Monday, July 21, 2008

Welcome

Welcome to Matters of the Mind, my postings about matters relating to mental health. While I actually majored in Psychology as an undergraduate student, the subject matter was not as much personal as academic. Mental health issues have come to me as a result of family circumstances as my eldest daughter has a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

As I began to process the realities of her illness, the nature of mental disorders and the stigma attached to them began to become more relevant to my daily activities. Almost everywhere I went and almost everyone I spoke to had their own story of their family member, spouse, parent, child or friend that was affected by some type of mental disorder. This exposed a tremendously peculiar feature of our society in that individually and within a family there is often great concern and caring for our loved ones, but within the media and public consciousness there is great scorn and stigma associated with those who suffer from a host of mental diseases.

It is precisely this stigma and misinformation that has led me to the desire to reasonably and rationally discuss many of the aspects of how mental function and dysfunction affects our daily lives.

It matters very little who you are or your position in life if you are to become stricken with a disease of the brain. It happens every day to people everywhere. Famous, privileged, poor, beautiful, ordinary, talented or educated no matter the label, we are all susceptible. The diseases are a non-discriminatory offender.

This blog is designed to examine viewpoints about the diseases, treatments, stigma, research, social implications and any other related topic that is worthy of discussion. There are no limits on the range of issues that can qualify as there are seemingly no limits on the effects on peoples lives. I hope you enjoy the ideas and topics presented and ask for your input into the process of examining the subjects presented.

Again, welcome to matters of the mind.

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