1. Hate Crimes are acceptable against the Mentally ill?
2. Previously DemandJustice.com - why the change?
3. Why were people looking at the main page then leaving?
4. The mentally ill will not help each other?
5. NAMI* and other advocates causing more harm than good?
6. Can someone with mental illness send the right message?
 

1. Hate Crimes are acceptable against the Mentally ill?

Is there a better way to describe what happened to me?  Attacking and tormenting the mentally ill is so acceptable that even the courts accept it!  I could relate my situation to the killing of Saint Joan of Arc.  She experienced "voices and visions" and was murdered for it.

Society sponsors this hate crime so well that people with mental illness start to believe the hate!  I became obsessed with the claims that I was dangerous, a criminal, and that I will kill people.  I could not deny having mental illness, so was it true?

This hate has destroyed almost 15 years of my life, from when it first happened in the army.

The stigma of mental illness is a hate crime!  Perhaps the only way for the mentally ill to deal with the stigma is to call it a hate crime.  What else can you call this evil tradition which is more true?

When I was being confronted, people seemed to look for reasons to hate.  I could talk about my best intentions and was ignored.  Then when I mentioned my fears and how other people were effecting me, I would be attacked again!  I was being given reasons be terrified instead of helping me find strength.

I sent letters to the U.S. President, Congress, government agents, and others claiming to care.  Only the ACLU, a state senator, federal representative, and the Department of Justice responded.  Look on page 4, failed help, for their answers.
 

Hate would be motivation to discredit me.  Fear would be a motivation to see how dangerous I might be.  What were they trying to do in court?  Look at the evidence.  If they believed I was a real danger, they could have sought a court order for a psychiatric evaluation.  Instead I was attacked because I admitted to having a mental illness.

 

2. Previously DemandJustice.com - why the change?

WhyHope.com is the new website name, to address the question of mental illness in society.  The previous domain name, "DemandJustice.com" was a popular phrase with people looking for justice, like I had been.  This was when I thought society and the legal system cared about the rights of people, regardless if they had mental illness.  (See the State (law) and Failed help 10-22-04 for more.)

Actually, before picking WhyHope.com, I had registered FearThem.com.  Fear was an issue, then I thought the name was too threatening.  So then I picked TheyFear.com and thought it was still too negative.  ("Fear Them" sounds like title of a horror movie.)

On March 23, 2005, it occurred to me that stigma is the result of hate crime.  If stigma destroys a person life, then it is a hate crime.  If you stopped an injured person from going to the hospital, and they died from lack of medical care, I would call it murder.  In the same way, assisting in hate or ignoring it is also wrong.  Many people do not consider their actions wrong unless you can prove intent and motivation.

 

3. Why were people looking at the main page then leaving?

Mental illness drives people away.  It seems to be the best reason.

Typical ideas about listening to the mentally ill:

"Why would you want to read what some nutcase has to say?"
"It must be a personal problem."
"No one cares.  This is the way people are, and you have to deal with it."

Then again, the issues with the civic group may still be important.  I am admitting being called dangerous for having mental illness at the start of this website.  The very idea that the mentally ill are dangerous may drive people away.  It might be better if "respected people" were to address the issue for me.

I have tried to find help, support, or guidance from respected people.  So far no one has offered to help.  Look at my failure to find help.

On March 21st, 2005, I finally realized that attacking me for having mental illness sounds like a hate crime.  Looking at the actions and claims being made about me, many of them seem motivated by hate more than fear.  They were not asking the court to find out how dangerous that I might be - no attempt at an psychiatric evaluation.  Instead, they were trying to discredit me and make me look like a monster!  Is this hate or fear?

4. The mentally ill will not help each other?

I thought that if respected people will not help me, then perhaps others with mental illness will.  I contacted a number of people with websites about mental illness.  A few actually responded, but said very little.  They seemed to be caught up in their own issues.

If mental illness make it hard for me to communicate, then I can assume that it is also hard for other people with mental illness.  If you look for other web sites about personal experiences with mental illness, many of them are hard to follow.  Perhaps the better written websites were done with the help of someone else.

Other classes of people who experience bigotry and hate have done something about it.  If they call you Black, there is the NAACP. If they call you a Jew, there is the Anti-Defamation League.  If they call you an Arab, there is the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.  If they call you an American Indian, there is the National Congress of American Indians.  There are other groups and classes of people who experience bigotry and hate.  I mention these to give some examples, they came to my mind first.

What about NAMI?*  They claim to be "The Nations Voice on Mental Illness".  However, NAMI* is not an organization of people with mental illness.  This is what they claim to be:

"NAMI is a nonprofit, grassroots, self-help, support and advocacy organization of consumers, families, and friends of people with severe mental illnesses..." * (The complete quote is here.)

Unfortunately, NAMI* does not necessarily represent the views of people who must survive with mental illness.  As I state below, I have considered joining NAMI* and have asked representatives for help or support.  It seems that NAMI* might hold some of the troubling views that I have experienced from society in the past.  If you can not trust the group claiming to support people like you, who do you trust?
 

5. NAMI* and other advocates causing more harm than good?

My psychiatrist recommended seeking support from organizations like NAMI.*  I contacted the Toledo, Ohio, and National associates of NAMI.*  My first attempts show a lack of interest on their part.  I do not want to try too hard because of what happened with the un-named civic group.
 

My experiences with the past civic group are why I am concerned about asking NAMI* again.  I was brought to court by the civic group which claimed it could deny membership to the mentally ill.  Part of the civic group's complaint was my efforts to seek support from them.  The last thing I need is a repeat of attacks like from the civic group!

a. Why should I have to try hard to find support from NAMI? * I would expect better from them, if they truly care about "the improvement of the quality of life" of those with mental illness.  Perhaps I contacted the wrong people.  How do I contact the right people without a repeat of my last civic group experience?

As I said above, I have contacted the Toledo, Ohio, and National contacts for NAMI.*  My main concern was if this web site would help, or could hurt, the efforts to help people with mental illness.  They seemed to think that I wanted them to provide a link to my website or something.  This is similar to the responses from government leaders, who acted like it was a personal problem.

b. Are NAMI* and other advocates afraid to attack the core issues? Suggesting that bigotry and hate are significant problems for the mentally ill may be unpopular.  Trying to address it as "stigma" of the mentally ill does not seem to be working.  Why would people care if the mentally ill feel stigma?  The mentally ill are considered "sick" after all.
 

6. Can someone with mental illness send the right message?

My message might be why NAMI* did not want to associate with me.  I must deal with more than the effect of a mental illness, bipolar disorder.  In addition I have to deal with bigotry, hate, and apathy from other people.  The drugs that my psychiatrist gives me does not help me communicate.

How foolish is it to expect people with mental illness to live in society, without listening to their concerns?  A judge considered me able to defend myself.  However, I was being attacked in that same court for having a mental illness!

My psychiatrist said it is wrong to talk about killing yourself.  Yet, if a court of law does not care if it's actions would result in your death, why not talk about it?  The very argument in the court was that I was a dangerous person because I had thought about suicide.  Is suicide the result that the court wanted?

Having mental illness involves more issues than medical help!  If society want's "nutcases" out on the street killing them, then bigotry and hate against the mentally ill is the best way to get it.  It is human nature to "fight fire with fire."  I have been verbally beaten to death by looking for compassion.  Was compassion the wrong choice?

What choices am I given?
 

return to the main page - Mentally ill Under Attack - Evidence about mental illness, policy and law
 

The complete quote from the NAMI* website: "NAMI is a nonprofit, grassroots, self-help, support and advocacy organization of consumers, families, and friends of people with severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic and other severe anxiety disorders, autism and pervasive developmental disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and other severe and persistent mental illnesses that affect the brain." *

return to the main page - Mentally ill Under Attack - Evidence about mental illness, policy and law