tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post4961900696025852072..comments2024-03-29T04:38:14.302-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: Mental Illness Is Not a Political FootballLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-14390950101289810012019-09-08T14:26:14.619-04:002019-09-08T14:26:14.619-04:00PS. Mary, I know you worried about framing and phr...PS. Mary, I know you worried about framing and phrasing your article, but it's beautifully and sensitively done. Nice!<br />Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-92097690161369497942019-09-08T14:23:23.313-04:002019-09-08T14:23:23.313-04:00Wow, Marie, what a challenging article. Some might...Wow, Marie, what a challenging article. Some might argue those evil spirits didn't enter the mentally ill, but the politically-minded. Setting aside the thought that wanton killing an insane act, have we seen a time when insanity hasn't been politicized?<br /><br />Not being able to 'see' emotional and mental illnesses like we can physical trauma allow simple-minded and simple-messaging politicians to exploit the situation. I've heard professionals like you say that a dollar spent on treating mental illness is more productive than a dollar spent on physical issues, and at times treating the one helps the other.<br /><br />We have a sad history of using prisons to house the mentally ill. For a while in the mid-20th century it seemed we might obtain enlightenment, but with the closures of public mental health facilities, we've returned to warehousing people in prisons.<br /><br />Yet another part of the problem is political abuse of statistics or, in some cases, wholly fabricated stats. Remember the grim joke– 98% of statistics are made up. Part of that problem is that experts' voices are seldom heard giving distorted information on homicide victimology, rape and false rape, campus crime, and of course, mental illness. The gap between what we think we know and actuality is dismaying. The motivation is manipulation through fear.<br /><br />Turning to criminals who are mental ill, a specialist in criminal psychiatry criticized Dr. Phil for saying those convicted of sexual crimes can't be cured. This doctor, another Canadian, I believe, said so-called common knowledge was often wrong. He went on to say without any treatment, nearly a third of patients (30+%) never reoffend. The United States too often drinks from the fountain of Calvinism. It doesn't much believe in mentally treating inmates, and the results are predictable.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-7779136183782502362019-09-08T14:22:34.452-04:002019-09-08T14:22:34.452-04:00I agree. But we have both trivialized and crimina...I agree. But we have both trivialized and criminalized mental illness. 90% of the inmates I work with have addiction issues; at least 40% suffer from some sort of mental illness, from depression to bi-polar disorders, and most have never received any treatment; and the number of mentally disabled people who are locked up is appalling, enough to shame our nation forever. Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-2079191830404362882019-09-08T12:25:56.280-04:002019-09-08T12:25:56.280-04:00I agree. Character defines them. Our problem, as t...I agree. Character defines them. Our problem, as the poet Brian Bilston puts it – "America is a gun."O'Neil De Nouxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03142721824657611738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-29596494887782342352019-09-08T07:54:18.277-04:002019-09-08T07:54:18.277-04:00A good post. We've come a fari way from attrib...A good post. We've come a fari way from attributing mental illness to demons, but clearly not quite far enough.janice lawnoreply@blogger.com