Singer tells students there’s hope for surviving mental illness
The Bozeman Daily ChronicleFeb 21, 2018
Country singer
Even when you’re going through hell, DeShaw told students, you can make it if you just keep hanging on and get over the stigma of asking for help.
“I’ve learned I cannot do this alone,” he said. “I would have died trying to do this alone – I almost did.”
DeShaw, 36, sang, joked, played acoustic guitar and shared personal experiences with more than 2,000 students who gathered in the
The week was organized by students in the Health Occupations Students of America club and
Bozeman students had been planning wellness events long before last week’s shooting at a
“It obviously does,” Jackson said. “It adds weight to mental illness, to the idea of getting help, getting treatment.”
The state
DeShaw told students he was raised in the
After graduating from
His mind and body were speeding up until he was out of control, and he thought he was the incarnation of Sitting Bull. His family drove nine hours to get him in
Doctors diagnosed him with bipolar disorder and alcohol addiction. Being bipolar meant he either had immense energy and felt like his brain was on fire, he said, or when the mania ended, he spiraled into the abyss of depression, “the great darkness.”
In high school he once had appendicitis. Since he grew up in a culture where you’re supposed to be self-reliant and not ask for help, he tried to tough it out. His appendix burst. Still it took days before he went to the hospital, by then suffering gangrene.
“That intense pain doesn’t compare to the severe pain of depression,” he said. DeShaw said he was one of the lucky ones because he got help. Today he has a good, caring team – a psychiatrist, nurse practitioner and counselor. If he takes life one day at a time, he said, “if I can just hold on, I might make it to another.”
Some of history’s greatest men have struggled with mental illness and addiction, he said. Without
“You are not alone,” DeShaw told students. “No matter what you face, there is hope.”
He finished with a sing-along to Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” Students stood, cheered, applauded and whistled approval.
“I think kids really liked him,” senior
Wellness week “means a lot to all of us,” said
On Tuesday, students wore green — green shirts, green beads, green superhero capes — to show their support. The HOSA organizers made hundreds of hand-written messages to post on students’ lockers, with affirmative messages like “Life is tough, but so are you.”
On Wednesday, students are urged to wear Hawaiian shirts and learn how to handle stress, through activities like meditation, dance, enjoying music and playing with dogs. On Thursday the theme will be physical wellness, including nutrition, sleep and exercise. On Friday the focus will be kindness and “phone-free” fun.