I came back to work when my children were two months old. At that early age, they seem to have little awareness of anybody but their Raggedy Ann dolls, so it wasn't a matter of them missing me. I was missing them.
Jane PauleyRead
When I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder the year I turned 50, it was certainly a shock. But as a journalist, knowing a little bit about a lot of things, I didn't suffer the misconception that depression was all in my head or a mark of poor character. I knew it was a disease, and, like all diseases, was treatable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Understanding mental illness as a treatable disease can lead to better acceptance and healing.
In this quote, Jane Pauley reflects on her experience with bipolar disorder and emphasizes the importance of recognizing mental illness as a legitimate medical condition rather than a personal flaw. By sharing her insight as a journalist, she sheds light on the misconceptions surrounding depression, advocating for a more informed and compassionate understanding of mental health issues. This perspective not only helps in reducing stigma but also encourages individuals to seek treatment and support.
Themes
BipolarMental HealthDepressionDiseaseTreatmentStigma
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech on mental health awareness to emphasize the legitimacy of mental illness.
More from Jane Pauley
All quotes →I've come to recognize what I call my 'inside interests.' Telling stories. And helping people tell their stories is a sort of interpersonal gardening. My work at NBC News was to report the news, but in hindsight, I often tried to look for some insight to share that might spark a moment of recognition in a viewer.
Jane PauleyRead
There might be false starts and do-overs.You are entitled to experiment before you find your calling.
Jane PauleyRead
Kids learn more from example than from anything you say; I'm convinced they learn very early not to hear anything you say, but to watch what you do.
Jane PauleyRead
The years after 50 can be a time of great productivity, meaningful work, pleasure, creativity, and innovation. It's a huge opportunity.
Jane PauleyRead
A diagnosis is burden enough without being burdened by secrecy and shame.
Jane PauleyRead
Similar quotes
When I was coming out of depression, I made one random video. It wasn't funny or anything, but just the idea that people I didn't know were watching it made me feel less alone than I'd felt in a long time.
Lilly SinghRead
I've never had a sustained period of medication for mental illness when I've not been on other drugs as well. It's just not something that I particularly feel I need. I know that I have dramatically changing moods, and I know sometimes I feel really depressed, but I think that's just life. I don't think of it as, "Ah, this is mental illness," more as, "Today, life makes me feel very sad." I know I also get unnaturally high levels of energy and quickness of thought, but I'm able to utilize that.
Russell BrandRead
Depression is a prison where you are both the suffering prisoner and the cruel jailer.
Dorothy RoweRead
I never felt like that before. Maybe it could be depression, like you get. I can understand how you suffer now when you're depressed; I always thought you liked it and I thought you could have snapped yourself out any time, if not alone then my means of the mood organ. But when you get that depressed you don't care. Apathy, because you've lose a sense of worth. It doesn't matter whether you feel better because you have no worth.
Philip K. DickRead
I'd been depressed before, of course. But I'm talking about really depressed. Not just feeling a bit down or sad, a depression that has something to do with biorhythms. I'm talking about the kind of depressed that floats in upon you like a fog. You can feel it coming and you can see where it is going to take you but you are powerless, utterly powerless to stop it. I know now.
Alan CummingRead
That's one of the peculiar things about bad moods - we often fool ourselves and create misery by telling ourselves things that simply are not true.
David D. BurnsRead