MS is sometimes used as a plot point by television shows. Normally, I cringe when one of my shows tries it, because I get too frustrated by what they get wrong. I don’t expect TV programs to be giant public service announcements, but I get irritated when the shows pass along misinformation and perpetuate stereotypes.
I was concerned when I found out that a character on my favorite soap opera, The Young and the Restless, was diagnosed with MS. Nikki Newman has been a character on the show for decades and endured a variety of calamities and romantic struggles. Now, she’s experiencing hand tremors, and after numerous doctors’ visits and tests, she’s been diagnosed with MS.
I rolled my eyes when I heard about this storyline. How much “dramatic license” would take place? Given all of the strange soap opera situations that have arisen over the years, would some magical fictional cure make everything go back to normal for her?
Well, the story got off to a good start. Nikki was talking to a friend who wanted to know what was wrong, and she struggled to say “I have MS”. Her friend immediately asked about a cure, and she sadly told him that there is no cure. She went on to explain about the new words in her vocabulary, like relapsing and remitting and progressive. She explained how she had probably had the disease for years, but since her symptoms would come and go, she didn’t really realize it. Then she talked about all of the discussions that were coming up in her near future about medicines and other treatment options.
Her friend was shocked to find out that she hadn’t told her love (whom she was about to remarry for the umpteenth time) that she had MS. She explained that she didn’t know how to tell him, and that she knew his first reaction would be to throw money at treatment as if it would make the illness go away.
So far, everything was sounding reasonable to me, but then the writers threw in a curveball I wasn’t expecting. She cried, “I don’t want to be seen as a diagnosis. I don’t want to be seen as a disease.” Wow. How many times have I used those exact words? How many times have I heard others use those words?
There’s plenty of time for the show to screw things up, but at least they’ve gotten the story off to a good start.
