It seems every week the media deliver a story that goes like this: “The suspect in the crime may suffer from a mental illness …”
I will deal with the word “suffer” later. But first, let’s look at the assumption.
A person commits an act that, on the face of it, is one of downright lunacy. Maybe it’s a shooting. Maybe it’s a robbery or a mugging. Dreadful behaviour, for sure. But an act caused by a mental illness?
It is understandable that those given the job of explaining in short order the reasons of crime have to say something. But why is it that it so often it seems that mental illness always works its way up to the top of the story?
The answer is not all that mysterious.
Crime – particularly in its violent form – is so alien. Most folks just don’t understand it. Mental illness, too, is tough to grasp. And like crime, there is a fear and unknowing about it. Thus, the easy assumption about mental illness and, tragically, a resulting stigma.
In the guise of Christmas Present, Charles Dickens warned Scrooge to beware of ignorance and want. Today, we live in a society that creates want due to economic inequality and that is broadly ignorant of the social and cultural needs of a vast population that lives among us.
Is it any wonder that crime exists? Is it any wonder that marginalized and hungry people have scant regard for those of us who live in relative plenty?
Our refusal to directly and concretely address the needs of our whole population creates “anti-social” and criminal behaviour. And we avoid our duty as a society by creating the straw man of mental illness.
I should add, parenthetically, that the solution does not lie in more law enforcement. Anyone who has had any dealings with our local Mounties will know that, without fear or favour, they serve us so well.
Returning to the word “suffer.”
It is frequently said that some folks “suffer” from a mental illness. While in some cases this may be an adequate statement, in the vast majority of situations “living with” or “inspired by” are more accurate terms.
Indeed, it is society in general that “suffers” from the reality of mental illness.
In the facile case of media reports, we are medicated by reassurances that crime is the result of crazy people acting out. In this way, we are given an excuse to ignore social causes and externalize unfortunate behaviour.
This self-serving attitude, while handy, prevents us from recognizing some of the giants of our culture who lived with a mental illness: Beethoven. Aristotle. Charles Dickens. Michelangelo. Leonardo da Vinci. Isaac Newton. Tolstoy. Dostoyevsky.
I can’t imagine what our world would be like without what these people did – living as they did with their own mental landscapes, music, and words.
So, in the end, who suffers? It is we.
The solution to this social illness is simple.
Every time the TV or newspaper reporter says, “may have been suffering from a mental illness,” be critical in your thinking. Ask the hard questions. Ask yourself if there are deeper, more difficult causes to unease in our community.
As always, feedback is welcome at [email protected]
