Comments on: Ah. Another Hideously Misleading Statement From the Mainstream Media on the Subject of Mental Health

By: Katharine

Katharine — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:23:37 +0000

AHAHAHAH I was wondering what was up the bikini gal from your feed in my google reader. I knew all I had to do was read on to find out….

By: oh wow

oh wow — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:58:19 +0000

kershaw has written fluffy copy for years. not ready for prime time

By: Dano MacNamarrah

Dano MacNamarrah — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:17:04 +0000

I’m with you, Tony, although I can’t say that the portals, shifting dimensions and visions of burials that I’ve seen, just in my bedroom (!) made much sense to me. But you’ve definitely got me to thinking about that aspect!

Melanie, there are millions of people who suffer from mild to severe forms of psychosis. As each person is unique, so is a sufferer’s delusion/hallucination. To say that three case studies is representative of such a vast and varied population is, in fact, delusional.

By: Kent

Kent — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:51:48 +0000

Somehow I doubt that the experiences Sarah Kershaw describes are representative of those had by most people called “psychotic”. I know they’re not representative of the experiences of everyone given that label. It seems especially loathesome when the more glamorous and privileged people try to profit by making entertainment out of the suffering of those who are less fortunate. When they do so, they seem to almost always ignore the effect of trauma and of unfairness and injustice that is built into the system – how the very things that benefit people like themselves sometimes add to the burdens of those who they are writing about or describing. They literally “shrink” all that is wrong into something that is contained entirely within the people who are having the hardest struggles, rather than admitting that it is connected to larger problems which everyone has a hand in.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:34:21 +0000

I was wondering why the statement is considered misleading? Can somebody shed some light on this?

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:03:09 +0000

Why is a discussion of “psychosis” in the Fashion and Style section of the NYTimes? I’ve had my fair share of delusions, but they were never based on movies (they were a bit more outlandish and “original”). But I guess the delusional mind grabs onto whatever makes sense in an odd way.