In my younger days, mental illness to me was a "crazy person" who was locked away with a straight jacket in a padded cell. As I got older, I realized that mental illness is a disease and now I have a different view of those people. Mental illnesses involve people who suffer from bipolar disorder, depression, and obsessive- compulsive disorder (OCD), just to name a few. (Alexander, 2010) Theses are considered diseases that many take medications to control. I don't believe the mentally ill choose to be ill just as a drug addict doesn't choose their addiction. It is a sickness. Therefore, if these people are born with these illnesses, then we, as a society, should be more acceptable of them. These people want to be "normal" just like everyone else. We accept physically handicapped people. We have made accomadations for them over the years. They have wheelchair ramps and parking spaces at every building. If we can do that for the physically disabled, then we can do it for the mentally disabled. Once we look at mental illness as a disease, then people can be more accepting.
1. Alexander et al. (2010). New dimensions in women's health. (5th ed). Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
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Great insight Samisha, I agree wholeheartedly with you. My husband and I have this conversation occasionally because working in the health field, I see all kinds of people. My husband as a tendency to have a tainted view point of the mentally ill since he works in corrections. He thinks they can just change their behavior according to the environment and situation. I don't disagree with him that there are people incarcerated that are "faking" mental illness, but I believe a good majority of people in prisons and jails have some sort of mental illness. I wish there was a better system in place nationally for the mentally ill. There just aren't enough resources for those who do not have insurance or knowledge of mental illness to help appropriately.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Mental illness needs to be looked at as any other handicap or illness. As a society we really need to be more supportive of people with mental illness and make provisions that will be beneficial for them. Mental illness can strike any one and you never know if you will be next. Having compassion and providing health care for mental illness would make a huge difference.
ReplyDeleteSamisha,
ReplyDeleteMental health facilities and practitioners are available. The problem is how those with a mental illness can pay for those services. Most people with mental illnesses are not insured or underinsured. If an individual has a high deductibe plan and have to meet a $3000.00 deductible then this puts them at a disadvantage because most mental health facilities want a fraction of that payment before they will treat them.
Hi, Samisha.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your opinions with us regarding mental illness. I agree that those with mental illness/disability should be given the same opportunities for treatment and accommodations as those with physical disability, but unfortunately we know this doesn't always happen for those with mental illness. Perhaps this is because we don't "see" a physical limitation or disability, although the person may be just as disabled from mental illness. This mindset was made painfully clear when our own government cut funding for treatment and hospitalization for mentally ill patients, and simply left them out on the streets with no access to proper care. Clearly, we must to a better job in recognizing mental illness and then providing options for treatment.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
Carol Martin
Dear Samisha,
ReplyDeleteVery true opinions. Mental illness shouldn't be a big deal as it sounds.First, we need to educate people who are still ignorant of the fact that mental illness could be anything from depression to bipolar disorder.We should carefully analyze the situations that mentally ill people are facing in our society and make their life easier by providing an appropriate treatment as well as educating people about the disease so that they are open to the disease and it's consequences.