CHARLIE SHEEN – THE MEDIA STRIKES AGAIN
Several weeks ago, I wrote a column called “NARCISSISTIC POLITITIANS AND THE MEDIA.” I wrote, “Mental illness is a disease of the brain. It is a PHYSICAL disease that manifests in abnormal feelings, beliefs, experiences, and behavior. Most people still do not realize that clinical depression, anxiety, panic disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and other mental illnesses are PHYSICAL diseases that occur in the brain. As physical a disease as cancer, diabetes, or arteriolosclerosis. People are scared of the mentally ill. It’s only natural. We fear what we don’t understand. Our vocabulary illustrates these fears:
CRAZY, LOONEY-TUNES, NUTS, MISSING SOME MARBLES, DAFT, LOOPY, SCREWY, WIGGED-OUT”
So now we have Charlie Sheen. The media is quick to interview him, then quick to make fun of him. Quick to display videos on the major networks, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, showing him ranting, raging, illogically out of control. From what I can tell, he is displaying manic symptoms of wild indiscriminate behavior, substance abuse, and a severe lack of judgment. I’ve never met him, so I can’t diagnose him. BUT, I do believe that he is experiencing a manic episode that will soon turn into a depression. He needs help. Unfortunately, as an adult, no one can force him to seek treatment unless he is a threat to himself or others. No one seeks treatment during a manic episode. It feels too good! But help is sought during the inevitable depression that follows. BUT IN THE MEANTIME, what kind of world are we living in that this is ENTERTAINMENT?t It only proves to me again that mental illness is still misunderstood, feared, and therefore ridiculed. You wouldn’t watch a blind person interviewed on all the major news networks, followed by laughing at him for bumping into things. THINK ABOUT IT.
Please, educate yourself about mental illness. Pray that Charlie Sheen gets the help he needs. Mental illness hurts everyone. Ignorance makes it worse.
LIFE GOES ON©
Kathleen Cairns, Psy.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in West Hartford, Connecticut. She works with adults, adolescents, and couples. You may call her at 860-236-5555 to make an appointment. She is the author of “The Psychotherapy Workbook.” You may email her at kathleen.cairns@mac.com and she will try to answer as many of your questions as possible.
www.kathleencairns.com
Life goes on… and every day matters…
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I’m glad this article is here. Unacceptable, narcissistic behavior has become so easily tolerated by many of us, because we see it all the time on “reality” TV and social network sites, that few people actually recognize mental illness. (Read “The Narcissism Epdiemic.”) I, too, believe, that this guy is going through a very dangerous episode of untreated mental illness. I also suspect this illness has supported his drug addition, which in turn has made it more difficult for him to recognize his own mental health problems. For people to be watching this man’s destruction as if it were entertainment, says so much about how detached from reality and lacking in human compassion many of us have become. This whole story is a tragedy….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyKR2-A0KPU