Yeah, yeah, yeah – I know I already said that once this week about Lindsay Lohan, but I just read Dr. David Kipper’s “Mel’s Yells for Heath Care Reform” and, guess what?

He posed the same idea about Mel Gibson.

It’s certainly not uncommon for celebrities to feel drawn toward a cause and use their fame to help bring attention to the situation. We’ve seen such celebrity advocacy like Alicia Keys, Bon Jovi, Halle Berry, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

Yet, famous face, resources, and desire aside (all of which are certainly important factors in the success of a celebrity advocate’s work), one crucial element is the ability to identify with those folks for whom you’re advocating.

Such is the case with actress Glenn Close, whose sister has bipolar disorder; actor Joe Pantoliano, who has dealt with mental illness himself; and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition‘s Paige Hemmis, who got a handle on her depression just a couple of years ago.

According to Dr. Kipper, Gibson has the same kind of experience – the same kind of inside knowledge, if you will – that makes a good advocate, and his celebrity status could only work in the advocacy’s favor:

Gibson, because of his celebrity status, has the unique and timely opportunity to become the spokesperson for mental illness, not spousal abuse. Mel should become the poster boy for compassionate treatment for the mentally ill, not the victim of its unfortunate consequences.

Compassion. Who would’ve thought?

So, Mel Gibson as a mental health advocate makes sense. I think.

However, what makes more sense than the idea itself were the points about mental illness Dr. Kippler made; or, the fact that he made the points.

And, maybe “makes sense” isn’t the right way to describe it. Maybe the better word is “smart.” Taking something as widely witnessed as Mel Gibson’s recent controversial behavior and using it as a stage from which to educate all those folks (or, at least those reading his article) who don’t really get what’s going on with mental illness is, well, smart.

Some of the mental health facts and ideas about our current mental health treatments Dr. Kippler pointed out?

• “Bipolar disorders, created by an imbalance in Dopamine, should be treated as a medical illness and not a behavioral malady.”
• “Both [diabetes and bipolar disorder] are diseases that need to be given the same respect by those around them, those treating them, and especially those insuring them.”
• “If our healthcare system could allocate resources for mental illness like they do for diabetes and other chronic diseases we could actually successfully treat depression, mania, and anxiety disorders proactively and not in its current reactive or punitive manner.”
• “Getting the insurance industries to understand this relationship [between two diagnoses; in this case, bipolar disorder as the primary diagnosis and mania and abusive behavior as the secondary behaviors] is fundamental to moving the ball forward in treating mental illness that has traditionally been seen as bad behavior, instead of the result of an underlying medical condition.”

These are points that might not otherwise have been read by the general public. Slap Mel Gibson’s name in the article title and voila.

What do you think? If indeed Mel Gibson has bipolar disorder (and, by his own admission, he has manic depression), does he also have the makings for a good mental health advocate?

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Dr Antoine Spiteri (August 27, 2010)

From Psych Central's website:
PsychCentral (August 27, 2010)

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What Does It Take To Be A Celebrity Mental Health Advocate? | Celebrity Psychings (August 30, 2010)

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    Last reviewed: 27 Aug 2010