Letter to the Editor, Posted: 5/5/04
To the editor:
Nationally, more than 5 million Americans suffer from a severe and persistent mental illness or brain disorder. One in four families will be affected by a severe and persistent brain disorder. In fact, brain disorders are more common than cancer, heart disease or diabetes. The good news is that thanks to remarkable new treatments, millions of people with brain disorders can and do reclaim full and productive lives. Science has proven that severe and persistent brain disorders are highly treatable biomedical disorders of the brain. They have no link to character, child-bearing, and individual or family behaviors. Brain disorders are a chemical imbalance in the brain.
Brain disorders are treatable, success rate for schizophrenia 60 percent, bipolar disorder 65 percent, obsessive compulsive disorder 75 percent, panic disorder 80 percent compare the success rate for the treatment of heart disease 41-52 percent. People with severe and persistent brain disorders face a double challenge in life.
Not only do they work hard to combat the obstacles their brain disorder presents, they more often than not also face stigma and discrimination at work, in the community, or in receiving adequate health insurance. We wouldnít impose such unjust hurdles on people because they have a heart disease or cancer, so why are people discriminated against because of an illness that affects their brain?
They donít choose a brain disorder, just like you donít choose heart disease or cancer. Letís stop discrimination and treat brain disorders. Left untreated, brain disorders can profoundly disrupt a personís ability to think, feel and relate to others and to his or her environment. So, letís treat them, as we observe May is Mental Health Month.
Citizens of East Central Minnesota should be reminded that their family may be the one in four families affected by brain disorder this year. Please listen with an open heart and an open mind. Be supportive and compassionate.
NAMI East Central MN
(National Alliance
for the Mentally Ill)
Bob and Diane Lindgren
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