What am I like?

I’d like to make an observation, call it unfair or uninformed or anything else you may wish, the beauty of a blog means I can express it anyway!

I've noticed that we seem to have an imbalance with our interpretation towards mental illnesses.  Those suffering from a mental disability can still be acquitted for crimes, whilst sick-minded criminals get lighter sentences for suffering with cannabis induced paranoia.

A couple of years ago I was present in a court case, a memory that will never leave me. It was the sentencing of a man who had brutally murdered his girlfriend. He pleaded guilty due to ill mental health, he said he suffered paranoia due to a history of smoking cannabis, which surely eliminates any remorse he could have felt purely by trying to worm out of his crime with a weak excuse. He, the man of pure evil who greeted his dead girlfriend’s family with a look of smug-ness, was granted the lenience he wished, and was given a reduced sentence.
However, when we’re faced with someone who has a none-fictional, none- self-induced mental disorder, we’re generally less forgiving. Let me back up my daring claim with some examples, in true journalistic fashion.

I read one article recently in a magazine that implicitly treated mental illness in such a way I’m surprised it was published. The article detailed the struggle of a woman who grew up with a father who suffered from bi-polar disorder. He would often leave the house for days at a time and roam the streets, and would indulge in odd behaviour. Eventually, he became homeless, and the woman (daughter) does not refer to this man as her father, but calls him by his name. Basically, because of  his illness, she had written him off as her own father. Fair enough, he had psychotic episodes, but if he had instead suffered from cancer would she act the same way towards him? This man was suffering from an illness, he wasn’t just characteristically an incompetent dad. Yet, because the illness was in the mind, it was regarded as less of an excuse than a debilitating disease that is instead, physical. It’s understandable that someone who came across this man for a brief period of time could be forgiven for prejudging, however this woman had grown up with this man - surely long enough to get to grips with the reasons behind his behaviour?

What spurred me to write this post was something I read in the problem page of a magazine supplement from a broadsheet newspaper yesterday. (Ooops, was that too specific?) The ‘problem’ was that a woman’s husband was suffering from depression, and poor old her, she was fed up. She was advised to get out and see her friends. I pose the same question again, if he was suffering from a physical illness, I’m sure she would never complain, turn the problem on her self, or even worse, write into a newspaper about the problem.

There’s no denying that we treat illnesses of the mind and body differently, there is still a stigma attached to mental illnesses, being in the 21st century just will not suffice, we can’t take our human rights, our democracy and our evolving quality of life for granted - this problem still exists.

Suffering from panic attacks myself - I often get, when recalling an attack ‘oh what are you like!’ As if it’s a personality quirk or an unhealthy vice I often bite into for the fun of it. ‘What am I like?’ I’m like someone with a physical impairment, except mine lies in the chemicals within my brain, where you can’t see. But don’t doubt that mental illnesses are any less significant.

Mental attitude can become paramount in the face of not just physical illness, but anything. Nobody has become famous, successful or rich without the power of their mind, as this is our best and strongest resource.  So you can imagine that when something is anatomically wrong with the mind, it affects people beyond their conscious control.
Someone with depression isn’t moody, someone with bipolar disorder isn’t scatty, and someone with anxiety isn’t afraid. And once we're finished enjoying every other aspect of a healthy democracy, we should tackle this misconception.