Us and them

The media’s portrayal of people suffering from mental illness as “psychotic, maniac serial killers” is agreeably destructive and harmful for the millions of world citizens who live “quiet anonymous lives.”

As with most stereotypes, an effective way of educating people is one person at a time. We need to stop seeing people as the labels we wear. People are people first. This person has schizophrenia — she is not “a schizophrenic.” She happens to have this illness, just as you or I may have cancer or a broken leg. We do not say “she is a canceric” or “he is a broken leg.”

I can appreciate James A. Stevens’ outrage at the judge’s decision regarding Tonia Kigas, however, I was not in court and I have not conducted a psychological examination or mental status exam. Psychosis is a real psychiatric phenomenon; characteristic of untreated or under treated schizophrenia. Tonia Kigas is a person who happens to have been diagnosed and treated for “paranoid schizophrenia” following the starvation of her daughter. Had Tonia received diagnosis and treatment earlier, Tavi might be alive today. We’re not talking about a monster here. And very few people with the illness Tonia has commit murder.

I think as a society we try to make everything someone else’s problem. Homophobic America fears homosexuals because the media portray gay men and lesbian women as sexual perpetrators. Statistics show that heterosexual men are by far more often sexual offenders than gay or lesbians.

If society knew that the guy next door is statistically more dangerous than the emotionally, mentally, and economically tortured patients in Bangor Mental Health Institute, we couldn’t deal with that, could we? So, it’s not us, it’s them. We say this until we believe our own lies.

Let’s not hate and fear others based on stereotypes. We are individuals. Sarah M. Johnson Bangor