Comments on: Myth #10: “I don’t know anyone with a mental illness.”

By: jeff

jeff — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 02:19:57 +0000

what a great blog mark. like you pointed out, if there is anyone that should be opening its arms and becoming a part of the solution (and not the problem), it should be the church.

By: WeissGuy

WeissGuy — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:57:39 +0000

Dorie,
I think you bring up a great point about the struggles of a diagnosis.
Sometimes it confirms the shame.
Sometimes it gives relief, because people hope something that can be named can be “fixed.”
Sometimes the latter hopes fail when some mental illnesses can only be “treated.”

By: Dorie Morgan

Dorie Morgan — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:05:06 +0000

This reminds me of when I was a kid and I was diagnosed with ADD. My mother was so insistent that no one know about it. I was even taken to a psychiatric office in a different school district so no one would see me there. I remember getting in trouble for telling one of my friends. i remember shame when I told my youth pastor in 9th grade.

There was a lot of shame and fear in something so small. The fear and shame were actually more disabling than the ADD itself. I feared the ways it made me different rather than learning from the ways it made me unique.

I’m 26 now and we still don’t talk about it at home. Much like we don’t talk about the suspected mental illness that impacts other family members – we certainly don’t pursue a diagnosis because then it would be something else to hide. If something as small as ADD was such a source of fear, something bigger would be totally unbearable.

By: Randall

Randall — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:58:09 +0000

I think that many members of society are becoming more educated about mental illness (thanks to those like you who talk about these issues), but it is an uphill battle against stigma that exists from many generations of ignorance and from mass media representing extreme forms of mental illness. The movie Todd mentioned is a good example of those extreme forms.
News media also feeds the stigma. If someone without mental illness commits a crime, they are portrayed as a bad individual. If someone with a mental illness commits a crime, it’s suddenly, “Schizophrenic Kills Family,” “Manic Depressive Robs Bank.” The whole community of people with mental illnesses is found guilty.

By: Todd

Todd — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:09:57 +0000

it’s not surprising that the stigma of mental illness is so severe. i remember watching a movie when i was a kid and a schizophrenic woman went nuts and killed someone then ran through the streets half naked. why would i want to associate myself with that?

of course, this come down to education which i am sure you will touch on in another post. but this has to be part of it i think.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 01:53:01 +0000

Very well said.