Drama Versus Reality: Balancing Entertainment with Education

By John Schneider
Special to EpilepsyUSA
Posted: August 29, 2006

The America soap opera – a.k.a. daytime drama – explores the situations of our lives in often dramatic and sometimes even outlandish ways. The plots are often open-ended and more likely than not lead to further developments to keep us hooked. The imagined lives of people in these dramas are often extremely complex and usually incredibly interesting. For some viewers, it's easy to get tangled up in the strange circumstances of these larger-than-life characters. It's also easy to lose perspective on what's really possible and what's not. For most of us the answer is to simply suspend our disbelief.

Soap operas explore themes that take ordinary lives and exaggerate them to appear plausible, but make them dramatic and entertaining. Yes, a common cold can lead to a rare disease that turns someone's skin a different color. Long-lost relatives pop back into everyone's lives. Amnesia runs rampant. Good people turn bad, and bad people lurk in the background ready to blackmail anyone over anything. And don't even start with the complications of love and lust in a small town where everyone knows your name.

Obviously, television programs are a powerful influence in our lives. Entertainment, by its very nature, requires dramatic plots and characterizations to hold our interest long enough to hang on through a few commercials. However, do these televised dramatizations help or hurt our understanding and appreciation of the human condition in all its forms? Can viewers suspend disbelief so much that they begin to actually believe what they see and hear? Do our collective perceptions get shaped by dramatic portrayals?

On The Young and the Restless, Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) is diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy — the first time a lead actor on a television series has recurring seizures. The character's symptoms, diagnosis, and method of handling his epilepsy have raised much discussion among people with the condition.

Last year, during an interview on a major late-night television talk show, a famous actor talked about his experience when someone had a seizure in his presence. "Thank goodness, I knew what to do," he said. "I put a shoe horn into the person's mouth so they wouldn't swallow their tongue."

Millions of people heard him describe the worst thing anyone could possibly do when someone experiences a seizure! And for those who have epilepsy, it was a horrifying moment they knew would contribute to the continuing misunderstanding and stigma associated with epilepsy.

So, when the Epilepsy Foundation was presented with an opportunity to collaborate with CBS – and its number-one daytime drama, The Young and the Restless – to have a modicum of influence on a program dealing with epilepsy, it jumped at the opportunity. More than six million people view the program every day.

One of the major characters of the famous daytime drama, "Victor Newman," would be diagnosed with epilepsy. In addition, the actor portraying the character with epilepsy, Eric Braeden, was to be featured in a 10-second "CBS Cares" public service announcement advising viewers to visit the Epilepsy Foundation's website (www.epilepsyfoundation.org) or to call the toll-free number (1-888-886-EPILEPSY) for more information about epilepsy.

"We were extremely pleased with CBS' decision to partner with us to help bring epilepsy out of the shadows by associating the condition with one of the network's most renowned programs and famed actors," said Eric Hargis, president and CEO of the Epilepsy Foundation.

CBS was also pleased to use the program to raise awareness about epilepsy, and they wanted to make certain the Epilepsy Foundation would assist in making sure the story would be put into the proper perspective for viewers. They, too, were concerned the dramatization of epilepsy could be misinterpreted by viewers. CBS wanted the Epilepsy Foundation to help viewers understand the true nature of epilepsy (and seizures) without making the story less dramatic.

Oh yes, the story! During the past several months, The Young and the Restless – or Y&R as it's frequently called – showed the character's dramatic symptoms, but nobody knew what was happening to him. And then, the medical diagnosis was revealed in July. Victor Newman had temporal lobe epilepsy, or TLE.

But there's more! Prior to the fictionalized diagnosis, the character was experiencing strange and unexplained changes in his behavior. To those around him, he seemed to be transformed from a manipulative and ruthless businessman to someone who seemed to be much more gentle and kind. Unfortunately, his transformation was also punctuated by blackouts and hallucinations.

Let's put the program on pause for a moment and consider whether the character's symptoms are plausible. Well, for the most part, TLE is one of the most common forms of epilepsy and the portrayed symptoms are rare – but not impossible to occur. Actually, about seventy-five percent of patients with TLE experience simple partial seizures which may include such symptoms as: a mixture of thoughts, emotions, and feelings that are hard to describe; sudden emergence of old memories or feelings of strangeness in familiar surroundings; hallucinations of voices, music, smells, or tastes, and feelings of unusual fear or joy.What might happen in the future to a character like Victor as a result of his condition? Well, approximately half the people with TLE could have generalized tonicclonic or grand mal seizures causing convulsions for a short time (generally less than a minute). The seizures characteristic of TLE often begin in the deeper parts of the temporal lobe (part of the limbic system) which control emotions and memory. Memory problems may develop over time in people with this syndrome. Treatment is with medication or surgery, or in some cases, with special devices and procedures.

So, how accurate was the character's portrayal? With more than 80 different types of classified seizures, the writers took dramatic license to make their story more interesting. According to some neurologists, it may be possible to experience the type of seizures portrayed by the character, but it's also extremely rare.

It's important to remember the character's epilepsy is fictionalized, along with some of his extreme reactions, to help a soap opera storyline. One of the reasons for the Epilepsy Foundation to collaborate with CBS was to help make certain that viewers didn't walk away from the program with the impression that the symptoms of the character's epilepsy are common or actually beneficial to someone's outlook on life.

Most people have never seen a seizure, so the character's portrayal could give the impression seizures are not harmful. However, would it negatively impact public perception if the character had acted out one of the more violent seizures, such as a grand mal? It's hard to say, but it's also important for viewers to realize the story isn't over.

And so the plot thickens, as they say, when Victor decides to discontinue taking his prescribed medication without consulting his doctor or his family. Will Victor's refusal to be treated send an equally important lesson and message to the public? Let's hope so.

While the character contemplates stopping his antiseizure medications, it's important for people with any chronic condition such as epilepsy to always confer with their doctor and fully understand the risks and benefits before stopping a recommended treatment. The character could lead a successful, seizure-free life with appropriate treatment and medication. Without medication or treatment, who knows what will happen next?

Unfortunately, there are a lot of questions because soap operas tend to raise a lot of questions. Fortunately, the writers of the program know the answers but don't like to tell because it may ruin the surprise.

Lynn Latham, head writer for Y&R, is no exception. She said it was important to her that she learned about epilepsy before writing the episodes dealing with it. Therefore, she consulted with neurologists before the script was written and the segments were produced. She also talked to a couple of close friends who have epilepsy. She also spent considerable time exploring the Epilepsy Foundation's website.

"While we may take occasional dramatic license to keep the drama continuing and compelling, we always want to make sure that our facts about epilepsy are accurate," explained Latham.

With so many different types of epilepsy and seizures, how does a writer choose one to write about? First and foremost, despite the seriousness of any lifethreatening condition, characters in a drama seem to experience what many of us don't. On a side note, it must be awful for someone to be trapped in the small town of a soap opera for more than a day. The constant barrage, intensity and exaggeration of everyday events would push most of us over the edge.

Still, for those living with epilepsy, it's frustrating to see their condition trivialized or incorrectly portrayed in front of millions of people. So, this raises another question. How do we balance our desire for an accurate portrayal of characters with epilepsy against the television industry's need to be entertaining?

While the debate continues about whether an incorrect portrayal does more harm than good in elevating the public's awareness and understanding of epilepsy, the dialogue of the doctor to explain epilepsy in the recent episode may have been a good counter-balance. The doctor's diagnosis of the character was provided in fairly accurate and easy-to-understand terms, and arguably beneficial to raising awareness. The doctor tells Victor he may have had a seizure during an EEG test. Surprised, Victor can't understand how a seizure was possible since he was wide awake and aware during the entire test. The doctor then tells Victor he could have been conscious while experiencing a seizure caused by temporal lobe epilepsy.

Later, the doctor explains to Victor's daughter that her father has been experiencing simple partial seizures which include disturbances to hearing, vision, smell or taste. He tells her there are many different types of seizures. Her father's seizures could become more serious, and could lead to a loss of consciousness, so it's important to know proper first aid procedures. The program also reminds us that seizures come in many varieties and are not necessarily associated with convulsions.

The doctor explains: "You should protect the person by removing all harmful objects around the area, and then cushion their head. If they’re having trouble breathing, place them in the recovery position when the seizure is over. Turn them over onto their side to help ensure an open air passage. You always want to be calm and reassuring. It helps ease the process. Never restrain the person or put anything in their mouth. The best thing is to just let the seizure happen."

Good information to counter-balance the notion of jamming a shoe horn down someone's throat.

Another counter-balance was the opportunity for Emmy Award-Winning actor Eric Braeden, who has portrayed Victor Newman for the past 26 years, to record a CBS Cares public service announcement to help raise awareness. He provides more information about epilepsy and how to reach the Epilepsy Foundation via a toll-free number and website address. Hopefully, the public service announcement will help viewers cope with the onslaught of issues that come with the condition.

Finally, the third counter-balance has yet to happen. And unfortunately it cannot be revealed to anyone because, like any good drama, there has to be a cliffhanger. One thing is certain, if Victor continues to avoid his recommended treatment for epilepsy, the drama of his life will intensify.

One final question: What do you think?

The Young and the Restless (www.cbs.com/daytime/yr/) has been the number one-rated daytime drama for more than 17 years and is in its 34th season. The show is broadcast weekdays on the CBS Television Network and is produced by Bell Dramatic Serial Company in association with Sony Pictures Television.