I attended a "Lunch & Learn" today at the hospital called, "Silence, Stigma & Mental Illness". In the flyers there was a spin on Silence of the Lambs for the program. I was interested in this topic because I deal with bipolar on a daily basis and during my time living in Utah I encountered so much ignorance about mental illness it infuriated me.
The primary newspaper in Salt Lake City did a survey about perception of mental illness and 36% of respondents believed that mental illness was a result of sin. Are you kidding me? Then I went to my family ward bishop me during a particularly difficult time during my illness which I believe I was struggling with due to the passing of my grandmother, an attempted burglary of my apartment while I was in it, and a break in of my car. When I shared my difficulties and my illness with him looking for insightful spiritual guidance he expressed that I would be happier if I just attended church more frequently, said my prayers more fervently, read my scriptures longer etc ad nauseum. Are you kidding me?
When we arrived at the lunch & learn they had free pizza and fava beans. If you don't know why the fava beans are so funny, I can't help you. After we all sat down they lowered the lights and two gentlemen wheeled in a man on a moving dolly wearing a straight jacket and a mouth restraint just like Anthony Hopkins in the movie. Then introduced himself as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Creepy and funny. The presenter was the medical director of the hospital's behavioral health (psychiatric) department, Dr. Dennis Kutzer. He had a marvelous sense of humor and got away with a lot of anecdotes that most hospital associates would never get away with. He had some amazing information to share. He used the Hannibal Lecter idea to over emphasize that there are so many bad perceptions out there especially that people with mental illness are dangerous.
One of the first things that he stated was that he suffered from depression and that 2 of his children suffer from depression. Then he started sharing the statistics. 26% of Americans suffer from one or more 'mental illness'. That is 1 in 4 people. He informed us about so many things. It was really good. Making a point that mental illness is disease. The term mental illness is a misnomer because it makes it sound like the illness is 'all in your mind' like it isn't a physical disease. He said that it isn't in your mind its in your brain and the brain is a tangible working organ of the body and one of the most important ones at that. I wish I had been able to write everything down and share it. If I can recall more...more will follow.
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