Mädchen Amick speaks about her son Sly Alexis’ battle with Bipolar 1 Disorder and the efforts she has made to make advances in mental health with her nonprofit Don’t Mind Me Foundation.
The 52-year-old actress – who is mother to son Sly, 30, and daughter Mina Tobias, 29, with husband David Alexis, 60, spoke to People on Wednesday about how her eldest child’s diagnosis came about.
“He was a normal kid and got along great with teachers and coaches,” said Sparks, Nevada, of her son, who got good grades and ran track and field before attending college at UC Irvine in Irvine, California.
The Latest: Mädchen Amick, 52, speaks about her son Sly Alexis’ battle with Bipolar 1 Disorder and the efforts she’s made to make mental health advances with her charitable Don’t Mind Me Foundation. She was pictured in LA in 2020
Sly’s behavior changed when, as a freshman, he witnessed the death of a schoolmate when he began using drugs and alcohol, and his personality changed.
The Riverdale actress said of her son, “There was a lot of delusional thinking.
“There was a lot of talking about things that just didn’t make sense and he was also admitting things like the phone was listening to him and the TV was watching him and very paranoid thoughts and feelings. Then he just waves it off in mania, which would give him that larger-than-life personality.
The Twin Peaks actress mentioned another incident in November 2011, when Sly’s college roommates called the family to let them know they were concerned after he left his apartment without his phone or wallet.
The Twin Peaks actress and her son were photographed together for his 30th birthday last July
Amick shared a picture of her children Sly, 30, and Mina Tobias, 29, at Christmas
Sly’s behavior changed when he witnessed the death of a schoolmate as a freshman, he started using drugs and alcohol and his personality changed, his mother said
“All of a sudden, the world was being pulled out from under him,” Amick said. “We got together as a family and drove from Los Angeles to the streets of Irvine just to try to find him. It took hours but we finally did it.
“He was just walking down the street, really, really upset.”
She said that after her daughter Mina told her she felt something was “really wrong” with Sly, the family took him to a medical facility for a check-up.
“I was trying to explain to the emergency workers what was going on and they just kind of looked at him like another kid who’s on drugs,” Amick said. “But they took him in overnight and basically said, ‘He just seems to have an addiction problem. You have to approach this as a family.’ They released him a few hours later and we took him home.’
Amick said the nonprofit she and her son work at aims to help people who can’t afford treatment to get proper guidance on navigating the mental health system
The Riverdale and Twin Peaks actress was photographed at an event in NYC in 2019
After months in and out of multiple medical and treatment facilities, Sly was diagnosed with Bipolar 1 in a psychiatric hospital.
“Then they said, ‘This isn’t an addiction issue, this is a mental health issue,'” Amick said. “As scary as that was, it was actually a relief because now it had a name and there was a way to find out what to do about it.”
Sly’s father Alexis added: “Several times there was a feeling he wasn’t going to make it and we were called to the hospital for alcohol poisoning to basically say goodbye but he always fought to his life and made it through.”
Amick said her son was adjusting to a regimen of therapy and medication in 2012 and was coping with issues when they surfaced in spring 2021.
He has been sober for more than a year and is working in the field as a behavioral medicine doctor 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 caretaker. When I’m sober, I can stay out of any kind of instability.”
Amick said the nonprofit she and her son work at aims to help people who can’t afford treatment to get proper guidance on navigating the mental health system.
“As a foundation, we’re launching our first grant program,” said Amick. “We are very proud to be able to support a treatment center that is finally working 10 years later.”