Healing And Trauma: Perspectives And Attitudes 14

Does anyone remember the late Gerald Le Dain of the famous Le Dain Commission for the decriminalization of marijuana? He was the Chief Justice appointed by Justin's Dad, then prime minister Pierre Trudeau to oversee a federally funded study on the decriminalization of pot. He is in the news now. It wasn't really mentioned until now that he ended up suffering from depression caused by overwork. He was eventually hospitalized, recovered, but unable to get his position back with the Supreme Court of Canada because he was considered damaged goods. This I find alarming. It also suggests to me how far they have gone in pathologizing not only mental illness (how's that for an oxymoron!) but even more so those who suffer from it. I think that if we really want to go all the way on getting rid of stigma then we have to be prepared to re-examine our perceptions and definitions. Can we really call someone sick when they have a mental health diagnosis, in the way that we call someone with cancer or advanced heart disease sick? I don't think so. There are many reasons and causes for mental health challenges. Often the causes begin in early childhood, especially where there has been a history of childhood abuse and neglect. But the person with the diagnosis has had to reorganize their way of thinking and perceiving in order to cope, often with horrific emotional injuries. Or maybe that is simply their inborn wiring. But instead of re-examining our social values, and reorganizing ourselves to be more human-based, more humane and compassionate, we simply all get swallowed up in the same mad death dance of competitiveness, greed, and performance anxiety. We want to look good for our peers, our mates, our families, our bosses, posterity. We want to be not only our best but the best. This mania to perform, out-perform and excel and exceed all previous expectations has itself taken on the dimensions of a huge collective mental health disorder. Some survive, some don't. No one comes through unscathed. We have a historical, cultural and vocational allergic reaction to weakness and vulnerability and anyone who shows blood is going to get ripped to shreds. This has to be further and more deeply addressed. In the meantime, I am thinking of a brief conversation I had once at a Saturday afternoon soiree some ten years ago. It was with an elderly and evidently very angry lesbian. We were talking about how far everyone had come in LGBTQ rights, especially with the recent legalization of same-sex marriage. I mentioned that now it's the turn of people with mental health issues to gain inclusion and respectful recognition. The old lesbian suddenly snarled, and spat out these words, "Well, at least WE are not sick!" It was a very short conversation.