The Plight Of The Mentally Ill
Hope springs eternal for the mentally ill in this country as much as for anyone else. In America we think big. So when we think of not being a "victim," we simultaneously think of being the opposite of a loser, that is, a "winner." In so doing, we fail to allow for the possibility of some middle ground, that is, neither winner or loser, neither victim nor victimizer; just a plain "mentally ill" person.
Yet this is more than a semantic distinction. The fact is that the insurance coverage of mental health pales compared to that of physical and that the cost of psychiatric drugs is among the highest for any disease. In this respect, the plight of the mentally ill indeed resembles that of victimization.
It all comes down to whether or not we think the mentally ill are deserving of this, their nearly adumbrated lot, or not. If they are victims, we can ask, do they deserve this fate or do they deserve worse, one brought on by their own actions.
I have to say I think not. Through no fault of their own, their number has been affected (as if it were a character flaw). Perhaps it has meant a predisposition for the illness, but this does not imply they possess the ability to outgrow it entirely, either. Now, that is a bottom-line judgment.
And as long as those with mental illness have thought of themselves as being handicapped, this has proved comforting to none but their enemies. Once stereotyped, very few ever escape the gauntlet of public outcry, of social degradation and emotional banishment. For the mentally ill, their birthright is coded by a lot, separated by instinct, bid on by owners of other slaves, removed to an early grave. So very few recover totally.
If it were merely a question of making an allowance for difference, that would be one thing. But those with mental illness tend to inhabit a higher moral plane as well. That they do not pass judgment quickly, knowing their own shortcomings; similarly they don't lie, cheat, or steal any more than any others; and they practice a philosophy of hope, an almost devotional attitude toward the promise of days ahead. The most usually noted shortcoming of the mentally ill, that they are motivationally challenged -- not being able to understand how things could be worse -- boasts of only a chimerical solution, anyway. How can one ascribe blame for something, which no one "victim" alone can be held responsible for? Did not ask for? This indeed is a test or moral courage, well met. And the interesting part is that while mental illness has no simple correlation with retardation, with disordered and delusional thinking it often does.
No, the mentally ill are of one piece that way, but not in the ways that matter deliberatively. Instead, they practice calm self-inclusion, their impression of self-worth usually very well-tended. Their delusional side usually admitting no rogues, then, how is their spiritual dimension best expressed?
If each mentally ill person is like a diamond in the rough, albeit with differing numbers of facets, so light is reflected from every one of them, from each according to his/her capacity toward each and everyone's benefit.
For the mentally ill live on more than one plane, but live best comparatively in the spiritual order. They may be handicapped emotionally, but no person with mental illness has ever suffered spiritually: This is an open book for them, one which they are free to pursue at will, sign in if they so wish or choose to disregard, also if they wish. Yet the light emitted by those in the spiritual vanguard is to be that of the order to come and as signposts come flickering alive in the twilight of the world as we know it, so shall we know or renew our knowledge of our neighbors, the mentally ill. And they shall see themselves in a different light from that of the others as only at the intersection of understanding and opportunity will they rise up and declare themselves the inheritors of the earth to be saved.