Because people need another reason to be afraid of mental illness…

This article was linked to another about college admissions on the US News & World Report web site:
Should I Mention Depression on My College Application? Colleges scrutinize applications from troubled students more closely

The headline here oversimplifies the subject matter of the article, which is the fear among college admissions officers that another VT shooter will slip through the admissions process. A reasonable fear, one might argue.

But since when does depressed=homicidal? I’m sorry, but I think that the vast majority of depressed individuals are more suicidal than homicidal! If the desire is to kill other people, perhaps there’s another issue larger than depression going on. Granted, I’m no psychiatrist (yet), but my personal experience with depression, both my own and that of people I’ve known, is that it is more of an inward-focused illness rather than an outward-focused illness, which is part of the problem.

Should colleges stop worrying about students with mental illness? Should they ignore it? No, absolutely not. But denying admission to someone with a mental illness, especially one as common as depression, is not the way to deal with the problem either. Yes, there are mental illnesses that make it nearly impossible for the person with the illness to function in society, but those are not the norm, they are the exception. Mental illness is widespread and runs the gamut from mild to severe, and the vast majority of those with some form of mental illness are able to be productive members of society, even if they require a little assistance to get there.

Would the better option be to deny those with mental illness the right to get an education and become self-supporting? Would it be better to deny those with mental illness to the right to pursue their own dreams and seek out their own happiness? Jeesh.

Let’s keep the mentally ill from having rights anywhere near those of “normal” people (ha!) and see how that improves life for everyone. I’m certain that preventing people from having the chance to become productive members of society will eliminate the possibility of future bombings and shooting rampages and the like. Absolutely.

But not on this planet.