Mentally ill need our support

I write regarding the column by Burt Constable titled, “Cancer survivors boast, so should mental illness champs.” I read some of the responses your readers had to Tica King’s story and was surprised at some of the “feel good” and “political” interpretations of her story. Though the story is nicely written, please do not believe that Tica was miraculously cured of mental illness. Her life been has been far from a fairy tale. Tica is an amazing person, but don’t forget that she is a person who every day faces the challenges and the immense stigma of mental illness.

I understand that to read her story might amaze people with a preconceived idea of the mentally ill, particularly as Tica is smart, well-read, hardworking and by all appearances completely normal. She is not homeless and she does not appear to be someone who could do another person harm. So, of course, hers looks like a “feel good” story on the surface. But her story is also about a group of people who, without medication and counseling, would succumb to their illness. The problems that can develop when some of these people are forced to go without their medication are sometimes devastating to others as well. To abandon the programs that support these people affects more than just them.

Having visited the Kenneth Young Center for the mentally ill in the Northwest suburbs, where Tica works as a peer counselor, I have met some clients. These people, like Tica, are amazing and humble me. You see, Tica King is my big sister, and I honestly don’t know whose life has been more charmed, hers or mine. Either way, I challenge everyone who can to contribute the Kenneth Young Center to keep it alive and well.

Margaret Chynoweth

Albuquerque, N.M.