Mental illness out in the open

In the United Kingdom, another Catherine (not just the future Queen) is also in the news but for a different reason. Mental illness is something that no one likes to openly talk about. It is an unknown and frightening territory. Losing control over one’s mind can mean not just loss of dignity but also an annihilation of your self and your self-perception.

It sometimes could turn into a debilitating disease which can leave the patient helpless and segregated from society, both physically and mentally. We all carry a stereotypical image of those who are mentally ill: unkempt and unwanted. They become social pariahs.
It is a disease of the desperate and yet, it is often associated with high achievers, who often push the boundaries, work hard and then, as is sometimes romanticised, succumb to the darkness. Like cancer was once upon a time, mental illness is confined to no-go areas. It hardly crops up in public discourse, and even though one of the biggest problems of the modern world is depression, neither it nor its possible cures, are discussed very much — leading to complex and terrifying situations, such as the recent tragedy of the two sisters found living in isolation in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
However, this happens everywhere and not just in India. Possibly there is a stigma attached to admitting that you are mentally less-than-fit (whatever that may mean!) and people struggle to appear “normal”, when indeed they might be collapsing under the weight of their inner devils.
Which is why when the gorgeous Catherine Zeta Jones admitted that she suffers from bipolar disorder everyone was pleasantly surprised and full of admiration for her. This has obviously been a brave but well-thought step. Zeta Jones is a beautiful, elegant, high-profile actor married to the iconic “Greed is good” Gordon Gekko alias Michael Douglas. She has, so far, led a charmed life. From her childhood in Swansea, Wales, she strove to get what she wanted, namely good roles and enormous recognition. By the time she was 15, she was already playing the lead in the show 42nd Street. And later she won her way into British hearts with the Yorkshire Television production, The Darling Buds of May, which made her a household name. This was the right platform to push her career in cinema. She made the switch from UK to Hollywood almost painlessly. Perhaps she is best remembered in her early years as Elena, opposite Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas in The Mask of Zorro and, of course, for her stunning and energetic performance as Velma Kelly in Chicago, along with Renee Zellweger.
In 2000, she married Michael Douglas, and went on to become mother of two children while continuing her excellent performances. It possibly could not have got any better, and she was even awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire when the Queen announced her birthday honours list.
This could have been maintained as a seamlessly successful story but it was not. In the last few years Douglas was diagnosed with throat cancer and went in for aggressive chemotherapy and radiation. Though there is a 25-year age gap between Zeta Jones and Douglas, she has always said that she fell in love with him at first sight. It is a close relationship and no doubt the stress of coping with Douglas’ illness may have taken its toll on Zeta Jones’ already fragile mental health.
Though she helped her husband pull through the crucial cure, she admitted that she had fallen apart and checked into a mental health clinic very openly. This act, in fact, has drawn praise rather than opprobrium because people are increasingly aware that mental health needs to be championed and those who suffer from any illness should look for a solution rather than trying to hide it. Bipolar disorder can be very disruptive because the patient swings, sometimes dangerously between very high almost manic phases to very low moods. Zeta Jones has now confessed that she has been suffering from the disease for a while and the positive side is that the latest pictures which show her already back at work will go a long way in removing the stigma around the disease.
She said that if she can even help one person recognise the problem and recover from it, she will feel going public was worth it. In the last few years, the UK has seen celebrities coming out and discussing their illnesses and each time there is palpable social impact: Kylie Minogue and Jade Goody’s cancer led to an increase in check-ups and diagnosis. These are the sort of champions that India needs today to open up the tightly shut world of personal illnesses.

Meanwhile, while Zeta Jones may have done the right thing, latest UK government statistics show that there are some people who try to use “illness”, sometimes falsely, as an excuse to drop out of employment and onto incapacity benefits. These are the ongoing woes of a welfare state. Right now the UK department for work and pensions is complaining that over £7 billion are spent on people living on benefits. While much of the expense is justified, some culprits are refusing to work for a variety of astonishing reasons, which include a lack of “scholastic skills” and obesity. Thousands more, in fact are drawing on state support without even being checked by a doctor, or producing a certificate (sounds familiar?).
More than 3,000 claim they suffer from headaches while double the number complain of “dizziness or giddiness”. Still others say they suffer from “lack of co-ordination” and there are even those with “symptoms and signs of emotional state”.
The benefits which can go upto around £90 a week per person are tempting enough for these adults to use incredibly childish ploys: people are claiming for acne, for “nail disorders” and there are those who are unable to find employment because of their blisters… Can you imagine the excuses if India ever became a welfare state? The imagination boggles!

Kishwar Desai can be contacted at kishwardesai@yahoo.com