Dear Producers and Brian Williams:
I am shocked and saddened that last night, Brian Williams said Ariel Castro is “the face of mental illness.”
No, he most certainly isn’t.
Not only did a psychiatrist testify that he IS NOT mentally ill, but the horrific things he did are NOT a byproduct of any mental illness.
This is the face of mental illness.
This is my 19 year old son, Tim. Tim has Schizoaffective Disorder, which means he struggles with both Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia. Tim is like 94% of persons with severe mental illness. He follows his care regimen of medication and therapy. He’s trying to learn a job skill in an extended high school program. He participates in trainings of Chicago police officers and Child Protective Service workers to show what childhood onset mental illness looks like.
And it very definitely DOES NOT look like Ariel Castro.
Sincerely,
Chrisa Hickey
Agreed. It is really sad to hear this. So much ignorance.
Really?! That's what they're saying about Ariel Castro?! That's ridiculous. This is a sexual deviant, a heartless demon, this has nothing to do with mental illness.
Chrisa
Thanks for speaking out about Brian Williams, NBC and Dr. Phil. Only by uniting and raising our voices can we make people understand that it is wrong to make persons with severe mental illnesses the butt of jokes and to label a violent criminal as the face of mental illness.
Your son is the face of mental illness and so is mine and I am proud of both of them and how much they have and continue to accomplish.
Amen! I've been struggling with mental illness for 13 years and I am certainly not like that evil man. Thank you for speaking out.
Amen! I hope you sent this directly to Brian Williams and NBC. I was absolutely disgusted by such an ignorant comment.
Good for you!
Just found your site and I plan to bookmark it. We have a beautiful 14 year old son that has been hospitalized 3 times in the past three years, been in various meds for 4 years with therapy and the list goes on. Currently he has a generalized anxiety disorder diagnosis but we know it's more. He recently told us he's been cutting for the past three years. We're about to embark into the world of "testing" to see if we can get a full picture of what's going on and possible diagnosis. If anyone has a good feel for what types of tests need to happen please share. I look forward to continuing to read and share on this blog. Chris