I was going through old blog entries of mine, and came across this from 2007. I think it is worth repeating.

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I've been mulling this script over in my head. Think of one of those 30-second commercial things.

Middle-aged woman talking to neighbor over coffee, cheerful pep-talk tone: Oh, come on, don't bother with that chemotherapy stuff. Your doctor is just trying to make money. There's nothing wrong with you. Just change your outlook on life, and decide you don't want to have cancer any more.

Voiceover: Very bad advice.

(Dissolve)

Wife talking to husband, pleading tone of voice, hurt look on face: Don't you realize how much it hurts me and the family every time you have a seizure? I feel neglected, and the children are embarrassed seeing you lose control. You have got to stop being epileptic.

Voiceover: Now, that's unreasonable!

(Dissolve)

Exasperated parent to adult offspring: I thought you had your diabetes under control. If you do, then why do you still have to take medicine for it, and check your blood sugar, and see your doctor? Life is too short for such nonsense. Snap out of it. Make up your mind you will have normal blood sugar, and that's that.

(Screen freezes, announcer walks out from behind screen to face camera.)

Announcer: The wrong advice could actually kill. We wouldn't think of telling someone with cancer, or epilepsy, or diabetes, to ignore available treatment and rely on willpower alone to fight the condition. Let's remember that the same applies to another medical illness, one that is called depression.

(Fade to black)

A slide appears center screen, which reads:

"Depression. It's an illness, not an attitude."