Friday, May 02, 2008

Sheri's Random Rant: Mental Illness Stigma

I have never been much of a pill person myself, but I do not understand why society has such a terror over the idea of treating mental illness with medication. It is a chemical imbalance in the brain and no amount of forced positive thinking will change that. I am sick of watching people I know suffer (two committed suicide) because they did not get the treatment they needed due to stigma surrounding it.

I resent the term "mental illness" because it is a physical disease. It can be actually be seen with certain medical devices. This field has a long way to go, but the progress it has made can alleviate the suffering of countless numbers of people. We should not deny them this by encouraging and forcing prejudices.

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