In 1953, Bernard Carabello was placed at Willowbrook State School at the age of three, by his mother. His doctor misdiagnosed him as cognitively disabled or "mentally retarded". Carabello's doctor advised his mother to place him at Willowbrook. Willowbrook State School was a school for cognitively disabled in name only. It was described to be worse than a prison, a residence for human experimentation. Until the age of 18, Carabello was neglected, abused and treated worse than an animal. Carabello recalls the abuse, "I got beaten with sticks, belt buckles. I got my head kicked into the wall by staff … most of the kids sat in the day room naked, with no clothes on. There was a lot of sexual abuse going on from staff to residents". Also, many …show more content…
For many people mental illness is still something characterized by strange, erratic or dangerous behavior. So the vast majority of mental health problems, those which don’t fit the stereotype, often stay hidden or go unrecognized. Because a depressed person’s behavior doesn’t fit the stereotype, there is a belief that their illness is somehow less real, or at least less serious. It is too easy to dismiss as ‘just sadness’, when in fact it is entirely different. For some people with depression they are unable to feel anything at all. Some people have described it to me as like being dead and alive at the same …show more content…
. Our society is laid out in such a way that talking about having mental problems makes people feel inferior. The Germanwings jetliner has brought attention to mental illness. The co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz must have felt the negative stigma towards mental illness. His reluctance to disclose his mental illness because of the society lead to deaths of many innocent lives. Shootings in Newtown and Connecticut have been linked to Mental illness. Doctors believe that the media's publicity of linking violence with mental illness further adds on to the negative stigma. Ron Honberg, director of policy and legal affairs at the National Alliance on Mental Illness states " These kind of stories reinforce the anxiety, the doubts, the concerns that people have that ‘I have to keep my symptoms concealed at all costs,’ and that doesn’t benefit anyone"(New York Times). The fear of, what will happen when people find out it too big. Our community is narrow minded, even though many know that the consequences of not talking about mental illness is more harmful. It will not only affect life of the mentally ill but also the people around