2 Comments

• 
  jill nottelten - 12 years ago

  I hovered over my choice with my vote here as I have worked in Acute mental health units for about 7 years now. I guess I am used to seeing people who have the worst symptoms, so to me I am tempted to say that there is a need for caution if people are unmedicated.
  But when I stopped to think about which way I would vote, I thought - not all of the paranoid people that I see are a risk to others, they are usually more of a risk to themselves than anyone else.
  There are also very dangerous people in the community who do not have mental illness.
  For this reason I drew back from my instinctive bias (having been in places where I see people who are worse affected than others) and chose the same as I would for any other mental illness. That people should be treated the same as any other person.
  As an individual. With individual needs and individual lifestyle choices and individual health concerns. After all is this not what we are being educated to do with culture and lifestyle choices - why are we not to consider peoples' mental health status in the same light.

• 
  Anthony D Morgan - 12 years ago

  I once shared a flat for 2years with one in london many years ago now,every friday night he would come in drunk and depressed after a time he would cut himself mainly his wrists i would then have to take him to local hospiat for treatment.
  At first i found this to very upsetting for me he was only after all 25 years old and when sober a lovely warm kind person but once he had drink inside he became another person completley
  after some time of this weekly ritual i began to notice he never cut himself to deeply and ralized he was seeking attention and realease from some deep inner pain and this was his only way of release from it, we had a long deep conversation one evening he came from the welsh valleys and had been abused as a small boy as this had caused most of his problems.he was only seeking accptence and love mostly for his own persona which he loathed he told me as he was a member of the christian organisation i was also a member of, we knelt down and prayed he would be healed fom this affliction it did not happen overnight and he found himself sectioned ona number of occasions for disruptive behavour and mostly for his own protection we eventualy lost contact with each other and dhe moved on else were
  but those 2 years living with him taught me quite a bit of those with mental illness of any form it may take
  and we sould never judge anyone who may appear on the surface to appear normal what ever normal may be but deep within mentaly suffering ther own pvt hell caused by others
  and in conclusion i always say "there but for the grace of god go i"