Erasing The Stigma That Comes With Mental Illness
While it may seem easy for me to say something like “we should not stigmatize the mentally ill for the mental illnesses that they have”, because in reality, the mentally ill have no more control over their illness than someone with a neuropathy, or cancer. David, for example, didn’t ask to have mental illnesses. He didn’t ask to be born addicted to drugs. He was born this way. Now, it should be clear, it is important to note that we should not make excuses for behaviors. Though behaviors are often a manifestation of the underlying condition, the behaviors can not be excused. Accountability can be held for those who are mentally ill and the behaviors that they exhibit. To move forward in care, we need to embrace the diagnosis. We need to ensure that we are not scapegoating these people. They should not be hidden away from society. We need