Schizophrenia is a malady that can be treated; this is what I read in a newspaper some time ago and until that morning, I had never, ever heard of anyone describing any other serious illness as a malady.
People with mental illnesses have been dehumanized by language, made to feel that their feelings need not be taken into consideration or even made to believe that because they suffer from a brain disorder, they do not have to be treated like the rest of us. In some cases, they are not always provided with proper health care. Worse still, some of the offenders are those who work in the mental heath system.
When one of us is diagnosed as suffering from a physical illness, people rally around us. But, when mental health is the problem, so many of us steer clear. Mental illness is still trivialized and happiness and health are portrayed as commodities that can be bought at the corner store. Due to the stigma, consumers, people with a mental illness, are forced to bottle up their feelings or turn to alcohol or drugs. In many cases, they self-medicate with serious repercussions.
