Kate Spade's suicide not only stunned the fashion world, but it seems the world in general. How could this rich, successful, always with a smile on her face person hang herself? One word: depression. Just as a fever is the sign of an infection, suicide is a symptom of depression. If you have never been clinically depressed, you cannot understand. How do I know? I suffered my first Great depression when I was 24.
Soap operas have had a lot of miscues when it comes to mental health issues.
On more than one occasion, a person who is mentally stable has found themselves held hostage in a psych facility. One soap showed a person being given electro shock therapy as punishment. In the past five years, EST has proven to be helpful and non-harmful. We are not talking lobotomy — that treatment has not been used since the 1920s, and for good reason.
Poor Sharon has been in the hospital on "The Young and the Restless." She has gone on and off her medications and blames every misdeed on her emotional issues. That is so unfair for people who deal with depression/bipolar disporder. For the most part, the only person hurt by the condition is the person who has the mood disorder. It certainly affects those around them, as they deal with the literal ups and downs of the ailment. Make no mistake — just like diabetes, a chemical imbalance is the reason. Just like insulin curbs diabetic symptoms, the proper psychiatric protocol gives the patient a life worth living.
The first soap to deal with depression was "Another World." The high energy character of Cass was diagnosed with the illness. He sought treatment, got better and went off his meds; then he went down the dark hole and finally stayed on his meds. A pattern of depression is going off of medicatoin. The proper medications make you feel so good (no they are not happy pills) that patents often think they are fixed. Not true. Medication for depression is not like an antibiotic. The medication may need to be adjusted from time to time or tweaked but for the most part the treatment is a part of one's life.
General Hospital has done a wonderful job with Sonny's bipolar problems. Maurice Benard (Sonny) suffers from this in real life. He rightfully insisted the show get it right or he would not do it. Ava's tampering with Morgan's medication and his downward spiral were spot on.
There are certain subjects that soap operas need to get right, mood disorders being one of the most important. A therapist I know treated two patients who would not go into much needed in house treatment because of a soap opera's portrayal of life during on-sight treatment. Shame on that show. Yes, soaps are for entertainment. However, they are not to cause harm. Which they often do.
I battled depression. It happened during one of the best times of my life — writing a syndicated column, with several TV contracts and a man that I loved and who loved me. Yet I still felt it. Luckily, I found the right doctor. Whether on screen or in real life, that makes all the difference. I now understand my moods. If I have what I call "the sadness" behind my eyes, or cannot make a decision as to which earring to put on first,I know it is time to get what I call a "tune up."
Trust me — life can be beautiful with depression, if you seek and find the right treatment. Also, please know that if someone you love takes their life, you could not have stopped them. A depressed person cannot reach out their hand if a life preserver is tossed their way. Remember to ask for help if you need it.
To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
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