Rick Rypien

I knew him playing on my hockey team, the Vancouver Canucks. He was our fighter, a player that showed up on the ice and stood up for team mates while always creating action and physical drama. He had his controversies by getting into a fight with a spectator as well as his physicality within each game. His name was probably the best of any others in all time to describe who he was as a player. Ripen it in heart and soul.

In Regina he was the captain as well as the MVP before he became a Canuck. During the last season he took time off for depression and the team and fans were supportive.

This past Monday he was found dead in his Alberta home, at the age of 27. The police and media are not giving any incite of how or why but suspicions are related to his mental health.


It isn't a secret that he battled depression and that is the likely cause of death. This may be another victim that mental illness takes from us.

There are not a lot of famous athletes who suffer from mental illnesses like depression because of the screening and help given along the way to become a athletic star. This is impart why his death impacts us so much and gives light to a mental illness like depression showing the serious concisenesses of it not being managed before it gets to a fatal point.

For people who suffer, they need to find answers and a peace within themselves and their lives no matter the consequences to career and lives. To be able to live within a life that is healthy may mean to give up a life they have been accustomed to. The result is finding a new way of living, a new life that is more complete and gives a greater happiness than imagined.

I know for myself this is true. I would have never imagined my life to be so fulfilled by rejecting things that seemed natural to me at the time, instead learning about myself and my illness, changing my thoughts and actions. It was all about learning more about why I felt and reacted certain ways and discovering new ways of thinking that made my life better.

Amy Winehouse

Often drug abuse is looked at as the cause of actions but often drug abuse is the symptom of mental disorders like depression and bipolar. This can be said about Amy Winehouse who was found dead in her home on July 23 2011 at the young age of 27. Did she need rehab or medication or both? Even though she was diagnosed years ago as manic depressive, now known as bipolar disorder, she never took prescription medication to help.

This brings to light the seriousness in getting help for mental illnesses, preventing another senseless death. The hardest thing is admitting it to yourself and others who can help. Drugs and alcohol being used as self medication is hard to give up. Why would you want to be normal when the high feels so good? The problem is the depressions that follows and you don't realize how much of a more fulfilled life you can have internally and amongst other people when you receive help.

Giving yourself the time and space to heal, creating new habits is vital for anyone with a mental disorder.  Feeling like your in a place where you have to hold it all together and have no room to take the space needed to recover is common. Unfortunately by not making that space in life, there is a high probability that it will take your life.

Amy didn't die alone that night. Many of us relate to her struggles with depression and bipolar disorder and others watch loved ones suffer while feeling helpless. We morn a talented artist and learn from her life and death.

Encouragment For The Future

I would like to give encouragement to all those who suffer from bipolar disorder or other mental illnesses. When in the midst of understanding your mental difficulties, relating to others around you while figuring out the best course of action for treatment and recovery, feeling alone and unsatisfied is normal. People around me genuinely cared but could do little. Most of them gave up quickly if they tried to help me at all. I always felt alone, abandoned and helpless. I was confused about my own feelings and thoughts without fully knowing how confused I was.

Now I have clarity in my mind and confidence in a way I never thought I would. Now I know I can achieve things in life that I never thought I could. This clarity came after a long journey through drugs, therapy and acknowledging religion.p

Your journey may lead you to a different point in life than mine but can lead you to a peace that has clarity and function. Don't be afraid of the journey and trust that you will find answeres.