A rose by any other name

A series of PSAs is currently running on network television. One of the spots features Glenn Close and her sister, who suffers from bipolar disorder.

This campaign makes me cringe. At first, I couldn't articulate what my objection was, but in the last few days, a complete thought formed before the 30 seconds had elapsed. Here's the thing: If you have to run commercials telling people not to be prejudiced and not to stigmatize the crazy people, you'll just make people more aware that the differently-brained are not in your league.

The people in the PSAs are all wearing T-shirts that label them with their respective illnesses. Labels are bad--I get that, but why not make the point that's attempting to be made by instead having the shirts dissolve into regular, generic shirts at the end of the spot? Isn't the point also supposed to be that people who are ill are really just like everyone else?

I wondered about what would happen if I walked around wearing a t-shirt with the word "BIPOLAR" emblazoned across the front. Would people laugh? Avert their eyes? Smirk? Cut a wide berth?

For a while, I seriously considered getting the word BIPOLAR put on my license plates. My state has front and back plates, so anyone around me would have to take a moment to think about just how badly they wanted to rush me through the intersection or give me the finger for driving the speed limit.Most people have absolutely no accurate idea of what the illness really is.

While doing some research recently, I came across the following list of symptoms:

• tiredness,
• decreased mental work capacity,
• weakened concentration,
• sleep disturbances
• sensory disturbances
• mania,
• psychosis,
• fatigue,
• memory impairment,
• depression,
• irritability,
• personality changes.

I have every one of these symptoms, but this list is not describing bipolar disorder. These are the symptoms of B12 deficiency, a condition I am currently being treated for.

Now, if I walked around in a plain white shirt with the words "PERNICIOUS ANEMIA" across the chest, what reaction would await me? Would they be the same as those associated with the BIPOLAR shirt?

If so, why does it matter what the etiology of the illness is, when the resulting symptoms are essentially the same? Why isn't the AdCouncil running spots to stop the stigma surrounding vitamin deficiency?

Why, indeed. Because we live in a world that segregates illnesses into categories. There are those that it's OK to have, and others that invite suspicion and disdain.

After I read up on B12 deficiency, I once again wondered if, in fact, my bipolar diagnosis was accurate. Once again, a flash of rage passed through me as I realized that it just shouldn't matter. Symptoms are symptoms and illness is just illness.

Just I was wrapping up my self-education, I read this line:
Bipolar disorder appears to genetically co-segregate with the hereditary B12-deficiency disorder pernicious anemia.

In order to get pernicious anemia, you have to already have the genetics built in, but the onset may be faster in people who don't eat meat. I had to look up the word co-segregate; it means the two conditions are inherited together. In other words, the redundancy meant I was screwed either way.