Helping others enjoy a fuller life

Robert D. Sutherland seemed to have it all. He owned Sutherland Lumber in Boulder, a successful business. He loved art, old cars and philanthropy. He loved life and helping others.

But dramatic mood swings plagued him. Sometimes, depression debilitated him. Other times, boundless energy buoyed him.

Because he was self-employed, Sutherland could retreat from workaday duties when depression struck. In his 30s, he also experienced acute periods of mania. Friends, family and coworkers wondered what was going on.

Sutherland had bipolar disorder, a diagnosis that didn’t come until he was in his 40s, after he’d seen several doctors. As his son, Bob Sutherland Jr., notes, “With the help of his friends, family and good medical care, he managed his illness, living a full life and making numerous contributions to his community.”

The elder Sutherland was fortunate. Others, his son notes, have no such luck. “They do not understand the disorder, its symptoms and treatment options. They do not know where to turn for help, and cannot afford to see a doctor or to pay for medications and therapy.”

Robert D. Sutherland died in 1999 of a brain hemorrhage. Before his death, the younger Sutherland notes, the father spoke openly about his disease and counseled others battling mental illness.

As his son noted recently, “He was a big believer that you can get help.”

In his honor and in that spirit, friends and family established the Robert D. Sutherland Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping people with bipolar disorder.

Its tools are diagnosis, comprehensive treatment and education. The hallmark of the foundation’s work is the Robert D. Sutherland Center for the Evaluation and Treatment of Bipolar Disorder at CU’s Department of Psychology. The center aims to help people who can’t get comprehensive psychiatric and psychological services.

Most of the center’s clients can’t afford the care they need. In the last six years, the Sutherland Foundation has raised and donated more than $750,000 to the center, which also received in-kind donations from CU. It has served hundreds of people.

Clients get comprehensive, long-term care that can be cost-prohibitive even for the insured. The comprehensive and sustained treatment approach, though not widespread, helps clients function. Good treatment is better than incarceration, serial hospitalization or permanent disability, fates that befall many with this disease.

At any one time, Sutherland notes, the center might have 30 individual and family cases, 20 patients undergoing long-term medication management, and up to 10 people in a weekly skills-training group. There is a waiting list for all services, and the foundation therefore seeks more support.

“It’s sort of like spitting in the ocean, because you’ll never treat everybody,” Sutherland says. At the same time, he notes, “If we’ve helped 400 to 500 people, that’s huge.”

With a doubling of funds, the center could eliminate its waiting list, Sutherland says. It’s a tough climate for fund-raising, but Sutherland says the nonprofit relies “on people like me who have seen it first-hand.”

Sutherland also acknowledges the critical support and expertise of CU and its Department of Psychology. “From standpoint of a university’s being a public service, this is an amazing example of the kind of synergy that can happen.”

For more information, see http://rdsfoundation.org/