OPINION:
There are ample resources available to help those afflicted with mental illness. Sadly, millions of people suffer needlessly because they refuse to seek help. This is because of the stigma attached to the mentally ill.
One person who has added to that stigma lately is President-elect Donald Trump. During his campaign, he consistently mentioned criminals released from prison in the same breath as people being released from mental health facilities — as though criminals and the mentally ill people were the same.
Mental illness is not a crime. Mr. Trump’s statements are cruel to the millions of us Americans who have a diagnosable mental condition.
People who are suffering from mental illness are contending with their own demons and are far more likely to hurt themselves than they are to hurt others.
Politicians who say the mentally ill are responsible for the recent increase in crime are dead wrong. In Chicago last year, 617 people were shot to death; 2,450 were wounded. The shooters were not mentally ill.
The millions of immigrants who crossed our borders illegally last year didn’t come here because they were mentally ill, and neither did the gangs, drug smugglers and other criminals.
Last year, abortions killed 1,037 unborn infants. Abortion providers are not classified as mentally ill, either.
Politicians need to stop stigmatizing mental illness and blaming it for high crime rates. Instead, they should encourage people to seek help and should provide the help that is so desperately needed.
JIM FRENCH
Freeport, Illinois
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