Local Weather Forecast
Today: Current:65	Friday: 88/66	Saturday: 91/67
Complete Forecast for  Sep 05 2008

TOP JOBS

By LAUREN GROVER
Staff Writer

Melody Stroud was lost for 15 years — now found, she’s helping others face feeling “crazy” and discover the sweet joy of normalcy.

Without realizing it, Mrs. Stroud stepped onto a mental rollercoaster called bipolar disorder at age 22 that derailed with a life-threatening hypomanic episode at 26.

“I was actually living out of reality, having unreal thoughts,” she said. “My family was told that I could die, because the longer you go in an episode and lack of sleep, it can really take a toll on your body.”

Being diagnosed as bipolar wasn’t relieving — she worried she’d be labeled a mental patient, so she pressed on through 10 more years of denial, anger and the ups and downs of depression and mania.

But at 37, her second severe manic episode hit, and her time in ICU fighting for her life brought about a new epiphany.

“I realized it as not only me who was suffering, it was my family,” she said Tuesday. “I can never understand what my family went through, but had they not been there, I don’t believe I’d be here.”

Mrs. Stroud embraced treatment, pushed through her fears of judgment from those around her, and found a new life, one she only remembered faintly.

“I was myself again, from before this first hit me at the age of 22,” she said. “I never believed it was possible to live a life so stable.”

Like a freed prisoner ready to spread good news, she started a support group for bipolar patients to help others find release from the futile efforts of controlling a disease inside your own head.

Since August 2007, handfuls of people suffering similar disorders have gathered twice a month at the Andrews Center. It’s vitally therapeutic, she said.

“I was not alone,” Mrs. Stroud said. “A lot of things that can be embarrassing, having horrific thoughts even, other people deal with.”

This month she’s taken another step by starting a nonprofit called the Bipolar Awareness Foundation to further awareness and support throughout East Texas.

On July 11 and 12, the foundation is hosting a yard sale fundraiser at the Andrews Center from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. It could lead others to an understanding of the disease, which is highly manageable, she said.

“A lot of folks with the disease are misunderstood,” said Cindy Grace, chief of operations at the Andrews Center. “If they only knew they needed some medication and treatment.”

Grace said the center has donated dozens of furniture and household items from its warehouse to promote the two-day sale.

Mrs. Stroud said she believes her mission is to educate the community on mental illness and find those who are bipolar and help them embrace treatment.

“There is hope,” she said. “You can live a good life taking care of yourself by getting treatment you need.”