THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 30, 1996 TAG: 9605300369
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Charlise Lyles
LENGTH: 63 lines
Murphy Brown used to be cool with me.
``Oh, that's so - so Murphy-Brown of you,'' my friends once mused as I recounted some newsroom drama from my very real life.
No longer am I flattered to be compared to the hard-driving, fictitious TV newswoman of CBS sitcom fame.
Well, Murphy Brown isn't really the offending party. It's Candice Bergen, the actress who portrays her.
In one of those up till now mildly amusing commercials, Bergen and Sprint telecommunications step over the line.
Reclining on a psychologist's couch, a ``disturbed'' Bergen says, ``I'm hearing voices.''
Of course, the voices are telling her that she'll save money on Sprint long-distance service.
The problem is that some people really do hear voices.
And those voices usually don't tell them about discounts. They tell them to jump off a bridge. Or to push somebody else off. To disconnect every lightbulb in the house. To lie down in front of oncoming traffic.
These voicehearers are the thousands of Americans with schizophrenia. They include my brother, who was stricken with the debilitating illness as a teenager.
The word is derived from the Greek schizo, meaning split, and phrenia, mind. Due to a biologically based brain disorder, the mind of a person with schizophrenia functions haphazardly, detached from reality. The result is bizarre behavior, usually not the mythical split personality.
Often, strange doings are guided by thoughts racing so fast they literally sound like someone or several people talking.
In the past 20 years, advancements in research and psychopharmacology have reduced schizophrenia from an unmanageable mental hurly burly to a highly treatable illness.
Persons with schizophrenia can get on with their lives, says researcher Dr. Daniel Weinberger.
But the Sprint commercial and other programs can perpetuate the awful stigma of mental illness.
The folks at the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill are just as offended as I am.
``Oh yes, I know exactly the one you're talking about,'' said Melissa Wajnert at NAMI's Arlington office.
``In the case of the Candice Bergen Sprint ad, hearing voices isn't a joke,'' said Wajnert. ``It's terrifying. Anyone who has experienced symptoms of schizophrenia would be affected by the commercial because it's dealt with so lightly and poking fun at something that is devastating.
``It's even terrifying to tell someone that you're hearing voices because you know it sounds crazy.''
The commercial could prevent people from seeking proper treatment, Wajnert said. Instead, they remain in the shadows, isolated, causing themselves and family members chronic misery.
Seems the mentally ill are the last bastion of the handicapped still subject to overt discrimination, abuse and ridicule. No one would put up with Bergen poking fun at people in wheelchairs to advertise Sprint.
NAMI has launched a five-year, anti-discrimination campaign to educate folks about brain disorders. Targets are political leaders, educators, the general public and, yes, entertainers. Add advertisers to the list. For more info, call NAMI at 1-800-950-NAMI. by CNB