Susan Rogers’ letter to President Obama left me elated. She attacked the defamatory blaming of mental illness for the nation’s gun violence. Rogers’ letter was a call for action from the mental health community — a vast but mostly silent segment of the population. It’s a community that has yet to deliver its clout. There may be many ways to achieve progressive reform and I think we should support them all.
No matter how premature or inaccurate an “aberrant” brain (Rep. Tim Murphy’s word) theory may be, determined activists for coerced treatment use it to justify their cause. In 2004, “anosognosia” was estimated to affect 15% of people diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Now, it’s said to affect 50%. Rep. Murphy, whose HR 2646 may be making headway through Congress, recently stretched the estimate even more in a radio interview in December. http://www.stigmanet.net/#04jan16
Susan Rogers’ letter to President Obama left me elated. She attacked the defamatory blaming of mental illness for the nation’s gun violence. Rogers’ letter was a call for action from the mental health community — a vast but mostly silent segment of the population. It’s a community that has yet to deliver its clout. There may be many ways to achieve progressive reform and I think we should support them all.
No matter how premature or inaccurate an “aberrant” brain (Rep. Tim Murphy’s word) theory may be, determined activists for coerced treatment use it to justify their cause. In 2004, “anosognosia” was estimated to affect 15% of people diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Now, it’s said to affect 50%. Rep. Murphy, whose HR 2646 may be making headway through Congress, recently stretched the estimate even more in a radio interview in December. http://www.stigmanet.net/#04jan16