Byline: Charity Apple
Oct. 2--On two separate occasions, Ted Thomas left his wife and son and drove toward California with the intention of killing himself.
Thomas didn't leave a note or any indication where he was going or why. And on both trips, he didn't make it to California.
'The first time I took Monday off from work (without telling anybody) and was gone three days. I wanted to die where I was born. I made it as far as Colorado before I completely broke down. I just couldn't go any further,' Thomas said in a phone interview last Thursday morning. He called his family and they came to pick him up.
That was 2001. A year later, Thomas drove to California.
'My plan was to kill myself in my father's front yard,' he said.
Once again, his family was noti fied.
'Luckily for them, they had close friends to support them through this,' he said. 'They just did what they had to do to help me.' Thomas suffered from bipolar dis order for nine years before he was properly diagnosed, medicated and in some instances, hospitalized.
He's now employed by Piedmont Behavioral Healthcare (PBH) in Concord, where he helps create new services for those with mental illnesses, substance abuse addictions and developmental disabilities.
When he's not working, Thomas is an advocate for those with mental illnesses. He travels around the state and country, telling his story. And he finds that there are many people with mental illness who have either tried to commit suicide or have succeeded in their attempt to take their own lives.
'Those with bipolar disorder have a 12 to 15 percent rate of suicide,' he said. 'That's pretty high.' Thomas will speak on behalf of the Alamance/Caswell chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill at 7 p.m. Oct. 9 at Macedonia Lutheran Church, 421 W. Front St., Burlington. The free event is in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Week, Oct. 7-13.
In the film 'Journey of Recovery,' Thomas and Bart Kean talk about the importance of treatment and how it is possible to make the journey toward recovery. The movie is distributed by the Mental Health Association of North Carolina and can be obtained for a shipping and handling charge by contacting the association at 3820 Bland Road, Raleigh, N.C. 27609, calling (800) 897-7494 or visiting the Web site: www.mha-nc.org.
Thomas doesn't consider himself cured, by any means.
'I don't believe you recover from mental illness. You learn to manage the symptoms instead of masking them. I still have symptoms and slight depression, but now I know and recognize my own warning signs.'
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Copyright (c) 2007, Times-News, Burlington, N.C.
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