Like most of the world, I've been stunned and heartbroken about the tragic events that unfolded at VA Tech on Monday. It brought back horrible memories of the Columbine incident years ago, and more recently the killings at the Amish school. What's different with the Va Tech horror is that it's the first incident of this type that I've viewed through the eyes of someone who has no officially been tagged with a mental illness.
I have never, nor could I imagine, ever feeling the kind of blinding rage, social isolation and utter despair that Cho must have felt, but I do find myself with conflicted feelings about this case. While I cannot imagine how this could have happened, I feel a glimmer of empathy for this tragic young man and his family. I wonder about the extent to which the mental health community failed him and the innocent victims whose lives he destroyed. I wonder what, if anything could have been done to avert this disaster, and I wonder the extent to which we as a society have lost sight of our need to be "our brother's keeper". I wonder where evil ends and madness begins.
Selfishly, I also fear the implications for people living with mental illnesses. I fear that many kind, caring, thoughtful, law-abiding people will be painted with the same broad brush that the media is using to describe in vivid detail the complexities of Cho's mental state. I fear that this situation, and others like it, fuel the fires of ignorance and fearmongering, adding to the stereotypes that suggest that all people with mental illness are unstable, dangerous loose cannons just waiting to erupt with the slightest bit of provocation, or with none at all. I share the sentiments of Nurse Ratched in today's post.
For a more hopeful spin on this story in the media, here's a news release from the National Institutes of Mental Health. Of course you'll never see this one on the front page of your local newspaper.
While it would certainly be easier and less risky to go back into the closet about living with a mental illness, I believe that situations like this one make it even more imperative that we tell our stories and make ourselves known. Only then can the world understand that living with a mental illness doesn't automatically and necessarily make one a monster.
I have never, nor could I imagine, ever feeling the kind of blinding rage, social isolation and utter despair that Cho must have felt, but I do find myself with conflicted feelings about this case. While I cannot imagine how this could have happened, I feel a glimmer of empathy for this tragic young man and his family. I wonder about the extent to which the mental health community failed him and the innocent victims whose lives he destroyed. I wonder what, if anything could have been done to avert this disaster, and I wonder the extent to which we as a society have lost sight of our need to be "our brother's keeper". I wonder where evil ends and madness begins.
Selfishly, I also fear the implications for people living with mental illnesses. I fear that many kind, caring, thoughtful, law-abiding people will be painted with the same broad brush that the media is using to describe in vivid detail the complexities of Cho's mental state. I fear that this situation, and others like it, fuel the fires of ignorance and fearmongering, adding to the stereotypes that suggest that all people with mental illness are unstable, dangerous loose cannons just waiting to erupt with the slightest bit of provocation, or with none at all. I share the sentiments of Nurse Ratched in today's post.
For a more hopeful spin on this story in the media, here's a news release from the National Institutes of Mental Health. Of course you'll never see this one on the front page of your local newspaper.
While it would certainly be easier and less risky to go back into the closet about living with a mental illness, I believe that situations like this one make it even more imperative that we tell our stories and make ourselves known. Only then can the world understand that living with a mental illness doesn't automatically and necessarily make one a monster.
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