PSYCHOTICS: Don't judge or condemn

Earl Hunter's Letter to the Editor entitled "Psychotics: How to deal with them" is disturbing in both language and concept. His proposal to "set up very special places to keep them for the rest of their lives...and isolate them..." would reinstate Nazi policies, when that government too provided very special places to house and dispose of people suffering with mental illness. Hunter proposes "...screening, isolation and specialized care..." to keep "them" apart from the rest of our supposedly normal society. We've abandoned, for good reason, public institutions which primarily allowed the rest of us to pretend they didn't exist, whilst denying basic human rights and dignity to the mentally ill.

Well, Mr. Hunter, what about other threats to our society? Let's isolate color blind people, because "those people" might run red lights and cause auto accidents. Let's remove from society "those people" who carry guns, because they might accidentally shoot us. Or what about isolating "those people" with different political beliefs, ethnicity or religion? Would that make your world safer?

Individuals with mental illness are so much more than their diagnostic label, and most function well in society, living full and productive lives. Others flourish when adequate state funded support services are provided, although these support systems are rapidly disappearing under the avalanche of funding cuts.

They are people just like us except they must work harder to maintain mental stability. A very few of our schizophrenic population commit acts of violence, and when these cases are examined, it is usually determined that they have been failed by services meant to assist them. Shouldn't the blame be put on the lack of resources rather than the schizophrenic who, without adequate support, lost control?

I have the privilege of working with individuals struggling with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. They are, without exception, filled with hopes and dreams that deserve to be realized as much as yours or mine. Each client inspires me for their courage, their resolve to function in society, and their daily challenge to overcome an illness that makes life that much harder. What they don't need Mr. Hunter, is to be judged, condemned and isolated from the rest of us. Isolating "them" would greatly diminish the rich diversity that makes our society so multifaceted and resourceful.

ANGELINA DI FAZIO

Coeur d'Alene