Disorder's stigma decreasing

Stories of this kind seem to be showing up with increased regularity. 

I was home on Memorial Day, having opted out from the more traditional barbecue by the lake. By chance, I had the radio tuned to WBBR, the Bloomberg all business station. This being a holiday, all they were running was a series of feature stories that had aired before. 

One of them caught my attention. 

It was a piece about a female folk singer who had experienced the worst of bipolar disorder. She had been hospitalized three times before getting on the appropriate stabilizing drugs. 

The reason her experience is newsworthy is that she has chosen to speak openly about her illness and her recovery, both in her original songs and in interviews about her music.

What strikes me most about this is that the story ran on an all business radio station. I see this as a sign that the movement to end the stigma associated with mental illness has legs and is going places.  

I can’t claim to be versed in the entire history of this progression. I know that Mike Wallace was a pioneer in speaking openly and honestly about his depression.  

I know that over the years other celebrities have chosen to come forward. But when WBBR chooses to air an account of the actions of this brave young woman on a Monday morning, it seems to me there is something really going on.

No doubt, the ready access to information made possible by the Internet is facilitating this process. 

There are three Facebook pages that regularly provide updates to my newsfeed. All three call for increased openness on the subject of mental illness — an independent movie that has spawned a community, an active non-profit based in Great Britain and the page devoted to the work of comic Maria Bamford. 

I suppose I spend more time immersed in this kind of dialogue than most. Nevertheless, there is a trend here. I believe it is for the best. 

It can only make it easier for those who are falling to get help earlier rather than later, and it can only make the millions who face the struggle against mental illness feel less alone.

Josh Greenfield is an author who lives in Riverdale. His most recent book is “Homeward Bound: a novella of idle speculation.” Point of view is a column open to all.