
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Romney Tops Santorum in CPAC Straw Poll
First glimpse of Blue Ivy Carter
Absolute Lin-sanity
Hate to be Rude: Bubba Watson
Peek inside Barbie's closet
Test on Comforter in Powell Unit Shows Blood
Angry Dad Shoots Teens Laptop
Hero Driver Saves Kids From Burning Bus
Funeral to be held for Powell boys
Sandusky on having to stay inside and people turning on him
Woolly Mammoth Caught on Camera?
Did JLo 'Assault' Marc Anthony on Camera?
Christie Brinkley's Runway Slip
Toddler forced to run half-naked in snow
Halle Wants to Leave the Country
Northern Lights shine above earth
Plane makes perfect belly landing
