Mental Wellness
Dorothy Hamill
In the public's eyes, skater Dorothy Hamill was "America's sweetheart." In 1976, she was the perky 19-year-old with the famous hairdo — "the wedge" — who won an Olympic gold medal for her dazzling figure skating at the Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. Her life seemed to glide as easily as her skates. But as Hamill reveals in her frank new book, A Skating Life: My Story, that behind the scenes, she was in the grip of serious depression, which ran through her family.
“I think it's important for people to be more aware of it, to know that you can get help and still carry on and lead a fairly normal life, be successful and pursue your dreams. It's taken me a long time to not be embarrassed or ashamed. In spite of it all, I was still able to win an Olympic medal and have a career and a family.“ -Interview with Times reporter Andrea Sach.