Opposing Views on Mental Illness

Last month I wrote a letter to the editor of the Republican American regarding an article about how difficult it is to be a teacher of high school students in the United States. The long and short of my editoral was that with cooperation between teachers and parents and the understanding that there may be underlying mental health or substance abuse issues, there is hope to work with these teens to make them productive citizens.

A few days later a gentleman followed up with a letter which basically called substance abusers "drunks" and those with mental illness "nuts". He stated that people did not suffer from depression they only got the blues. I am sure that Marie Osmond, in her current pain would love to hear that. I wonder if he thinks those with autism are just "dumb" or some other nasty word. It seems to me that someone who responds in such a crude and ignorant fashion are either truly uneducated or have really been hiding under a rock for many years.

This past Saturday another letter appeared from a nurse who used to work with the mentally ill and has seen the progression of the field of psychology. Her experience has seen this country go from institutionalizing people to getting them out in the community to live as productive, happy citizens. This is because of behavioral therapy, psychpharmachological drugs and other therapies available to those afflicted with mental illness. Certainly, this is proof that the system, while not perfect, has made tremendous strides in the past 50 years to make the field of psychology better.

This gentleman stated that the "new theory" of Chemical imbalances fails the test because "a simple change of environment can get rid of chronic depression." He also stated that "seasonal depression in northern climates can be caused by a lack of vitamin D" and that food allergies, undiagnosed physical maladies and lack of exercise are causes of depression. Well, sir, perhaps it did not dawn on you that any one of those activities would have an impact on the chemical structure in your body. I think you disproved your own theory.

I think that this man is a mean spirited, nasty man. He definitly is not one of the many afflicted with mental illness. I would not put him in the same category. That would be unfair to those who actually work hard to overcome an illness that can be very dibilitating. To those that seek treatment, try, fail, try agin and continue in recovery, my hat's off to you. It a journey that you will always be on and no one should ever make you feel inadequate!! I am proud of every one of you and pleased to be a NAMI Waterbury representative.