Well played, Catherine Zeta-Jones
I don’t usually pay much attention to celebrity news, but the announcement that Catherine Zeta-Jones has checked herself into the hospital to treat her bipolar disorder made me sit up and take notice. Yes, yes, it’s probably posh, since that’s how movie stars roll, and she doesn’t have to worry about how much it costs, ditto. But she’s not telling the world that she’s going to a spa. She’s not even pretending that she’s going to rehab — which these days is not only barely stigmatized, it’s practically a noble gesture. No, she’s being right up front about it: she’s been voluntarily admitted to the psych ward, because she’s had a shitty year and she’s slipped into a crippling depression. To be specific, she says she has Bipolar Disorder, which used to be called Manic Depression — she’s got Bipolar II, which is more about the depression, as compared to Bipolar I, which is more about the manic, but they both suck. Mood disorders do that. They suck.
Here’s the thing: what she’s got is treatable. In fact, it sounds like she’s had it for a while and knows exactly what she needs to do to manage it. And what she’s got is more common than most people realize. Not as common as unipolar depression, the common cold of mental illness, but still, it’s out there. And if it takes a glamorous actress saying, “Yeah, I’ve got this, and it sucks, and I’m going to get it taken care of” to take some of the mystery and fear out of it and encourage other people to get diagnosed and treated, hand that woman another Oscar for playing the most important role of her life.
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There was an article a while back in the Daily Mail (I think, but where else? Ugh.) claiming that having depression was just a trendy thing to do and people could totes just snap out of it if they weren’t so self-indulgent.
Obviously that’s rubbish, but what was more interesting was a discussion on the Time To Change facebook page about a comment in the article that people “wanted” to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder (because it was glamorous). I thought part of the reason for that was that bipolar disorder is seen as something that people understand–you can tell your family or boss that you have manic depression, and they’ll both know what you mean and take it seriously. Whereas yer common-or-garden depression, now, that’s pretty much par for the course, isn’t it? Buck up, maybe try getting some exercise, you know? We still expect you at your desk at 9 every morning.
Describing it as the common cold of mental illness is perfect, given the prevalence and how mundane it feels, but in some ways it’s more like the flu; everyone who has a cold thinks they have it, but it is SO MUCH WORSE than that when you actually have it.
So props to Catherine Zeta Jones for being honest, and I don’t want to take away from how difficult that must have been for her and how valuable it is to visibility, but I wonder how many artists (in particular) see “standard” depression as something ubiquitous they just need to struggle through. It seems so prevalent in interviews and yet there are comparatively few serious news stories (Hello! etc doesn’t count) about people being treated for less “glamorous” mental ilnesses. I was so impressed with Michael Yardy for leaving the England cricket squad on ground of being depressed–not citing any additional mitigating circumstances, just saying that was enough.