Real life beat Hollywood to the finish line at the 73rd Annual All-American Soap Box Derby on Saturday.
With actor-director Corbin Bernsen filming the movie "Hill 25," based on the Soap Box Derby, 14-year-old Sean Brown rolled to victory in the Rally Super Stock Division in a way that no script writer ever imagined.
He won in the car that had been driven by his late sister Carol Anne. She was 18 when she committed suicide last year on Easter Sunday.
Carol Anne had bipolar disorder. Her family set up a website to educate people about the disease at: http://bipolaraware.org/.
Bipolar disorder, or manic depression, affects three of every 100 adults in America. Researchers believe it's even more prevalent, and that 75 percent of cases go undiagnosed. Ten percent to 15 percent of people with bipolar disorder commit suicide (taken from: Parents reach out through their grief)
I have what's known as Bipolar II Disorder. This means that I tend to have episodes of depression and something called hypomania, which is not full-blown mania but can be just as problematic. Fortunately I take a couple of different medications that help keep my emotions on an even keel. Sometimes it's hard to believe that I have this disease. Other times I look at the time before I started the medication and realise that my behaviour indicated it clearly, in retrospect. Still, my experiences could have been far worse, and there is, of course, the suicide factor. Fortunately my suicidal thoughts have always been very spontaneous (I could just run my car into that tree) than really plotting out my demise thoroughly, and it's been years since I had those.)
Anyway, it's a difficult disorder to live with, and it touches families and friends as well as those who have it. I'm glad this couple chose to use this tragedy (and triumph) to increase awareness of bipolar disorder.
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