Mädchen Amick Gives Super-Rare Details About ’Continuing Journey’ of Son Sly’s Bipolar 1 Diagnosis
Beloved TV star Madchen Amick has been talking about navigating her son Sly’s Bipolar 1 diagnosis together, and how in 2025, he’s getting a lot better!
Amick has truly been a supportive mom throughout this time for her son, and in a recent interview with UsWeekly, she talked about how his journey is going.
“The longer the journey gets, it’s interesting [to see] your perspective and how it broadens out more and more, so those moments of challenge become easier to deal with because you can look at it in a bigger picture,” she said. “And so, even though there might be dips of challenge or some destabilization, you look at it over a longer period which has been 13 years now, and you can look at that little graph getting better and better.”
She added, “Things have been going great! He had a bit of a challenge about three months ago when a medication was changed. … He caught it really fast, and they changed that medication immediately and they changed it back to one that was working before, but those little moments like that can be so destabilizing for the entire family, so you all have to be ready and aware and really communicate with each other.”
The Twin Peaks star also talked about how their family of four is so tight-knit and helping Sly whenever they can. “He really trusts us as a family, so if we see signs that look like, ‘Oh, how [are] you feeling? We’re seeing some concerning signs,’ that he trusts us and listens instead of getting defensive and going, ‘No, no, no, I’m fine,’ because nobody wants to admit they’re sick, right?” she said. “He really trusts us as a family to point it out sooner than later before he even can notice it himself. And also then beyond that, creating that recovery team for, so he’s really committed to that recovery.”
It’s so heartwarming top see that this private family is so tight-knit and truly there for one another in unexpected times.
For those who don’t know, Amick married her boyfriend of 8 years David Alexis back in Dec 1995. They later welcomed two children son Sylvester Time Amick-Alexis, born in July 1992 and daughter Mina Tobias Amick-Alexis (known professionally as Mina Tobias), born in Sept 1993.
Sly was diagnosed with Bipolar 1 back in 2023 after years of searching for a diagnosis. It started after a truly traumatic event back in 2010 when he attended UC Irvine, after witnessing the death of a schoolmate. He’s been handling all the ups and downs amazingly, with the help of his family. And it’s so wonderful to see a family helping a loved one’s mental health. More of this in 2025 please!
And for those who may not know, Bipolar 1 is a mental disorder that “causes extreme ups and downs in mood and energy,” often called “manic-depressive disorder” or “manic depression.” Bipolar 1 is a more severe case of bipolar, unlike bipolar 2, where the episodes of mania heavily affect one’s life, per WebMD.
Before you go, click here to see what celebrities say about the moment that helped them recover from addiction: