Mädchen Amick opens up about her son Sly Alexis’s battle with bipolar disorder

Mädchen Amick talks about her son Sly Alexis’ battle with bipolar disorder 1 and the efforts she has made to advance mental health with her non-profit organization. Don’t Worry Me Foundation.

The 52-year-old actress, mother of son Sly, 30, and daughter Mina Tobias, 29, with husband David Alexis, 60, chats with People on Wednesday about how his eldest son came to be diagnosed.

“He was a normal kid and he got along really well with the teachers and coaches,” Sparks, Nevada, said of his son, who said he earned good grades and ran track before going to college at UC Irvine in Irvine, California.

Sly’s behavior changed when he witnessed the death of a schoolmate when he was a freshman, when he started using drugs and alcohol and his personality changed.

The Riverdale actress said of her son: “There were a lot of delusional thoughts.

“There was a lot of talk about things that just didn’t make sense, and he would also admit to things like it seemed like the phone was listening to him and the TV was watching him and he had very paranoid thoughts and feelings.” Then he just goes manic, which would give him this larger-than-life personality.’

The Twin Peaks actress cited another incident in November 2011 when Sly’s college roommates called the family to say they were concerned after he had left their residence without his phone or wallet.

The Twin Peaks actress and her son were photographed together last July for her 30th birthday.

Amick shared a photo of his children Sly, 30, and Mina Tobias, 29, at Christmas.

Sly’s behavior changed when he witnessed the death of a schoolmate as a freshman, when he began using drugs and alcohol and his personality changed, his mother said.

“Suddenly the world fell out from under him,” Amick said. “We got together as a family and drove from Los Angeles to the streets of Irvine to try to find him. It took hours, but we finally did it.

“He was walking down the street very, very out of it.”

She said that after her daughter Mina told her that she felt something was “really wrong” with Sly, the family took him to a medical center for examination.

“I tried to explain to the emergency personnel what was going on, and they just looked at it like another kid doing drugs,” Amick said. “But they took him in overnight and basically said, ‘He looks like he has an addiction problem.’ You’re going to have to deal with it as a family.” He was released after a few hours and we took him home.

Amick said the nonprofit she and her son are working with aims to help people who can’t afford treatment receive the proper guidance to navigate the mental health care system.

The Riverdale and Twin Peaks actress was photographed at an event in New York in 2019

After months in and out of various medical facilities and treatment centers, Sly was diagnosed with Bipolar 1 at a mental hospital.

“That’s when they said, ‘This is not an addiction issue, this is a mental health issue,'” Amick said. “As scary as it was, it actually became a relief because now I had a name and there was some way to try and figure out what to do about it.”

Sly’s father, Alexis, added: “There were a number of times where I felt like he wasn’t going to make it and we were called to the hospital “in incidents of alcohol poisoning” basically to say goodbye, but he always fought to live and pulled through.”

Amick said her son was able to adjust to a medication and therapy plan in 2012 and was able to handle problems when they arose in the spring of 2021.

He has been sober for over a year and is working in the field as a behavioral health technician, with the goal of becoming a case manager.

“I’m on the other side of things now,” Sly told People. ‘I used to be the patient and now I’m the carer. If I’m sober, I can avoid any kind of instability.

Amick said the nonprofit she and her son are working with aims to help people who can’t afford treatment receive the proper guidance to navigate the mental health care system.

“As a foundation, we are starting our first scholarship program,” Amick said. “We are very proud to be able to support a treatment center that is finally up and running 10 years later.”