Lionel Aldridge....Buzz Aldrin...Elizabeth Ashley....Beethoven....Robert Blake...Barbara Bush...Dick Cavett....Winston Churchill....Rosemary Clooney...Charles Dickens. Kirk Douglas...Patty Duke...Thomas Eagleton... Betty Ford...Benjamin Franklin...Earnest Hemmington....John Keats...Vivian Leigh... Abraham Lincoln...Kristy McNichol...Tatum O'Neil....Michaelangelo....Bette Midler...Mozart... Isaac Newton...Eugene O'Neill...Jackson Pollack..Rod Steiger...Mark Twain...Vincent Van-Gogh...Mike Wallace...Tennessee Williams...Virginia Woolf....Robert Young.....(ME)
Brain Disorders do not discriminate. This list is just a few people who have mental illnesses and have enriched our lives. I don't know, however, if I have ever "enriched" anybodys life. Just added my name on to the list.
Brain Disorders are no-fault diseases of the brain: they are catastrophic with neurological, genetic, biochemical, genetic and are possible viral components not yet understood. They are characterized by disturbed thinking, feeling and behaviors which affect the whole person. They are neither preventable nor curable, but they are treatable. They devastate caring families emotionally, physically and financially. They occur in ALL socio-economic classes, ethnic groups and nationalities throughout the world.
I am not talking about mental retardation. Persons with mental illnesses have intelligence levels that reflect the general population. I can't tell you how many times that when told that my son suffers from mental illness, people look at me and say: "But I thought he was so smart!" Also when people learn that I suffer from depression, they don't consider that an illness and tell me that I can "snap out of it" or "it will pass in time."
Stigma and discrimination continue to serve as the greatest barriers to empowerment for survivors and their families. Awareness, education, and scientific research can eradicate the stigma.
For more information about these illnesses or for support groups in your area, I urge you to go to www.nami.org for more information.
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5 comments:
I hate being told that I can just snap out of it or that I'm just being selfish when my depression is at its worst, and I hate that I've bought into so many of the stigmas about depression when looking at myself. Shaking loose those stigmas is hard work, but I have hope that it can be done.
hear hear here hear! kudos to you anne, gets the message out, doing the educating the masses bit in more ways than one, huh? (grin) debra
My guess is there are a lot of depressives in j-land. I have had my share of it. We are lucky to have so much new Rx and therapeutic skills available. Research goes on! Let's hope the stigmas continue to fall. xoox
you have enriched my life :)
Bravo!!! As the autistic mother of 3 autistic (in one form or another) children I thank you...As a fellow depressive....I understand it doesn't just go away....it just get less gray at times. You can add Thomas Edison (autism, add, and depression), Bill Gates (suspected autism) and Albert Einstein (depression) to your list too and probably many others.
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