Mentally Ill Street People

[theloniusfleabag]

I stand corrected, she was 12. For argument's sake, what if he had waited until she was 16/18 and then left her on the front sidewalk?

[Charles Anthony]

I don't know if that is actually 'PC lingo', because there actually is a difference, though they might be able to be lumped together under 'mentally deficient'. Down's Syndrome is not really the same as schizophrenia, for example. 'Mental retardation' is making a comeback as a valid term, I hear.

In a practical and a moral sense, I do not think it should make a difference. Whether somebody is mentally ill or deficient or senile or quadrapeligic or intoxicated is the same to me.

At what point should the 'burden' of caring for the severely handicapped be foisted on others (if ever)? Should someone be 'forced' to take care of those that cannot care for themselves, even in the most rudimentary fashion?

No.

For argument's sake, what if he had waited until she was 16/18 and then left her on the front sidewalk?

Again, no.

Now, what if he wheeled her up into the foyer of city hall and abandoned her? For argument's sake, let us say that he accidentally dies of a heart attack on the way out.

[Charles Anthony]

This is national Mental Illness Week.

Television shows and movies glamorize super-heroes with extra-ordinary powers all of the time. Various religions depict analogous experiences. Often the distinction between hero and ordinary person is muddled.

The road to sanity; Kyle Reynolds, who has suffered from mental illness, uses his sometimes disturbing paintings as a healing therapy

Kyle got sick at 16. He didn't know what was happening to him. He was scared. And for a very long time he tried to hide it.

"I just unravelled and I didn't see it coming," he says.

"I was trying to go to school and hold it together. I was in denial. I was young and just wanted to be like everyone else."

He heard voices. Hallucinated. He thought the TV was talking to him. Thought he could read people's minds.

St. Catharines Standard online

Most of this guy's art is just as good -- if not better -- than what I commonly see for sale in local galleries and on display in public galleries. This may sound cold-hearted but if somebody buys some of his work, that might provide a different therapeutic benefit.

Hopefully, he sets a trend: encouraging other potentially mentally ill people to express themselves as artists or to find some other peaceful outlet.