Klugman left the College early during the spring semester last year after he suffered from a manic episode in early February. The episode landed Klugman in Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, where he stayed for a few weeks. Klugman responded well to medication and returned to his Denver home.
Rob Klugman '69, Terry Klugman's father, said his family had recently been worried about his son's condition. "We'd been very concerned, particularly since the middle of the year," he said. According to an article in The Denver Post, Kathy Klugman, Terry Klugman's mother, found a suicide note her son had posted on his personal Web site sometime in July.
According to Rob Klugman, the episode from which his son suffered in his room in South College last semester was the first manic episode Terry Klugman had experienced. Previously, mental health experts had diagnosed his son with attention deficit disorder. "Nobody ever diagnosed him as having a mood disorder," he said.
Rob Klugman explained that when his son arrived home at the end of the fall semester last year, he seemed content with his time at the College. Terry Klugman had become very involved with the fencing club, he had a girlfriend whom he had introduced to his parents over Family Weekend and he had maintained a high academic average over the course of the semester.
Terry Klugman spent most of Interterm traveling. His father explained that his son left Denver shortly after New Year's to participate in a Birthright Israel trip with students from the Five Colleges. He returned to Amherst directly from Israel for the start of the second semester, but things quickly deteriorated thereafter.
Rob Klugman explained that, to the best of his knowledge, his son was not on the radar of the mental health resources at the College. "He wasn't in the mental health system at Amherst at all, until he had a manic episode that took him right to Cooley Dickenson," he said.
But Rob Klugman noted that some of his son's second semester professors were concerned about his behavior. "Some people at the school, including some of his professors, said he was acting unusually," he said. "For an institution like Amherst, I think it is pretty hard to tell the difference between odd first-year behavior and psychotic behavior. I think [Terry] was getting on the College's [mental health] screen, and things just deteriorated very quickly."
Although the Klugman family now understands that Terry Klugman's Bipolar I disorder did not really manifest itself until he had spent time at the College, they understand that the mood disorder is something that caused him to suffer throughout his life, despite the fact that it went undiagnosed for so long.
"Terry died of a disease about which we seldom speak, a disease called Bipolar I," said Daniel Bennett, a close family friend, in his eulogy at Terry Klugman's funeral. "He didn't catch it at Amherst College last winter when the Klugman family … was confronted by [the disease's] mystifying and ultimately deadly symptoms. It was simply then, eight months ago, that his disease was diagnosed."
Bennett continued, "As is the case for many others who suffer with Bipolar I, Terence's disease was difficult to diagnose, easy, even, for Terry to deny, and not curable. And while this disease can be treated, treatment often fails, especially in young adults, as it failed with Terence."
Rob Klugman explained that back in Denver, his son was refusing treatment. According to The Denver Post, the hospital tried to get a court order requiring Terry Klugman to take his medication, and were surprised when judicial officials did not grant the order. A judge did give an order to have Terry Klugman held in the hospital involuntarily, but a few weeks later refused to issue the order that would force him to take his medication.
Rob Klugman explained that once patients are 18, they take responsibility for themselves. "In this case, Terry did," he said. "It's hard to give somebody support unless they want it." He explained that his family was working with an outside agency to provide their son with support.
The agency working with Terry Klugman, according to his father, was terribly under-funded. "The public sector is really under-funded," he said. "The agency that was working with him certainly didn't have enough people to go around. Whether that made a critical difference, I don't really know."
Rob Klugman believes that part of the trouble with offering treatment for mood disorders is the stigma that surrounds mental disease. "There is a sort of stigma about mental disease, even though this particular disease [Bipolar I] stems from physical chemical imbalances," he said. "It makes it that much harder for the victim because there is not the kind of support you'd get if you had a physical disease."
At the College, administrators are available to provide those with mental health problems and their friends with support. "Clearly, Terry struggled with very serious mental health problems, and there are certainly other students here who have those issues," said Dean of Students Ben Lieber. "The most important thing is for people in those circumstances to get help as quickly as possible and certainly our counseling center is available for anyone who needs help, whether the issues are as serious as the ones Terry faced or whether they are less so."
In addition to the counseling center, resident counselors (RCs) are also available to provide support and to direct students toward the appropriate form of counseling. Dean of New Students Allen Hart said that he worked with David Korngold '06, Klugman's RC, "very closely from the moment Terry left campus." Hart also noted that he and other College officials spoke at length with Klugman's roommate. Korngold declined to comment.
For Hart, having accessible resources for students is crucial. "There are a lot of resources we try to make available for students," he said. "We try to be visible for people when they're not in crises so that when they are in a crisis, they have some knowledge of the available resources."
Both Hart and Lieber expressed their sympathies for the Klugman family. "Terry, in his brief time at Amherst was a very good student," said Lieber. "Our hearts go out to his family. Especially to his parents and his older sister, Maura [Klugman '05] who was an RC and was very well-respected and liked by many people on campus."
Sabato Visconti '08 noted that despite his suffering, Klugman was a valued friend. "He believed in everything he said with such fervor and honesty that it was almost noble," he said. "He was a good friend of mine, the kind that you enjoy to hang out with just so you can get into some crazy convoluted arguments, and also the kind that was absurdly trustworthy and honest."