Tag Archives: Depression

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Yes, this took an act of courage

Jon Mark Beilue is a longtime friend and a former colleague.

He has become — in my view, and in the view of thousands of other readers of his work — the pre-eminent wordsmith in West Texas. Maybe the entire state. Who knows? His bounds might be beyond limits.

Jon Mark acknowledged something the other day that few of us knew about him. He has been battling depression.

He made the acknowledgment in a column published in the Amarillo Globe-News. Here is the link to the column:

http://amarillo.com/news/latest-news/2014-08-12/beilue-trust-me-depression-can-strike-anyone#comment-205141

It’s worth your time to read it. I’ve already shared it with my Facebook friends. It’s going out to them once more under this blog headline, along with those who follow my Twitter postings — and blatherings.

This one, though, presents quite a special message.

Jon Mark wrote this in the wake of Robin Williams’s shocking death this past week. Williams took his own life. He, too, suffered from acute depression and, the world has learned, also from early onset of Parkinson’s disease.

Jon Mark’s column, I reckon, is intended to inform us that depression is an insidious disease that can strike anyone. It has afflicted my friend and I am so proud of him for revealing it in the manner that he did.

His courageous message is worth sharing again and again.

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Dowd obsession nothing new

Maureen Dowd apparently has it in for Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The New York Times columnist been pounded by critics over her blog post in which she used a tribute to the late comic genius Robin Williams as a jumping-off point to blast the former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/08/13/maureen-dowd-reaches-self-parody-links-robin-wi/200415

I guess that’s what happens when zealots latch onto an issue, or a personality, and cannot let either of them go.

To be blunt, I’ve seen my share of them during my own career in print journalism. One of them stands out.

He lives in Amarillo. His name is David Grisham, who purports to be a preacher. I guess he is, given that anyone can preach his or her version of the Bible to anyone willing to listen.

Grisham also is an avid anti-abortionist. And I do mean avid. Maybe fervent is a better word.

He’s submit letters to the editor on this subject or that, but somehow would find a way to insert his view of abortion into the discussion.

I can’t recall precisely how he did it, but he might be prone to use such references while discussing, let’s say, downtown Amarillo redevelopment. He might say something like this: “I oppose downtown Amarillo’s planned redevelopment because I don’t want to see my tax money paying for an abortion clinic that could be built within the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone.”

Dowd’s connection between Hillary Clinton and Robin Williams does seem like a stretch. These things do present themselves, sadly, when one cannot hide his or her zeal.

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Depression takes center stage

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When an iconic artist and performer takes his own life at a time when he ought to be on top of the world, well, then you start examining the demons that drove him to that tragic end.

Robin Williams’s apparent suicide Monday has brought depression to the public fore.

As it should.

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=881808

Williams was one of the world’s most dynamic entertainers. His talent was seemingly without limits. His comic genius sprang from a mind with an incalculable amount of material rolling around in it, which he unleashed with hysterical fury almost without warning.

He made people laugh to the point of crying.

Williams had his demons. They involved alcoholism and drug abuse. They cost him at least one marriage, maybe more.

Internationally acclaimed entertainers, superstars and assorted celebrities have left us from all manner of illness: AIDS, Alzheimer’s, various forms of cancer.

Yes, depression is a killer, too.

Robin Williams’s tragic end will bring this disease to our national attention.

Let’s have this discussion as we mourn our national loss.

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Medical history becomes slime target

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst just might have established himself as the worst attack politician in modern Texas political history.

Exhibit A? The slimy release of Republican runoff opponent Dan Patrick’s medical records.

What has this campaign for lieutenant governor come to?

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/05/16/possible-dewhurst-involvement-patrick-revelations/

The actual deed was done by Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, who’s now backing Dewhurst after finishing last in the four-man race for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor. Dewhurst is trying to put distance between himself and Patterson over the release of the records. Whatever, it’s got Dewhurst’s fingerprints on it, too. The tactic stinks to high heaven.

Patrick, for whom I have little positive regard, is understandably outraged.

He checked into a hospital in the 1980s suffering from exhaustion and depression. He was being treated for depression with medication. The drugs apparently got to him, so he sought psychiatric care. He got it and was cured of what ailed him.

This is what Patrick, a fiery state senator from Houston, said in a news release: “I voluntarily entered the hospital twice in the 1980’s for exhaustion and to seek treatment for depression. Some of prescribed medications exacerbated my condition and created more serious problems. Through prayer and with the help of my family and physician, like millions of other American, I was able to defeat depression. I have not seen a doctor or taken any medication to treat depression in nearly 30 years. Two weeks ago I released a medical report indicating I am in excellent physical and mental health; I am ready to serve.”

Dewhurst appears to be fading in the race to keep his office. The revelations about the records release — even if it was done by a surrogate — reflect badly on a once-respected statewide officeholder.

Dewhurst said this in a statement Friday: “Commissioner Jerry Patterson operates completely independently of my Campaign, and over my objections he chose to release information from (former Houston Post reporter) Mr. Paul Harasim’s files, which are all part of the public domain.”

Nice try, governor.

I kind of like Dallas Morning News blogger Rudolph Bush’s take on this matter.

http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/05/there-are-plenty-of-reasons-to-oppose-dan-patrick-for-lt-gov-seeking-medical-help-isnt-one-of-them.html/

The end of this Republican runoff campaign cannot get here soon enough.