More thoughts on news media and mental health.

     I was talking to my wife the other night about violent crime and mental illness.  She thinks that a person’s mental health issues can be pertinent to a crime; that people want to know why it has happened and that if a person who committed these crimes has a mental health issue it gives light to a possible reason as to why it happened.  I think that this is true to a certain extent, but I maintain that without asking the person why they committed the crime there is no knowing the true reason as to why they have done so.  We both agreed that the news media needs to portray more positives in the mental health community to promote the idea that people living with a mental health condition are just normal people, just as much as those who live with other health conditions.

     It is a tricky position to be in.  Admitting to the world you have any kind of invisible illness invites skepticism, if not worse.  On top of that, there are the sorts of discrimination that people with mental illness must always face.  Not everyone is strong enough to admit their condition, nor should they be forced to.  I fear that the media will always focus on the negative things that those who suffer with mental illness must face and ignoring the serious strength and courage that it takes to continue on in the face of the, sometimes great, adversity that they live with.

     We do not face this alone, however.  We often have allies, a loved one, a dear friend, or perhaps even a complete stranger.  These allies should take a more active role, if they can.  There are advocacy groups such as NAMI, but I do hope that more “ordinary” people stand up for those they know who live with these types of conditions such that the media would have a hard time making them out to be the villains they may not even truly be.

     I am not entirely sure how to go about ending the vilification that those who must live with a mental illness must sometimes face, but I do know that we cannot do it alone.  So I suppose I am calling out to others who live with, know someone who lives with, or is just a general ally of those who must face these challenges (often alone), to come to attention and speak up on behalf of those who may not be able to speak up for themselves.

     So, if you could do something to help end this form of discrimination, what would it be?

--JJM