What made Sandy's success possible
The reasons for Sandy's success are manifold.
She has been able to count on the love and ongoing support of her family—especially her mother--"My strongest advocate," she says. "My mother never stopped believing in me, no matter what the doctors said, no matter how dire their prognoses."
Sandy's mother took a realistic approach to her daughter's illness. "If you break a leg, you go to a doctor and have it put into a cast so it can heal," she remembers her mother saying. "If there is something wrong with your mind, you go to a psychiatrist and talk about it so you feel better." This helped Sandy avoid the overwhelming prejudice, discrimination, bias and stereotyping so often associated with mental illnesses. She was able to bounce back quickly after her often annual manic episodes and hospitalizations, with the constant support of psychotherapy as well as medication.
" I've been seeing a psychiatrist since I was 12 years old and still am, longer then Woody Allen," she quips. "I* call my psychotherapy my PHD in me, except I'll never graduate with any degree."
| "If you break a leg, you go to the hospital to get it set," Sandy remembers her mother saying, "so, if there is something wrong with your mind, you go to a psychiatrist and talk about it so you feel better." |
From the beginning, she always wanted people to know about her psychiatric life and always felt comfortable talking about it.
In the fall of 1975, Sandy walked into the office of J.D. MacFarlane, then chairman of Ryerson University's journalism program. It was the second day of classes. She sat down and told him that she had a serious illness-- manic depression-- and had just gotten out of the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry (now the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) but that she very much wanted to be in the journalism program. After listening to her story, he admitted her on the spot.
Sandy freelanced while studying at Ryerson, and in 1977 MacFarlane, then the Executive Editor at the Toronto Sun, recommended Sandy to Entertainment editor George Anthony and Lifestyle editor Kathy Brooks. By giving her a chance, Sandy says, MacFarlane, Anthony, Brooks and the workplace culture of the Sun helped to lay the groundwork for her future successes.
NEXT: How the Toronto Sun accommodated Sandy's illness at work
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