Moderator at 1:29pmET- Welcome Denise Mclean! Thanks for joining us! Denise Mclean at 1:30pmET- Hi to everyone. Thank you for joining me today. Look forward to chatting with you. Moderator at 1:30pmET- Let's begin... Moderator at 1:31pmET- Sara Boyer asks: " What made A.J. decide that it was time for him to get help? " Denise Mclean at 1:32pmET- I believe he realized that he could not cope with the lifestyle and control it on his own anymore. There was also an incident that occurred the morning before he called me that day, Where he had some words with Kevin because he did not show up for some event they had schedule, and Kevin and he got into a argument, and i think that kind of brought to his attention the fact that he was letting everyone down. Shenna O' Connor from sympatico.ca at 1:33pmET- During AJ's time in rehab, has he rediscovered some of the Alex in him? Denise Mclean at 1:34pmET- Definitely he has rediscovered Alex hopefully now the personalities will be in the right order, so to speak, meaning that Alex will be the primary personality and A.J. will be the secondary personality or stage persona only. That is a goal of his. Samantha Davis from proxy.aol.com at 1:34pmET- Do you really believe that the rehab has helped A.J./Alex and that he now knows how to deal with such fame? Denise Mclean at 1:35pmET- No, i think that he realizes that he 's got to / It's like the proverbail getting onto the horse once you've fallen off. He knew he was going to have to get back into it eventually. Circumstances are such that he needs to rejoin the group and finish out his obligation, and at that point, once the obligation has been fulfilled if he chooses to take some time for himself, he will. Moderator at 1:36pmET- Leslie Andino asks: " Denise, how is AJ coping with the death of his grandmother and how has is break up with Amanda affected his emotional struggle?" Denise Mclean at 1:38pmET- His breakup really has a brief thing, as he moved on from that pretty quickly actually and didn't date for a while. He wanted to step back from it, and i think he got over it pretty quickly. As far as coping with the death of his grandmother, part f what he did in rehab was o actually attend grieving sessions to work through that, and that helped him immnsely. Moderator at 1:38pmET- Lori asks: " Did you find it hard to raise your son by yourself as a single parent? " Denise Mclean at 1:39pmET- Yes (Laughs). That is difficult. It's difficult for any single parent to raise a child on thier own, whether it be father or mother. And i believe that the we have for each other helped us both grow up. Moderator at 1:39pmET- June asks: " Why are you going public?" Denise Mclean at 1:40pmET- Two reasons: one is to give back and thank the public for the immense positive respone that he got for having the courage to do what he did and seek help; and secondly, to hopefully reach parents, children, adults suffering from the same type of disease and help them to realize they're not alone and there is support out there for them. Moderator at 1:41 pmET- Momsafan2 writes: "Denise, the members of the fanclub are so very proud of your son. His admission of being human only served to help so many others even some in the chat room itself. As a mother myself I am so proud of what you have done to support Alex as well as for them all being honest with thier fans. They all have our undying support. What advice can you give to young ones who may wonder if they are depressed?" Denise Mclean at 1:42pmET- Definitely to talk to someone, maybe start with a counselor in school, definitely your parents, a teacher if you're comfortable, have a good relationship with one of the teachers, to start there, maybe, and just talk to someone and hopefully that will grow, and if there is a problem, someone can lead them in the right direction to a professional. BaCkStReEt FrEaK...lesley smi at 1:42pmET- were you surprised about the outpour of emotion by the fans around the world? initially, yes. One of the first questions that my son asked me once he was in rehab was how the public reacted. He was worried. And when i told him how positive the response was, he was very relieved. And then i also brought some of the letters with me when i first visited him to show him some of the impact. And i think he still even until today is very, very appreciative and amazed at the response. And he told me that he didn't realize what an impact he would have, and he's grateful that he can have that impact. This interview will continue on next page.... |
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