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Cybill Shepherd’s admission, therefore, is to be applauded.
Dare not speak its name
Before Cybill Shepherd ‘came out’,
only famous person I knew of who had IBS was Kelsey Grammar’s wife (Kelsey Grammar used to play Frasier in eponymous sitcom and Cheers).
Whoever you are, whatever your gender or problems or pain, it is vital that you find someone with whom you can identify. If you watch TV and never see a reflection of yourself, if you are a black man and only ever see white faces on screen, then you will start to feel alienated – and same goes for people who are ill.
If you constantly hear about diabetes sufferers and asthma sufferers but never hear a word about bowels then you begin to learn that your illness is far less important than these other worthy causes.
We need more people in public eye standing up and saying “Me too”, so that everyone can start to realise just how widespread a problem this is.
Don’t suffer in silence
But it’s not just about how other people perceive us, and how we perceive ourselves. It’s also about making sure that anyone who has bowel symptoms seeks help, and at moment that just doesn’t happen.
There are still many people with bowel problems who are too ashamed or embarrassed to go to doctor, and just soldier on through their lives when they could be receiving treatment. And there’s always risk, of course, that their symptoms could actually be result of something other than IBS that may get progressively worse if it is left alone.
IBS often goes undiagnosed for years, and even when we pluck up courage to visit doctor we can be so tongue-tied that we don’t properly describe our symptoms. If we could leave our embarrassment in waiting room it would be so much better for our health.
Cybill Shepherd says: “My goal is to urge all women to get over their embarrassment, to stop suffering in silence way I did, and to talk to their doctors. Although it may be uncomfortable, it is very important for you to be open and honest with your doctor about all your symptoms”.
And things can change. Just think about breast cancer, which is now regularly discussed on TV and radio, but 20 years ago was stuck behind a wall of silence where breasts were not to be mentioned, cancerous or not.
If we can just get a few more Cybill Shepherds to speak out for IBS then celebrities of this world might start wearing ribbons for you and me, and leave gay whales to fight for themselves.
Sophie Lee has had IBS for 15 years and runs the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Treatment website at http://www.irritable-bowel-syndrome.ws where you can read about all kinds of different IBS treatments.
