Lede the Way
This intro is the epitome of cookie-cutter writing about mental health. I can’t begin to say how many ledes I’ve read that are worded almost exactly like this one. One day I hope we can skip over all this and just start articles assuming a stigma-free world.
To most people, the words “mental illness’’ conjure up images of people suffering, speaking incoherently, behaving erratically, and simply being unable to function in society.
In reality, however, mental health encompasses a wide range of abilities from the truly debilitating to the barely perceptible. Among the more popularly known mental illnesses are schizophrenia, bi-polar and panic disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias.
Anyone can become mentally ill, and, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 26 percent of American adults have a mental illness.
Black legislators to discuss mental illness
liz | 1:32 PM | Uncategorized
It is interesting that the reporter did not consider the following which can be found in State Representative Gibbons’ “Letter to the Editor” which appeared in the Miami Herald, “Under-diagnoses and misdiagnoses also add to the problem. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, African Americans tend to be diagnosed more frequently with schizophrenia and less frequently with affective disorders than whites who exhibit the same symptoms.” While the Representative might not have discussed this issue with the reporter this sad fact is well known. Where persons with (or misdiagnosed with) schizophrenia experience the most pernicious form of stigma – the view that persons with mental illnesses are violent – it was worth mentioning.
The reporter also neglected to mention that Florida is 48th in the nation in per capita mental health spending. This doubtless impacts the care of those who do and will seek services and was also mentioned in Representative Gibbons’ letter to the Herald.
[Too much mental health reporting falls into "the only challenge is overcoming stigma and you will get the help you need" category. How many of us have found it to be so easy? Too little consideration is given the nature, timing, modality and effectiveness of the help being provided, access to it, and the outcomes it engenders.]
State Representative Gibbons’ “Letter to the Editor”, “Confront, treat mental illness in state’s black communities”
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/letters/story/703796.html
Id have to second that Liz…
It does get old after the hundreth time.
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