Naomi Judd and Mental Illness ...

Amen. You are 100% correct.

Mark

I have to ask - what does the title have to do with the comments?

When was Naomi Judd 'stigmatized'? She had ongoing high quality care and treatment for depression. Treatment does not guarantee a cure for mental illness any more than it does for cancer. She wrote a book that openly discussed her mental illness. On the other hand, her family's claim is that she 'died of mental illness' - mental illness may well be reason for the death but not the cause of death.

When i was a child we would drive to a nearby city to shop - and we passed a huge old brick building surrounded by a fence. When i asked what it was - it was a 'mental institution'. It made a big impression on me - especially once I read 'One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest'.

As a society we decided it was 'cruel' to isolate those with mental illness. In a way this was right - and in another way it was wrong because the 'woke' part went too far. We didn't tighten rules on those institutions - we closed them.

I think there is little stigma about mental illness these days - and in large part that is because the medical community finally recognized PTSD for what it is - that began during the Vietnam war. It was the first time the medical community admitted that someone exposed to death and fear over time might well develop a mental illness and that is was a real disease.

When I was growing up I had an Uncle who would 'have fits and take to his bed' every few months. He wouldn't talk, would cry, wouldn't dress, etc...he was suffering from severe depression before it was accepted as an 'illness'. His wife referred to these instances as a 'fit' - the family said his wife drove him nuts (a real possibility if you knew her). THAT was being stigmatized as no one wanted to admit Uncle Pete had a mental illness. That would be an embarrassment.

Today people talk about mental illness and many don't hesitate to claim they have PTSD or 'depression'. It is no longer a hidden illness - but we decided some time ago we can't force treatment. Today, people who might have been 'committed' to a mental facility for treatment 50 yrs ago...are treated only when they request it or after they harm someone else.

I just read a long comment on a site by someone claiming it's so much harder to live now than it was in 1900. He claimed 'older people' need to understand how difficult life is for 20-something's.
In 1900 the average life span in the US was 49....and those will serious mental illness were committed to mental institutions or locked in the attic. We've come a long way since then - but apparently our schools aren't teaching that.

@Kay King - first I just wanted to say I think you're an excellent writer...and I really mean that. Not sure what you do, but writing must be a part of it.

I used to think when someone said "died from mental illness", they meant suicide...until a distant relative in the family died from "mental illness". I found out later she had drunk herself to death and they blamed it on her mental illness.

Also, I just so happened to be reading an article about a month ago talking about life expectancies. I don't have a link to it, but the point of the article was that people still live just as long, BUT...

the way it is computed makes it seem different.

If we took 2 babies and one died at birth and the other lived to be 70, the life expectancy would be 35.

In times past, the mortality rate among newborns was crazy high. With the advancement of medicines over the years, we have brought the rate down to the point of showing life expectancy to be longer by not having as high a mortality rate at birth. Not sure if this analogy is correct, but it seemed to make some sense to me

So, it is genetic then?

Robin WIlliams was told he was going to get dementia and couldn't live with that.

But as it has been shown in Russia and other countries, mental disposition can be controlled. Or someone who is hypotised, will fight to the death that they are not.

And if most are, then herd mentality kicks in.

Thanks for the honest post, discrat. : )

Although over the years aspects have improved -- there is sill a lot of "ignorance", "prejudice", "stigma," and "judgement" about Mental Illness.

I've mentioned it several times (maybe foolishly?) that I have overcome Social Anxiety, Depression ... And Schizophrenia ... However, ultimately, they were part of the best thing that ever happened to me. (Why? Because I have learned so much from the experience.)

[Note:]
Absolutely: Very well said, thanks discrat. From being hospitalized several times ... All the People I met were just great People with difficult problems.

New reports out say that she took her own life.

Mark

Great point of view but unfotunately many people see you crazy if you have a mental ilness desease

I assumed that from the beginning. Mental illness is not a terminal disease - but the results of mental illness can be.

Some people are too afraid to be openly associated with anything or anyone with mental health issues because of what might likely come up from such association. Yes, it's not something they should be doing but it's just how we see it today. It's the same thing with those living with HIV/AIDS, even with all the sensitization, they are still being stigmatised.

Late to the party

We as someone who deals with mental illness and has attempted suicide. I can understand why she did it I can usually get why most people do it and choose the way they go.

There is struggle in the body that the depression is only part of but because that is what is noticed that is what gets treated . Now if as 75 she has decided to go do yoga 6 times a week and follow some extreme diet. After being cured of hepatitis c . That changed the way she felt. That is the stuff that gets stigmatized.

Heck if she bought a mini trampoline and rebounded for several minutes any time she felt down. Again that is kind of cooky.

But where it is looked at as an illness it's something that was not caught or can not be cured it's something that can be stabilized and worked around.

I wish my bipolar disorder and high functioning autism had mixed to create that thing that could bring me wealth.

We want the things creative but mentally different people bring to the world. We just don't want people to like be to different

So true - and we even get them from those selling forum posts...you can't make it up.