Painting the Plaza Yellow with Hope for the Hope for Depression Research Foundation

Honoring Michael Phelps

Patrons of this year’s 15th annual Hope for Depression Research Foundation luncheon painted the Plaza yellow, the official color of HDRF, to symbolize the hope they have in the fight against the debilitating effects of depression. Mental health illnesses, including depression, do not discriminate when it comes to who they affect, and that includes Olympic champions such as Michael Phelps. The Foundation, founded by Audrey Gruss, recognized the athlete for his advocacy and efforts in raising awareness which has helped to open a dialogue around depression while reducing the stigma of mental illness. Other award honorees included Jim Irsay, CEO and Owner of the Indianapolis Colts, and James R. Borynack, CEO of Findlay Galleries. This fabulously fun event raised over $750,000 crucially important funds for the organization.

Prince Harry & Meghan Markle

From his fellow Olympic peers including Simone Biles, to world tennis champion Naomi Osaka and supermodel Bella Hadid, Phelps acknowledged that celebrities are opening up about their own mental health struggles on the world stage like never before. He also spoke exclusively to PARK about what advice he would give to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who are very vocal about their battles with mental illness while also advocating for others to get help. Prince Harry has opened up over the years about the difficulties of dealing with his mother Princess Diana’s death in the public eye, while Meghan admitted to Oprah earlier this year that she contemplated suicide while pregnant with their first child, Archie Harrison.
When it comes to battling their demons, Phelps, who told us that at one point he “thought of not wanting to be alive anymore,” went on to explain that he would tell the Duke and Duchess to “just try to be your authentic self. Being able to show that you’re going through a struggle is something that is more powerful than you will ever understand. It shows you that you are a human being. For me, I struggled because I felt like I was a swimmer and not a person for my whole career. I looked in the mirror and saw somebody with a cap and goggles and not a human being, so it took me a while to realize and understand that. I think once I did, I was able to just live freer and happier. Being comfortable with who you are and being your authentic self is something we’ve lost track of.”

Princess Diana

Princess Diana, whose life story is back in the headlines due to the new musical Diana, which is now on Broadway, as well as the movie Spencer, featuring Kristen Stewart, also dealt with the bulimia and depression throughout her toxic marriage as well as in the aftermath. Understanding her struggles, Phelps explained that he would have wanted her to know that “everybody’s mental health is different, and we all deal with our mental health in different ways. Even if we’re struggling with depression or anxiety or suicide, mental health looks different for every single person. The only thing I hope we can learn from everyone we have lost is that hopefully we can learn the importance of opening up and talking about our struggles. I think that for so long people have looked at being vulnerable as a sign of weakness, and that’s ludicrous, and we need to change that. I believe that we all need to become vulnerable in order to give ourselves the best chance.” The Olympian also went on to say that “it’s so important to find somebody you can trust. Mental and physical wellness is one, it’s really unified me.”

Audrey Gruss

Audrey Gruss, Founder & Chair of Hope for Depression Research Foundation, which is named after her mother, Hope, has made it her mission to bring attention to mental illness after witnessing firsthand just how much her mother struggled with depression. Since its founding in 2006, HDRF has already made significant contributions to the cutting-edge neuroscience research into the origins, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of depression, as well as mood disorders related to depression, including anxiety disorders, PTSD, bipolar disorder, postpartum depression and suicide. HDRF has raised over $35 million for research grants since its inception.

Depression Task Force,

Emmy-award winning television anchor Chuck Scarborough from NBC 4 New York, who is also a supporter of many notable causes, got the luncheon off to a successful start. Speakers included members of HDRF’s Depression Task Force, an elite group of world-renowned neurosurgeons who are partaking in a joint research plan in order to share data in real time. These researchers, who are daring depression to back down with breakthrough treatments, hail from prestigious academic and medical institutions including Weill Cornell, Columbia, Duke, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, University of Michigan, Douglas Institute & McGill University and even Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany.

Helen Mayberg, M.D., founding director of the Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, spoke about the strides she and her team have accomplished though Deep Brain Stimulation, a surgical treatment she pioneered for severe and resistant depression. Dr. Conor Liston, associate professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry in the Brain and Mind Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medicine, joked that probiotic yogurt, which is often attributed to promoting healthy gut function, might not be the cure for depression just yet, but he has published several seminal studies on the gut-brain axis. Dr. Liston went on to explain his latest research, including the development of novel neuroimaging tools for psychiatric diagnosis and predicting antidepressant response.

Jim Irsay, Owner of The Indianapolis Colts

Jim Irsay, CEO and Owner of The Indianapolis Colts, and recipient of the Ambassador of Hope Community Award, applauded his fellow honoree, Michael Phelps, for his bravery. “It’s so great to see him show the courage to talk about what he’s been through. When someone like him does that, they literally save lives.” In addition to building one of the most successful franchises in the NFL, Irsay and his family have launched “Kicking the Stigma,” an initiative aimed at raising awareness about mental health disorders as well as supporting local non-profits in their efforts to expand treatment services.

“When life doesn’t make sense anymore and you don’t have hope and you don’t want to be alive, it’s a tough place to be,” Irsay explained. “It’s an illness, and we want to end the stigma because we believe so strongly that people who are sick are afraid to speak out or get help because they are afraid, they are going to be stigmatized.”

28 Olympic Medals

Phelps, who has racked up 28 Olympic medals throughout this career, including a record-setting 23 gold medals, took to the stage to partake in a conversation with founder Audrey Gruss. The athlete, author and advocate opened up about his lifelong struggles with depression, including the first time he broke down in tears during a 2016 pre-Olympics interview with Sports Illustrated. He has since applied his hard work and dedication in the pool to his post-Olympic life. With a wife and three boys, Michael is open with his family about his ups and downs and encourages his own children to fully express their feelings. Phelps is passionate about ensuring that all children feel that they are fully supported and that they have the confidence to go after their dreams. He also credits his ongoing success to his own strong support system. “I can’t do it alone. There are times when I need to ask for help or be there for somebody else.”

With over 20 million adults suffering from depression in the United States alone, supporters and scientists alike are doing everything they can to make sure that a new dawn of depression awareness and treatment is on the very hope-filled horizon.

To read the entire interview of Michael Phelps, please go to our website at parkmagazineny.com.
hopefordepression.org