“If we don’t fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don’t really stand for them.”
Paul Wellstone, Minnesota Senator from 1991-2002.
What do you stand for?
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Eugenics again
Here’s an argument for eugenics in the comments of a response to an in-depth article on a jail coping with a large number of prisoners with mental illness.
I don’t have a good answer. Morally, we shouldn’t just let people die when we can develop the means to heal them. We could debate sterilization in people with genetic disorders, but I don’t think we’d get far. :)
The commenter comes off frighteningly ignorant of the history of such social control and at minimum inconsiderate of the human cost of such an action. Further info on the history of eugenics and forced sterilization as practiced on people with mental illness here: Eugenics Archive, Chicago Tribune article, and George Mason University.
Even the author of the blog post seems ignorant of the reality that people with mental illness can and do recover. He says and I quote
…it’s hard for me to escape the notion that segments of our population can present a huge, sucking vortex of need into which we could throw every available resource without seriously diminishing the demand. Guess I’m a little cynical.
Info on recovery from mental illness: NAMI and the Hamilton County (OH) Mental Health and Recovery Services Board on recovery background.
A research study arguing a link between herpes simplex and some symptoms of schizophrenia.
From the Director of the Natioanl Institute of Mental Health Everyone should know this statistic:
Each year, there are nearly twice as many suicides (33,000) as homicides (18,000). (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from WISQARS)
Why is the word psycho used to describe murderers who are not even known to be diagnosed as psychotic?
An article arguing many psych meds are iatrogenic based on a new book by Robert Whitaker.
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- Kendra’s Law
Should intensive outpatient treatment be mandated by the courts? This op-ed argues it should be.
- Fighting Stigma?
This post by an admittedly burned out psychiatrist argues treatment compliance is the best way to beat stigma.
- Teens on Adult Wards
Concerning article regarding young people being housed on adult wards because there is no space in juvenile wards, and preventive care is not well financed.
- Mississippi Cuts Mental Health System
This op-ed is concerned with how cuts to the Mississippi mental health system will affect people with mental illness.
- Students with Disabilities Dropping Out
Discussion of belittling behavior and other reasons man students with disabilities leave university without degrees.
- Bone Marrow and Mental Illness
New research suggests connection between bone marrow and mental illness.
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