I don't know about anyone else but I am so sick and tired of hearing all the negativity that people with a mental illness gets from the news, paper, on the web or around the water cooler at work. I always hear the same old stuff about people with mental illness causing havoc in their state or city. It seems that all the media wants is stories and headlines with crimes committed by people with some sort of mental illness. There is some sort of infatuation with this coverage that is beyond me.
After doing a little research on these crimes I was happy to report that; According to the University of Oxford, only 5% of violent crimes including homicide and attempted homicide were committed by someone with a severe mental illness. To me that sounds like those they claim are insane are perhaps the sane ones. In the so called sane public are the insane ones. Everyone wants to point fingers at the drug companies and the doctor's prescribing medications and treatment for all the violent criminals associated with some sort of mental illness. So called experts then look into the medical history of someone who went on a shooting spree and found that they were taking some form of anti-depressant during or previous to their crime. This is not helping with the treatment or understanding of people with a mental illness instead it is causing a negative affect. Keeping people with a mental illness feeling isolated and not seeking the treatment they need or from discussing their feelings and illness with their own families and friends because of fear of rejection and making them feel more isolated then they already are
. I am thankful for online support groups and talking with others about my story and theirs during life's journey in an insane world in which we live.
I have to reply to your comment mobell
Not all mental illness is severe in nature, not all who have a mental illness are ever likely to commit a violent crime. There are varying degrees of mental illness so it is unfair to lump every single person who has a mental illness into your "walking time bomb" generalization.
Secondly
Media attention, primarily and as a whole, has not been kind to those who struggle with mental illness. It tends to paint us as deranged, out of control, and something to be feared and to keep children away from.
If media attention could actually focus on treatment options, the struggles of those with mental illness, the good things that those with mental illness contribute (yes, there are many a famous and creative person who had and has mental illness), and the sense that with support and newer medication we would be able to asimilate (? sp) better in society, it would do an absolute world of good to millions of people.
You had a issue with your husband. Not all who are manic commit felonies, not all who are manic maim and destroy, not all.
This will be my first 'chat' reply message ever...so, I hope I'm responding and joining in on the discussion concerning "Media Perception" correctly. I agree with Tabby that all of us affected by Bipolar Disease are NOT "walking time bombs". I also feel that the media uses the term "mental illness" far too easily and negatively. But we won't be changing this in the near future...it would be like trying to influence how the sun shines or the rain falls. Or...does it? Can we work on influencing the all-seeing media about the pros and cons of Manic Depression, or Bipolar Disorder as it is know commonly referred as?
This leads me to a thought I have had for some time: 100 Years ago, society vilified homosexuality... Fastforward to 2008 and it seems (at least to mindboggling number of people) that gays can do pretty much want they want without being instantly thrown to jail. In other words, over time the stigma of homosexuality has visibly diminished.
My hope is that openly "coming out" as having Bipolar disease will eventually lead to the same liberties and acceptance the homosexual lifestyle is currently experiencing.
I would like to clarify that I am not homosexual (just using this sociological phenomenon as an example of behaviour that used to be condemned (see Oscar Wilde) to generally accepted (see Elen DeGeneres).
Therefore, I am hopeful that one day I, (or my children if they happen to be diagnosed as Bipolar) will one day be able to say: Yes, I'm Bipolar but you can talk to me, trust me, love me etc...because I have it under control.
I hope the above comment makes some sort of sense....
I do agree with your comments and they do make sense (except for the first paragraph which came across my computer as greek letters or something). I think I have a hard time "coming out" in general because I don't always have it under control because I neglect self-care so much. I wish there was an easier way to support myself and my daughter without having to work my butt off daily and then having no energy left at the end of the day. I also suffer from anxiety and have a full-range of physical disabilities so I am usually in constant pain which also affects my mood on a daily basis.
One day - one step toward wellness!
First of all, I said "statistically" those with mental illnesses that remain untreated will eventually commit a crime against others or themselves, and "statistically", that is true. Second, I am telling another side of this story based on my own experience. The state in which I live has been EXTREMELY instrumental in my husbands treatment, and without the media attention (and law suits against the state for lack of treatment), the programs that have saved my husbands life would probably not be in place here. Third, where is all of this "negitive media attention" everyone keeps talking about. When I see anything regarding a person with a mental illness, it is more often than not a television interview with Maurice Benard (General Hospital actor) and his wife giving others with bipolar disorder hope and understanding, or an entire 2 hours of Oprah deticated to educating and informing others of the challenges those with mental illnesses face, or 60 minutes doing a documentary on the many sucess stories of those who have over come their illness. So I really don't understand what is to be perceived as "negitive media attention". Of course there are those cases where a person has commited a heinous crime and claims to be (and probably is) mentally ill, that isn't negitive attention, that's just reporting the news. I personally think that all publicity is good publicity, it gets people thinking and talking about the situation, and leads to change in the community and change in the minds of those who maybe didn't have a good understanding of what it is to be mentally ill. I can understand those who are sucessfully managing their lives with an illness being discouraged by what they are seeing on the media in certain instances, but it is important to understand that these people are not at the same point in their illnesses, and it doesn't make it "negitive attention", it just tells the real story of what MANY have to go through and overcome with such illnesses.