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Eric Millegan Is A Brave Man

Posted by PATRICK EDABURN in Arts & Entertainment, Health, Media.
Aug 13th, 2009 | Comments

Normally here at TMV we generally discuss political issues, we sometimes discuss entertainment issues and once in a while the two subjects meld. I am not one for jumping on to celebrity causes but this is an exception to the rule.

For those who are not familiar with the name, Eric Millegan is an actor best known for his role as Zach Addy on the CBS series Bones. He is also openly gay and has been a figure in the gay rights movement.

Today however he has taken a step which I think is even braver than coming out, and certainly far more noble. He has posted videos to his Youtube Channel in which he announces that he has bipolar disorder.

Luckily he has been under treatment for the condition and things are going well. He decided to come out publicly about the situation so he could offer hope to others with the condition and because mental disorders are still one area in which discrimination and prejudice are often accepted. Indeed I think it could be argued that even more that homophobia, bias against those with mental illness is sadly commonplace.

I hope that his decision helps those out there who are in need of help and I offer my sincerest praise for his brave choice.

The first video is linked below.

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Jim_Satterfield

You're right. That is a special type of courage. I like his acting in that great ensemble cast and I really wish him the best in dealing with his problem.

kathykattenburg

I agree with what you wrote as well, Patrick. As strongly as I believe that homophobia is a very serious problem, still, I think there can be no reasonable doubt that, today, in the 21st century, it is much, much more socially acceptable, and thus easier, to come out as being gay or lesbian than to tell people -- even friends! -- that you suffer from a mental illness, or a mood disorder, which is what bipolar is.

If anyone does not know, Patty Duke is another well-known actor who has bipolar disorder. I'm sure there are many others.

I can vouch for what Millegan says about the depressive side of bipolar disorder -- how it feels. I have suffered from clinical depression for most of my life, and in the last few years it's gotten so severe that I gradually had to acknowledge to myself that I could not work anymore in any traditional sense. I can't hold a job anymore. I applied for Social Security Disability in January of this year, and on July 24, my application was approved.

This is not something I talk or write about easily, although I have referred to being depressed now and then when the subject has come up at various blog venues. And I haven't told anyone outside my immediate circle about the SSD. But if this young man (and he does look very young, although he says he is older than he looks) who stars in a well-known tv show can open himself up like that, so can I.

Father_Time

Oh good grief.

markzamen

Yes, Millegan is to be commended for "coming out" on both these characteristics. It is quite true that discrimination against gays and those who suffer from manic-depression is quite real. I suspect that Millegan and anyone else who is dealing with these issues, or knows someone who is, would be very interested in my recently released biographical novel, Broken Saint. It is based on my forty-year friendship with a gay, bipolar man, and chronicles his internal and external struggles as he battles for stability and acceptance (of himself and by others). More information on the book is available at www.eloquentbooks.com/BrokenSaint.html.

Mark Zamen, author

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