LOO: Bipolar General: What Happened and What Can We Learn?
Channel: U.S. Naval War College
Date: 2022-03-11

A highly successful student, athlete and Army officer, Gregg Martin unknowingly had a genetic predisposition for bipolar disorder that was triggered by the intense stress of leading thousands of troops in the Iraq War, in 2003 as a brigade commander. Undetected and undiagnosed for the next eleven years, and actually enhancing his performance in many ways - leading to promotions and more prestigious assignments - his bipolar moods swung into ever higher levels of mania, and lower levels of depression. But by 2014 he had roared into full-blown, acute mania and his brain unraveled, leading to erratic, disruptive, over-the-top behaviors which undermined his ability to lead effectively, and led to his removal from command of the National Defense University. He subsequently crashed into crippling depression and terrifying psychosis, and, after a two-year battle for his life, inpatient psychiatric care with the VA, and numerous treatments, medications and therapies (including the full 14 rounds of electro-convulsive therapy), he was prescribed Lithium in 2016, a natural salt, which lifted his depression and stabilized his mood within a week. He has not had a bad day since, and he and his wife Maggie moved to bright, sunny, warm, laid back Cocoa Beach Florida, where they have rebuilt their life into one of total health, happiness, low stress, meaning, purpose and joy.

About this Lecture
Lectures of Opportunity offers U.S. Naval War College (NWC) students, faculty, and staff an opportunity to learn more about national and international socio-political subjects that may be of relevance to the NWC community.