Should we be more open and committed to treating mental illness instead of fearing it?
Rob Lachenauer wrote an article which expressess his view of the discrimination against people with mental illness'
What do you believe should be done?
- A few pointers
- ANYONE CAN SUFFER FROM A MENTAL ILLNESS
- Even in Britain we do not have adequate means to support or help people with mental illness - they are treated as prisoners who have committed major offences and locked up/ tortured.
- Estimated that over 450 million people worldwide suffer form mental illness
- 1 in 4 people will experience mental illness during the course of their life
- People with money can get help, but those less fortunate often never get better due to the lack of resources and acknowledgment- WHAT EQUALITY?
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According to data collected by the U.S. Department of Justice, in mid-2005 there were 2,186,230 prisoners in local jails and state and federal prisons in the United States. Estimates of the percentage of prisoners who have severe psychiatric disorders have ranged from 7 percent to 16 percent; the latter figure comes from a widely cited but methodologically questionable federal study. The best studies suggest that approximately 10 percent of prisoners have severe psychiatric disorders. Thus, approximately 218,000 individuals with severe psychiatric disorders are incarcerated in the nation’s jails and prisons at any given time. This number is equivalent to the population of such cities as Akron, Ohio; Madison, Wisconsin; Montgomery, Alabama; Richmond, Virginia; or Tacoma, Washington.
Thus, the nation’s jail and prisons have become, de facto, the nation’s largest psychiatric hospitals. There are now more severely mentally ill individuals in the Los Angeles County Jail, Chicago’s Cook County Jail, or New York’s Riker’s Island Jail than there are in any single psychiatric hospital in the nation. Anecdotal examples show how staggering the numbers are.
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I agree with this on the face. However, I don't support the idea of ramping up current treatment methods for mental illness- most of them are marginally effective at best, and psychiatric drugs are massively over-prescribed. I believe that we should set this as a long term goal, and in the meantime make a more serious commitment to analyzing and understanding mental illness to improve our treatment methods. Better understanding generally has a side effect of reducing the fear- although not always, depending on what is uncovered. 1
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The general public isn't generally completely oblivious to these things, though they do tend to understandably lag behind those who focus on them professionaly. Look at the cases of depression and eating disorders, for example. These were generally not seen as medical conditions by the general population for much of history, until research identified them as such. Even then, at first only the professionals saw them as such. Today, while there are still numerous holdouts, much of the population recognizes these as medical conditions rather than personal failings. It takes time, and I mean generations, not years. But the understanding, at least to some level, eventually filters down into society. 1
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Depends on what the mental illness is. There are a lot of "mental illnesses" that can be easily treated or coped with; such as depression. Then there are other illnesses that are just scary as hell; such as schizophrenia. I see it like this; if the person needs a very large dosage of drugs to be "calm", "normal", and "non-violent", they're not worth the effort to help. 1
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As someone who has suffered from clinical depression for over 20 years, I find your assertion that it is "easily treated or coped with" to be laughably ignorant. I see it like this; if the person needs a very large dosage of drugs to be "calm", "normal", and "non-violent", they're not worth the effort to help. That's pretty easy to say when its not you, your spouse or you children suffering from it. What's your alternative? Kill them? 1
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I am very sorry to hear that, but I think it is essential we prevent long - term depression. Yes, we learn from experience and our mistakes, but you shouldn't have to suffer as your right, it is hard to cope, but I always think like this: you can disagree or agree, I say that we are given one chance to live and we could do anything we want, it is our choice - that is why I am against war as we are given a choice to do anything and we choose destructiveness! However mental illness falls into a category which is much more complicated, but then again your mindset is the most vital thing which changes everything: how you see things, feel and believe. You can get better and change your way of thinking with help and determination. 1
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sigh... your dispute fully nullifies my argument. I don't know... the alternative of killing a person with mental illness does sound (and probably is) very immoral/unethical. Would you rather have a family member/loved one so crazy that they're a danger to everyone around them and to themselves, or a family member who is so drugged up that they have trouble remembering their own name? |
