‘I’m Not Going to Be Ashamed’ KSTP Meteorologist Reveals Battle with Bipolar Disorder

By Kevin Eck 

In an interview with the Pioneer Press, Ken Barlow, meteorologist for KSTP talked about the relief he felt after publicly revealing his bipolar disorder.

Barlow told the Pioneer Press he first spoke about his condition while emceeing a walk for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

“When I was standing up there, I was thinking, these people came here to end the stigma of mental illness, and I’m up here living one — I’m afraid of this stigma.  I thought as I was on that stage two weeks ago, I’m not going to do this anymore, I’m not going to be ashamed. Two million people have this in the country and millions of others deal with depression and other forms of mental illness. I’m not alone.”

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In the article, Barlow talks about being diagnosed with the illness in 2007 while he was working for WBZ in Boston.

“I was shocked,” he said. “I was depressed because I now had this chronic illness that I have to deal with. They said I’d have to be on this medication the rest of my life and they told me that sometimes I’d have to change the medication. It was very upsetting to me.”

On his blog, Rick Kupchella noted Barlow has been receiving a lot of support from viewers.  He posted screen grabs of viewers reaching out to Barlow through twitter,

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