Polis's Mom Shares Struggle With Depression

Susan Polis Schutz, a Colorado entrepreneur and mother of gay congressman Jared Polis, is sharing her struggle with depression in a new book of poetry, Depression and Back.

Shutz tells the Boulder, Colo., Daily Camera that nothing in particular sparked her depression; she just suddenly felt numb and so emotionally paralyzed that she couldn't get out of bed. Not knowing what to do, she says, she started writing.

Four years later, the poems have become a book. She also produced and directed a documentary on the illness, The Misunderstood Epidemic: Depression, which has aired on some PBS stations and is available for purchase online.

"Other diseases don't have a stigma. If you have diabetes, you get it treated and people respect you and ask how you are," Schutz says. "It's totally different with depression."

Proud son Polis tweeted about his mom's book Sunday afternoon.