For a more fair and balanced look at one of the subjects of my last post, please read the New York Times article from May 11, 2008,
'Mad Pride' Fights a Stigma.
It can only help for people to have an honest dialogue about this issue. I just worry that seeking more positive names for a mental illness is little more than window dressing. Insurance companies continue to cut coverage for "mood disorder" medications and there's a new push for limiting the rights of bipolars every time someone goes nuts and shoots people.
Would insurance companies limit medication for diabetics? Mental illness is still often perceived as personal weakness, lack of willpower. It needs a new name, alright, but a name like
cancer, so it's taken seriously but not blamed on the victim.
Side Note: Only morons like
Louise Hay still blame the victim for disease. Her book
You Can Heal Your Life would make a great gift for an epileptic, who might not know he has mentally caused his illness through his "Sense of persecution. Rejection of life. A feeling of great struggle. Self-violence." Luckily, he can cure himself by meditating on a simple phrase. But I'm not going to tell you what it is- you'll have to buy the book! And then I can label
you as mentally ill.
But seriously, folks.... Recognition, respect and proper care for the mentally ill is a human rights issue. Worrying about semantics is a little like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.