Why Does Noone March, Protest, Or Riot For Us?

Uh boy. Welp, dehumanization is dehumanization. To me, the specifics are merely details. Treating other humans inhumanely is the issue. I hate your tribe. I hate this European heritage or that religious prociivity. On and on.

As for violence, many American will not appreciate this remark, and I do love my country, but we live in by far the most violent nation in the history of the planet. By miles and miles. Would far more US and Japanese have died had we not firebombed and nuked Japan? Of course, millions more. Millions more. Everyone recognizes this fact. But the fact remains, we settle our disputes violently quite often. We must evolve beyond our pre-Paleololithic roots and learn to solve problems collectively, as a group. Together. Just my take.

I like BirdDancer's first answer but I think I can adequately sum it up easier, and add one or two other thoughts. (SorryBirdDancer, I'm having trouble reading long posts like that right now.)

In my mind there are three major reasons why people don't stage protests for the merntally ill. Of course a lot of people don't go to protests for anything. That's not a judgement, a lot of people, myself included, aren't typically protest people.
1) People think "Thank God, there's one less of therm in this world."
2) People are deathly afraid that if too many of us are in one place we'll kill them all. Heck, they're afraid that each one of us is milliseconds away from turning into Jack Nicholson from The Shining.
3) People are afraid that if they take a stand against the mistreatment of the mentally ill other people will think they're mentally ill too.

I do not think the two can be compared. I was never followed around a store because they thought I would still because of BPII. My SIL was. I have never been denied access to places because of BPII, many black people have. No one suspected me of doing the wrong thing automatically because of BPII- many black people are presumed guilty until proven innocent. I do not have people around me have assumptions about my character because of BPII- people of color do. I am less likely to be arrested and jailed due to BPII. The thing is, with people of color- particularly black people- you see on the outside their differences and based on that have preconceived notions about their character, worth, personality.
I get what you mean, I do. Mental illness is full of stigma and judgment and horrific treatments used in the old days- and terrible treatment of us from a wide swath of the medical professionals now. I just do not think the two compare.

I just realized I didnt read the thread closely so if I was redundant my apologies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahsweets I do not think the two can be compared. I was never followed around a store because they thought I would still because of BPII. My SIL was. I have never been denied access to places because of BPII, many black people have. No one suspected me of doing the wrong thing automatically because of BPII- many black people are presumed guilty until proven innocent. I do not have people around me have assumptions about my character because of BPII- people of color do. I am less likely to be arrested and jailed due to BPII. The thing is, with people of color- particularly black people- you see on the outside their differences and based on that have preconceived notions about their character, worth, personality. I get what you mean, I do. Mental illness is full of stigma and judgment and horrific treatments used in the old days- and terrible treatment of us from a wide swath of the medical professionals now. I just do not think the two compare.

Check out Treatment Advocacy Center.
Nothing is the same as racism, especially in a country built on slavery but
you are more likely to be killed by the police if you have a mental health issue---eg: when they "respond" to a behavioral issue that is the result of MI, even if they are aware of the MI prior to responding.
As with everything, you are more likely to be killed if you are black.
I think that we need to focus on Equality and then freedom will follow.

Two names:
Tanisha Anderson
Shereese Francis
a start

Thank you so much for your thoughts, Sarah. I always value your input greatly.

That said, my experience since 2010 in the major US city in which I live is pretty much the exact, polar opposite of yours. My civil rights were systematically incinerated by my police department and that strategy was based entirely and 100% on my history of bipolar 1. They illegally accessed my psychiatric records, listened to appointments with my pdoc and lawyer, and embarked on a massive scale to disinform and misinform the entire world that any complaints of mistreatment from me were all due to my psychosis. These tactics were taken straight from an old KGB or Church of Scientology playbook. It was a brilliant plan. And it was all, completely predicated on their illegally and unconstitutionally obtained information about my bipolar 1. It ulitmately resulted in 2 hospitalizations, one lasting nearly 5 years.

I suspect this is far more common than is publicly known. If this team did this to me, they obviously have done it to others. The reason they are able to continue to do these things is that they insist on silence, like all authoritarians and dictators.

I am very glad you have not personally had to deal with anything like this, Sarah.

oldbutwise, your additions are so true, but so sad to think about. Sorry for my long posts. I know that I need to work on curbing my compulsion to write too much, and/or in a verbose manner. I understand the difficulty we sometimes have reading long posts and articles/books either because of our illness or medication issues.

I agree that Treatment Advocacy Center is a great website! Coincidentally, I also recently found stats supporting what you refer to. Assuming they are accurate, I read that black Americans are 2 1/2 times more likely to die in police interactions than white Americans. The mentally ill, including mentally ill of color, 16 times more likely to die in similar situations. The sources for these stats are in articles I mention in one of my posts on page 1 of this thread.

You do not need to apologise to me. I doubt if anyone here finds your post redundant.

There's no need to apologize for long posts. I'm a firm believer that a post is as long as it needs to be to say what needs to be said. I wouldn't be surprised if the folks on the transgender support site I belong to pop some popcorn when they see that I've replied, just in case. And some of my e-mails are more like short stories. But you know, in both cases I've gotten the best responses from the long ones. I plan to go back and read your post in full.

Thank you so much for those references, BD. really appreciate it.

It's not an 'either or' issue---------Black Lives Matter----Mental Health risks matter, Women's Rights matter---EQUALITY matters.
In the 60's when the Movement(s) were sparked it included Civil Rights, Anti-war, Gay Rights, Women's Rights and the growing Ecological movement, mental health care reform, reform of care for the elderly, the disabilities rights movement etc etc---It is not a contest, it is part of the same animal
[but yes we should, as a nation, apologize to and make reparations to native peoples and black Americans in particular]
Each movement seeks equality and measured response/thoughtfulness/a change in paradigm...new models...it comes in waves----Let's catch the Wave as it can bring us closer to shore--- & hope the 'good guys' win this one
closer to real Democracy.

Very well said.

I am hoping more and more people begin to understand this. Equality through diversity. The pain of one group is no more or less important than another. It is different and it all screams for change. It is time to listen to one another.

I couldn’t agree more. It is time to LISTEN to one another.

You realize that what you're saying is a conspiracy theory don't you?

Quote:

Originally Posted by fern46 Because there is little to gain politically from paying people to riot for our cause. I think people might be willing to protest, but the riot behavior has backing behind it that we don't have. If somehow supporting the cause of those who are abused in the mental health system becomes a power play politically, expect to see some windows smashed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahsweets You realize that what you're saying is a conspiracy theory don't you?

Unless misinterpret ing what you mean by "backing"or a political power play.

On another note....

As far as *** umptions go... I try to do as few of those as I can as I have not found them healthy for me in my personal life.