0:01

Ted Audio Collective Hey

0:16

listeners, it's Ted Health and I'm

0:18

Dr. Shoshana Ungerleiter. In

0:20

the midst of Hollywood's glitz and

0:22

glamour, it's easy to overlook the

0:25

real and raw struggles that bind

0:27

us all. In

0:29

a captivating conversation, Ted Women editorial

0:31

director Pat Mitchell sat down with

0:33

the legendary actress Glenn Close at

0:36

Ted Women 2023. Far

0:39

from the lights of the big screen, Glenn

0:41

opens up about a deeply personal

0:44

journey of mental illness that reshaped

0:46

her and her family's life. The

0:49

experience would eventually propel her into

0:52

becoming a dedicated advocate for mental

0:54

health. Over a decade

0:56

ago, Glenn shared a powerful

0:58

public service announcement where

1:01

she spoke to the world about the

1:03

stigma of mental illness. She

1:06

also co-founded the nonprofit Bring Change

1:08

to Mind to further raise awareness

1:10

of the issue. This

1:12

isn't just a talk, it's an

1:14

intimate glimpse into the resilience behind

1:16

one of Hollywood's most esteemed figures.

1:20

Tune in for a story of

1:22

courage, compassion, and the relentless pursuit

1:24

of a more understanding world. This

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4:14

Eleven years ago. You

4:17

snore to Fourteen Fourteen years

4:19

ago he says. His.

4:22

Sister, your nephew and yourself

4:24

made courageous decision to step

4:26

forward and saying our family

4:28

has suffered from mental and

4:30

on the set a time

4:33

when very few people are

4:35

talking publicly what led to.

4:37

His sister's son for the family. My

4:41

sister Jesse ah my youngest sister

4:43

always the wild one. My dad

4:45

who is a doctor actually said

4:47

select your sauce, get back to

4:49

work at an education. She came

4:51

up to me on one summer

4:53

I'm having puts his in the

4:55

car as he said i need

4:57

your help I can't stop thinking

4:59

about killing myself. I

5:03

was in shock. I. Had

5:05

absolutely no clue.

5:08

No clue of what she was

5:10

dealing with. So. My.

5:13

Mom and I were able to get our health. Her

5:17

son. Kalan.

5:20

Suffers of schizophrenia. Lives

5:24

with Schizophrenia and and together they

5:26

came to me and said. We.

5:29

Have were trying to learn how

5:31

to manage our illnesses. What's in

5:33

long term recovery means you'd say

5:35

you have you have to change

5:37

meds is that as how many

5:39

minutes whether Ah is a process

5:41

and it's a long process and

5:43

you have to be very resilient

5:45

and but she said they said

5:47

we have sounds that. The.

5:50

Stigma. Around what

5:52

we are dealing with. Can

5:54

be worse. Than the diseases

5:56

themselves. When. taylor came

5:58

back some two years and as

6:00

psychiatric hospital, none

6:02

of his friends came back. They

6:06

still haven't come back, even

6:08

though he's become this advocate. It's incredible

6:10

to me. So I said,

6:13

because they're my family, I

6:15

said, of course, I will help you, but

6:20

you have to do it with me, because

6:22

it's not about me, it's about

6:24

you and it's about our family. Their

6:28

courage still brings me to my knees, because

6:34

no one was talking about it. And

6:36

yet this silent epidemic, which

6:38

it still is in many ways,

6:40

continues. So you and your

6:43

family took another step. You

6:45

founded an organization called

6:47

Brain Change to Mind. I

6:50

learned about mental health advocacy

6:53

at Fountain House in New York. When

6:56

I redecided that I wanted to do

6:58

something, I wanted to start an organization,

7:01

many generous, wonderful people who had their

7:03

own organizations, the head of Fountain House

7:05

included, sat in that library, and

7:08

one of them went online and said, what's

7:10

available, what's available? Oh, Brain Change to Mind,

7:12

okay, let's use that. I

7:15

mean, I didn't even know I had to have a board. So,

7:18

I think many people recognize

7:20

that by myself. And

7:30

that was, oh my gosh, that was

7:32

a huge adventure. And I thought that

7:34

my main contribution would

7:36

be making PSAs and things

7:38

like that. We have evolved,

7:42

we now have established over, no,

7:46

it's 540 clubhouses in 43 states. And

7:56

the thing that I'm very proud of are

7:58

the kids, because it's... It's not peer to

8:00

peer, it's not high schools that write to

8:03

us, it's the kids that write to us.

8:06

The kids say we want, we need

8:08

a bring change to mind club in

8:10

our high school. And

8:12

I've met a lot of them

8:14

and they are phenomenal. And

8:17

that is transformative, yeah.

8:20

So providing this kind of

8:22

peer to peer experience, especially

8:24

among teenagers where the suicide

8:26

rate and other forms of

8:28

mental illness have been just

8:31

escalating was a big first

8:33

step. But you took

8:35

it beyond that. You went to

8:37

Washington, you talked publicly about the

8:40

lack of resources to treat families

8:43

suffering with mental illness. There were

8:45

some accomplishments, right? There have been

8:48

some success. No, it's actually very,

8:50

very exciting. And we're at a

8:52

point where our government has

8:55

a bipartisan bill. They

8:58

have put aside $8.5 billion in the next 10

9:00

years to

9:03

establish what we're calling, what they're

9:05

calling certified

9:07

community behavioral health clinics

9:11

in every state of the union, or

9:14

whatever town or county needs

9:18

them. Look

9:20

into it because we all

9:22

should have it in our

9:24

counties, at least in our

9:26

towns, in our cities, because

9:29

actually we're in a crisis of care.

9:32

And Glenn, I know that you

9:34

were the first to always say

9:37

about this subject. I'm not a

9:39

mental health expert. I'm not a

9:41

doctor. I came into this for

9:43

very personal reasons. But

9:45

I am sure there are many people listening to

9:48

us today who are thinking,

9:51

are there signs? Are

9:53

there symptoms? Are there things I should

9:55

look for? You said yourself you didn't

9:57

realize how much Jesse was suffering. Oh,

10:01

what clues? What things did you see? Well,

10:03

first of all, I think Jesse, my sister

10:05

Jesse wrote a book called Resilience. She's

10:08

so incredibly honest.

10:12

And she talks

10:15

about her own journey with bipolar disorder, but

10:17

also her son, when he had his psychotic

10:19

break at 19, she

10:21

didn't know what was happening. She didn't know what

10:23

was going on. You

10:26

know, he was thinking that television was

10:28

speaking to him. He was afraid that

10:30

the CIA was outside. She

10:32

had no clue. And it was a

10:34

friend of hers who had taken psychiatry

10:37

in college, who said, Jess, let me

10:39

spend a little time with him. And

10:42

she said, I think he has schizophrenia.

10:47

Well, it was

10:49

because of that friend. I mean,

10:51

Jesse would, of course, if that friend

10:53

hadn't stepped up. I'm sure, you know,

10:55

found some answers to his behavior.

10:59

But that was that's actually,

11:01

I think people hopefully are learning

11:03

about that kind of thing. But

11:06

I think it's the anxiety,

11:09

it's the depression, it's suicidal

11:14

ideation, it's food

11:16

disorders that people can so easily

11:18

hide. And the thing you need

11:20

to be vigilant

11:24

about is a change in behavior

11:27

that lasts over, like, yes, we

11:29

all can be depressed for four or five

11:31

days, and the weather changes, you've lost a

11:33

boyfriend, or, you know, God forbid someone has,

11:36

in your morning, a death. But

11:39

this is different. And

11:42

when you observe that, you

11:45

have to say, are you okay? And

11:48

even if they say yes, and

11:51

you feel differently, you

11:53

have to say it again. Are

11:56

you okay? Until

11:58

you Get... The

12:01

have any. An hour a

12:04

day to day sassy. Oh jason.

12:06

Ah, Yes,

12:10

A guy on was his a use

12:12

the words is so overused. Majestic is

12:14

my true hero. Boast Kalan and Jesse.

12:16

I have to tell you. She.

12:19

Weeps. The. Meds

12:21

your hard. She. Has emphysema.

12:23

she was a wild

12:25

woman and smoked cigarettes.

12:27

Assess assess but. She

12:30

weeps and says i don't want to be

12:32

this way. Of them. And.

12:34

Them as they're going to shorten my

12:36

life. And she has

12:39

six. Grandchildren. Of

12:41

as hard. It's. Hard.

12:44

And. Sometimes

12:46

I say was she said to

12:49

me once i guess I'm the

12:51

families. What

12:53

is it Black sheep know? I guess

12:55

I'm not the experimental lan I forget

12:58

the were anyway. why out of all

13:00

of us was at her? Why was

13:02

it came? On a we've

13:05

we've. We've. Learned so much.

13:08

But. So for her, Forbes, I live across

13:11

the yard for my sister. When I'm home,

13:13

I'm over there all the time. To.

13:15

Be my dog. Kind

13:18

of. Has the same going

13:20

on with one of her. a little dogs

13:23

assess Assess assess. He won't

13:25

admit it further. It's

13:27

obvious of. Us.

13:31

And I try it out a try to

13:33

get her out of the chair. Yeah let's

13:35

go for a drive a our you want

13:37

to go walk around the block. ah let's

13:39

get our of. His sister and you know is.

13:42

Just try to forget. You know

13:44

movement and light and I'm so

13:46

sick of is a constant. They

13:48

now. Kalan is a beautiful man

13:50

he's married to. his marriage is

13:52

that married for diving ten eleven

13:54

years And he's a painter. He's

13:57

a painter. And com.

14:00

He wants what? early on after he came

14:03

out of the hospital and he was brave

14:05

enough to go. To.

14:07

Have to a local art class. He.

14:10

He's decided that he should tell

14:12

the teacher said he was living with

14:14

Schizophrenia. So. He got up his courage

14:16

and they said sir I just one she's a know

14:18

that I'm living with schizophrenia. And

14:22

the teacher said. So.

14:25

Combat. He

14:30

is a sad, useless painter. He.

14:36

He. Saw race an they do remind

14:38

us of how big that Sigma

14:40

is. still as one as the

14:42

biggest barriers to people getting the

14:44

hell and Glenn's as since granted

14:46

seen that we all feel for

14:48

the courage that you have any

14:50

have endured. I know that you've

14:52

fought for your sister and for

14:54

Jack besides your nephew and for

14:56

all Yeah now is Alison Gail

14:58

it out We have to scale

15:00

out these These community health care

15:02

system we have is a crisis

15:04

of care. He does that. To

15:06

treatments are there. And

15:09

they work and people can recover. But.

15:11

You can't just treat people when they have

15:13

a break. And. You give them

15:16

a couple of mads. You. Gotta, You

15:18

gotta be enough for the long haul And

15:20

we have to have structures like that across

15:22

our country. And because of

15:24

your work we will have more. And because of.

15:26

The. Work of bring change to mine. Through.

15:38

conversations with investors and entrepreneurs

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the unseen upside available

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now. That

16:09

was Glenn Close in conversation with

16:11

TED Women Curator, Pat Mitchell at

16:13

TED Women's 2023. And

16:19

that's it for today's episode. Thanks

16:21

so much for listening. TED

16:23

Health is a part of the TED Audio

16:25

Collective. I'd love to

16:27

hear your thoughts about the episode. Send

16:30

me a message on Instagram at

16:32

ShoshanaMD. This

16:34

episode was produced by me and

16:36

Costanza Gallardo, edited by

16:39

Alejandra Salazar and fact-checked by

16:41

Vanessa Garcia Woodward. Special

16:44

thanks to Maria Lajas, Farrah

16:46

D'Grunge, David Bielo, Daniela

16:49

Valarezzo and Michelle Clint. I'm

16:52

Dr. Shoshana Ungerleiter and I'll talk to you again

16:54

next week.