Ten years ago I was flipping channels and stumbled upon the TV Guide network. An actor named Joe Pantoliano was being interviewed. I’m sure you would recognize him as easily as I did; he has appeared in many of our favorites: The Goonies, Risky Business
He was talking about his fight with clinical depression, something that many people have struggled with, including myself since my teen years. He said something that I had never considered before then: that an illness of the brain is just as valid as an illness of any other part of the body. He spoke about how when actors are hired for movies or TV programs, they are insured health-wise, and some companies refused to insure him for depression, just in case he had “an episode.” Pantoliano pointed out how, if he had something like heart disease or cancer, then it wouldn’t have been a problem to insure him, but a stigma still exists for mental illness. As a result, he now declines to play a role for any company that refuses to acknowledge that clinical depression is real.
I had never perceived depression like that before then. Truth is, public understanding of mental illness is still a newborn babe. When I was a sophomore in high school the lead of the popular 
alternative rock band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, shot himself in the head; it was revealed soon after that he suffered from depression (bi-polar, if I recall correctly). I will never forget an acquaintance who declared, “What does he have to be depressed about?” (Then again this ******** also said, “I’m glad he’s dead, he was such a freak.”) That’s the misunderstanding about depression. It’s a language fallacy. Some days we all say, “Damn, I feel so depressed about…” We all have down, dark blue days. But that is NOT the same thing as clinical depression. That’s why I think it should be called something else . . . but then again, the term “mental illness” doesn’t rank too high on most people’s registers, either. People who have it are often too embarrassed or ashamed to speak of it. I never have been, for whatever reason. Maybe because I knew I was kind of a weirdo anyway. 
But I quickly discovered that once I shared my experiences with other people, then they would open up about their own struggles with ongoing depression (or Schizophrenia, or any mental disorder), or the struggles of someone in their family. I always knew that if people with mental illness didn’t talk about it, how would the world ever be educated about it, much less accept it?
That’s exactly what Joe Pantoliano is doing with his organization and the documentary he directed called No Kidding? Me Too! (I strongly encourage you to visit his website! There is also a Facebook page.) He’s opening up and sharing his experiences with the world at large, not only over media but also in person (including with military and Capitol Hill). Watch the video below for a glimpse:
“Mental disease is the only thing you can be diagnosed with and get yelled at for having . . . Why is that?” – Joe Pantiolano (I would add addiction to that, too, assuming it really is a disease. The jury’s still out on that one, I guess.)
Edited to add: OOhhh!!! You MUST watch this video also . . . Joey speaks SO eloquently and intelligently and sensitively about mental illness. I was just going to add a couple quotes, but almost everything he says is wonderful.
It was 
helped me survive high school.
Secondly, a holiday that pre-dates Christianity does not equal Satanism; it’s Pagan, and if people have a problem with that then Christmas trees shouldn’t be in public school rooms, either. Whether banning the tradition or not (just like “Secret Santas,” but I never discovered why that happened), the wise choice would have been to educate students about Halloween’s true origins. But this was an American public school, after all.
, that I had found on sale that year in my university bookstore; he had written in the preface about his grandfather (who’s last name was McFeeley, and was also Mr. Rogers’ middle name – sound familiar?) and I shared my own feelings about my own grandfather. Less than a week later arrived an envelope with a red trolley graphic in the upper left-hand corner. He had sent a typed letter addressed to me and my comments personally, signed in blue ink! I couldn’t have been more excited! I laminated the letter so nothing could damage it. 
3. It’s okay to feel bad. Is there anything worse when you feel upset, whether sad or angry, and someone tells you not to feel that way? That just gets me even more irate. Mr. Rogers taught us that it’s okay to feel whatever feeling you’re having; it’s how you ACT on those feelings that matters.
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