tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769446111726567693.post7995087932323961042..comments2024-03-04T23:34:35.712-05:00Comments on Number 16: Let's talk about mental illnessJoannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18303862386440522922noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769446111726567693.post-39482799315924395552012-02-09T13:24:07.462-05:002012-02-09T13:24:07.462-05:00Thank you for this Joanne. I think you've hit ...Thank you for this Joanne. I think you've hit a home-run here.<br />I agree completely that there needs to be more exposure in the media to allow people to become more familiar with mental illness in general. I think it's pretty phenomenal how the people that you mentioned, and others featured in CAMH's campaign to raise awareness, have come forward.<br />With regards to your comments surrounding representations in film and television, I struggle to think of characters who have an issue, be it parkinson's, cancer or mental illness where the 'disease' is not the focus of the narrative. Rarely do we see a character, who has cancer, deals with it, but it is of little consequence to the story and does not drive the plot. Even something as commonly understood as a broken leg is integral to "Rear Window"'s story.<br />Thus, it seems to me, that real people, with real problems, coming forward and saying that the problem exists, I struggle with it, but it does not define me, is the key to overcoming stigma.<br />Kay Redfield Jamison's memoir, 'An Unquiet Mind', is in my opinion, an excellent starting point in understanding the illness, how someone deals with it, and how the illness is nothing more than that person's 'thing' - and everybody's got a 'thing'.<br />Thank you again.Scott Eassonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00048272161198491963noreply@blogger.com