What Jason Russell's Mental Breakdown Shows Us about Ourselves
It was the latest installment in a blitz of headline-grabbing publicity for Invisible Children—but it was a story they never intended. During almost two weeks of astounding success for their new-media publicity blitz, Kony 2012 attracted plenty of controversy and dissenting voices. But perhaps nothing could damage the credibility of the Invisible Children campaign as much as their founder's run-in with San Diego police, who last week confronted an allegedly agitated and naked Jason Russell ranting on the sidewalk near Pacific Beach.
Apparently the San Diego police determined Russell was not a criminal threat but did present a danger to himself or others—a designation that allows law-enforcement officials to seek evaluation in a mental health facility on behalf of a detainee. Police brought Russell to one such facility, where he presumably underwent evaluation of his mental condition, and where, if necessary, he might receive treatment. The police response suggests there was a strong possibility that Russell was in the throes of a symptomatic mental illness. Writing for The Atlantic, brain-injury physician Ford Vox concurs. Although not confirmed, the introduction of a possible mental illness—and a public "breakdown"—has taken this story into a new dimension. It has also introduced a new source of fuel for public ridicule.
Regardless of the truth about this incident and Russell's health, the incident elicits echoes of a common pattern in public life: the voyeuristic and cruel response to the public breakdown, usually followed by shame, humiliation, attempts at damage control, and a hospital stay for "exhaustion." In our society, few things are considered as shameful as mental illness. Consider the cases of Demi Moore, Britney Spears, Charlie Sheen, and Mariah Carey. If celebrities are publicly skewered for their vulnerabilities, imagine how ordinary citizens are treated.
I should know. My mom has the disorder schizophrenia. After she began to have breakdowns—some of them public—when I was 14, I carried with me the sense that I was "infected" by association, and I was deeply scarred by the rejection and potential for rejection I felt in society at large and in the church. This is a kind of suffering you just aren't supposed to talk about. And because of the general lack of conversation about mental illness, for decades my family and I felt very much alone in our suffering.
People with mental illness are the butt of jokes, the subjects of terrifying movies and amusement park rides, and sources of entertainment that seem to assume they are mythical creatures—like leprechauns and unicorns—so no one should be offended.
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Sam
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2012/03/what_jason_russells_mental_bre.html#comment-570329 That is so incredibly wrong and offensive I don't know what to say to that. Did you even read the article.
Sam
Take everything you said about having mental illness, replace it with the words "being gay" and that's me in a nutshell.
Laura Lee Allen
I suffer from severe bipolar illness and have experienced psychosis,which most people don't understand but may be more common than they think.
Lizzy
Beautiful piece and SO important! The stigma needs to end outside and within the church. Effective evidence based treatment and God need to be used for healing since mental illness involves malfunctioning in the brain.
Jessica
I am glad that this topic came up. Not sure exactly how many people out there know that Mental illness is far more worse than we know.
s theo
Good thoughts. I hope your the upcoming book also gives help for family members of those with mental illness and the need for loving boundaries at times- and how to implement those in wise ways. Dealing with mental illness is never "black and white".
Tim Childs
Having suffered with at times severe depression, I can relate to much of this article. I've been a Christian for over 30 years of my life however but never been to a church and am not a part of any kind of congregation either; I am often shocked at how some churches and therefore some church people can be so condemnatory about these and many other issues, when Jesus, all Christian religion, is supposed to be about love and acceptance, consideration and toleration for others, irrespective of who the other person is and what they do and believe and so on. Frankly, this has put me off joining a church and very slowly I try to get involved; very slowly as I said! Depression at its worst is like any other serious ailment; it needs healing, often needs treatments and it certainly needs understanding, which at times seems seriously lacking. Do we condemn people for getting cancer or diabetes, saying it's because a person's faith is weak? I don't think we do! Why then is mental illness singled out for special treatment then? Instead of the churches rejecting such people, shouldn't they be opening their arms? What value all our religious fervour if it amounts to just being another small-minded bigot? You wrote: "Why do we perpetuate this stigma, joke about people with mental illness, titillate ourselves with terrifying images of them, mock them sadistically, or pretend they dont exist? Somewhere in ourselves, we all know we see in them a reflection of who we could beand that, I think, is what really scares us. By dehumanizing people with mental illness, we distance them from ourselves and our experiences and make ourselves feel safer." Often people distance themselves from others simply because they don't want to see the unpalatable truth of any situation. They hide behind religious platitudes and a sheen of 'niceness' and 'respectability' whilst being just as worldly as anyone else can be. And there is a fear of mental illness; who wants to be stricken with any kind of mental illness after all? Given a choice, I'd rather not have endured it myself. BUT, and here's the rub; Jesus can use any experience for our betterment and understanding. I wouldn't be the inquisitive person and the kind of person I am without the depression I suffered. Your depression might after all be a road to better things, and it's all part of our journey towards God, if we ask God into the experience.
Addie Zierman
What an important call to grace. May we move beyond fear toward that perfect love that casts it away.
Jonathan Brouillette
Romans 5:3-5: More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. Romans 8:17-18: and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Phillipians 1:29: For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
Jonathan Brouillette
Revelation 2:10: Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life
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