NPR host, Michel Martin, started her recent commentary on Charlie Sheen by acknowledging that she was probably the 10,000th person to feel compelled to comment publicly on his saga and America's reaction to it. I guess I'm going to be number 10,001.
I don't think there's any need to provide background. Unless you've been living in a cave, there is no way you could have missed the increasingly outrageous stories of drugs, alcohol, sexual exploits, and arrogant, nonsensical rants that have emerged over the last couple of weeks. I'm not sure anyone believes Charlie is in control of his behavior anymore. He seems to be hurtling toward a catastrophic end. In fact, it has been reported that news outlets have been busily preparing Mr. Sheen's obituary. That's how certain it appears that he is on a path to destruction.
At the same time that members of the news media are putting final touches on their draft obituaries, the entertainment arms of some of these same media outlets are having a field day at Charlie Sheen's expense. It's hard to sign onto the internet or turn on the radio or TV and NOT hear someone making fun of Charlie's latest rant or compromising position. And, you know, I'm just not finding it funny.
While most of us aren't qualified to make a diagnosis, I think we can all see that something is terribly wrong. If Charlie Sheen was suffering from cancer, he might receive a more sympathetic treatment from the public. If he was walking around with the unfortunate and unsightly evidence of his disease clearly visible to us all - a great grapefruit of a tumor protruding from his body; or a bald head and radiation burns - we'd find it unthinkable to poke fun. We'd offer help and prayers; comment on the pain his family must be experiencing as they watch him suffer; and we'd worry about the trauma his children will experience if they lose their father too soon to an awful disease.
But we have a different attitude towards mental illness than physical illness. We blame the victims and their families for the disease, we seek distance, and we ridicule.
It's really no wonder that so many people who are mentally ill choose to suffer in silence, and I guess that's why I'm writing about Charlie Sheen here, on my blog about Emma. We ask ourselves daily why Emma didn't reach out for help - let people know what was going on in her head; and maybe Charlie Sheen's fate offers us a clue. After all, it's not the first time we've seen this. Lindsay Lohan has provided gossip and comic fodder for months prior to Charlie's unraveling; and Brittany Spears' mental health crisis entertained our nation for a couple of years before that.Why would anyone speak up if they thought the world would forever see them as flawed and a joke?
Some celebrities are trying to change these attitudes by sharing personal struggles with mental illness and addiction that they had, heretofore, kept private. By honestly telling their own stories of struggle, they have controlled those stories, and the result is a sensitive and compassionate portrayal of dealing with diseases that others can't see and don't understand. I hope their stories help change our attitudes, so that people with mental illness can reach out for help and treatment and can expect to be treated with dignity and respect.
Click here to listen to Pete Wentz's (Fallout Boy) compelling story.
Click here to listen to Max Bemis of Say Anything tell his story.
