Eugene Uttley, guest blogger.
Author Eugene Uttley blogs at weeditty.wordpress.com, which he describes as a "writer's playground." Among the posts at wee ditty are a decent factsheet about schizophrenia, a examination of the egregious stigma associated with schizophrenia and with mental illness in general, a call to action by the US Surgeon General, and much more.
To get to know a bit (or a bit more) about Uttley, and about Sz and M.I. stigma, you are invited to check out these presentations:
Uttley asserts that the stigma surrounding schizophrenia in particular arises largely from the confusion of the word 'psychotic' with the word 'psychopathic' - leading to the common misconception that 'psychotic' equates with dangerous behavior.
Psychopathy is rare, and very different and distinct from psychosis and schizophrenia.
Statistically, schizophrenics are more likely to be harmed than to do harm.
As to what most schizophrenics are actually like, Uttley points to a recent LA Times interview with Allen Frances, former chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Duke University School of Medicine and chair of the task force that wrote the fourth edition of the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” or D.S.M.-IV.
The interview concerns with the mental health of the US President. Hilariously, Frances dismisses the possibility that the POTUS is mentally ill based on his being a bad person.
“Most mentally ill people are nice, they’re well mannered, they are decent, they are unselfish, they are good people,” Frances said. “Trump is none of these. When you lump someone who is bad with people who have mental illness, it stigmatizes the mentally ill population. Less an insult to him and more an insult to them.”
Uttley has been interviewed recently by aurorawatcherak and by Grammar Ghoul Press.
Catch up with him on twitter (@uttleysz), on amazon, or under the pen name Arthur Thomas Morton at Pen-L Publishing.
Big thanks JM came out swell and I especially dig the word 'release' in the title you've chosen. Works on a few levels. The stigma needs to release like gas, and we who suffer it need to release that suffering sometimes too.
ReplyDelete