A lot of people are watched Empire‘s first season, and I get it. There are many good reasons to tune in. It’s a drama centered on a African American family (rare) that deals with homosexuality in the African American community (rare), successful people who aren’t white (rare), incarceration that isn’t glorified (rare), and mental illness that isn’t simple (rare). While it’s unique for taking on these topics, it, like most shows, paints a picture of reality in broad and ill-defined brushstrokes. An IPO is made to seem more about family politics than a major business move, a gay son (Jamal Lyon played by Jussie Smollett) spontaneously comes out publicly via a song and dance routine, and Andre Lyon (played by Trai Byers) is put on a psychiatric hold after a Bipolar Disorder-related breakdown.

It is this final point, the shows direct confrontation of mental illness and, especially, how it is frequently stigmatized and associated with a lack intelligence, that I find most interesting. Andre is shown going through manic episodes in both the shows present and flashbacks, including buying a Lamborghini with money set aside by the company he is an executive of for much different purposes. He is also shown deep in depression, uncommunicative states, removed dispositions, and as being completely unable or unwilling to engage.

As someone who has grown up around mental illness, there’s a lot of validity to the way Empire’s writers have written Andre Lyon. Any tv-watcher with an ounce of knowledge about Bipolar Disorder would, thanks to the writer’s work, identify what the character has as such. There is little room for speculation. He is seen in all stages of bipolar, is seen taking (and not taking) meds, and his wife says it, so it’s basically not a secret at all.

The problem is that Andre is not bipolar. He has Bipolar Disorder. 

This may seem like an unnecessary distinction. If you have depression, you are depressed, and if you have anxiety, you are anxious. But if you have Bipolar Disorder, you are not “bipolared.” You are “Bipolar.” Which is interesting, because instead of having a unique word to reference in regards to a medical diagnosis’ effect on your life you, in being given that label, are now an embodiment of the disorder. You can be less depressed, you can have less anxiety, but you can’t really be less Bipolar.

The character of Andre struggles to have an identity on the show beyond his diagnosis. He is the Bipolar character, not the character struggling with Bipolar Disorder.

One of the fascinating things about people who are bipolar is that they can be wildly successful because of, not in spite of, aspects of their mental health problems. Manic episodes can be accompanied by periods of insane creative productivity and massive business success. And in Empire this is shown, Andre is the CFO of his father’s company and is made to seem brilliant. However, like for many with Bipolar Disorder, when things start to crack it is only a matter of time until they everything starts to crash down.

It is in these moments, these moments of disintegration and conflict in which Empire’s writers need to take the opportunity to differentiate Andre from his diagnosis. Andre has Bipolar, Andre is grappling with Bipolar, Andre is not Bipolar.

Kudos to the team behind Empire, and to Trai Byers, for addressing mental illness on a public stage in a way that it is believable and not vilified. I hope that they will continue the conversation by reminding viewers that while Andre is has to fight every day for mundane things like balance and predictability, he is still a brilliant, motivated, and ambitious young man. He is a businessman, he is a husband, he is a brother, he is a Chief Financial Officer, and he has bipolar. He is not Bipolar.