To: topgun_06903 who wrote (10335 ) 1/21/1999 8:52:00 PM From: Charliss Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 15094
> Sell then! You know better than MOKE, you know better than the big boys coming very soon, you know better than the institutions that took this from 7% institutions to 17% in a little over a week. Sell. Or like we like to do where I come from and a moron threatens to commit suicide. JUMP!!!!!!!! TG < Enter Charliss the bothersome nitpicker and fault finder: This public statement about morons and suicide and encouraged jumping is irresponsible. It is insensitive as only those who are living totally for themselves without regard for the consequences of that behaviour can be insensitive and irresponsible. Any psychotherapist- any type of mental health professional- will tell you that a good part of the treatment of mental illness, including the suicide attempt, is in the overcoming of the stigma that careless people are eager to put on it. To compound the stigma by referring it to another stigma, the one of unfavorably and unfairly labeling and ridiculing those persons who through no fault of their own experience limitations in intelligence and adaptive skills- what many term as a mental retardation- is to compound the denial of the dignity of a vast number of human beings. It is so easy to slip into this stereotyping, whether in anger, in the vain attempt at humor, or in the ego's interest in self promotion. With some it is a consistent way of thinking and of treating others who are simply just different; with others it may be an occasional thing, something generally uncharacteristic. Either way, it can have devastating effect. Since I have had the experience of being an advocate for such people, I am compelled to post this view. For me to not do so would be my failure. It has nothing to do with you personally, topgun, but it has everything to do with the public statement and my personal commitment to the opposite of what that statement means.