Editor:
Were it not for the regrettable fear-mongering tone of her letter decrying the plans for Cottage Farm (Coast Reporter, Oct. 8), Lynne Doupe's assertion that Alison Nixon's vision for a centre for mental health recovery would somehow "deter the tourist trade" here on the Coast might be laughable.
But it is not. Ms. Doupe's letter conjures up a laundry list of overwrought and (largely) imagined dire consequences should Cottage Farm manage to become a reality. Her concerns smack of the NIMBY syndrome (Not In My Back Yard), to say nothing of a rush to judgment rather than an honest desire to inform herself of the realities of the plan.
Intentionally or not, Ms. Doupe reinforces the continuing stigmatizing of mental illness at a time when it has become undeniable that most of us have someone in our lives who suffers from some form of mental illness. Treatment and education are what are called for, not intolerance and fear.
Michael and Denise Sherman
Halfmoon Bay
