How to Feel Sympathy for People with Mental IllnessĪmputation as a Paradigm for Mental Illness
SYMPATHIZING WITH CAPTOR PROFESSIONAL
What I will say instead is simply this: the fact that I, a freelance writer, have to say this to a mental health professional more than demonstrates how profoundly lacking we remain in sympathy. I’m not going to waste time refuting her argument – to do so would be to suggest it has legitimacy. Society at large doesn't feel sympathy for the mentally ill any more than this emergency room doctor does. In her eyes, “mental illness” is an oxymoron – the mentally ill aren’t really ill, they’re whiney drama-queens desperate for either attention or a few pills. 3īy analyzing Keegstra’s actions, we can begin to make sense of those troubling statistics. Another 58% said they wouldn’t want to work with someone mentally ill, 2 even though workplace discrimination based on mental illness is illegal. We like to think we’re getting better, with celebrities like Demi Lovato making great strides for progress and awareness, but this incident shows we’re not.Ĭonsider: a study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior found 68 percent – over two-thirds of respondents – wouldn’t want someone mentally ill to marry into their family. I’m not going to mince words – we suck at sympathizing with the mentally ill. Keegstra was not the cause, but the symptom, of a disease – one that is in a much more malignant state than I could have imagined. Obviously, this was the right thing to do, but if we think this is going to solve the problem, we’re fooling ourselves. Beth Keegstra – Paradigm of Mental Health Unsympathyįollowing the incident, Keegstra was immediately suspended from her position. Bardwell’s father, Donald, recorded the confrontation and posted it to Facebook, where it has since received over five million views.ĭr. In time, Keegstra reluctantly gave Bardwell a benzodiazepine medication. Beth Keegstra, who violently tried removing Bardwell from a hospital gurney, shamed him by saying he was less sick than the other patients, and implied he was only trying to obtain narcotics. Expecting, at the very least, a sympathetic ear, he was instead met by Dr. On July 11 th, Samuel Bardwell, a 20-year-old basketball player from Silicon Valley, was admitted to El Camino Hospital following a serious anxiety attack. The Tragic Story of Samuel Bardwell and a Doctor Who Couldn't Feel Sympathy
1 Regardless, I feel the need to share it again, because it so perfectly embodies our broken attitudes and inability to feel sympathy regarding mental health. Why is it so difficult to feel sympathy for people with mental illness? Some of you may have heard the story I'm about to talk about – it gained a fair amount of traction online a few weeks ago.
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