If I Could Write a Book or Play - by Laura
If I wrote a play it would be about a woman struggling with mental illness. I would show her as a person first, not as a case number in a computer. There are many misconceptions about mental illness and people who have it. Mental illness does NOT mean mental retardation and adults who have it are treated as such. Patients in psychiatric wards should NOT be locked up like criminals and denied their human and civil rights. The majority of people with mental illness are no more violent or dangerous than any other people and so called “normal” people don’t need to be protected from us. My plan would end with the woman finding compassion, understanding, treatment that actually helps and finally acceptance by family, friends and society at large. After all, isn’t that what we all want?
