Learning About Mental Health From an Experienced Source

There are a fair number of illnesses and conditions who have overcome public stigma, such as epilepsy and leprosy. Attitudes toward mental illness have softened somewhat over time, but there is still much misunderstanding and fear surrounding those people who are diagnosed with a mental illness.

The misunderstanding of mental health issues by the general public isn't surprising; this is one area of medical science where there remain more questions than answers. The fear that people feel about those with mental illness is borne of the same misunderstandings and misinformation that used to surround minority groups of people.

With understanding often comes acceptance, so it is understanding of mental health conditions that we must seek.

The New York Times is in the midst of a series of articles about people with major mental illness diagnoses. The articles provide insight from these people who have come forward to share their experiences in a positive light.

There is no better way to overcome stereotypes and misunderstanding than to hear information straight from those who know mental illness best -- and that would be those who are living their lives with the conditions.

What word comes to mind first when you think of mental illness?

Less Prison, More Mental Health

The following is a "Letter to the Editor" at the Daily Oklahoman in response to a September 18, 2007 article entitled: "Ex-OSU Cager to Spend Time Behind Bars" Link: http://newsok.com/article/keyword/3128307

In reference to 09/18/07's headline: “Ex-OSU Cager to Spend Time Behind Bars” and to all others who suffer mental illness and have been sentenced to incarceration, one has to ask: “What purpose is served?”

If we, as a state, chose to spend the money in the mental health system that we instead allocate to prisons, wouldn't the individual's and the public's interest be better served? I don't know the statistics for successful treatment of the conditions Houston, or others like him, suffer. But I do know the statistics for recidivism (re-arrest): 80+% of those who have once been in prison return to the system.

What savvy investor would put the kind of money the public does each year into such an endeavor, where the potential of a positive return is less than 20%? Our investment in the current system of justice makes no sense in terms of dollars and cents, let alone in the cost of human beings.

Mental illness is often misunderstood by the general public; things we don't understand often cause us to be frightened. But looking the other way when non-violent mentally ill people are locked up isn't the answer to the problem—not for them, and not for society.