I guess society is not yet comfortable with mental illness in the work place although some advances have been made. There is a lot of education to be done. I truly believe that until someone is exposed to some kind of mental illness whether it is themselves or a close one, they will never be at ease. In the past many causes have had to fight their way in the work force. I am thinking of cancer, aids, hepatitis A, B, C, and I am sure there are many others. The stereotypes that are attached to these illnesses only start to disappear when individuals start to be educated about the facts surrounding the illness and the fact that it is not contagious. Conclusion = FIRST PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW THAT THEY THEMSELVES ARE NOT AT RISK OF ANY KIND.

Next we have to talk about the media. Media is only interested in the ratings or the sale of their papers; in other words, the bottom line which is MONEY. In order to do this they need sensationalism. Notice how the reporter always says if the accused has a history of mental illness but fails to report his level of cholesterol or even blood pressure. Very few crimes are committed by people with a mental illness. Most often they will most likely hurt themselves rather than others. Notice how reporters also fail to say when the last episode of the illness was or if the illness had anything at all to do with the crime. Example: fraud is the crime and bi-polar is the illness, one has probably nothing to do with the other yet it is reported. Results on society are that people in general associate all that is bad with mental illness. The media is a powerful tool that when not used responsibly can cause a lot of damage. Hollywood would never have produced a movie such as "A BEAUTIFUL MIND" just 20 years earlier. When I see this I am encouraged and hopeful that one day soon everyone will be at ease with mental illness and it will be integrated in our society and the work place also. Let’s not forget that it is not so long ago that we would lock up all the "Crazy" people and throw away the key.
(Part 2 to be continued next week...)

Carmy Santoro