Marc Kullman hands out red, rectangular lapel pins that can have smiley faces or frowning faces. They are miniature versions of a painting he did to symbolize what living with bipolar disorder is like.

Kullman, one of the founders of the Memphis-based National Bipolar Foundation, is smiling. He’s excited because the organization that was formed in 2007 has just launched a new public relations initiative: the mail-out of a public service announcement to television stations throughout the United States.

“This commercial is going to be phenomenal,” he said. “It asks for volunteers. It asks for donations. The best part is it’s going to bring the illness to light and allow people to talk about it. The problem with the illness is there’s some kind of shame that goes with it. I can tell you I have diabetes or cancer, but if I tell you I have bipolar, I have to whisper it. That’s the problem. That’s why people don’t get help, because of the stigma.”

A home in Memphis

Kullman, a businessman who moved from New Orleans to Memphis after Hurricane Katrina, used his networking skills to establish the foundation and set up a board of directors. Kullman convinced some corporate banking executives based in Memphis to serve on the board and they helped recruit board members from other areas of the country.

Many of the people contacted assumed there was already a national bipolar foundation, but there wasn’t, said Kullman, the founding director and secretary for the organization.

“There was no national foundation that deals with just bipolar disorder for adults,” he said. “You will find the NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. They deal with mental health issues, but they are a catch all for all mental health issues.”

Insurance help

Kullman said bipolar is more treatable with medication than other types of mental illnesses, but prescriptions can be expensive. The passage of the Mental Health Parity Act by Congress last year should help people pay for their drugs when the law goes into effect next January, he said.

“The major employers, the ones that insure the vast majority of people through their group health insurance, if they give you a certain amount of coverage for a broken leg, they have to give you the same coverage for mental health,” Kullman said. “Also, they have to give the same type coverage for prescription drugs. Right now, the insurance companies cap out mental health at $10,000 a year for doctors and don’t give you anything whatsoever for mental health prescriptions.”

However, before people can get treatment, they have to first be aware of the symptoms and not be ashamed to seek help, Kullman said.

The foundation’s purpose is to eradicate the disease, assist those affected with it and educate others about it. Fighting the stigma associated with bipolar disorder parallels all those goals.

“We are specifically for bipolar adults,” Kullman said. “We’re about education. We’re about reducing stigma. We’re about seeking a treatment and affordable health care for it.”

Bipolar disorder, which has also been called manic depression, causes people to go through stages of severe depression and extreme mania. About 5.7 million people in the United States have the disorder, according to the National Bipolar Foundation. People with bipolar disorder often try to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol and also become risk takers during manic phases.

Locally, the foundation is working with Memphis health care institutions to promote research into disorder and help people obtain medication, Kullman said.