Break social stigma of mental illness

Thank you for your Aug. 22 editorial “Should we really be laughing at this?” As a member and volunteer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness of DuPage County, I appreciate your acknowledgment that “we must learn to treat those with mental illness with respect” and that it is time for all of “us to show we understand that people who act irrationally often have wounded brains.”

A U.S. Surgeon General’s report states one in four families in our country are affected by mental illness and up to 20 percent of adults and 13 percent of school-age children at any given time can suffer from mental illness. The good news is that treatment works and those with mental illness can lead productive healthy lives.

Health care professionals have made great strides in better understanding mental illnesses and developing more effective treatments. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of those with mental illness do not seek treatment. Like any illness, the longer treatment is delayed the worse the prognosis will be.

One of the primary reasons symptomatic individuals or their loved ones do not seek help is because of the great stigma that continues to surround mental illness. When we as a society acknowledge mental illnesses for what they are — biological brain disorders — and stop considering these illnesses as character flaws or situations to laugh at or shake our heads at, more people will be willing to take the step of getting needed medical help. And all of our lives will be the better for it.

Suzanne M. Cahalan

Wheaton