Let us hear

Hi,
I would like to speak out against the stigma associated with mental illness. I have a friend with serious mental illness, who is homeless. Also, I have first-hand experience with the mental health system. Many people think that mental illness is a "character flaw," that it is somehow the fault of the person who is ill. This is a misconception. Serious mental illness is caused by or associated with a biochemical imbalance in the brain. I am one of the lucky ones who have been helped by psychiatric meds (and I have a good doctor). Also, my boss, who happens to be a nephew of the Executive Director of Canada Speaks, is an enlightened employer who realizes that my absences from work are health-related. Although if I were absent say 40 percent of the time, that would be grounds for dismissal with any employer, but luckily in my case it's a lot less than that.

One of the consequences of serious mental illness is that it can lead to loss of permanent housing. Also, many homeless people with serious mental illness avoid shelters, so a lot of the people you see sleeping on the street in downtown Toronto have serious mental illness. In my homeless friend's case, she has behavioural issues which lead to her getting kicked out of shelters, so she often stays in a shelter that accepts women rejected by other shelters. Many would think it's her own fault that she bounces around different shelters, but I disagree. She has a serious mental illness (much worse than my particular case) which leads to her behavioural issues. Those behavioural issues are symptoms of her illness, just as my absences from work are symptoms of my illness. Don't blame us for something we have little control over. You can't "just snap out of it," although medication and psychotherapy helps a lot of people who have mental health issues, to a greater or lesser extent.