Judy Garland

Judy Garland’s performance in The Wizard of Oz has captured Americans’ hearts for generations. However, Garland was truly playing herself as a lost little girl, desperately trying to find her way.

Throughout her childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, Garland emerged as one of the premiere entertainers in our culture. A highlight of her career was her performance in the Wizard of Oz at the age of 16. However, her mother and her agents put her on high powered, addictive drugs so Garland would have superhuman strength.  As psychiatric and substance abuse problems continued to escalate, Garland became deeply troubled. According to a biography by Jeffrey Kottler, “Her behavior was tolerated because of her gifts. People put up with her tantrums and fits, her explosions of anger, her delusions and paranoia, her drugged mind, fearful that she would stop performing, and the financial investment and expectations they had made would collapse and fall.”

Instead of addressing these issues with her psychiatrists, she made up wild stories in her therapy sessions, unable to separate fantasy from reality. Garland was constantly an actress playing a part, even in real life.

Despite her brilliant performances, MGM eventually had to fire Garland for her erratic behavior, including paranoid delusions and assault of a cast member. When she was fired, Garland tried to slit her throat because she was so distraught. Garland did eventually reinvent herself, shifting from film to stage. Once again, her fans were enamored with her performances while her colleagues struggled with her wild emotions.

After a final performance in Carnegie Hall in 1961, Garland’s life began to unravel even more as she approached her last days. She was performing in bars to get money for wine and drugs. Sadly, she was found dead in the bathroom of a London hotel at the age of 47, after a drug overdose.

Although Garland had a tragic life, there are lessons we can learn from it.

• The relationship between a psychiatric diagnosis and an addiction (often referred to as dual diagnosis) is a complex one, but help is available. Here are some resources:

 http://www2.nami.org/factsheets/dualdiagnosis_factsheet.pdf

http://tristarparthenonpavilion.com/service/dual-treatment-program

http://www.vanderbilthealth.com/psychiatrichospital/26602

 

• As we consider the challenges to Garland’s care, she may have benefitted from a team approach, with various professionals collaborating. At the Access Center, we have the opportunity for “Access Team Meetings” in which students, Access Center staff, and instructors come together to discuss strategies to maximize learning. Instructors can schedule an Access Team Meeting by contacting Andrew Mason (3741) or Gina Jones (3721).

 

• While we encourage our students to succeed, we should also encourage their well-being.  As Michael Sandler states in his book College Confidence with ADD, “while good grades are great, I want to help students discover their inner talents, joy, and passions so they may love, laugh, and achieve their dreams while living life to the fullest.”

Sylvia Plath

The complex mind and writings of Sylvia Plath have fascinated readers for decades. The combination of her literary brilliance and her emotional struggles gives her a unique voice among our great writers.

After a childhood and adolescence filled with one accomplishment after another, Plath’s success earned her a scholarship to Smith College in 1950, where she distinguished herself even among the most brilliant minds in the nation. Despite her success, Plath always despised herself for being a “scholarship girl” among the students from more wealthy families. She also began to experience a clinical depression, in the days before effective antidepressants. After a violent suicide attempt, a benevolent sponsor paid for Sylvia to get treatment at one of the finest psychiatric hospitals in the country, McLean Psychiatric Hospital. At McLean, Plath received terrifying electroconvulsive shock treatments with no restraints, tranquilizers, or doctors. Although the treatments did show some improvement, the depression would be a lifelong struggle.

Upon graduation in 1955, Plath earned a scholarship to study at Cambridge University in England. While in England, she had a more serious interest in men. Because of Plath’s charm and charisma, she received a lot of attention.  However, her intensity and unpredictability made it hard to sustain a relationship. According to one author, “because of her unusually low self-esteem, fragility, and self-destructive tendencies, she made some spectacularly poor decisions.” The most prominent example is Ted Hughes, the man she eventually married, despite his violent reputation.

After a marriage consisting of intensified emotional turmoil and the birth of two children, Plath eventually took her life in 1963. The poems she wrote in the months before her death are often considered the greatest by literary scholars.

What can we learn from the life of Sylvia Plath? We learn that mental illness affects people of all different backgrounds. Even today among America’s brightest college students, many could have similar stories. The college years can often be the happiest and the most challenging at the same time. Hundreds of our students juggle families, jobs, and academics, even with a complex health profile. The Access Center staff serves to meet these challenges as we all work together to solve problems and meet needs.

If Sylvia Plath were alive today, she would have more resources, and we’d like to close by sharing some of those with you.

Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255

The Crisis Call Center 615-244-7444

United Way (food, clothing, shelter) 211

McLean Hospital, where Sylvia Plath was treated, is still a national leader in mental health. You can visit their website at www.mcleanhospital.org