Mental illness bias remains

One of my elder sisters recently passed away. She was 55. She was one of my twin sisters, both of whom are an important part of my life.

Of the two, the sister who passed away had no history of mental illness, was married and had a daughter. My other sister — her twin — has been affected with schizoaffective disorder for over 20 years now.

When I informed people of the sudden demise of my sister, some proceeded to ask whether it was the one who was mentally ill. When they learned it was the “healthy” twin, their shock and sadness seemed greater.

Please note I am not expressing a grievance against any of these individuals; they are well-meaning, wonderful people. However, it got me wondering: Would it have been more acceptable if the sister with schizoaffective disorder had passed away?

Is that because we expect individuals with this disorder to have a shorter life expectancy? Or is it because we, as a society, still feel the life of a person with mental illness is somehow worth less than the life of a person without?

We have come a long way from the time when it was common to deride people with mental illness.

However, there is still rampant stigmatization, and we need to make every effort to move away from treating people with mental illness as lesser mortals. Sarojini M. Sengupta, LaSalle