Here are a few paragraphs from a an article in The Lancet, a UK-based
medical journal, published the week of Feb. 11 - 17, 2006, written by
Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, a medical professional who has openly
revealed her history with bipolar illness.<br>
<span><br><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">Dr. Jamison writes about "The many stigmas of mental illness". . .</span><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">
"Much
of the stigma of mental illness is ingrained in deep and ancient
attitudes held by virtually every society on earth. These
attitudes govern decisions societies make and the behaviors they
tolerate. Newspapers or television and print or broadcast
statements about those with mental illness that simply would not be
tolerated if they were said about any other minority group.
Stigma also insinuates itself into policy decisions, access to care,
health insurance, employment discrimination, and in research
allocations and priorities. Unfortunately, people who have mental
illnesses often stigmatize themselves. They make few demands and
their are frighteningly low -- with grave consequences. Stigma
can kill.</span><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">The
inability to discuss mental illnesses in an informed and
straightforward way, to deal with it as the major public health crisis
that it is, is unjustifiable. There is a very large group that I
think of as the 'silent successful people' who get well from
psychiatric illnesses but are afraid to speak out. This
reluctance is very understandable, very human, but it is unfortunate
because it perpetuates the (pervasive) misperception that mental
illness can not be treated. What remains visible in the public
eye are the newspaper accounts of violence, the homeless mentally ill,
the untreated illness in friends, family and coworkers. What is not
seen is all the truck drivers, secretaries, teachers, lawyers,
physicians and government officials who have been successfully treated,
who work, compete and succeed.</span><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">My
own perspective on stigma is shaped not only by being a professional
who studies mental illnesses but as someone who has suffered from manic
depression since I was 16. I strongly believe we need to better
understand why stigma exists, and not just from a sociological or
anthropological point of view. Studies of animal behavior make it
very clear that animals discriminate not only against those who are
markedly odd, but also against those who are different in more subtle
ways. I believe the expression of stigma or discrimination is
deep-wired into the brain. There are good reasons to fear, which
have to do with the unknown, the unpredictable, and the potentially
violent. We have to acknowledge upfront that UNTREATED mental
illness can be frightening and that it can be associated with violent
acts. . . . . We also know that moods are contagious.
Hypomania and depression can spread like wildfire across members of a
group like a wildfire. That is in part what moods are for, to
affect others in a group. So we have to acknowledge can have a
powerful effect on those CLOSE to it.</span><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">. . . . she goes on. . . .</span><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">
<br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">Some of the stigma associates with mental illness stems from bad teaching and inadequate treatment.</span><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">
<span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">. . . . .</span><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">We
need to recognize that those of us who have mental illnesses represent
a very large block of voters. Public perception about mental
illness lag decades behind the science</span><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">. . . .</span><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">
<br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">We.
. . as a society need to reach out and say that we do not as a society
tolerate the kind of pain and discrimination that has gone on for far
too long.</span></span><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">
<br>
<br>
Now, to any OSlister still reading. . . . this is Tree writing again. .
. every circle you ever hold has people with mental health disabilities
within it. Every single one. I recommend that the next time
you hear anyone openly declare that they have a mental health
disability that you thank them for having the courage to help society
change. <br>
<br>
All of those people who attended Birgitt's event, the one in which she
said 'they all had bipolar or schizophrenia' are dishonored if someone
read Birgitt's words and jumped to uninformed conclusoins about what
that might have meant. It probably meant that all of the
participants had experience with these mental health disabilities but
that they had received treatment and were no more and no less stable
than any other group of people. People who are truly 'mentally
unstable' do not show up at open space events. Sure, some might be
thinking as they read this, nobody is hurt if a bunch of human beings
on the oslist inadvertently perpetuate the stigma associated with
mental health disabilities. Well, folks, that is how stigma is
perpetuated, by thinking it is ok now and then.<br>
<br>
I have avoided being even more directly blunt but labeling and
dismissing someone as 'clearly mentally unstable' is not really any
different than saying "we don't have to listen to him because he is not
white" or "I think she is a lesbian." For some reason most people
think it is perfectly OK to steadily diss mental health disabilities
and yet who would remark in civilized circles "let's not invite the
cripple" or "we don't want any of their kind in our town".<br>
<br>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Warmly,<br>Tree Fitzpatrick<br>Hearthkeeper<br>
*
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