Gregg F. Martin

It takes courage and strength to admit you are broken, to get help, and to walk the road to recovery. Be strong and get help for yourself, your family member, your friend, or your comrade. It's okay to admit that you're not okay.

Gregg F. Martin (born July 16, 1956) is a United States Army two-star general who retired as the Special Assistant to the Chief of Engineers in 2014. From July 2012 to July 2014 he was the President of the National Defense University at Fort McNair Army Base in Washington, D.C. and from July 2010 to July 2012 he served as the Commandant of the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA.

Quotes

Bipolar General (2023)

• Prior to one becoming a general officer, the Army's short assignments often result in people being able to mask shortcomings and get a fresh start. For someone who has bipolar disorder or is displaying hypomanic behaviors, the supervisors may only see the high-performance phase and miss the subsequent depression, or perhaps the depression is masked. Maybe a newly arrived supervisor is briefed that he has a superstar and gives that person the benefit of the doubt until departing for the next assignment, when the person goes through the depression before arriving at the next post. This pattern might continue until the person is promoted and placed in a general-officer position.
  • p. 92

• It takes courage and strength to admit you are broken, to get help, and to walk the road to recovery. Be strong and get help for yourself, your family member, your friend, or your comrade. It's okay to admit that you're not okay. There is no real shame except to not get the help you need and become a statistic. Rather than stigma, our people who battle bipolar disorder and other mental or brain conditions should be viewed as fighting a heroic battle, much like our heroic women battling breast cancer. They are heroes, not stigmatized victims. Take it from me, the Bipolar General, who is fighting- and winning- my own forever war with mental illness.
  • p. 223