Why are we singled out for a cruel word?

WHAT a cruel word. People who suffer from mental illness do not commit suicide - they die from their illness.

It is bad enough to be stigmatised in life, but do we who suffer from this illness, and our families, also have to be stigmatised ‘til death.

The person who smokes 80 cigarettes a day and dies of cancer is not accused of committing suicide. Those who eat until they become obese and die of heart attacks are not accused of committing suicide. Why is it that those who have mental illness are selected for such special treatment?

Society in general, and the medical profession in particular, must recognise this anomaly if we who travel this road are to have any hope of obtaining that all-important medication - dignity - while we fight to survive this illness.

I long to see the words “a young man committed suicide today” replaced with “after a long and brave struggle a young man died of mental illness today. Or a coroner’s report saying “he died of natural causes. Cause of death: mental illness.”

John McCarthy

Springfort House

Springfort

Montenotte

Cork