Comments on: Lede the Way http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/trouble/2008/09/26/lede-the-way/ A blog about mental health Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:55:48 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Mitchell Gobrick http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/trouble/2008/09/26/lede-the-way/comment-page-1/#comment-3776 Mitchell Gobrick Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:13:20 +0000 http://trouble.pwblogs.com/2008/09/26/lede-the-way/#comment-3776 Id have to second that Liz... It does get old after the hundreth time. Id have to second that Liz…

It does get old after the hundreth time.

]]> By: Joe http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/trouble/2008/09/26/lede-the-way/comment-page-1/#comment-3775 Joe Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:56:15 +0000 http://trouble.pwblogs.com/2008/09/26/lede-the-way/#comment-3775 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 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

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