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Text Box: What if a Celebrity Went into Rehab—and Learned Something! Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-RI On May 4, 2006, Rep. Kennedy crashed his 1997 Ford Mustang convertible into a barricade on Capitol Hill at 2:45AM. He had been operating his vehicle with the lights off in the early morning darkness. Officers at the scene said that Kennedy appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol, and was visibly staggering, but Kennedy claimed that he was merely disoriented from prescription medications Ambien and Phenergan. The next day he announced that he would be turning himself in to a drug rehab program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and was released on June 5. [Information from Wikipedia.com article; a USA Today article mentioned that he later admitted to being hooked on OxyContin. ] This, in a nutshell, is the most the public knows about what happened to the son of Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. But wait—there’s more! Upon his release from the Mayo Clinic, Kennedy returned to Rhode Island and told his constituents, "I can tell you today, I feel confident about my health, positive about my future, and passionate about my work representing the people of Rhode Island." In an interview dated June 5, 2006, he admitted, “I have been more open than perhaps any other public official. I've said I have been diagnosed with bipolar. I'm confirming what I've also talked about for years, and that is I've had alcoholism and addiction. This, for me, was the latest kind of wake-up call for me, and I sure got it. And I will also say I'm enormously grateful -- every day I'm on my knees thanking God that I didn't hurt somebody. And this was an opportunity for me to get my life back on track. Frankly, I didn't know how miserable I was until I started feeling better.” He described one of the challenges of advocating for the mentally ill in these words: “I can guarantee you, when it comes to Cancer Week, I have 200 constituents come down to Washington to make the trip on their own dime. When it comes to diabetes, I have hundreds and hundreds of people.

Text Box: Coming Back Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Apr 14, 2007 by JOE PAISLEY THE GAZETTE The red, hooded sweat shirt Mike Shugart always wore as a sophomore at Lewis-Palmer High School could have served as a red flag. Like far too many teens, Mike, now a student-athlete at Colorado Springs Christian School (CSCS), had slipped unknowingly into a depression and it took his dedicated family to get him out. In December 2005, Kim and Diane Shugart knew something was wrong with their son. But he wasn't about to tell them. Of the 5 percent of teenagers who suffer from depression, only one-fifth get treatment, according to depressedteens.com. Depression is a medical illness caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. That imbalance can be triggered by an event or series of events that alter the chemistry. The former perfectionist no longer cared about his appearance, didn’t eat much, and lost 30 pounds in six months. "He was always wearing that red hoodie," his younger sister Kimy said. ROAD TO RECOVERY After he was confronted by his parents, Mike admitted how he was feeling. He was diagnosed with depression and put under a doctor's care. Medication helped restore a regular sleep pattern. Exercise and an improved diet also helped. According to the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance of Colorado Springs Web site, medication and support peer groups can help. Mike's doctor said Mike can be considered through with his depression in another two years. He's been off medication for a year. He's regained much of the weight and was the starting point guard as a junior for CSCS this winter, earning second team All-Area honors from The Gazette. His season ended in the Class 3A state semifinals when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee.