Former NHL goaltender Kelly Hrudey’s daughter goes public with mental illness battle

[Dion]

“In the beginning I thought we were going to be out of the woods in no time, because I had no experience in any of this,” Kelly says.

There was no history of mental illness in the family. It was a crash education, and an ongoing one, and in the beginning it would involve marathon sessions with Kaitlin and her psychologist — plus hours more at home or over the phone if Kelly was on the road working — practising breathing techniques that the doctor had taught them to ease Kaitlin’s crippling anxiety.

Father and daughter might sit in the family room for two or three hours at a time. Breathing, all in an effort to get Kaitlin to her “safe zone,” which, in her imagination, was the garden out back of the house.

“She would lay down in the grass, in our backyard, and to get her there it took time — and the garden would be a drab place at first, but then she would start seeing flowers,” Kelly says. “And as we kept breathing and I kept talking to her she would see more and more colours — and we had two dogs — and they would be playing in the garden, and I can’t tell you what it was like to be able to get her to that safe place.”

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05...llness-battle/

[Coach]

Great article thanks for sharing.