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I agree with the need to educate the public. I am afraid till folks understand mental illness is something anyone can experience, it will always get the backburner. This is especially true if it is treated as some shame to be hidden, for speaking out on the importance of treatment and understanding is the only way to move things forward.
The story you cited makes this point in spades. A person is neglected to death inside a hospital and this person wants to stop ALL treatment? So as to pour more concrete!!
I think his head must be hard enough to fill potholes with... sooooo lets
never mind. Even he is simply ignorant, and those with voices must cry louder for heads full of cement to hear I guess.
Thank you for this post
I agree that those of us who deal with mental illness (or, as sometimes put, mental health issues) are stigmatized.
Unfortunately, there are some of us (including me) who have been so beaten down by an uncaring society that speaking out is impossible.
I have seen atrocious things happen. I was forced to have shock treatment at fourteen years old. (As a minor I had no rights.)
I hope that there are some who do have the courage and strength to do what you suggest.
I had this strength beaten out of me.
I guess, what I am trying to say is, some of us may be too traumatized to try.
We live from day to day, and hope and try to do are best just in getting up in the morning.
I sincerely hope there are those who are stronger can do what you suggest.
I am sorry if I sound defeated.
I have to look for joy in the little things in life.
And hope.....
deb
I am just so very sorry that you have been traumatized in your life due to your mental illness. It is not right what has been done to you. I am not sure what can be done but I want to be one voice who says that this sort of thing has to stop. I appreciate your comment and you are right in that there is always hope. Thank you for coming by to read.
this is like when i get phone calls asking me to donate to various very worthy causes. i would donate to them all if i could, just as the government would fix the roads, feed the hungry, heal (or at least care for) the sick, and everything else that needs doing, if the money was there. who is going to pay all those doctors, nurses, etc.? if we hire more of them and pay them what they are worth, how do we pay to hire teachers? police/fire people? repair/replace broken bridges? i'm playing a bit of devil's advocate here, but there is only so much money to go around. i'm just glad that i don't have to make the decisions about where the limited resources get spent. there are horror stories from every direction - which way do we turn first? i don't know. but it's important that we keep asking these sorts of questions, so thanks for keeping the ball rolling.
My own feeling is that mental and physical illness should not be separated. For much of history, they weren't. What if people who suffer from diabetes were put in diabetic wards, and those who suffer from heart disease were segmented from the population as well?
It's easy to marginalize people who suffer from so-called mental illness. Many are drugged up the kazoo and have no real chance of achieving wellness. Because they are taking too much medication, they act like zombies and are thus treated as such.
The fact is that very little of the medication that is currently prescribed for bipolar disorder has ever been adequately tested. Today's headlines prove that some of the most respected psychiatrists in the field are prescribing medication from pharmaceutical companies from which they are earning meg-bucks without disclosing it.
As far as I'm concerned, people with so-called mental illness won't be treated in more humane ways until the psychiatric field takes a real look at the abuses within their profession, stops believing that drugs are a panacea, and begins listening to people who have achieved wellness.
I don't pretend to understand or have answers for the stigma so many people attach to mental illness and those enduring its different forms. I think part of its prevalence is rooted in a strong drive to deny the power of mental and emotional disturbances in their own lives. I've heard soldiers talk dismissively of people "giving in." They, in contrast, can't give in; they are trained to control absolutely everything by strength of will and mind and are looked upon as failures if they succumb to anything that looks like weakness. There is clearly a fear about letting themselves acknowledge emotional suffering because it could mean the end of their careers - and perhaps a bitterness toward those who can "indulge" themselves in open and frequent discussion of these problems. And then we read about the increasing rates of military suicides. Others dismiss mood and personality disorders as trivial compared to the "real" suffering of people enduring civil war or natural disasters. Yet any study of people in those terrible situations reveals high rates of depression and other disorders that add yet another burden to their misery. The depth of resentment and scorn I encounter, especially as expressed on the internet makes we wonder what could set people off so much. I just don't know.
My own experience of stigma relates to the practical consequences of linking my real identity to major depression. I'm definitely afraid of being seen as unreliable, as are many others in my profession. Stigma is real and it's hard to judge which colleagues and clients will understand and sympathize and which will hold this condition against me.
Thanks for opening up this difficult subject.
I think one of the most tragic things about mental illness is often not the illness itself, but the feelings of shame and guilt that come with it. Stigma is what keeps people from going for help. They're afraid of the diagnosis they might receive. It keeps them for getting the medical care they need to prevent their disease from escalating. And, as has been stated already, too many uninformed people feel that when our mind is affected, it is within our power to make it behave more normally. Too many people don't realize that mental illness is a medical problem.
I've heard horror stories about the effect of stigma. One example: a woman was told by her Christian friends to throw away her pills because all she needed to to was pray more. It was her bad relationship with God that was at fault they said. Can you imagine a woman of faith, already suffering so badly, being made to feel it's her own fault? This woman was later found wandering a distant city in a fog - lost. The feeling of guilt she was made to feel!
I've had bipolar disorder for over 42 years. For many years I've been trying to cut down on the stigma by openly talking about my illness, writing many articles and having a couple of books published. When you're a published writer people respect you more, I've found. I feel that I can go through life with my head held high, even though I've been very open about every aspect of my illness - the depression, mania, and psychosis. But I've been fortunate. I haven't had to depend on a career; my husband has been a good supporter. I haven't needed to fear loss of income.
Nothing gets me as riled up as seeing the effects of stigma. It has given me a passion that will not die. So much work to do to get rid of it! Yet, unfortunately, I think that no matter how hard we work on it, we will not see then end of it soon. But we mustn't give up. Perhaps future generations will benefit from the work we do now.
I just hope that everyone who has the courage and ability to speak up and tell their own stories with mental illness, will do so. It IS the personal stories that people must hear.
Oh Marja...this is such an excellent response. I want to thank you for taking the time to do this. You are one of the most passionate people I know...you work tirelessly to fight the stigma of mental illness and to reach out to connect with people who need support. Thank you again for sharing your experience here with us and I do hope you come again.
HI I AM SO SADDEN BY THISE STORY , I CANNOT FINISH READING IT. I AM VERY FEMILLA WITH THIS ILLNESS SINCES I HAVE SUFFERED IT ALL MY LIFE. IT CARRIES A HUGE PRICE TO BE PAID BY YOU.
I AM SO HAPPY SOMEONE KNOWS HOW TO WRIGHT ABOUT IT AND DOES SO. I HAVE WANTED TO DO SO BUT, DID NOT KNOW HOW TO.
GOD BLESS YOU; PLEASE DON,T GIVE UP, YOU ARE TOUCHING PEOPLE.
ERA
As a high school student I am possibly in the best and yet most terrifying positions to speak out against the stigma. I have harboured a growing hate of the stigma attached to mental illness, however when faced with an opportunity to speak against stigma I fell silent and went with the crowd.
The shame and guilt I have felt for my emotions and thoughts drove me to suffer in silence and drove me further into depression, anxiety and self harm. Only as I realised I was not to blame but instead had a medically diagnosable illness could I begin to make the first steps toward recovery.
When a class mate begin to come to school with visible scars and spoke to friends about seeing a counsellor she was gossiped about and labled an atention seeker immediately. Despite being the perfect opportunity to support someone in pain and speak against the stigma I found myself turning my back, thinking only of how I too would be labled.
Thank you for this article. It has really made me think.
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First, we need to understand our own depression and be able to explain it coherently. What it is, why it is, it's possible causes, what we believe needs done, to even try to gain the understanding of others. Not easy.
As far as those in institutions, it is not always money which solves a problem but exposure, a daily accounting made for people employed in institutions. Not just by media, but government and these many private organizations in existence supposedly dedicated to helping the mentally ill.
We need to protect employment rights less and hold responsible those who give poor care. From the lowest to the highest; though how you quantify a psychologist is beyond me. Prosecution, dismissal, for gross neglect should be a given, not exception.
Oh, man, to even start a response to your questions would need more paragraphs. Others here, gifted, can say more in less space.
It certainly is not an easy topic to address. It hits home for me in a very personal way, though, because my mother suffers from schizophrenia. Every time I hear things like this in the news it breaks my heart.