In 2006, Cathleen was diagnosed with Bipolar Affective Disorder, after experiencing a psychotic episode where she believed that her husband had hired a hit-man to kill her.

She successfully ran a Mary Kay business until the latter part of 2009 when she suffered another mental breakdown where she became psychotic and hallucinated for four weeks straight. After doctors had exhausted all the "mix of medications" prescribed, as a last result they performed ECT (Electro Convulsive Therapy) Treatments 3 times a week for 5 weeks. The result left Cathleen without any long-term memory - or Anterograde Amnesia. This also caused permanent brain damage. Short-term memory was affected as well.

After a year and a half of recovering from her experience, she decided to spend more time focusing on the right side of her brain (the creative side) and spending less time working in the left side of her brain (the analytical side). She decided she would spend some time dreaming and figuring out what the rest of her life had in store for her.

As she was dreaming, it occurred to her, she had a lot of experience dealing with mental illness and brain trauma. Not only did she have her own experience, but she also had the experience of caring for her daughter who eight years previously had been diagnosed with a brain tumor that had destroyed her pituitary functions and part of her hypothalamus - the part that controls hunger and appetite - so she is in starvation mode all of the time. She also has hydrocephalus and a seizure disorder. Many doctors had told Cathleen and her husband that their daughter would never survive, especially her eating disorder. It has been a challenge for all of them, but they have a lot to offer others. Hope, and the basic will to live, to never give up.

Cathleen created brainbehappy.com to be a refuge and a resource for the mentally ill, brain trauma patients, and their families/caregivers. The website houses a social network, a Happiness Corner and an e-shop. It is Cathleen's hope that those who suffer with these conditions will be able to find solace and peace as they come and visit.