What I appreciate so deeply about Tom Wooton/s ideas is that he asks if the extraordinary capabilities that bipolar individuals often exhibit are in fact, the inherent capabilities of all people, that most people have not yet tapped into.

“Eleanor Longden was a diagnosed schizophrenic and heard menacing voices in her head for 10 years. Now, she has fought back and has graduated with a brilliant honours degree in psychology…

She said: “My original psychiatrist told me I would have been better off with cancer because it was easier to cure. She still says that to people. What happened to me was catastrophic, and I survived only because of luck…. I’m not anti-medication; I’m pro-choice. Hearing voices is like left-handedness; it’s a human variation, not open to cure, just coping.”

full story here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/a-firstclass-recovery-from-hopeless-case-to-graduate-1808991.html

The parents were and are very courageous to ‘going public”.

Having been there and still involved we need to get past the stigma and recognize these diseases for what they are and that they are treatable.
We do more harm by not labeling these kids than doing so. We hope that we can find a way to train more Child Psychiatrists and related Mental Health professionals so that better diagnosis and treatment/therapies and medications are available.

These illnesses are not different than others like Diabetes, Cancer, Heart disease, etc. and proper diagnosis and early intervention are paramount to recovery. As we learn more about Mental illnesses we can put into place more and better prevention programs and strategies.

Let us advocate for more research funding, doing away with the stigmatizing mentality and funding public mental health at a higher level and help these kids, because they enter the adult population at eighteen and can have terrible qualities of life.

Let us advocate for better training and education of these diseases in our Education systems.

I worry about the impact this kind of coverage is having on young people and their families – I hear voices myself, and have been diagnosed with schizophrenia in the past. Thankfully I received the support I needed to recover from this (whilst I still hear voices, I am perfectly able to live with them), If I, or my family, had received such a negative message I am not sure I would be in this position now. The expectations that others have on us, and that we in turn have for ourselves, are a key aspect of recovery. After all, without hope how could we travel the difficult path to wellbeing?

At the centre of this debate is a little girl. It’s truly tragic – not because she is caught up in a fantasy world with imaginary friends, but because key questions are unanswered (and will probably remain so as long as she’s seen as being purely mentally ill rather than distressed). What causes such a young child’s imaginary friends to become so damaging? The standard answer, in my book, is some form of trauma or event that she is struggling to cope with. Pathologising this may simply serve to cement her distress and block her recovery.

I do not believe that schizophrenia is the best way to describe a distressed and disturbed young child – it’s a term that obscures the human and the understandable … something that we should always try to avoid. Well done to INTERVOICE for their thoughtful letter that will, hopefully, undo some of this damage

Here is an opportunity Ophrah. You’ve stood on so many positive issues in the past. Take a stand and advocate and bring awareness to what can be done to help. This child is now labeled, medicated at the this early age and you showed only one side. Show the whole story “Stand up for and use your power for the good. Join to advocate for the rights of the mental ill and for those who are wronly labeled and misrepresented. Help this child you are put here in the lime light. So make it RIGHT!

I teach the NAMI Family to Family class for family members, with loved ones, who have a mental illness. I have a small loaning library that I put out every week. I try to keep as many positive books about mental illness and recovery as possible.

I have all three of Tom Wootton’s books along with Elyn Sak’s book, The Center Cannot Hold. I also have several other books on recovery. All of these books are written by people that have recovered and gone on to live both ordinary and extraordinary lives. These books give family members so much hope. We family members need more hope, not just the doom and gloom of shootings, suicides, etc. that are sensationalized in the news.

Oprah needs to focus a whole show or several shows on what is being done in mental illness research, recovery, & showcase NAMI’s efforts in helping both the consumers and family members attain the goal of recovery.