Hello, all!
Today I figured it was time to turn the spotlight onto the success story of someone who has lived experience with mental/emotional extremes. This peer of ours suffered from depression and severe agoraphobia (fear of crowds and public places), but turned her pursuit of comfort into an attainable dream. Whether you are a fan of her easy, flavorful recipes or a critic of her kitchen shortcuts and use of butter, there is something very valuable to learned from Paula Deen.
Deen’s mental/emotional challenges struck at a very formative period during her adulthood. She was married at age eighteen and started having children at nineteen (remember, neurologists say the human brain isn’t fully developed until about age twenty-four). When she was twenty-three, Deen’s parents both died tragically, leaving her young, responsible for small children, and except for a busy husband, alone. Anyone would be sad under such circumstances. For Deen, it triggered a twenty-year slump of depression and agoraphobia.
She hardly ever left the house. She did occasionally make it into the supermarket, but never very far. She often had to cook with the ingredients that are closest to the door. For comfort, Deen took to her kitchen, practicing the Southern-style recipes her grandmother had taught her until each dish came out perfectly every time. Besides herself, only Deen’s husband was aware of the extent of her mental/emotional challenges, and he was less than supportive. In an act of desperation, she reached out to her Pastor for guidance, crying to him for the better part of an hour. He then called her a “spoiled brat.”
When Deen’s first marriage dissolved, she was suddenly faced with the challenge of independent living. Again, her kitchen provided her with comfort--and a solution to her problems. She started with a very small catering business, making boxed lunches which her sons then sold to businessmen. Hard work and perseverance led Deen to running her own restaurant.
That is Paula Deen’s recovery story. The rest comes from a mixture of talent and luck. A publisher ate at her restaurant and decided that she should have a cookbook. Its first edition sold like wild on QVC, launching her to the status of celebrity chef with multiple cookbooks, two television shows and her own magazine. Deen is married again, and still thriving in her kitchen. She has even published a memoir, It Ain’t All About the Cookin’, in which she candidly discusses the good and bad parts of her life.
I love telling Deen’s story because she was able turn her comfort zone--cooking in her kitchen--into a productive way to interact with the world. It takes a lot of strength to overcome challenges to mental and emotional health, and though Deen was caught in depression and agoraphobia for twenty years, she worked her way towards recovery. This is exactly the kind of story that any of us Peers can have.
Thanks for reading, and as always, if you have something to post on the Central MA Recovery Learning Community blog, send it along to cmrlcblog@gmail.com.
Author: Deanna “Berry” Cassidy
Central Mass RLC
Today I figured it was time to turn the spotlight onto the success story of someone who has lived experience with mental/emotional extremes. This peer of ours suffered from depression and severe agoraphobia (fear of crowds and public places), but turned her pursuit of comfort into an attainable dream. Whether you are a fan of her easy, flavorful recipes or a critic of her kitchen shortcuts and use of butter, there is something very valuable to learned from Paula Deen.
Deen’s mental/emotional challenges struck at a very formative period during her adulthood. She was married at age eighteen and started having children at nineteen (remember, neurologists say the human brain isn’t fully developed until about age twenty-four). When she was twenty-three, Deen’s parents both died tragically, leaving her young, responsible for small children, and except for a busy husband, alone. Anyone would be sad under such circumstances. For Deen, it triggered a twenty-year slump of depression and agoraphobia.
She hardly ever left the house. She did occasionally make it into the supermarket, but never very far. She often had to cook with the ingredients that are closest to the door. For comfort, Deen took to her kitchen, practicing the Southern-style recipes her grandmother had taught her until each dish came out perfectly every time. Besides herself, only Deen’s husband was aware of the extent of her mental/emotional challenges, and he was less than supportive. In an act of desperation, she reached out to her Pastor for guidance, crying to him for the better part of an hour. He then called her a “spoiled brat.”
When Deen’s first marriage dissolved, she was suddenly faced with the challenge of independent living. Again, her kitchen provided her with comfort--and a solution to her problems. She started with a very small catering business, making boxed lunches which her sons then sold to businessmen. Hard work and perseverance led Deen to running her own restaurant.
That is Paula Deen’s recovery story. The rest comes from a mixture of talent and luck. A publisher ate at her restaurant and decided that she should have a cookbook. Its first edition sold like wild on QVC, launching her to the status of celebrity chef with multiple cookbooks, two television shows and her own magazine. Deen is married again, and still thriving in her kitchen. She has even published a memoir, It Ain’t All About the Cookin’, in which she candidly discusses the good and bad parts of her life.
I love telling Deen’s story because she was able turn her comfort zone--cooking in her kitchen--into a productive way to interact with the world. It takes a lot of strength to overcome challenges to mental and emotional health, and though Deen was caught in depression and agoraphobia for twenty years, she worked her way towards recovery. This is exactly the kind of story that any of us Peers can have.
Thanks for reading, and as always, if you have something to post on the Central MA Recovery Learning Community blog, send it along to cmrlcblog@gmail.com.
Author: Deanna “Berry” Cassidy
Central Mass RLC
Sources
Moskin, Julia. “From Phobia to Fame: A Southern Cook’s Memoir.” nytimes.com. The New York Times. 28 February 2007. Web. 14 April 2011.
“Paula’s Story.” Pauladeen.com. Web. 14 April 2011.
Pitcher, Bill. “33 Minutes with Paula Deen.” njmg.typepad.com. Second Helpings. 25 April 2007. Web. 14 April 2011.
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