Sterling woman copes with ups and downs of debilitating disorder
By Elizabeth Dodd
Jodi Donohue was relieved to get a label.Before she got it, she would swing from having extremely high energy and racing thoughts to feeling hopeless and unable to get out of bed.
Before this label, functioning through daily life was almost impossible.
Her label is bipolar disorder.
Bipolar is characterized by two extreme cycles: feelings of mania and feelings of depression, which is why bipolar is also called manic depression.
“I had grown up my whole life thinking something was wrong with me,” Donohue said. “I wasn’t behaving like everyone else.”
Before she was diagnosed, Donohue self-medicated with alcohol to shut off her uncontrollable thoughts. Alcohol and drug abuse often co-occur with bipolar.
One night, when the alcohol was not working, Donohue decided to try pills. This led to a suicidal episode for which she was hospitalized.
“I just wanted the pain to go away,” she said. “I hadn’t contemplated suicide in any way, shape or form.”
It was during her hospitalization at Snowden in Fredericksburg, a behavioral health center, that Donohue was diagnosed. At this time she lost custody of her 8-year-old son to her husband, from whom she was separated.
Since she was properly diagnosed at age 44, Donohue is being treated and said she has no desire to drink.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, bipolar affects about 5.7 million adult Americans, and there is no single cause. As with other mental illnesses, there are genetic, chemical and environmental factors.
There is no cure, so long-term treatment is needed.
Donohue is currently on medications. She sees a psychiatrist and psychologist and goes to support groups. The fight for balance is still a struggle. The medications cause weight gain, tremors and hypertension.
“It’s difficult. It’s trying.” Donohue said. “It’s not easy, but no one said life was going to be easy.”
Judy Hines, president of Friends of Loudoun Mental Health, deals regularly with patients who have a mental illness. Hines said Loudoun County does not receive much money from the commonwealth of Virginia but is highly ranked due to local support. But she said it is not enough.
“Loudoun County is doing their best with the money they have,” Hines said.
Roger Biraben, division director of mental health and substance abuse services for Loudoun, wants people to know help is available in Loudoun.
“A lot of people will say, 'I can’t go because I can’t pay,'” Biraben said. “Your capacity to pay will be assessed. People are not turned away due to inability to pay.”
Donohue is now 46 and lives in Sterling, working as an emergency room patient registrar in Loudoun County. She also volunteers for Sterling Fire and Rescue.
“We’re still human,” Donohue said. “We’re still loving, caring people. We just have a chemical process that is not quite right.”
Elizabeth Dodd is a former photojournalist at the Times-Mirror, now working at the Southeast Missourian in Cape Girardeau, Mo.