Saturday Thoughts: Why Does Society Treat The Mentally Ill Like It Does?

            Fair warning, I am going to be getting up on my soapbox much more. And, I know it might make me some enemies, which I fully expect and accept. But, someone has to speak up and speak out or the message will not get out. And, if the messenger has to be me so be it. This isn’t the only subject I will be speaking out about either. It is just the first since it is close to my heart and society has ignored it for so long.

            Society treats the mentally ill like second class citizens at best and at worse like some sort of fungus it can’t get rid of. Why is that? We are human beings just like you just a bit different. And, yes some of us have done violent things. But, so have supposedly sane people and you don’t look at a whole class of people like them as pariahs. On the contrary you do everything in your power to help fix the problem that caused it.

            But, you call for things to help the mentally ill yet don’t act on it ever. You leave us to live as miserably as you can possibly get away with. Cutting funding to our programs every chance you get. As if we are not important at all. Like we don’t matter. Failing to realize you are also hurting veterans who if we directly went to cut funding for them there would be outrage over it. Yet when it is just the mentally ill as some would put it there is no outrage outside of the community of the mentally ill and their families.

            It is also hurting education when you cut funding for the mentally ill as well. Since with support and some of the programs you keep slashing there would be more productive members of society. But, you fail to see that. You just see money going to the mentally ill like we are some sort of leeches. We are not leeches; we are human beings trying to live good healthy lives. Why is that so hard for you to grasp? Why do you insist on putting up so many road blocks in our path?

            We all bleed the same color if cut. It’s not like our illness turns out blood some mutated color. We all have feelings just for some of us they can get a bit extreme at times and we need help calming down. We all have needs just some of us have more needs than others at times. And, we all have talents just for some it takes longer to harness those talents. But, people seem so unwilling to see that nowadays. As well as unwilling to have patience with people.

            Why has society changed to such a heartless being as we have advanced in capability? It seems society thinks that it doesn’t have to give to those in need of help anymore as if some machine exists to cure all suddenly. Well wakeup call it doesn’t. So it is time for society to start doing what it should have been all along. And, that is quite simply treating the mentally ill with the dignity and respect that they do everyone else. As well as giving them what they need to recover properly and with self-respect. Along with decent income on disability so that we are not so far down on the totem that we are mile below minimum wage earners. Being a bit below them is one thing so there is an incentive to want to go back to work when one is able to, but where we are now being insulting.

            I think now things are a bit clearer, so I will step off my soapbox on this issue for today. Tomorrow I have a different issue to get on my soapbox about. You have been forewarned. For now, feel free to leave questions and comments below. And, if you want my columns to appear in your inbox enter your email address in the box below where it says to follow by email. As for me it is back to school work for me. *Tips his hat and walks out the door. *