National effort for mental health funding...the right thing for the wrong reason

[HereSince1628]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kenneth-j-dudek/the-gift-horse-of-mental-_b_3194088.html

The Gift Horse of Mental Health Funding

The Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act -- an amendment to the Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act, a sweeping initiative that was being considered in the wake of the shootings in Newtown, CT -- received nearly unanimous support in the Senate the other week. Never look a gift horse in the mouth, so thanks to Congress for the proposed funding.

Nevertheless, the motivation for this wave of generosity is driven by the stigma associated with mental illness. The financial benefit the mental health community may receive is more than offset by its cost, i.e., reinforcing the connection between violence and mental illness in the public perception. Discussing mental health funding in the context of gun violence legislation erroneously transforms a public health issue into a public safety issue. Once again, people with serious mental illness get the blame.

As mental health advocates, we work tirelessly to turn the national spotlight on issues like effective treatment, improved access, and increased funding, but a real dilemma arises if we are forced to address mental health reform within the context of gun violence. When we use the risk of violence as a rationale for better and more available services for people with mental illness, we put at risk all the good works we have done over the years to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness. When we conflate mental illness and violence we do ourselves and our community a disservice.

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[Neoma]

1. *sigh*

You should post this in GD too.

[Tobin S.]

2. We get very little good press.

How often do you here about a guy who has bipolar disorder overcoming his illness with proper treatment and going on to work his way through college while supporting a family? It probably doesn't happen in the majority of cases, but I know it happens a great deal more than a guy who has bipolar disorder killing a bunch of little kids.

[HereSince1628]

3. We are now "the dangerous people" in the phrase

"keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the dangerous people."


The Obama press folks tried to soften the rhetoric, but too late. Everyone knows what it means.
Big Ed Shultz paints the mentally ill as the dangerous folks all the freaking time on his radio show.

They KNOW. The REALLY DO KNOW how stereotyping this is, they know it contributes to suffering of the mentally ill and their families.

Still they cannot stop. Chauvinism is addictive.