Mind & Miles - A Triathlete's Bipolar Journey
Sam Broughton shares how he moved out of denial & into supportive community
Shortly after the pandemic, Sam sat across from his therapist who told him he has severe depression and bipolar.
He went into denial mode and thought that could not be him after remembering what it was like recounting a family member’s struggle with bipolar:
“and immediately I thought, that's not Sam Broughton. That's not me.
That's my brother in law's mom and she's out buying couches and spending tons of money. No, that's not me. So my brain met it with immediate denial.”
Very similar to me, Sam started researching bipolar, reading articles and watching videos but still had a hard time seeing this as something he was living with.
He says he had not experienced a manic episode up until this point and stopped going to therapy because he felt he no longer needed it and it was getting expensive.
I wanted to bring you Sam’s story because he has become a friend of mine who was very supportive as I got back into running end of last year. He was always offering me support and guidance while I was training to run my first 10k back in November and another one in December.
Just like living with bipolar, I had a lot of fear around saying yes to these races because I had never completed one before. But Sam was there for me and in the time we got to know one another he was a big supporter of my work with the podcast and my book.
I started to learn more about his journey navigating bipolar as an athlete and sobriety too. The more I learned I just knew I had to share his story with you.
Topics we cover:
Psychosis related to religious trauma, raised very faith-based, conservative way
His experience with paranoia, feeling like his family was out to get him and sharing this with a stranger
Calling 988 and his memory of the impact this had on him getting help
The role his family played in his hospitalization
Going back to therapy, having family attend sessions and the results of this
If you are not already, send me a message on my new page and let me know what resonates in Sam’s story most for you?
Hearing from you is the most important piece of why I do what I do! :)
Stay connected with Sam here!