Faced with loss, Michelle Williams can find hope

If Heath Ledger's ex-girlfriend, Michelle Williams, is looking for inspiration in the face of her loss, she can look no farther than Mary Jo Codey.

Williams (left), an actress, has been out of public view since "The Brokeback Mountain" star's death last week. But she is believed to be very distraught over the loss of the father of her 2-year-old daughter.

Codey, meanwhile, is the wife of Richard Codey, who served as New Jersey's acting governor from 2004 to 2006. But she is known mainly for her public disclosure that she suffered from postpartum depression.

The illness has dominated much of the last 25 years of Codey's life. But her story has inspired many - and now it's culminated with her winning the Eli Lilly Welcome Back Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ten years ago, Eli Lilly and Company, a pharmaceutical promotion company, says it launched the "Welcome Back Awards" to fight the stigma associated with depression and promote the understanding that depression is treatable.

Codey is "an amazing woman who has lent her life, public forum and passion to the cause of perinatal mental health," said Susan Dowd Stone, president of Postpartum Support International. "For years, Mary Jo has been a national spokesperson and crusader for maternal mental health, sharing her story to help other women reach out for help."

Knight-Ridder newspapers recently provided an in-depth and stirring account of how Codey recovered from the depths of postpartum depression to become a national symbol:

After giving birth to a son in 1984, Codey said she didn't feel the joy she saw on her husband's face. Her indifference became irritability, and then she began having thoughts that scared her -- urges to drown Kevin, or put him in the microwave.

Horrified by those images, Codey placed 6-week-old Kevin in her husband's arms and demanded to go to a mental institution.

"I didn't realize that once you were depressed, you could get over it. I just thought I was crazy. I gave the baby to my husband, and I said, 'Find yourself a new wife, Richie, someone who will be good to the baby,'" Codey recounted. "Suicide looked good to me. If you're having thoughts about harming your baby, wouldn't you rather kill yourself?"

At the Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead, N.J., Codey's condition stabilized with antidepressants. She returned home, but hid her experience from her family and friends. "I was afraid that maybe God would think I was ungrateful for the baby, and I wasn't. I went to a fertility doctor for three years to have him."

She stopped taking the medication when she became pregnant with her second son, Christopher, in 1988. By her eighth month, she was severely depressed, and her doctor told her that electric-shock therapy was her only option. She had one 11-week treatment that resulted in some memory loss, but no pain.

"I felt like such a waste of a human being, because there I was, eight months pregnant with a gift, and I was going for shock therapy," she said. "I didn't understand depression was biological and not my fault."

After Christopher's birth, Codey went back on her medication, and this time there were no baby blues.

"I could do and feel the things other mothers did," she said.

She told Kevin, now 20 and a sophomore at Drew University, and Christopher, 16 and a junior at Montclair Academy, about her illness "almost as soon as they could understand English."

"I never wanted them to hear, 'When you were born, your mother was so depressed she went to a psychiatric hospital,"' Codey (right) said. "If I wasn't secure in my relationship with them, I'd be afraid to tell them."

But her battle with depression wasn't over.

Early in 2002, shortly after her husband became copresident of the state Senate, Codey's antidepressants stopped working. Her doctor changed her medicine, but the dosage was too high.
Codey said she recalled opening her refrigerator on St. Patrick's Day, asking Christopher what he wanted for lunch, and then collapsing.

At the hospital, the family was told that doctors had induced a coma to stop seizures caused by the new medication. But then they couldn't bring her out of the coma.

"What do you say to your two teenage sons who ask if Mom is going to live?" her husband said, recalling the days he spent at the hospital.

Codey emerged from the coma after seven days, but struggled without medication for her depression.

Two weeks later, a routine mammogram showed she had breast cancer, the disease that had killed her mother. "I was a mess anyway, so the news didn't frighten me," Codey said. "My family was upset, but I was already as low as I could go."

She had a double mastectomy, fighting the cancer with chemotherapy and the depression with more shock therapy. As her cancer entered remission, a doctor put her on new depression medication that she said had worked well.

Codey said she was struck by the contrast between the care and concern breast-cancer patients receive and the stigmas associated with people suffering from mental illness.

She formed a postpartum-depression group at her local hospital, St. Barnabas, and listened to new mothers recount the same sort of thoughts she'd had. Her husband said he had often come home to find a new mother crying to his wife on the couch.

After Jim McGreevey resigned as governor in November 2004 and her husband became the state's chief executive, Codey resolved to use the opportunity. She speaks to mental-illness and women's groups two or three times a week, she said.

"When we're out on the weekends, women will grab Mary Jo by the arm and say, 'Thank you,'" Richard Codey said. "It helps when you have a survivor who can make people reach out and feel what you're talking about.

Britney Spears hospitalized for "mental health reasons;" but will she get treatment?

Britney Spears is back in the hospital now that rumors of her alleged drug use are rampant, and her disheveled public appearances and chameleon-like personality have raised suspicions that the former pop star has multiple personality disorder.

The question is: Will she finally get treatment? Many don't, unfortunately, because mental health services are woefully inadequate for people who are committed for the first or second time.

In most cases, the first or second commitment is a jail commitment. The nation's largest psychiatric facility, professionals say, is the Los Angeles County Jail. Psychiatric problems aren't usually detected unless someone commits a crime, and then they're forced to undergo an evaluation.

From The Lost Angeles Times:

Los Angeles Police officers physically removed pop star Britney Spears from her home early today, placing the troubled celebrity on a "mental health evaluation hold," authorities said.

More than a dozen motorcycle officers and a Los Angeles Fire Department ambulance swept through the front gates of Spears hilltop Studio City residence shortly before 1 a.m., as a police helicopter hovered overheard. At 1:08 a.m., officers inside the home radioed to commanders that "the package is on the way out."

Spears was rushed from a side entrance of her home into an ambulance. As she was driven down Coldwater Canyon Boulevard, her vehicle was escorted by more than a dozen motorcycle officers, two cruisers and two police helicopters. Her final destination was the UCLA Medical Center, authorities said.

This is the second time in a month that Spears has been placed on a 72-hour welfare hold. The first occurred on Jan. 3, when Spears declined to give up custody of her children to ex-husband Kevin Federline.

The Summit, the winding street on which Spears lives in Studio City, was jammed with the vehicles of journalists and photographers for several hours prior to the police operation.

A crying Britney means a wealthier media

Now Britney Spears has taken her troubles to the street - literally. The pop star was photographed outside her house Monday night, sobbing and talking to the photographers as though they are her friends.

But as her troubles persist, it's clear that the media's adopted role as "shoulders-to-lean-on" is purely business-motivated - as this Associated Press story clearly points out:

An Economy Grows Around Britney Spears
By JEREMY HERRON

In the days after the Britney Spears soap opera rode a police-escorted gurney to its apex, celeb-mag sales spiked, traffic jammed gossip Web sites, tabloid TV ratings rose and paparazzi photo prices surged.

For a growing number of people and businesses, Britney's saga is about money: Every time she sinks to new lows, cash flows. And these days, no one is above the fray.

When a custody dispute devolved into a three-hour standoff at Spears' home Jan. 3, police officers and firefighters were pressed into duty. Television stations sent up helicopters, and cable news anchors reported the unfolding drama in real time. The Associated Press had two reporters working the story, with editors on both coasts updating it seven times throughout the night.

Spears is just one of many stars driving the growing multibillion dollar celebrity news industry. But the Spears story in particular, with a new twist nearly every week, has become a very profitable sub-sector unto itself.

"Britney is the most bankable celebrity out there right now, and she has been for the past year," said Francois Navarre, founder of the paparazzi agency X17.

Spears became a can't-miss tabloid topic after filing for divorce from second husband Kevin Federline in November 2006. Since then, she's been in and out of rehab, shaved her head, revealed a bit too much above the hemline, was arrested after a traffic accident, and lost custody of her kids (and later her visitation rights).

"The product for the tabloid industry is the unusual, and Britney has been delivering that consistently," said Dan Smith, dean of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

At a time when advertising spending in traditional media is declining, celebrity gossip titles such as Star, Us Weekly and In Touch Weekly are growing. That helped overall newsstand sales for magazines edge 1 percent higher, to $2.39 billion, in the first half of 2007.

"The increase is almost entirely attributable to the growth of the celebrity magazine," said John Harrington, who runs industry consulting agency Harrington Associates.

Any time a magazine can boost newsstand sales past its average, the revenue is booked nearly entirely as profit, Harrington said: "People prints 2.5 million copies and sells about an average of 1.5 million. If they have an issue that sells 2 million, the extra half million goes to the bottom line."

People, which takes a broader and less sensational look at the entertainment industry, dominates the sector in circulation, but that hasn't stopped such new titles as In Touch and Life & Style Weekly from elbowing in. Another newcomer, the U.S. version of Britain's OK!, has taken particular interest in Spears, putting her picture on the cover 54 times in the 103 issues since January 2006.

"An editor's dream is to have a real life soap opera unraveling in front of you, and Britney provides that every week," said Sarah Ivens, OK!'s U.S. editor. The magazine has a 10-person team in Los Angeles devoted to Spears coverage. "We're on constant Britney alert."

She wouldn't disclose the costs to the magazine, saying only that Spears has been "amazing" for OK!'s business. Publisher Tom Morrisy said Spears drives newsstand sales and helped the magazine's ad revenue more than double to $51 million in 2007. OK! expects to turn a profit in 2008, three years after breaking into the market.

US Weekly has been just as enamored of the star, putting Spears on nearly two-thirds of its covers last year, including each of the last 14. People has had Spears on the cover 10 times in the past 15 months.

And that heightened demand for Spears pictures has been a boon to photographers.

X17's Navarre said an exclusive shot of the star would sell for about $10,000 in the U.S. and generate thousands more in residuals. "She's the most expensive right now," he said. "For Angelina, for example, you divide by two or even three to get the price."

In contrast, the average celebrity shot fetches $125 to $700, according to Scott Mc Kiernan, founder of ZUMA Press photo agency. He said residual fees on exclusives can push the value of a unique Spears shot well past $100,000.

Many of those images wind up on celebrity gossip Web sites, like TMZ and PerezHilton. The sites make money by delivering viewers to ads on their pages, typically receiving a fee for each 1,000 hits. Navarre said Spears boosts traffic to his Web site, X17online.com, more than any other star.
"During the ambulance incident, traffic doubled every hour," he said, citing internal server data.

X17, which owns the infamous picture of a bald Spears taken in February, has a team of photographers tracking her at all times. "For us, she's the star No. 1," Navarre said.

Television ratings show that a major Spears incident attracts viewers to each of the main entertainment news TV shows, too.

"All of us sustained a major ratings spike" when Spears was taken to the hospital two weeks ago, said Charles Lachman, executive producer of Inside Edition. "It happens every time with her."

It's more difficult to assess the economic gain for TV shows because they sell ads weeks in advance, with rates based on average expected ratings. If the show fails to deliver, it has to reimburse the advertiser, but there is no such compensation if ratings exceed expectations.

Suffice it to say that advertisers love the extra attention. "Anything that boosts ratings is a win-win for everyone," said Shari Anne Brill, an analyst with ad buyer Carat USA.

On the flipside, the Spears story isn't making money for everyone. There are costs involved, too. For instance, the increased scrutiny puts a burden on Los Angeles civil service units, which have to keep Spears safe and public spaces uncluttered.

The L.A. Police Department wouldn't estimate the extra costs Spears generates. Her ambulance incident last week was handled by officers already on duty. The fire department said it was considering charging Spears for the ambulance ride, but did not disclose how much.

Spears' numerous court appearances — for custody hearings, divorce proceedings and a civil case — have more measurable effects. Richard Barrantes, chief of court services division of the LA County Sheriff's Department, said when Spears and Federline were in court on Oct. 26, his office billed the court $2286.10 to cover the cost of extra security at the courthouse.

The star's behavior may be eroding her own brand, as well. Spears remains among the most-recognized celebrities, along with Johnny Depp and Will Smith, according to Marketing Evaluations, the company that developed the "Q Score." But she is not well-liked. Her negative Q Score is at 66 — only Federline has a lower one among all celebrities — meaning two-thirds of people who know who she is give her a "fair" or "poor" rating. The average for female performers is 30.

Spears, who used to pitch for Pepsi but no longer fronts for any mainstream products, gets most of her income from music sales, augmented by several perfume lines and other side projects. Elizabeth Arden, Spears' partner in the perfume business, introduced a third Spears scent, "Believe," last fall.

So far, Spears' antics don't appear to have hurt personal earnings, which, according to court papers released in November, are roughly $737,000 per month.

"A good actor or musician can get away with some pretty bizarre stuff offstage as long as they keep delivering the goods in their focal profession," Smith said.

Spears seems to have done that, winning critical acclaim for "Blackout," her first studio album in four years. The record hit No. 1 on the charts last fall, although it faded quickly. Its headline single, "Gimme More," topped out at No. 3 on the Billboard 100.

Now that she's back in focus for offstage drama, her music is an afterthought. And at some point, most industry experts agree, the public will grow tired of the Spears story.

That doesn't mean the economy that sprouted around her will wilt.

"If it's not Britney, then it'll be Lindsay or Paris or some other person we haven't heard of yet," Smith said.

Britney to undergo mental health treatment; but she's still subject to ridicule

From The Huffington Post:

Barbara Walters told her fellow panelists on "The View" that Britney Spears' friend-manager-hanger on Sam Lufti called her over the weekend to say that Britney has mental issues, that they are treatable, that she has seen a psychiatrist, and she is in touch with her mother. Then Whoopi made fun of it.

Here is the link to the video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/28/britney-spears-has-treata_n_83589.html

MaryKate Olsen under the microscope in Heath Ledger death; or is she?

Mary-Kate Olsen has had a charmed life. But she's never had it easy.

The "Full-House"-turned-movie star has recovered from anorexia for 4 years now. Still, she's lived the Britney Spears life of having to dodge paprazzi and live a life behind closed doors.

Now the question is how she handles the increased attention she's receiving because of the role she played in the aftermath of the discovery of Heath Ledger's body.

She's never had it easy, actually, because she's been stained by the media since going public with her struggles with eating disorders in 2004. Instead of focusing on her recovery, the media has sought to portray her as a "dirty girl" - like Britney - who plays it on the wild side.

Because she's living this kind of "charmed" life, eating disorders can't possibly be the explanation for everything, the media believes - hence the rumors of potential drug abuse and other mischief that she's allegedly engaged in.

The New York Post was at it again today (Jan. 25), posting this headline on its front page: "Heat is on Mary-Kate." The story says the police will be questioning Olsen in the death investigation, and makes some innuendo that she is somehow culpable.

But the following MTV story shows that this is not the case, and she won't even be questioned. Yet, it still doesn't matter. Mary-Kate will always pay the price for going public about her mental illness, and the media will always find some other explanation for her behavior.

Mary-Kate Olsen Will Not Be Questioned About Heath Ledger's Death: PoliceViews 4,541
By Gil Kaufman

Despite reports that police were interested in questioning her about the death of Heath Ledger, a New York City Police Department spokesperson confirmed to MTV News on Friday (January 25) that officials have no plans to speak to actress Mary-Kate Olsen about the circumstances surrounding the actor's demise.

"We have no interest in questioning her," NYPD Sergeant Kevin Hayes said when asked about the Olsen reports. "We are awaiting the medical examiner's results."

Speculation had surfaced that police might be interested in speaking to Olsen, who received four frantic phone calls from Ledger's masseuse when the actor's body was found in his Soho apartment on Tuesday, but Hayes said that police have no plans to interview anyone about the death at the present time. An initial autopsy was inconclusive, so Hayes said police are awaiting the results of toxicology tests, which could take from 10 days to two weeks.

Police have said they believe that Ledger, 28, was already dead by the time his masseuse, Diana Wolozin, phoned Olsen, 21, who is reported to have been dating the actor for several months prior to his death.

People magazine reported on Friday that funeral services for Ledger would remain private and that he would be buried in his hometown of Perth, Australia, though no official plans have been announced by his family. "At this time, we will not be releasing any information," a representative for Ledger said. "There are no plans for a public service." Members of Ledger's family were reportedly set to arrive in Manhattan Friday for his funeral.

Heath Ledger was battling drug addiction, depression and paparazzi before his death

Once again, the media vultures are swooping overhead over a fallen Hollywood figure. Unlike Britney Spears, however, this time they've captured their prey: Heath Ledger.

Much like Britney, his every moved was captured by a snapping camera or a shouting tabloid journalist who wanted to know about his romances, his break-ups as well as his reported drug abuse and mental illness.

Their pursuit came to an end Tuesday, just as the media and paparazzi attention was picking up. Is it any wonder that the intense media pressure could have been the tip of the iceberg that broke this promising young actor?

As I wrote earlier in the week - in a post about Britney - mental health professionals such as Debra Wentz, chief executive officer of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health Agencies, said common sense dictates that media pressure "can certainly stress anyone out, and so that added pressure on someone who is vulnerable can lead to more symptomatic behavior."

"I don't envy anyone in that position and believe they get more than they bargain for, as part of their fame," she said.

That added pressure of media attention pushes the behavior to a level that's frightening, dangerous and self-destructive.

"Often people say, 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the fire,' " Wentz said. "But a young, vulnerable person who has an illness may not be able to exercise such good judgment.

From the Herald Sun of Australia:

Heath Ledger was battling drug addiction and depression in the lead-up to his tragic death yesterday.

The acclaimed actor was found naked and unconscious in his $26,000-a-month Manhattan apartment, surrounded by prescription anti-anxiety and sleeping pills.

Ledger's parents, Kim and Sally, and his sister, Kate, said his death was a terrible accident.

"He was a down-to-earth, generous, kind-hearted, life-loving and unselfish individual who was an inspiration to many," his father said outside the family home in Perth, Australia.

New York police sources said the signs pointed to either an accidental overdose or suicide.

Ledger, 28, reportedly spent several days at a drug rehabilitation clinic, battling an addiction to heroin, after his split from fiancee Michelle Williams in September.

The couple met on the set of "Brokeback Mountain," the film that netted Ledger an Oscar nomination for his role as a gay cowboy.

Last night, Williams was on a flight from Sweden to New York with the couple's two-year-old daughter, Matilda. "It has just broken everybody's heart," said her father, Larry Williams.

After the split, Ledger moved into a luxury Soho loft boasting a private lift. But neighbours said the apartment was only partly furnished and his bed was just a mattress on the floor.

Police said they found prescription anti-anxiety and sleeping pills in the bedroom, including generic forms of Valium and Xanax.

They could not confirm reports Ledger had pneumonia.

In November, the reclusive actor said he suffered from insomnia and was regularly taking Ambien sleeping pills. Ambien, marketed in Australia as Stilnox, is not recommended for people with respiratory disease.

Ledger had just finished playing The Joker in the latest Batman movie, "The Dark Knight" -- a role that looked certain to set him up financially for the rest of his life.

Hollywood was in mourning for the intense, brooding star, who was named after Heathcliffe in "Wuthering Heights."

Cate Blanchett, who has been nominated for two Oscars next month, said she was very saddened.

"I deeply respect Heath's work and always admired his continuing development as an artist," she said.



Neil Young - Needle And The Damage Done Lyrics

I caught you knockin'
at my cellar door
I love you, baby,
can I have some more
Ooh, ooh, the damage done.

I hit the city and
I lost my band
I watched the needle
take another man
Gone, gone, the damage done.

I sing the song
because I love the man
I know that some
of you don't understand
Milk-blood
to keep from running out.

I've seen the needle
and the damage done
A little part of it in everyone
But every junkie's
like a settin' sun.

Britney may have a mental illness, but she's only human

It's no wonder that Britney Spears' obituary has already been written. Anyone would struggle to survive with paparazzi preying on their every move, ready to pounce and pop flashbulbs that blind their eyes.

With the exception of that self-proclaimed master of mental healing - otherwise known as "Dr. Phil" - well-studied health professionals and advocates say a hostile, chaotic environment can only exacerbate a person's declining mental state.

They look at how the media - and not just the so-called illegitimate tabloid kind that fills supermarket shelves - have almost self-created Britney's demise by goading her and baiting her into behaving in a bizarre way so they can be there if - or, quite possibly, when - the end comes.

Debra Wentz, chief executive officer of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health Agencies, said common sense dictates that media pressure "can certainly stress anyone out, and so that added pressure on someone who is vulnerable can lead to more symptomatic behavior."

"I don't envy anyone in that position and believe they get more than they bargain for, as part of their fame," she said.

Britney is to blame, many say, because she alternates between chasing the paparazzi away and cursing at them and then bonding with them in an inappropriate way. Reports this week said she allegedly dumped her most recent boyfriend, British photographer Adnan Gharib, and filed a restraining order against him.

But Britney's behavior may be merely symptomatic of something larger. She may be experiencing the mania many feel when they're dealing with bipolar disorder. The media, in turn, enable that behavior by following her, stalking her and even dating her.

Then, that added pressure of media attention pushes the behavior to a level that's frightening, dangerous and self-destructive.

"Often people say, 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the fire,' " Wentz said. "But a young, vulnerable person who has an illness may not be able to exercise such good judgment.

"I wish the media would leave her in peace."

Does Britney have a mental illness, and is her condition grave?

Now the talk is that Britney Spears has multiple personality disorder. Or that she's ready to die.

But much of that talk comes from wanna-be pop psychologists (as well as Dr. Phil, who fits that category - the only difference being that he has a degree).

Many people of this ilk are in the media, each of whom have come up with their own diagnosis for a fallen pop star who has been shadowed and harassed by a band of mosquito-like paparazzi - their media colleagues - for two years now.

TMZ and US Weekly are always ready to jump on the Britney-assault bandwagon, swooping overhead like a vulture who's ready to pounce on the dead carcass. Here is the latest news from both publicity mags/websites that appears to over-hype what is a common practice engaged by all respectable news organizations:

"Britney Spears hasn't died, but the Associated Press has an obituary already written, should something happen to the "at-risk" former pop star.

TMZ spoke to AP Entertainment Editor Jesse Washington who confirmed the news. Washington told Us Weekly, 'We would never wish any type of misfortune on anybody and hope that we would never have to use it until 50 years from now, but if something were to happen, we would have to be prepared.'

It is not uncommon for news organizations like AP to have obituaries prepared for high-profile people - the unusual thing is that they're usually prepped for the very sick or aged."

And here is the latest from People magazine, which markets itself as a respectable publication but finds itself merely repeating everything that was already published in the National Enquirer:
"Britney Spears's new habit of speaking with a British accent has some questioning her mental health.

In the past several weeks, Spears, 26, has been videotaped numerous times trading her Louisiana twang for UK inflections. On a shopping trip to Macy's in LA the other day, the singer screamed at the paparazzi, 'Get out of my [expletive] face!' - in a British accent.

Psychologist Renee Cohen isn't treating Spears, but wonders if someone should be. 'When Britney uses the British accent, or appears to take on another identity, does she know she's Britney Spears?' Cohen said."

And then we have talking heads who engage in straight-out mockery - such as what you'll see on this video (viewer discretion advised):

Those who felt "maladjusted" can be creative, King said

Mindfreedom International says the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. called for "creative maladjustment."

MLK said over and over that the world is in dire need for an "International Association for the Advancement of Creative Maladjustment."

Martin Luther King's dream was not, apparently, ever officially realized. Until last year.

MindFreedom International, which works for the human rights of people in the mental health system, intentionally and officially began an "IAACM" as part of its campaign to show "every human being's creative uniqueness and right to be nonviolently different."

"We are proud to be mad, to be vulnerable, to be human beings. We are proud to be maladjusted to a world which believes in war and division, a world which does not value uniqueness, creativity, love, insight and harmony," said Mary Maddock, co-founder of MindFreedom Ireland.

The mental health organization, which prides itself for pushing for mind improvement without medicine, asks people to consider what action they will take to show their "creative maladjustment" as MLK's 80th birthday approaches in 2009.

MLK repeated this theme more than a dozen times in essays and speeches stretching from the 1950s to a keynote speech in front of the American Psychological Association in 1967:

1. MLK said psychologists had a favorite word, "maladjusted."

2. MLK said he was proud to be psychologically maladjusted, that we all ought to be maladjusted to oppression, poverty, war.

3. MLK said the "salvation of the world" lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.

Football star says he has multiple personality disorder

From the Associated Press:

Georgia football great Herschel Walker has multiple personalities - a revelation in an upcoming book that surprises the man who coached the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner.

"That's all news to me," former Georgia coach Vince Dooley said in Friday editions of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "All I know is whatever personality he had when he had the football was the one I liked."

"Breaking Free" will chronicle Walker's life with multiple personality disorder, according to Shida Carr, a publicist at Simon & Schuster.

Carr said the book will be published in August, but gave no other details and declined to provide excerpts.

In three seasons at Georgia, Walker led the Bulldogs to a 33-3-1 record, three straight Southeastern Conference championships and the 1980 national title. He won the Heisman as a junior, then left school a year early to sign with the now-defunct U.S. Football League.

Walker played for the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He has lived in Dallas since his playing career ended.

A former Georgia teammate also was caught off guard by Walker's revelation.

"I'm probably one of his closest friends and that's news to me," said Frank Ros, who was captain of Georgia's 1980 national championship team. "I knew he was working on a book but I just thought it was about football. He does 100 things at once and always has projects going on, but that blows me away."

The newspaper said Walker could not be reached for comment.

Multiple personality disorder, also known as dissociative identity disorder, is a rare mental condition in which one person has two or more distinct personalities, according to the Merck Manual of Medical Information.

Maintaining a house can save a person's sanity

Moving the front door open as I arrive home at night, I often dread what I see on the other side.

Candy wrappers lay on the floor. Food crumbs sticking to the carpet, squashed by a 6-year-old boy’s feet. My 2-year-old daughter ripping baby wipes from their container, and throwing them on top of a pile of dirty laundry.

What’s worse is that my wife and I often stay up late washing baby bottles, scraping the petrified crumbs off pans and picking up the dried-up baby wipes from the crumb-laden floor — only to have the mess return the next day.

Maintaining a house can define a family’s morale, mental health professionals say. Like many others, we’ve found it impossible to keep up with the piling clutter and the shrinking storage space as our family has expanded.

And the failure to keep up can create a sense of disorder that can consume and degrade a person’s life and prevent families from having productive time with each other, mental health professionals say.

“There is a human need for having comfort and having things accessible,” said Nancy Block, a psychiatrist from New Jersey. “When it’s disrupted, almost any of us will react with distress.”

Indeed, our constant failure to stay neat and tidy often grounds our momentum to a halt — so much so that we often find ourselves lying on the couch, feeling helpless and depressed as we stare blankly at a T.V. until late at night.

If the 2-year-old has difficulty getting to sleep — especially if she’s crying hysterically — we sometimes pull her out of crib and park her in front of a T.V. until she calms down. My wife and I, meanwhile, will watch “Wonder Pets” with her instead of washing the dishes.

All that can change, Block says, if people can somehow establish order that fits their busy schedules. They need to have an understanding of the world around them, find storage space for their clutter and keep lists of chores that need to be done, she added.

People, however, need to be prepared for the unexpected, too. What’s predictable about life is that it can be unpredictable, Block says. People need to budget their time and plan for the “unexpected interruptions” — such as a child getting sick or glass shattering on the kitchen floor — that could throw a schedule into disarray.

“We can set up some order in our lives so we can respond to the world and make ourselves feel safe and oriented,” Block said. “These are survival mechanisms. We still have to have some way to organize ourselves or we cannot survive.”

The objective is to “keep it simple,” and various websites — such as realsimple.com — maintain that theme when they address the need for keeping a tidy house.

One such site, realsimple.com, breaks down the various tasks required, but identifies the number of minutes required to complete them. Regular daily maintenance — such as 2-minute wipe-downs in the bathroom and a 6-minute pick-up in the living room — can prevent the need for a big clean-up later.

Getting everybody involved in the clean-up is important, too. Our sons know that there’s a time to play video games, but then there’s a time to stop and pick up what’s around them.

They’re still getting used to that idea. We have hope for our 9-year-old son, however. When he throws a wrapper away, we cheer, and he smiles.

************************************************************************************

Editor's note: I decided this past week to step aside from writing the "Coping" column for The Record of Bergen County. The demands of writing the column while attending graduate school at Columbia University, covering transportation for The Record and teaching part-time at Rutgers University became too much. Instead, I will use "Coping with Life" exclusively to provide mental health coverage. I would just like to thank everyone for reading "Coping" over the past five years.

The blog post you just read was supposed to be one of my last columns, but it was never printed. Also, I will be republishing my old columns on this website every other week or so (and I will publish some unpublished columns, too). To read them, scroll down from the top of this page (on the right side) and click on "Coping column."

Today, by the way, is the fifth anniversary of my mother's death. Her battle with obsessive-compulsive disorder served as an inspiration for my column and this blog. To read more about her battle, click here.

The more that's said, the more we learn about mental illness

My affiliation with the Carter Center has allowed me to establish contacts with some of the top mental health professionals in the world.

I say that not with bravado, but with gratitude because it's allowed me to tap into their world - and it's world that more people need to see.

This group of mental health professionals, all of whom have associated themselves with Rosalynn Carter's Mental Health program, have written a series of books that have broken new ground in the mental health field.

And they've done it because of Mrs. Carter's inspiring call to give those with mental illness more of a voice in society. Giving people a voice could lead to more tolerance. To further this effort, Mrs. Carter awards $10,000 fellowships to at least six journalists each year to help them perform such work.

The following Amazon.com review refers to a book that was featured in a recent MSNBC video, and involves Larry Fricks, who sits on Mrs. Carter's mental health advisory board:

"Strong at the Broken Places: Voices of Illness, a Chorus of Hope" is the remarkable story of five ordinary people trapped in the complex world of serious chronic illness. In this intimate portrait, acclaimed journalist Richard M. Cohen probes lives of sickness as these individuals struggle to cope.

In 2003 Cohen published "Blindsided," a bestselling memoir of illness. The outpouring of support revealed to him that not only does the public want to hear from people who overcome the challenges of illness, but that in the isolated world of illness, there are people who want their voices to be heard.

"Strong at the Broken Places" was born of the desire of many to share their stories in the hope that the sick and those who love them will see that they are not alone.

Cohen spent three years chronicling the lives of five diverse "citizens of sickness:" Denise, who suffers from ALS; Buzz, whose Christian faith helps him deal with his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; Sarah, a determined young woman with Crohn's disease; Ben, a college student with muscular dystrophy; and Larry, whose bipolar disorder is hidden within.

The five are different in age and gender, race and economic status, but they are determined to live life on their own terms. Intimately involved with these patients' lives, Cohen formed intense relationships with each, talked to their families and friends and shared joy, even in heart-breaking setbacks.

Though each individual's illness wreaks havoc in a different way, Cohen shows how their experiences are strikingly similar and offer lessons for us all—on self-determination, on courage in the face of adversity and public ignorance, on keeping hope alive, and on finding strength and peace under the most difficult of circumstances.

We are strong at the broken places, stronger than we think. In sharing these inspirational and revealing stories, Richard M. Cohen and his fellow warriors against illness offer a chorus of hope.

Mixed messages from match.com can cause insomnia

By STEVE BERLIN
Featured Blogger

I do not and never have claimed to be some Don Juan, some prowling stud guy looking for women, so it is without shame or even embarrassment that I acknowledge my use of online dating services. I have tried several, as a matter of fact, and still browse from time to time. A service I am not using these days, though, is Match.com, which is part of what makes what I am about to say so troubling.

You see, recently, I got another Match.com come-on, but this was unlike any offer I had ever received from them - or anyone else - and it scares me. You see, the subject was : "We have too many women in Arlington and we need your help."

Now what the hell am I supposed to do with that? I mean, sure, I've joked about doing work as a hit man from time to time, but really, who hasn't? I'll admit to probably having broken some hearts over the years, but never, you know really broken anyone else's vital organs. And it's not like I've ever actually been solicited for a contract job, and believe me, as a grad student, I could use the money. But Match.com hasn't even made me a cash offer. Not even unlimited use of its premium services at no charge. I mean, how cheap are these sons-of-bitches?

That isn't even the sickest part of the whole scheme. The body of the e-mail states: "We created a marketing campaign to attract as many of the most captivating women to our site as possible. And it worked!"

That's right. Those sick people set a trap for untold thousands of unsuspecting women, luring them in with the prospect of husbands on the hoof or some such idea but really setting them up for something sinister. It's almost sounds like one of those Patterson cop novel books, "Kiss the Girls" or something.

So now I'm in a quandary. Why me? Nowhere on my resume does it say anything about this kind of work. I'm not even qualified to be hired muscle for anyone. But here we are. Do I take the job? Not really, mind you, but tell them I'll do it and then set 'em up with some kind of sting operation. That would be the right thing to do. Maybe I should just delete the message and pretend this never happened. That would be the easy thing to do, I suppose.

Crap. Good luck getting me to sleep tonight, all this life-and-death business. I was having a tough enough time trying to figure out some econ mumbo-jumbo in one of my classes.

Damn.

No "lunatics" here ... just a 6-foot, 5-inch hypocrite

It's always rewarding to see a hypocrite get a taste of his own medicine. It's the kind of thing that confirms their, well, hypocrisy.

That happened recently when our favorite habitual user of mental health stereotypes, Bill O'Reilly of FOX News, recently mixed it up with a Barack Obama staffer just before the New Hampshire primary.

O'Reilly's physical - and borderline violent - attempt to remove an Obama staffer who was allegedly blocking his video shoot confirms the man's instability. But it was emblematic of his endless attempts to embarrass people who don't share his conservative brand of politics.

This time, he merely embarrassed himself.



When others do it - particularly those who don't share his politics - they're called "pinheads." Or "jerks." More often than not, they're "loons" or "lunatics," and portrayed in a way that makes them subhuman.

Over and over again, Bill finds a way to demean an entire group of people by attaching a mental health label to what he considers derogatory behavior. But when does he hold himself accountable for his own behavior?

What goes up ... must go up even higher

Someone recently asked me if anyone really needs to “save up” for $2 toll hikes on the George Washington Bridge, connecting New Jersey and New York. Or how about the huge increases that will cost drivers at least $11 to drive a half-hour on the New Jersey Turnpike?

My response was, “They'd better.”

Rarely has there ever been time when virtually every facet of transportation in the New York-New Jersey region — whether it's toll roads, trains or ferry boats — has simultaneously had fare hikes.

But this isn't just a New York City problem. Tolls in Chicago, Indiana and California have had consistent, annual increases. With gas prices going up, too, the potential impact has drivers — particularly suburban parents, commuters or anyone who depends on a car for a living — on edge.

“If I do drive into the city, I have to pay more for tolls — it’s a lot of money,” said Harry Adrian of New Jersey. “I can’t make a decent living.”

The toll hikes will pay for necessary improvements that will expand the system and produce more mass transit options. But all these costs add up, forcing drivers to make decisions they don't want to make.

Now, instead of taking that $1,000 trip to Walt Disney World, maybe drivers put it aside to pay for another $500 a year in tolls. Instead of going out to eat four times a month, they make sure they have enough to cover that $182-a-month E-ZPass bill.

Or maybe they just let their debt pile up, and just use a credit card. Then those payments get higher, and higher. Then what?

Steve Carrellas, a coordinator for the National Motorists Association, noted that many people pay these costs through EZ Pass, which the can pay with their credit card. Cell phone bills can be paid in a similar manner. But those credit card bills can get out-of-reach after months of commuting, or driving kids every weekend to travel soccer games that are 40 miles away.

“I use this expression: It’s like a perfect storm that will take it’s toll,” said Carrellas.

Officials say they want more people using mass transit. But what good is an alternative when it's rarely available?

Transportation has become increasingly vital as society has become more mobile. Commuters are driving farther to get to their jobs. People talk on cell phones. Parents drive their kids to play with others.

Few communities outside of New York City, however, offer the option of taking a subway, or even a bus, to get to supermarkets, playing field and schools. Even if they do have it, how can they transport 10 bags of groceries, children and other items aboard train cars that are routinely crammed?

“It works for people who live or work near a train line, and a station that has parking,” said Carrellas.

As commuting goes, mass transit is not an option for millions of commuters. “I need my car,” said Paul Adams of New Jersey. “I’d love to take the train, but if they can’t have more parking [or more service] then I can’t use it.”

Someday, things will get better. There will be more trains, more buses and more improved mass transit systems nationwide.

Until then, however, my family is not going to give up the mini-van. Having enough space to transport three children, their carry-ons and whatever else must accompany them, is not a convenience. It’s a necessity.

And, of course, we’re going to have to save.

Insurance companies strike back ... so beware

Should it be any surprise that the primary foe to mental health parity is big business?

Just ask Christine Stearns, vice president of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, who says the insurance industry should be spared from contributing toward mental health treatment.

With health insurance costs rising at four-times the rate of inflation, New Jersey should not require employers to pay for "virtually unlimited coverage" for treatment of substance abuse and a wide range of behavioral problems, Stearns says.

Stearns said New Jersey employers saw their health insurance costs rise by a cumulative 55 percent in four years (2001 to 2004). Businesses participating in NJBIA’s 2005 Health Benefits Survey reported paying an 11 percent average increase in the cost of providing health insurance to their employees in 2004. Their average cost was $7,300 per employee.

Adding new mandatory coverages at a time when employers cannot even keep up with current health insurance cost increases is "bad public policy," Stearns says.

“Many employers have reached the breaking point," Stearns says. "Imposing this mandate will cost real people all of their health insurance benefits. Not only will they have no access to treatment for behavioral disorders, but they will lose coverage for hospitalization, prescription drugs, doctor visits, blood tests, and everything else.”

Furthermore, insurance plans are already required to cover serious mental health illnesses and most insurance plans already provide coverage for substance abuse, although not the unlimited coverage that would be mandated under A-807.

“It’s not just a question of whether or not employers should provide this coverage,” Stearns said. “It’s a question of priorities. Should we require unlimited treatments for

Stearns also says such a mandate would not apply to all insurance plans; only those sold in the state’s regulated market, which insures only about 2.4 million residents. Almost all small businesses (those with two to 50 employees) that provide health benefits are in the regulated market, so this mandate would be imposed on the small employers who would be least able to afford it, she said.

But Debra L. Wentz, chief executive officer of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health Agencies, Inc., says mental health insurance parity would provide stability for employers who routinely deal with staff-level emotional and behavioral issues.

“Treatments for mental illness have been proven effective and can help individuals achieve a fulfilling life of recovery. However, there are many barriers, including inadequate funding and stigma, that prevent children and adults from receiving the therapy and other support services they need,” she said.

Pink Floyd - Mother Lyrics

Mother, do you think they'll drop the bomb?
Mother, do you think they'll like this song?
Mother, do you think they'll try to break my balls?
Ooooowaa Mother, should I build a wall?
Mother, should I run for President?
Mother, should I trust the government?
Mother, will they put me in the firing line?
Ooooowaa Is it just a waste of time?
Hush, my baby. Baby, don't you cry.
Momma's gonna make all of your nightmares come true.
Momma's gonna put all of her fears into you.
Momma's gonna keep you right here under her wing.
She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing.
Momma's gonna keep Baby cozy and warm.
Oooo Babe.
Oooo Babe.
Ooo Babe, of course Momma's gonna help build a wall.
Mother, do you think she's good enough,
For me?
Mother, do you think she's dangerous,
To me?
Mother will she tear your little boy apart?
Ooooowaa Mother, will she break my heart?
Hush, my baby. Baby, don't you cry.
Momma's gonna check out all your girlfriends for you.
Momma won't let anyone dirty get through.
Momma's gonna wait up until you get in.
Momma will always find out where you've been.
Momma's gonna keep Baby healthy and clean.
Oooo Babe.
Oooo Babe.
Ooo Babe, you'll always be Baby to me.
Mother, did it need to be so high?

You want change? Try me ... for second banana

By STEVE BERLIN
Featured Blogger

The sounds of chains you hear at this time of year are dragged and shaken by the spirits of bygone days. No Marley's Ghost – Jacob nor Bob – but chains embodying the crushed spirits of Al Smith, Adlai Stevenson, and the Wile E. Coyote of American presidential politics, Harold Stassen.

Those who have known me for a while might recall my announcement for the presidency in 2000 (which was of course negated because I was a silly kid of 31), and my failed bid for the vice presidency in 2004. The latter, of course, included a letter to the Kerry campaign detailing my qualifications for the job. I borrow now from that letter.

It is thus that recently, while I should have been working on a pair of final exams, I announced my renewed bid for the vice presidency of the United States.

Somehow, despite all of the madness that has swirled around me since 2004, I have somehow clung to some shred of self-respect and optimism. Yes, the self-respect might in fact be a negative in a bitter campaign, but it is this same quality that enables me to respect others and to make jokes at their expense without getting too bitter about the obvious flaws of my opponents in public.

Skeptics may say I have no electoral experience, and to that I say, "Liars!" I was elected president of my fire department (uncontested) a few years back, and I served in the Temple University student council for less than a semester of my freshman year. Besides, the American people are my people, and in the words of a Jersey Shore office-seeker, "I am a people," so if I want change, then the people surely want change, and who represents change better than me?

What could be a greater change than electing a guy who has never represented the national interest. I mean, look at Dan Quayle. Yeah he was "elected" to the Senate, but come on. What's easier to take, the idea of VP Quayle one heartbeat from the presidency, or VP Steve? Exactly. And don't get me started on Spiro Agnew or Andrew Johnson.

Potential candidates for the big job are automatically contenders for my coveted position of second banana, so let's look at me vs. them and you can draw your own conclusions. I am not a "person of color," so I can't necessarily pull that vote to the party, but I tan pretty good when I'm outside during the summer. I haven't attended an Ivy League school, but I've visited a couple of them a few times. Besides, isn't it time we had someone at the top, or near the top, who went to a school with "real people" and not those rich, brilliant and well-connected phonies who join dinner clubs and secret societies and have significant others named "Muffy," or "Biff?"

I will solemnly swear right now and for all time: I WILL NEVER SPEND $400 ON A HAIRCUT. In fact, if I spend more than $20 (not including tip) I must be drunk or it's a gift.

I am not a Mormon, I believe in evolution as science, I do not think the market will solve all of our problems, I am not an evangelical Christian and have never preached the gospel of anything except where to find the best bagels and pizza. I am not even a member of any Christian denomination, but I can pass for Italian, so that's close.

Of greater importance to my future running mate, be assured I harbor no secret or unsecret ambition to be president, so I will never scheme against you. Heck, it's taken a week's worth of drive just to write this, so you are safe from me. I didn't even want to be president of my fire department, but no one else did, either, and I was drafted.

I also pledge to get Social Distortion and Joan Jett to play an inaugural ball. Or I'll at least try.

Over the next several months I shall reveal my positions on issues such as health care (inlcuding mental health care), military and veterans affairs, crime, the economy and education just as soon as I know what they are. In the meantime, my positions will mostly be sitting, punctuated by emphatic periods of lying down and standing.

So please, help make America a greater place, a place where the common man can rise to the seat of the second banana of the whole shootin' match. A job that allows him to make use of the varied skills of remote-control usage, reading and Web surfing! The very fulfillment of the American Dream as we know it!

John Nance Garner once said the vice presidency "isn't worth a warm bucket of spit," but I ask you, fellow Americans, who the hell wants a warm bucket of spit?

Begin a "Draft Berlin" campaign in your hometown and rock on with your bad self!

Sincerely,
Steve Berlin
Candidate for Vice President of the United States

To contact Mr. Berlin for a speaking engagement, beer, date or a movie, reply to this e-mail or call visit him online at http://www.facebook.com/s.php?k=100000080&id=731888126
or www.myspace.com/stevieb82.

Not voting for parity is a vote against mental health

Some states, like Alaska, have taken progressive steps in shaping an effective system for handling mental health care. Others have struggled to secure funding to build housing or launch new programs. But at least they're trying.

Then there's New Jersey, whose mental health system is not too far removed from the days when people were locked up in sanitariums and supplied with little more than diapers and bread crumbs.

That's why mental health advocates are outraged that lawmakers in the Garden State recently committed a "non-vote" on mental health and addiction parity legislation. Groups such as Parent to Parent faulted state Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts for not posting the bill for a vote in his chamber, where it has 40 cosponsors signed on.

The parity bills (S807 and A2512) require health insurance plans to provide benefits for mental disorders and substance use disorders at the same amounts and limits that are applied to other disorders.

The Senate bill (S807) already passed 29 to 9. Now, advocates say, urgent action is needed.

Advocates for individuals with mental disorders and substance use disorders - as well as the New Jersey Psychiatric Association - support these bills, along with members of the Coalition for Mental Health and Addiction Parity in New Jersey.

The NJPA specifically asks people to:

1. Go to the links below immediately and send email messages urging the Assembly leadership to post the bills in the Assembly.

2. Please ask others to go to these links and make the same requests.

Here are the links (not case sensitive). All the directions are on the sites:

http://capwiz.com/ncaddnj/issues/alert/?alertid=10497071&type=CU&how_alert=1
Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts.
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/