The State Lunatic Asylum in Midgeville, Ga. opened in 1842. The asylum was particularly gloomy in its early years when Superintendent David Cooper believed cruelty was the only way to manage the insane. By the time Thomas Green took the asylum's reins in 1847, many of the asylum's patients had been beaten by their families or caretakers for years. Others were brought in like animals - one patient had been chained to a pallet by her arms, legs and neck. Still others came from makeshift prisons of medieval proportions. One patient, for example, had been shut in a log hut for years with neither clothing nor bedding.
Green's first order of business was to release every patient from their chains and allow them to roam the asylum grounds freely. Although nearly 170 years have passed since the opening of the Midgeville asylum and Green's new-aged attempts to treat those with mental health disorders, the metaphorical chains in the United States still remain.
Today's mental health crisis is similar to that of yesteryear. The idea of human rights has evolved to the extent that physically chaining, beating or unlawfully incarcerating the mentally ill is considered inhumane. Even though these physical punishments have largely been phased out, those suffering from mental illness in this country still suffer considerably. Today, a social stigma punishes the mentally ill in the same way caretakers physically abused them in the past.
The social stigma surrounding mental illness in the United States manifests itself in many ways. Someone suffering from a broken bone, for example, is often considered more legitimately ill than someone suffering from schizophrenia. Mental illness is a disorder originating in the brain, just as asthma originates in the lungs or cirrhosis in the liver. Tossing mental disorders into a different category of illness inhibits victims of mental illness from obtaining the proper treatment. In fact, it was not until 2008 - when the Parity Law passed - that those who filed an insurance claim for mental illness received equal treatment with those filing a claim for physical illness. Before the Parity Law, those filing claims for mental illness often could only receive coverage of 50 percent. Consequently, many individuals suffering from mental illness could not afford treatment. But a major loophole in the Parity Law allows insurance companies to opt out of the changes if they can prove their costs increased by at least 2 percent. Moreover, the law also does not apply to individual insurance policies - only to group policies offered by employers.
But even if treatment options become more affordable, many people may be reluctant to obtain treatment for mental illness because of the surrounding social stigma. Many parents deny their children the opportunity to see a therapist or psychiatrist because they fear their children will be deemed abnormal. According to a Family & Youth Roundtable study, 79 percent of families avoid mental health treatment for their children because of the associated social stigma. Adults and teens deny themselves treatment for the same reason: for fear of being judged by a society that considers mental illness a kind of psychological weakness rather than a "real" ailment.
The fact that many individuals cannot afford treatment, when compounded by the intense stigma associated with the treatment, creates terrible consequences. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than 90 percent of those who commit suicide suffer from a diagnosable mental illness. As suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-old individuals, this is unacceptable. Forcing people into a state of isolation and hopelessness to the point of suicide when treatment options exist is utterly deplorable. This situation is no different than denying a cancer patient life-saving treatment. An although the overwhelming majority of those suffering from mental illness are not inclined to violence, a few are, such as Seung-Hui Cho at Virginia Tech in 2007 and Jared Loughner in Arizona several weeks ago. Perhaps these shootings could have been prevented had there not been such an intense stigma linked to treatment.
We must not restrain those with mental illness, but rather allow them to have access to the necessary treatment. We must not ignore the existence of mental health disorders, but make an effort to understand them. We must not restrict mental health to a lesser category than physical health, but combine the two and realize that illness is illness regardless of whether it affects the brain or the heart. Just as Green released the mentally ill from their chains 170 years ago and empowered them to battle their illness, we as a society must do the same and continue his legacy of compassion and understanding.
Jamie Dailey's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at j.dailey@cavalierdaily.com.
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