behind the closet door

I've seen a bunch of people link to this story and it made me think about a conversation I had recently with the_axel regarding Coming Out Day. For those who don't feel like clicking through all the links, a woman who had been diagnosed with chronic depression by her doctor is claiming that she was cut off from her disability benefits because she posted pictures of herself on Facebook doing something other than sitting in her basement in the dark and listening to Morrissey.

Regardless of whether or not one believes her side of the story, it's pretty obvious what the primary objective of any insurance company is going to be in a case like this. They are going to want to get out of paying benefits to one of their clients. What interests me most about the news coverage is that a lot of people who comment on the case appear to think that the insurance company is completely justified in judging somebody's mental health based on the fact that there is evidence they once left the house and smiled in public. That tells me that in spite of the fact that depression is one of the most common mental health problems in the Western Hemisphere, very few people who are not themselves depressed know anything about it and how it works.

I suffer from chronic depression. Do I go to parties? Hells, yeah. And there have been days when it's been bad enough where the thought of going to a party made me burst into tears. There have also been many days it was bad enough that I couldn't go to work. Do the people I work with know about that? Probably not, unless they are a) really observant b) know more about depression than the average man on the street and c) are really adept at putting two and two together. And probably not even then. I put a lot of effort into being "normal" when I'm at work. Most of the time I am kinda sorta normal. That doesn't mean I'm not depressed.

So what does this have to do with Coming Out Day? Well it happens to be one of those things that I always make fun of it because I'm an asshole and because I tend to think it's funny when I see the same individuals coming out year after year to the same people. But although my poor social skills lend themselves to mocking the execution, that doesn't mean I lack respect for the concept. From what I know of Coming Out Day, it was initially proposed by Harvey Milk[1] as a way of normalizing being gay. If queer people are your doctors, plumbers, teachers - and more importantly family members - it becomes a lot less easy to dismiss "the gays" as those alien creatures who are out to steal your precious bodily fluids. Most importantly it means people who are growing up gay can look into the world and see healthy normal human beings with lives instead of having to rely on half-baked gossip and Jerry Springer episodes.

Which leads me to wonder. How useful would it be to have a Coming Out Day for people who's are wired differently from the norm in terms of how their brains work?

The common perception among "normal" people is that being crazy makes one dangerous. Their only education about something like say schizophrenia is reading the very occasional news story about delusional out-patients attacking people on the bus with sharp objects.[2] And I can't help but wonder if it would change their views on mental health issues to know that one of the co-workers they have been working beside for years just happens to be bi-polar. Or schizophrenic. Or has multiple personalities. Or has sociopathic traits.[3]

What do you think? Would it make it easier to function in the world of people who are biochemically and neurologically average if we approached mental, emotional and neurological differences the same way we did differences in sexual orientation?[4] Would it make life easier to be able to just tell your boss that you need to take a couple of days to get your new meds adjusted instead of claiming that you have the flu again? Would it make any difference at all?

What do you think? And if you were "crazy" - would you be willing to stick your neck out?

[1] From what I understand he didn't always manage to live up to his own standards. I don't think it makes the concept any less admirable. In some ways it actually makes his contribution more apt because it shows just how tough actually walking the walk really is.
[2] Really, sane people do this shit way more often.
[3] Real life examples. I swear I have no idea why people confide in me with this shit.
[4] This rhetorical question is brought to you by living in a country where being gay is considered normal.