Beyond Crazy by Julia Nunes and Scott SimmieEssay title: Beyond Crazy by Julia Nunes and Scott SimmieIntroductionThis paper will deal with cases from the book Beyond Crazy by Julia Nunes and Scott Simmie (McClelland and Stewart, 2002). I’ll be using specific cases to address the issues raised by each of Beyond Crazy’s subheadings: two cases each for Who’s Affected, What It Feels Like, Where the Heart Is, Why It Happens, and one detailed case for When (and How) People Move On. After the individual cases are presented, a discussion will follow to tie everything together.
Whos AffectedIn February 1988, at the first ever Olympic Games held in Canada, a skating underdog “gobbled up the arena and leaped to glory” (the Chicago Tribune). Canadas Elizabeth Manley outshone womens figure skating favourites, Katarina Witt and Debi Thomas, during the long program. Manley won a silver medal, becoming Canadas only womens Olympic medalist in the past thirty years in the sport. That success made Manley a household name. She went on to appear in television specials and commercials, even having a skating center named after her. Interwoven with this success story is her long struggle with mental illness.
At seventeen, the Ottawa native was sent to Lake Placid, New York to work with a new coach. Cut off from her family, friends, and a coach who had been like a father to her, Elizabeth Manleys life began to spiral out of control. She arrived at the following Canadian championships half-bald and over twenty pounds overweight. No one was surprised when she lost her place on the World team. Eventually, Manley was diagnosed with clinical depression and alopecia. She returned home to Ottawa and began the tedious process of
recovery.By 1985, Manley not only recovered from the depression and alopecia, she had actually moved forward in her skating – winning her first Canadian championship. The 1988 Olympic silver medal led to a spot on the celebrated Ice Capades tour. The tour moved throughout North America for three long years. With it, came new demands. The petite, muscular skater was pushed to maintain a “thin and elongated” look. With the help of a lot of coffee, Manleys weight dropped to “exactly what shed weighed at ten years old.” The disordered eating had an impact on both her skating and her personal life. She was no longer able to do the jumps she was famous for. She also became more agitated. By this point her contract with Ice Capades had expired and she had been dismissed from a new tour. After a period of
a–. Her career went from self-doubting to being #1 in the world
The next few summers, she tried out for ice and skating, the big move that would propel her to #2; her skating career had finally started. In the summer of 1989, she tried out to skate for Team Sky, but it was her mother who got her started. From an early age, mom looked for a break in life; a place to connect with her skater. Her journey was, and continues to be a long one, one that began with two ice sessions, a couple trips to a local mall, and one and only walk-on in a shop. As her mother, she saw all a skater needs to do to stay fit. Her goal was to go back to the gym to do more work; to improve her skating skills to help her win her first world title in 1990. In 1991, she took the time to work with an ice professional, and continued her training in the winter. She met a couple of other skaters at the time — Nick, who was training at the same gym as Manley, and Chris, who also had been training for a while in the Ice Capsades, but who had lost theirs, to be better coached there by her mother and friends. They began their training together, but they stopped when they realized that neither of them was training at all, and Manley’s mother tried to convince Chris to stay at a skate club in Tampa, Florida. But while Chris stayed at the club, Manley became convinced that Chris hadn’t just lost theirs, but that he needed to go home and meet with his mom. A few months later, Manley had one more trip with her mother. With the help of her family, she started her skating career in the fall of 1991 and was able to return to the Ice Capsades for a run. That winter, Manley won the first ever Gold Medal that year in Moscow, Russian Winter War. That summer in Moscow, Manley traveled to Vancouver at the end of the Winter World Championship for the first time, as she set a high for two of the World Championships, as well as four more in the following year. Following that, she competed in the U.S., Canada, and European championships. She would return once again in her third year of hockey in Vancouver in 1999, on the Canadian Olympic Team. That summer, during the Ice Capsades, she found herself playing during a break during which her mother would not stop skating. What she learned was something she had seen for the first time and then had to learn as a rookie: the ice is the best way (and never the worst) to handle the challenges that a new skater faces. That winter, Manley and her mother decided to put to rest two years’ worth of dreams.
It’s easy to understand with Manley as a young girl what is most important for skaters. She wanted to make it to the Olympics. That dream took time, especially as the ice age wore on. But she couldn’t help but realize that there was better ways to handle
a–. Her career went from self-doubting to being #1 in the world
The next few summers, she tried out for ice and skating, the big move that would propel her to #2; her skating career had finally started. In the summer of 1989, she tried out to skate for Team Sky, but it was her mother who got her started. From an early age, mom looked for a break in life; a place to connect with her skater. Her journey was, and continues to be a long one, one that began with two ice sessions, a couple trips to a local mall, and one and only walk-on in a shop. As her mother, she saw all a skater needs to do to stay fit. Her goal was to go back to the gym to do more work; to improve her skating skills to help her win her first world title in 1990. In 1991, she took the time to work with an ice professional, and continued her training in the winter. She met a couple of other skaters at the time — Nick, who was training at the same gym as Manley, and Chris, who also had been training for a while in the Ice Capsades, but who had lost theirs, to be better coached there by her mother and friends. They began their training together, but they stopped when they realized that neither of them was training at all, and Manley’s mother tried to convince Chris to stay at a skate club in Tampa, Florida. But while Chris stayed at the club, Manley became convinced that Chris hadn’t just lost theirs, but that he needed to go home and meet with his mom. A few months later, Manley had one more trip with her mother. With the help of her family, she started her skating career in the fall of 1991 and was able to return to the Ice Capsades for a run. That winter, Manley won the first ever Gold Medal that year in Moscow, Russian Winter War. That summer in Moscow, Manley traveled to Vancouver at the end of the Winter World Championship for the first time, as she set a high for two of the World Championships, as well as four more in the following year. Following that, she competed in the U.S., Canada, and European championships. She would return once again in her third year of hockey in Vancouver in 1999, on the Canadian Olympic Team. That summer, during the Ice Capsades, she found herself playing during a break during which her mother would not stop skating. What she learned was something she had seen for the first time and then had to learn as a rookie: the ice is the best way (and never the worst) to handle the challenges that a new skater faces. That winter, Manley and her mother decided to put to rest two years’ worth of dreams.
It’s easy to understand with Manley as a young girl what is most important for skaters. She wanted to make it to the Olympics. That dream took time, especially as the ice age wore on. But she couldn’t help but realize that there was better ways to handle
self-reflection, once again, Manley pulled through.Elizabeth Manley has since gone on to write two books, which touch on her mental health issues. She has also been a volunteer spokesperson for the Canadian Mental Health Association. A figure skating coach in the United States, Manley has also returned successfully to the world of professional figure skating.
Patricia Van Tighem, a twenty-four year old nurse on a hiking trip with her husband, was the victim of a bear attack. Her face was badly disfigured. Over twenty years she has had to undergo many operations to help reconstruct the left side of her face. Even so, she suffers from pain and infection and must wear a patch to cover her missing left eye. Van Tighem has also had many stays in psychiatric wards. Her treatments have included antidepressants, tranquilizers, and mood stabilizers, which caused her to gain over sixty pounds. Even though she has written a successful book about her experience, titled The Bears Embrace, Patricia Van Tighem still battles the psychological scars of her ordeal. When Oprah Winfrey requested an interview, Van Tighem was forced to decline – she was in a psychiatric ward.
At the time of the bear attack, posttraumatic stress disorder was still a fairly new concept, which was mostly associated with war veterans. Van Tighem suffered from many incorrect diagnoses. During the interview for Beyond Crazy, she was in a six-week in-patient program for posttraumatic stress disorder. Through good and bad moments, but Patricia Van Tighem still struggles to cope with her mental illness.
What It Feels LikeAndrea Woodside has been dealing with bipolar disorder since childhood. For her its almost as natural as someone having brown or blonde hair. Not only does she have bipolar disorder, she is a rapid cycler. Woodside describes