1148. Bipolar General — My Forever War with Mental Illness

“It was seven years ago that I began my road to recovery. Once I started taking lithium as a medication, it stabilized my brain. We moved to Florida, and I’ve essentially been rebuilding my career and creating a whole new life. I discovered my purpose about three years ago: It is sharing my bipolar story to help stop the stigma around mental illness, promote recovery and save lives. I’m accomplishing my purpose through speaking, writing, and conferring. It is very rewarding. I’ve gotten great feedback from all kinds of people: military, veterans, medical professionals, and the general population. And that’s really the sweet spot for me, given my talents and natural inclinations. The response to the 20 plus articles that I’ve had published has been phenomenal. There’s probably 60 or 70 interviews and podcasts on my website with overwhelmingly positive response. So I want to keep sharing my story and I’m basically increasing my reach. For example, more medical professionals are interested in my story. They call a person like me an expert because of my lived experience. Some of the leading psychiatrists and researchers in the mental health field in the world are calling on me, asking me to be a part of their research teams. Would I come and speak at their medical school? And so I’m hoping that the combination of speaking engagements and the promotion of the book will continue to propel the story forward with the hope of saving lives.”

Gregg F. Martin, PhD, Major General, US Army (Retired), served on active duty for 36 years, until May 2015. He is a combat veteran, Bipolar Survivor, Airborne-Ranger-Engineer qualified soldier, and Army Strategist. He holds a Ph.D. and two master’s degrees from MIT, master’s degrees in national security strategy from both the Army and Naval war colleges, and a bachelor’s degree from West Point. He commanded an engineer company, battalion, the 130th Engineer Brigade in combat during the first year of the Iraq War, commanded the Corps of Engineers Northwest Division, was Commandant of the Army Engineer School, commanded Fort Leonard Wood, and was Deputy Commanding General of Third Army/US Army Central, Commandant of the Army War College, and President of National Defense University.