Stories of Hope: An Interview with Sharon Blady
This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked mental health advocate Sharon Blady about her journey and her current activities. Here’s our interview:
DS: Tell us about when you first started becoming aware of concerns related to your mental health. How did these issues continue to affect you before you sought treatment?
SB: After my son Zach was born in the summer of 1992, I became a single parent grad student. I was used to having everything under control and suddenly I found myself overwhelmed. Looking after us was a struggle and the thought of finishing my thesis left me in bed under the covers for hours at a time. I’d always been a high energy overachiever. Now I felt completely gutted: an academic fraud and a lousy parent.
DS: What was the turning point that led you to decide to seek help?
SB: Driving home from campus in February 1993 with my son in the backseat, I found myself thinking that things would be better for both of us if I turned the steering wheel to right and sent us over the side of the bridge. It would end my pain and not leave him an orphan. Fortunately, another part of my brain pointed out this was not the rational thought that it seemed and stopped me. I got us home safely and called my doctor. She diagnosed me with postpartum depression and gave me my first prescription.
DS: What has your treatment consisted of, and what have you found that has worked well for you?
SB: I had started on a low dose of medication which was slowly being increased. I got my MA done and moved to Toronto to do my PhD. I began to have more problems there and my new doctor just kept increasing my dose. By 1997 I was on a high dose and feeling worse than ever. In frustration, I quit my medication cold turkey in early 1998 and stopped seeing the doctor. I connected with a psychiatrist with whom I began psychotherapy and that was the major turning point in my recovery.
First, he expressed shock that I hadn’t been hospitalized for major side effects of either overdose or sudden withdrawal, as I had been on the maximum dose, and well over the maximum for someone of my height and weight. Next, he started me on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to address my chronic depression and anxiety which is what my postpartum depression evolved into.
CBT was my major tool and a lifesaver. It helped me see the world and myself very differently and has been the cornerstone of my well-being ever since. We also worked together on a plan that anticipated mental health challenges when I moved back to Winnipeg after my defense, and got married. It was worth it. As soon as the anticipated crash happened I was able to get into an outpatient CBT group at the hospital in our neighbourhood.
DS: How are things going for you now? Are there challenges you are still facing? What have you learned that has helped you stay positive and healthy?
SB: Things were steady for a long time and I managed without medication. In 2007 I was thrown a few curveballs: I was asked to run for office and won. My husband assaulted me the next day and we began a messy divorce. A few months later I was diagnosed with cervical cancer and assaulted again. It was a tough period and I made a conscious effort to look after my mental health because of the stress and my new responsibilities in public life.
My new care provider reviewed my mental health history and current symptoms, updating my diagnosis: Bipolar 2 with anxiety and OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). It turns out that the chronic overachiever high of my first 25 years was hypomania, and what I had thought were just periods of exhaustion after burning the candle at both ends were really mild depressive bouts.
What I was currently experiencing wasn’t stress it was dysphoria. So the postpartum had been the first life threatening episode, but not my first mental health challenge, I just didn’t know enough about mental health back then to know what was going on. Suicidal thoughts were my mental health wake-up call.
A couple years after this, my youngest son was having problems in elementary school with focusing, paying attention, reading, writing, and experiencing chronic headaches and stomach problems. I tried to get him assessed to see what we were up against. He thought he was broken, despite being a bright child who could do so many creative things. I used what I had learned from CBT to help him reframe and find strengths until we got answers.
That’s when we started talking about having Superpowers: I said that he was an X-Man with Mutant Superpowers that he could learn to manage and harness. I shared CBT, mindfulness and other tools with him in an age-appropriate Superhero-themed way to help him until we got a diagnosis and supports. Those tools were more helpful than we realized because they helped him when no one else would.
It took until his early teens to learn he was struggling due to anxiety, ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. When he started receiving supports and we started meeting with his medical team, they were impressed by the tools and perspective that he already had because of what we had done. They also said they were surprised I hadn’t been diagnosed with ADHD yet! Add another Superpower to the mix!
DS: You’ve been active in mental health advocacy and social media. Tell us about your involvement in those activities.
SB: My activity as an advocate is an outgrowth of what I did for my son, and because I became the Minister of Healthy Living, and then the Minister of Health for the province of Manitoba. I was responsible for the $6 billion health budget, including mental health services and care. As someone who had experienced diagnosis and the system, I felt it was my responsibility to help others like me. I believed if the system wasn’t doing enough for me and my kids, that it probably wasn’t doing enough for others either.
So my advocacy started while in office and has now continued into my life after politics. After leaving office I built on my CBT training and got certified in Mental Health First Aid, psychological first aid, and peer support to build on my lived experience as an advocate.
I’m now a public speaker, author, consultant, and creator of two mental health programs. Both are designed to empower those of us with mental health and neurodiversity diagnoses, educate others about the assets and strengths we possess when supported, and most importantly to end stigma.
“Embrace Your Superpowers” builds on the work supporting my son by reframing how we see ourselves and how our brains work. Being a fan of superheroes and comic books gave me a perspective that allows me to share therapeutic tools in a way that is engaging, entertaining, and empowering. I am fortunate to speak at schools, keynote at medical and mental health conferences, and even at fan and comic conventions!
“Bulletproof To Stigma” comes from my fandom and love of K-pop and the Korean Idol Group BTS. They are known for open discussion of their mental health, and challenging social norms and stereotypes, something that isn’t easy in South Korea where issues surrounding mental health, suicide and stigma, are even greater than in North America. This work has greater appeal with an international on-line audience, and connected me with a collaborator in Seoul. After the recent passing of idol Sulli (by suicide after enduring on-line harassment) we spoke to an audience of 30k people about suicide, accessing supports, and mental health during a YouTube broadcast.
DS: What would you like to say to encourage others who are still working on their journey of recovery?
SB: Wolverine is no less Wolverine on his bad days: he may be more volatile, and vulnerable, but he is no less a Superhero. We are the same. All Superheroes face challenges and get overwhelmed, or even have their powers go out of control. But it doesn’t mean they are weak or broken: they dust themselves off and fight another day.
The Superpower perspective isn’t a magic wand. It’s a way to reframe and be kind to ourselves. We didn’t choose these powers, and sometimes they can be cruel and derail us, but we aren’t broken. Sometimes we are just overwhelmed and need supports: in the form of fellow Superheroes, Allies, and well stocked mental health Utility Belts. Superheroes work best in teams and I love meeting fellow superheroes to see how we can change the world!
About Sharon
Sharon Blady is the founder of Speak Up: Mental Health Advocates. She is a comic book geek and academic who also spent some time as Manitoba’s Minister of Health. From classrooms to boardrooms, Sharon loves sharing the Geek Girl Gospel of Mental Health as a Mental Health Avenger and Fangirl of Recovery and Empowerment. She is currently writing “Embracing My Superpowers: The Journey of a Mental Health Avenger from Comics to Cabinet – and beyond!” her first mental health memoir and fandom inspired book. Learn more about her work at sharonblady.ca and speak-up.co, and connect with her on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter) (SpeakUp_MHA & sharonblady), Facebook (sharon.blady & SpeakUpMHA), Instagram & YouTube.
Thanks so much to Sharon for sharing her inspiring story of hope!
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