My mission to change the narrative of mental health | Glenn Close

0:09Hey listeners, it's TED Health and I'm Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider. In the midst of Hollywood's glitz and glamour, it's easy to overlook the real and raw struggles that bind us all. In a captivating conversation, TED Women editorial director Pat Mitchell sat down with the legendary actress Glenn Close at TED Women 2023. Far from the lights of the big screen, Glenn opens up about a deeply personal journey of mental illness that reshaped her and her family's life. The experience would eventually propel her into becoming a dedicated advocate for mental health. Over a decade ago, Glenn shared a powerful public service announcement where she spoke to the world about the stigma of mental illness.

0:58She also co-founded the nonprofit Bring Change to Mind to further raise awareness of the issue. This isn't just a talk. It's an intimate glimpse into the resilience behind one of Hollywood's most esteemed figures. Tune in for a story of courage, compassion, and the relentless pursuit of a more understanding world.

1:2611 years ago, you, your sister— Fourteen. Fourteen. Fourteen years ago. Your sister, your nephew, and yourself made this courageous decision to step forward and say, our family has suffered from mental illness at a time when very few people were talking publicly. What led to this decision for the family? My sister, Jessie, my youngest sister, always the wild one. My dad, who was a doctor, actually said, pull up your socks, get back to work, get an education. She came up to me on one summer, having put her kids in the car, and she said, I need your help. I can't stop thinking about killing myself.

2:15I was in shock. I had absolutely no clue, no clue of what she was dealing with. So my mom and I were able to get her help. Her son, Kaylin, suffers from schizophrenia, lives with schizophrenia. And together they came to me and said, we're trying to learn how to manage our illnesses, which in long-term recovery means you have to change meds. It's how many meds. It's a process, and it's a long process, and you have to be very resilient. But they said, we have found that the stigma around what we are dealing with can be worse than the diseases themselves. When Kalen came back from two years in a psychiatric hospital, hospital, none of his friends came back.

3:18They still haven't come back, even though he's become this advocate. It's incredible to me. So I said, because they're my family, I said, of course, I will help you, but you have to do it with me, because it's not about me. It's about you, and it's about our family. But their courage still brings me to my knees, because no one was talking about it. And yet this silent epidemic, which it still is in many ways, continues. So you and your family took another step. You founded an organization called Bring change to mind. I learned about mental health advocacy at Fountain House in New York. And when we decided that I wanted to do something, I wanted to start an organization, many generous, wonderful people who had their own organizations, the head of Fountain House included, sat in that library.

4:20And one of them went online and said, what's available? What's available? Oh, bring change to mind. Okay, let's use that. I mean, I didn't even know I had to have a board.

4:35I think many people recognize that moment.

4:41And that was, oh my gosh, that was a huge adventure. And I thought that my main contribution would be making PSAs and things like that. We have evolved. we now have established over, no, it's 540 clubhouses in 43 states.

5:08And the thing that I'm very proud of are the kids, because it's peer-to-peer. It's not high schools that write to us, it's the kids that write to us. The kids say, we want, we need a Bring Change to Mind Club in our high school. And I've met a lot of them, and they are phenomenal. And that is transformative. Yeah. So providing this kind of peer-to-peer experience, especially among teenagers where the suicide rate and other forms of mental illness have been just escalating, was a big first step. Yeah. But you took it beyond that. You went to Washington, You talked publicly about the lack of resources to treat families suffering with mental illness.

5:57There were some accomplishments, right? There have been some successes. Oh, yeah. No, it's actually very, very exciting. And we're at a point where our government has a bipartisan bill. They have put aside$8.5 billion in the next 10 years to establish what we're calling, what they're calling certified community behavioral health clinics in every state of the union and whatever town or county needs them. Look into it because we all should have it in our counties, at least in our towns, in our cities, because actually we're in a crisis of care. And Glenn, I know that you were the first to always say about this subject, I'm not a mental health expert.

6:52I'm not a doctor. I came into this for very personal reasons. But I am sure there are many people listening to us today who are thinking, are there signs? Are there symptoms? Are there things I should look for? You said yourself, you didn't realize how much Jesse was suffering. What clues, what things did you see? Well, first of all, I think Jessie, my sister Jessie wrote a book called Resilience. She's so incredibly honest. And she talks about her own journey with bipolar disorder, but also her son, when he had his psychotic break at 19, she didn't know what was happening. She didn't know what was going on.

7:38You know, he was thinking the television was speaking to him. He was afraid that the CIA was outside. She had no clue. And it was a friend of hers who had taken psychiatry in college who said, Jess, let me spend a little time with him. And she said, I think he has schizophrenia. And it was because of that friend. I mean, Jesse would, of course, if that friend hadn't stepped up, I'm sure, you know, found some answers to his behavior. But that's actually, I think people hopefully are learning about that kind of thing. But I think it's the anxiety, it's the depression, it's suicidal ideation, it's food disorders that people can so easily hide.

8:31And the thing you need to be vigilant about is a change in behavior that lasts over, like, yes, we all can be depressed for four or five days, and the weather changes, you've lost a boyfriend, or, you know, God forbid someone has, and you're mourning a death, but this is different. And when you observe that, you have to say, are you okay? and even if they say yes and you feel differently you have to say it again are you okay until you get what's happening and how are they today jesse oh jesse

9:22jess i i almost hate to use the words it's so overused but jesse is my true hero both Kalen and Jesse, I have to tell you, she weeps. The meds are hard. She has emphysema. She was a wild woman and smoked a lot of cigarettes. But she weeps and says, I don't want to be this way. And the meds, they're going to shorten my life. And she has six grandchildren. Now, that's hard. it's hard and sometimes I say what she said to me once I guess I'm the family uh what is it black sheep no I guess I'm it's not the experimental lamb I forget the word anyway um why out of all of us was it her why was it Kaylin um we've we've we've learned so much um but so for her for I live across the yard from my sister.

10:25When I'm home, I'm over there all the time. Pippi, my dog, kind of has a thing going on with one of her little dogs. He won't admit it, but it's obvious.

10:44And I try, you know, try to get her out of the chair. You know, let's go for a drive. You know, Do you want to go walk around the block? Let's get our other sister. And, you know, just try to get, you know, movement and light. So it's a constant thing. Now, Kalen is a beautiful man. He's married to, he's married. He's been married for, I think, 10, 11 years. And he's a painter. He's a painter. And he once, early on, after he came out of the hospital and he was brave enough to go to a local art class, he decided that he should tell the teacher that he was living with schizophrenia. So he got up his courage and he said, sir, I just want you to know that I'm living with schizophrenia.

11:35And the teacher said, don't come back.

11:42He is a fabulous painter. And these stories, they do remind us of how big that stigma is still as one of the biggest barriers to people getting the help. And Glenn, there's just such gratitude that we all feel for the courage that you had. And I know, but you fought for your sister and for your nephew and for all people who are suffering. We have to scale it out. We have to scale out these community health care systems. and it's a crisis of care. You know, the treatments are there, and they work, and people can recover, but you can't just treat people when they have a break, and you give them a couple of meds.

12:29You've got to be in it for the long haul, and we have to have structures like that across our country. And because of your work, we will have more, and because of the work of Bring Change to Mind. Thank you.

12:51That was Glenn Close in conversation with TED Women curator Pat Mitchell at TED Women 2023.

13:01And that's it for today's episode. Thanks so much for listening. TED Health is a part of the TED Audio Collective. I'd love to hear your thoughts about the episode. Send me a message on Instagram at ShoshanaMD. This episode was produced by me and Costanza Gallardo, edited by Alejandra Salazar, and fact-checked by Vanessa Garcia-Woodworth. Special thanks to Maria Lages, Farrah DeGrunge, David Biello, Daniela Balarezo, and Michelle Quint. I'm Dr. Shoshana Ungerleiter, and I'll talk to you again next week.

13:43Thank you.