1.

What are the first things that come to mind when you think of mental illness or a
person with mental illness?
Many pictures pop up at once, the first usually being someone who cannot literally
control their actions, and possibly in a wheelchair. Another is a person crazily laughing
while collapsing in a depressive environment.

2. What are some of the negative things and/or terms you have heard used when
people talk about individuals with a mental illness?
I have heard of several terms- one of them, I heard someone say that one was literally
autistic instead of when people use the term autistic to criticize another being (who
usually is not autistic). And you cannot forget Crazy and Retarded- especially to
those who tend to act more aggressive in public environments.

3. What are some of the positive things you have heard about people with mental
illness?
One positive thing that Ive heard was that the illness doesnt need to be their fault
alone and that we must help them, as they are still part of the society; we must accept
them.

4. Why do you think people with mental illness are treated badly?
I think that they were, and are treated badly partially because of their uncontrolled
actions; someone with PTSD may suddenly, collapse and scream while walking a
street, and some ignorant people can be such harsh-treating to the man, and one with
delusions can attack another innocent person because he/she can think that the person
was something else, like a terrorist. Even if many people can think that it is not their
fault, the views from people cannot be so positive. I additionally want to point out the
media for partially portraying the mentally ill for being so aggressive, resulting in little
treatments of the ill when in public.

5. Can you think of any other health conditions or social issues that have been
stigmatized throughout history? E.g. Aids
One recent one was the Ebola virus; it was stigmatized because not only did thousands
die in West Africa, people whove visited the countries also brought the virus to America
and Europe and some were fatally affected, causing public tension in the western world
as well.
6. What kinds of factors have contributed to changing public perceptions around some
of these conditions or issues?
There was a huge change in public perceptions, for example, some people whove
visited the affected countries were bullied and avoided, You have Ebola became an
insult to many, and in one particular case in South Korea, a schoolgirl was completely
avoided by her classmates and even her teacher at one point, only because her father
was a medical volunteer who stayed at Sierra Leone. You can point out that the
avoidance was due to the scares that the daughter had Ebola, but insults from students
really were not necessary.

7. What do you think influences perceptions about people with mental illness?
I personally believe that the media, in one way or another, is a large influence in these
perceptions. They can/are portrayed as violent in movies, several stay away and call 9-
1-1 from the news, although doing its job, can influence people to just stay away from
ALL with mental illness.
In other cases, I think that peoples insults and bad views on these peoples can affect
their nearby folks. Being such ignorant, I wouldnt be so influenced.

8. Both Alice and Frank suffer from chronic biological illnesses, why did Frank lose his
job, his apartment, and his friends while Alices situation remained relatively
unchanged?
Personally, I think it was due to the difference of pressures: whilst the hardware store
owner was frightened and decided to cut Frank from the job because of his mental
illness, however in Alices situation she was not fired for hospitalization, partially
because the understanding of her disease compared to Franks. I guess that support
and understanding is a key factor in mental illness.

9. What kinds of assumptions underlie the actions of health professionals, family, and
friends in each situation?
Clearly, we see a difference between the old and new days; in the old days, the
assumptions were mostly made on that Frank would become violent and degenerative,
so they stripped his identity from him, but in the new days, Alice was never encouraged
to quit work, as the assumptions from health professionals say that Alice take a break
from work, but not to quit.
10. Are friends, work, independence, recreation, and family support equally important
for people with mental illness and people with other chronic illnesses?
Of course; by reading through the case study, I realized once again that people support
and understanding was a huge part in helping people gain back control of their lives.