24
COM Outlook . Spring 2015
then I continued on to seventh grade,
although I continued to miss some
school due to my chemo treatments,”
he said.
Over the next several years, as his
cancer faded into remission, Bral re-
doubled his academic efforts, earning
acceptance to Yeshiva University in
New York thanks to his participation
in a unique early admissions pro-
gram. “I attended a college prepara-
tory school that allowed you to take
a heavy course load, so I was able to
complete many of the requirements
you needed to be able to complete
high school,” he explained.
His efforts to shine academically
may have been laudable, but they
also served as way for Bral to avoid
dealing with the mounting depres-
sion he had been experiencing ever
since his initial cancer diagnosis. “I
suffered with chronic depression for
a very long time, but I was never re-
ally aware of it because of the defense
mechanisms I developed,” he ex-
plained. “I had learned how to com-
pletely numb myself and my emo-
tions until they snowballed enough
that I would experience what felt
like a nervous breakdown. It would
become so debilitating that I would
have suicidal ideations. It sounds
crazy, but it’s actually a common
occurrence among cancer survivors,
which can sometimes be attributed to
what is called survivor guilt.”
Postponing the inevitable is rarely
a wise decision, so when a conflu-
ence of factors forced Bral to his
breaking point, he knew the time had
come to confront his demons and
embrace a new way of thinking—and
living. “I didn’t begin to process my
feelings until I went to college in
New York, which was the first time I
had ever been away from home and
on my own,” he said. “I had been a
star student in high school, but when
I got to college, all of a sudden I had
a difficult time passing classes.
“Things just weren’t making
sense, and I couldn’t process the in-
formation anymore, which was very
frustrating for me. That got me even
more depressed because I didn’t
know how to handle it, so I would
seclude myself,” said Bral of his
dangerously oppressive emotional
state. “I would just disappear and
figuratively crawl under a rock. My
friends started to point my behav-
iors out to me, which made me even
more aware of them. That’s when I
began to realize I didn’t enjoy feeling
so miserable all the time.”
That realization eventually led
Bral to schedule regular visits with a
specialized psychologist, who helped
him power through his depression
and work through years of pent-up
emotions and issues. “She helped me
to completely revolutionize my life in
terms of tapping into the emotions I
didn’t allow myself to feel as a young
teen dealing with cancer,” he stated.
“I don’t know how it came up, but I
told her it felt like I had been robbed
of my childhood. Saying that was a
big breakthrough for me. I really felt
as if I had become a 65-year-old man
at the age of 11 because I was dealing
with things most people don’t deal
with until much later in life. I never
got to be a normal adolescent or even
young adult. I resented it, and I still
sometimes resent that I didn’t get to
truly live that part of my life. But I’ve
come to terms with it.”
As a teen cancer survivor, Bral
has been on a mission to assist other
teens and young adults afflicted with
the disease and provide them with
the coping strategies—and a sym-
pathetic ear—needed to help them
move past their feelings of anger
and anguish. Currently, he serves as
chairman of Teen Cancer America’s
Young People’s Advisory Committee
