Just a thought Re: Mental illness

[HEyHEY]

All of you DUers running around saying "Loughner is not mentally ill" in an attempt to make some kind of issue out of non-violent mentally ill people being lumped in with violent mentally ill people are missing out on something....

Why don't you start huffing and puffing about words like "crazy" and "nuts" being thrown around DU? It's much more detrimental to mentally ill people than saying mentally ill people and psychopaths don't fall under the same umbrella. (Which is the biggest stretch of an argument I've ever heard).

As someone who's battled (Thankfully successfully, through therapy)severe mental illness in the form of OCD for years, I must say people referring to mentally ill people as "crazy" offends me a lot more, though still not much. I use it myself.

Perhaps you a doing a dis-service to the mentally ill by trying to separate violent from non-violent sufferers just so you can be indignant about something. Because those who need help for a mental illness that makes them violent will just be tossed into prison instead.....and those who are non-violent will go on being ignored, homeless and in mental anguish.

[pacalo]

1. Unfortunately, far too many people don't understand until it affects them or

to someone close to them.

:hug:

[tavalon]

2. Amen to that

I have had unipolar for well, forever, but that seemed different from what was being talked about when mental illness came up. But now, with two family members battling bipolar and a severely autistic son, I get it.

[elocs]

3. Too many DUers seem to be able to label the mentally ill with disparaging terms when it suits them.

They seem to delight in throwing out slurs like "crazy" or "nuts" or "looney" when it fits their agenda and care less that millions of Democrats likely suffer from mental illness and that nobody who does suffer (and they do "suffer") from mental illness chooses to have it any more than people would choose to have MS or any other debilitating disease.

So for those here who casually use such put-down labels and slurs know that you are joining hands with Republicans, freepers, and ones who just don't care in singing Kumbaya. Because all mentally ill need help, even the very small percent who commit violent acts.

[Odin2005]

4. I tried getting people to stop using "crazy" and "nuts" and it didn't work.

The words have been so semantically bleached that they just mean "stupid" and "nonsensical" nowadays.