Medical services not just about cost

That some people with mental illness “take their own lives rather than live with the anguish they experience,” as the letter-writer puts it, suggests that our health-care system fails them in a deplorable, unforgivable way.

Yes, our far-from-perfect health-care system is stranded and starved for funding, but medical services are often a question of priority, not just cost.

People with mental illness suffer not only the effects of their illness but also the stigma and discrimination that are rampant within the health-care system and elsewhere.

People with mental illness often feel devalued, dismissed and dehumanized by health professionals, who often hold hostile and blaming attitudes, don’t believe in their ability to recover and often don’t even realize they carry prejudicial attitudes or treat patients with discriminatory behaviours.

To suggest that compassion may be associated with the acceptance that people with mental illness are “doomed” is appalling.

Instead, our compassion should fuel the fight to put mental illness at par with any physical illness, abolish stigma and discrimination and start viewing this as a human-rights issue and not just a medical one.

Ella Amir, executive director, AMI-Québec, Montreal