
DEPRESSION: Out of the Shadows
Take One Step: A PBS Health Campaign

Watching: DEPRESSION: Out of the Shadows

Chapter 11: Recovery [11:37]

Philip and Terrie help themselves by helping others. Ellie prepares for a healthy second pregnancy.

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Transcript: Chapter 11 - Recovery

(JOHN SAGE: you gonna go to any LSU games this year...)

NARRATION: (PHILIP BURGUIERES AT LUNCH WITH JOHN SAGE) Philip Burguieres pursued a variety of treatment avenues: talk therapy, medication which he says only made his symptoms worse, and a three month stay in a hospital. In the end, he believes the most significant contribution to his recovery was the companionship he shared with john sage, a former all American football player who was emerging from his own battle with depression.

PHILIP BURGUIERES: (VO, AT LUNCH WITH JOHN SAGE) John Sage, probably more than any other person, saved my life.

PHILIP BURGUIERES: (OC) Because I had someone that I could talk to every single day and was there for me, who had gone through what I went through, uh, and understood it.

JOHN SAGE: (VO, AT LUNCH WITH PHILIP BURGUIERES) I think it's a question of opening up is the first step to, ahh,

JOHN SAGE: (OC) healing, ahh. The first baby step is telling one person. Then maybe telling a group of people or opening up where it's not such a dark, insidious hidden thing.

PHILIP BURGUIERES: (OC) You focus internally, and that's part of the disease. You focus on yourself and it's simple but complicated. Focusing outward on other people is the most important thing you can do if you're depressed.

NARRATION: (HOUSTON TEXANS TRAINING CAMP PRACTICE) Today, Philip is vice chairman of the NFL's Houston Texans. He now devotes a third of his time to helping others deal with mental health issues.

NARRATION: (PHILIP BURGUIERES AT HOUSTON TEXANS TRAINING CAMP PRACTICE) Philip, like many others, recognizes that limited mental health benefits represent a significant obstacle for people wanting help.

PHILIP BURGUIERES: (VO, PHILIP BURGUIERES AT HOUSTON TEXANS TRAINING CAMP PRACTICE) People with mental health problems are discriminated against by the Federal government, by state government, by local government. I, uh-- Even the Medicare system, you know, is very limited, the amount of mental, uh, healthcare you can get.

PHILIP BURGUIERES: (OC) every other disease you look at -- diabetes, cancer, heart disease -- you know, you basically get, uh, you know, at least 80% of your-- your bills paid for. You don't with mental health problems.

NARRATION: (HOUSTON TEXANS TRAINING CAMP PRACTICE) Advocating for change, Philip has begun his own campaign within the workplace to improve mental health coverage.

PHILIP BURGUIERES: (VO, HOUSTON TEXANS TRAINING CAMP PRACTICE) The Houston Texans are the only national football league team that have mental health parity.

PHILIP BURGUIERES: (OC) If you're gonna take care of the whole person, uh, you have to take care of their brain also.

PHILIP BURGUIERES: (VO, HOUSTON TEXANS TRAINING CAMP PRACTICE) When we first started talking, and-- And it wouldn't matter whether it was Cigna, Blue Cross, or anybody, about wanting to add mental health benefits to our medical plan,

PHILIP BURGUIERES: (OC) the number's usually around 20%. You know, we're gonna charge you 20% more. Now the truth is, they don't have any statistical base to know that, because very few companies have mental health parity.

PHILIP BURGUIERES: (VO, HOUSTON TEXANS TRAINING CAMP PRACTICE) Finally we negotiated a deal after six months where Cigna said, "Well charge you 2% more. And then at the end of the year, we'll adjust." And guess what? The end of the year adjustment was zero.

PHILIP BURGUIERES: (OC) People used the mental health benefits. But in the overall scheme of things, it didn't affect our rate base at all.

NARRATION: (IN HOUSTON TEXANS WORKOUT ROOM) It pays to treat depression.

Every year, America loses an estimated 50 billion dollars in productivity as a consequence of untreated depression.

Ignoring the treatment of depression also raises the risk of many life threatening illnesses.

DR. THOMAS INSEL: (VO, IN HOUSTON TEXANS WORKOUT ROOM) What we're learning now is that people with depression are also at higher rates for diabetes, for cardiovascular death. We now know that there are changes in bone density,

DR. THOMAS INSEL: (OC) that osteoporosis is higher in people who have depression. So this is-- Yes, it's a brain disorder, but in some sense, it's a multi-system, whole body disorder, not surprising that people often present with more

DR. THOMAS INSEL: (VO, IN HOUSTON TEXANS WORKOUT ROOM) somatic symptoms than with just the psychological manifestations.

NARRATION: (ELLIE ZUEHLKE WALKING WITH FAMILY) It would take Ellie nearly four months to start to feel better from her postpartum depression.

JEFFREY ZUEHLKE: She was just in such deep despair that, you know, I literally told her at least 20 times a day that you're gonna-- "You're gonna get through this. You're gonna"-- You know? And you asked about ten times a day, I think.

ELLIE: At least.

JEFFERY: "Am I gonna get through this?" "Yes, yes." And you did, so.


NARRATION: (PHOTOS OF ELLIE ZUEHLKE WITH GRAHAM) During her ordeal, Ellie noticed that her maternal bond with Graham was suffering.

ELLIE ZUEHLKE: (VO, PHOTOS OF ELLIE ZUEHLKE WITH GRAHAM) I was physically unable to have an expressive face with him and to be able to really smile at him. And when he did start to smile, he never smiled at me.

ELLIE ZUEHLKE: (OC) And that was absolutely devastating.

(ELLIE: all right Graham what shall we get...hello..)

NARRATION: (FAMILY IN FRONT OF GOOD HUMOR ICE CREAM TRUCK) At the time, Ellie was taking several medications that forced her to give up her plans to breast feed Graham for a year.

ELLIE ZUEHLKE: (VO, FAMILY IN FRONT OF GOOD HUMOR ICE CREAM TRUCK) I was taking a lot of different medications and

ELLIE ZUEHLKE: (OC) I felt really guilt about that because I needed to stop breastfeeding.

NARRATION: (SET-UP ELLIE LOOKING AT ED TRONICK WEB SITE VIDEOS) A website on healthy childhood development gave her a broader perspective.

ED TRONICK VIDEO SITE: (ED TRONICK WEB SITE VIDEOS) "Mom puts on the still face, and Michael tries everything he can to reestablish connection."

ELLIE ZUEHLKE: (VO, ED TRONICK WEB SITE VIDEOS) It just breaks my heart to see those video clips, though,

ELLIE ZUEHLKE: (OC) because, first of all, it hits way too close to home. And secondly, you can just feel the pain that those children are experiencing.

NARRATION: (ELLIE ZUEHLKE LOOKING AT WEB SITE, ELLIE WITH GRAHAM) The web site helped Ellie to realize that treating her depression would not only help her, but minimize Graham's risk of becoming depressed.

MYRNA WEISSMAN: (VO, ELLIE ZUEHLKE WITH GRAHAM) Well, we know depression runs in families. And we know that the children of depressed parents

MYRNA WEISSMAN: (OC) have high rates of depression. And one new finding is that if

MYRNA WEISSMAN: (VO, FAMILY WALKING ON SIDEWALK) you treated the mother to remission, the children who had symptoms got better.

DR. HELEN KIM: (and I think there are a lot of reasons why you got blind-sided...)

NARRATION: (ELLIE AND JEFFREY ZUEHLKE MEET WITH DR. KIM) Today, Ellie and Jeffrey are meeting with Dr. Kim because they hope to have another child.

ELLIE ZUEHLKE: (VO, ELLIE AND JEFFREY ZUEHLKE MEET WITH DR. KIM) Honestly, I'd be really sad if Graham didn't have a little sibling to play with. And so frankly,

ELLIE ZUEHLKE: (OC) it's out-- partially out of love for Graham that we want to have another child.

NARRATION: (ELLIE AND JEFFREY ZUEHLKE MEET WITH DR. KIM) This time, as a protective measure, Ellie will stay on a low dose of an antidepressant.

Prior to the birth of Graham, she had experienced a few episodes of depression. This history puts her at higher risk for another post-partum depression.

DR. HELEN KIM: (VO, TALKING WITH ELLIE AND JEFFREY ZUEHLKE) In your particular case, you have had more than one episode of major depression, you've had a couple, and so your risk of another episode, off an anti-depressant, is you know more than 89 or 90 percent, so it's quite high

ELLIE ZUEHLKE: (VO, ELLIE AND JEFFREY ZUEHLKE MEET WITH DR. KIM) I just want to do whatever I can to not have a repeat of last time. I can't imagine going through that again.

NARRATION: (ELLIE AND JEFFREY ZUEHLKE MEET WITH DR. KIM) With medication and support in place, Ellie's chance of experiencing another post partum depression is dramatically reduced. But it is Ellie's trust in Dr. Kim's care that gives her the most confidence to go forward with another pregnancy.

DR. CHARLES NEMEROFF: (VO, ELLIE AND JEFFREY ZUEHLKE MEET WITH DR. KIM) I think one of the ways that we can keep depression, um, in remission has to do with the relationship between the therapist, um, and the patient. And

DR. CHARLES NEMEROFF: (OC) if you're seeing somebody and you don't think it's a good match, um, you're the consumer. You ought to go out and find somebody different to treat you.

ELLIE ZUEHLKE: (OC) If you're feeling like you're depressed or things aren't right, get help. And if it-- the help doesn't help you, then get different help, and don't give up. And I think the most important thing is that you will recover. You will be okay. This is an incredibly treatable condition.

ELLIE ZUEHLKE: (VO, ELLIE ZUEHLKE WITH GRAHAM) Um, just don't-Whatever you do, don't give up.

NARRATION: (CHOIR SIGNING AT CONFERENCE) Not long after Jiwe was released from prison, he wrote a letter to Terrie Williams who decided to mentor him through the stay strong foundation, an organization she co-founded to help at-risk youth.

DASHAUN "JIWE" MORRIS: (VO, CHOIR SIGNING AT CONFERENCE) What Terrie did with me is one of the most noble things I've ever witnessed in my life. Terrie met me when I got right out of prison. She read my story. She felt it.

DASHAUN "JIWE" MORRIS: (OC) And she invited me to her house. I never experienced nothin' (sic) like that in my life.

TERRIE WILLIAMS: (OC) I decided to mentor this extraordinary young man, Jiwe, because I felt that he was a promise for the future.

TERRIE WILLIAMS: (VO, SPEAKING AT CONFERENCE) I've never believed that people are born evil. And when I hear stories about so and so being a monster who's committed a horrific crime, I always say "if we knew their story we would understand." He has a tender spirit but he hasn't always found a way to expose that to very many people. I love Jiwe. Please welcome Jiwe.

NARRATION: ("JIWE" MORRIS AT CONFERENCE) Jiwe has written a book about his life and hopes to inspire others through his writing.

TERRIE WILLIAMS: (VO, "JIWE" MORRIS AT CONFERENCE) He's a window into the pain that so many are in. Because our kids are out there parenting themselves because their parents are in pain. They didn't get certain things,

TERRIE WILLIAMS: (OC) so we have generation after generation after generation

TERRIE WILLIAMS: (VO, TERRIE WILLIAMS WALKING WITH "JIWE" MORRIS) who are wounded and have never gotten any help.

NARRATION: (TERRIE WILLIAMS WALKING WITH "JIWE" MORRIS) the first thing Terrie did was to get Jiwe the professional help he needed.


DR. GRAND: Nightmares?

JIWE: Every night.

NARRATION: ("JIWE" MORRIS IN THERAPY SESSION WITH DR. GRAND) In addition to depression, Jiwe suffers post traumatic stress disorder.

DR. GRAND: Think of the exact moment you heard that your homey was murdered.

JIWE: A big part of me wants to do what's the norm, or do what I'm supposed to be doing. Getting revenge. The other part of me's telling me the cycle, cycle has to stop.

DR. DAVID GRAND: (VO, "JIWE" MORRIS IN THERAPY SESSION WITH DR. GRAND) People who have trauma and, you know, post-traumatic stress disorder, left untreated long enough, start to fall into depression. The fact is that trauma

DR. DAVID GRAND: (OC) is very healable now. We have techniques that-- that really can affect directly where the trauma is held in the brain, can identify it, can help to process and release it.

NARRATION: ("JIWE" MORRIS IN THERAPY SESSION WITH DR. GRAND) Jiwe refuses medication for his depression, but a preliminary study suggests that talk therapy is the most effective treatment for depressed patients with a history of early trauma.

DASHAUN "JIWE" MORRIS: (VO, "JIWE" MORRIS IN THERAPY SESSION WITH DR. GRAND) just the few things that I'm-- I get, you know? A psychotherapist, you know, a-- like, just somethin' as small as that would mean a lot to an individual on the street.

DASHAUN "JIWE" MORRIS: (OC) And we have no proper way to extract none (sic) of those feelings. And the only way we learn to do that, that's where our therapy becomes the bottle. Our therapy become pills. Our therapy become crime, violence, drugs. That be (sic) our therapy, because it's what relieve (sic) what we goin' through

TERRIE WILLIAMS: (OC) We pay for not caring about those who are not properly nourished. They are your worst nightmare. They will show up in your neighborhoods. They will show up anywhere and everywhere if we don't do our part.

DASHAUN "JIWE" MORRIS: (OC, AT TABLE WITH TERRIE WILLIAMS) Like before meeting Terrie, I still was lost and confused. Still roaming around in the dark and she just shed light on my darkness. Just had a connection, it was like a second mother, you know what I'm saying? I think it' kills me because I know we all need that.

TERRIE WILLIAMS: (OC, AT TABLE WITH "JIWE" MORRIS) I'm going to embarrass you. I love you. He's a young man who's going to change the world. He's taking his pain and his challenges and sharing it.

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Take One Step: Caring for Depression, with Jane Pauley

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