Jayson Blair
Posted December 2008
Jayson Blair is an American author with bipolar disorder, who at one point in his life was an up-and-coming journalist for The New York Times. His journalism career at The New York Times was cut short in 2003 when he was caught plagiarizing a front page story and pretending to have interviewed subjects in person, when in fact he never did. At the time he had just recovered from drug and alcohol addictions, but even without the addictions his life continued to spin out of control. The year following the meltdown of his career Jayson was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and the chaotic events and bad decisions of his past began to make sense in light of the new diagnosis.
Jayson wrote and published Burning Down My Masters House: My Life at the New York Times in 2006, which details his personal and professional meltdown. Jayson now works in the mental health field and also speaks publicly on mental illness and substance abuse.
(Reference: http://www.jayson-blair.com/about.htm)
1) When did you first get diagnosed with bipolar disorder and were you ever misdiagnosed previously?
Jayson: I was diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder in May 2003 at Silver Hill Hospital, a private, inpatient psychiatric hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut.
I had been hospitalized because of concerns about my suicide risk following the scandal at The New York Times where I plagiarized and fabricated stories.
There were concerns at that time about affective instability during the previous year-and-a-half when I had received several promotions at work, had some difficulties at work and had begun treatment for substance abuse.
2) How did you react to your initial diagnosis?
Jayson: I was relieved. I realized that there was a way to categorize and define many - but, not all -- of the feelings going on in my head and some of my actions. I was relieved that there was a group of people who went through similar experiences and feelings, and that there was a body of research that had been ongoing for years that was devoted to treating this illness.
On the other hand, I was slightly concerned that treating my illness would lesson my creativity and drive, two things that were hallmarks of my success.
As it turned out, there was some impact, but not as much as I was concerned about, and, ultimately, the positives of treatment - the avoided consequences and the affective stability - that far outweighed the consequences.
3) Any advice for someone recently diagnosed?
Jayson: Absorb as much knowledge as humanly possible, find a psychiatrist to medicate your moods, enter therapy to resolve the outstanding behavioural issues that tend to accompany bipolar disorder and interact as much as possible with others who have bipolar disorder. In 2005, my family started a support group for the loved ones of those with bipolar disorder and I started a group for those with bipolar disorder and those groups have been crucial to managing the illness and living a better life.
4) Did you think you suffered from a mental illness before you were diagnosed or was it a complete surprise?
Jayson: These two ideas are not mutually exclusive. There is no question I suffered from the illness before diagnosis, but I was also surprised by the diagnosis.
5) Did the people close to you think something was wrong with you or did you hide your symptoms well?
Jayson: They all knew something was wrong - but, like me, they had no idea that it had a name.
6) What techniques do you use to help manage your bipolar disorder, if any (medication, diet, exercise, therapy, etc.)?
Jayson: Medication, therapy, peer support and the best possible choices I can make in life.
7) How has bipolar disorder affected your professional life and relationships?
Jayson: Before diagnosis, I resigned from my job right before I was going to be fired and I lost many of the closet relationships in my life. My substance abuse, which damaged me and many others, seemed link to my illness. The suicide attempts were not much of a plus either.
8) How has bipolar disorder affected your personal life and relationships?
Jayson: Being diagnosed and treated has greatly improved the long-term stability of my relationships, and allowed me to rekindle some of the broken ones and rebuild several of them.
9) Have you ever experienced negativity or stigma from people who have become aware of your condition?
Jayson: Rarely, but I work in the mental health field now and whatever concern there is about my illness is also alleviated by my knowledge, and interactions with colleagues and clients.
10) Have you ever experienced more positive or accepting reactions from people who have become aware of your condition?
Jayson: Yes. This is certainly true of peers who have bipolar disorder and several mental health professionals who enjoy being able to talk to someone who understands psychology and psychiatry, and has experienced, and felt the illness as well.
11) Do you think mental illness is generally looked upon differently now than it was 10 years ago? Better? Worse?
Jayson: Good question, but I can honestly say I was not paying much attention to the issue of mental illness 20 years ago.
12) What more do you think can be done to change the public's perception of mental illness?
Jayson: Individuals getting to know people who have mental illness helps and hurts, but it is especially beneficial when the person with the mental illness is trying hard to get better or has managed to reach a level of stability.
13) Do you consider bipolar disorder part of who you are, part of what makes up your character, personality and experience of self?
Jayson: It greatly impacts my character, personality and experience of self.
14) With bipolar disorder having a lot of negative traits attached to it, is there anything positive that you associate with your personal experience of your bipolar disorder?
Jayson: Creativity, energy, intelligence and tactical acuity are all qualities I associate with those who have bipolar disorder.
15) If the medical establishment could offer you a pill tomorrow that would cure bipolar disorder and remove all the associated symptoms (positive and negative) would you take it and why?
Jayson: If that cure could eliminate the negative symptoms and consequences, and could preserve the positive ones, I would happily take it. If that pill eliminated both the negative symptoms and the positive ones, I would take it - it would be worth it - but probably not so happily.
16) Anything else that you would like to add?
Jayson: Other than, good questions and good luck, no.
Website
Published Book
Burning Down My Masters' House
By Jayson Blair
based on 2 reviews.
