With most things that can be seen as contentious, it's worth asking 'what good could come from this?'. In the case of this article, I think that people might b

With most things that can be seen as contentious, it's worth asking 'what good could come from this?'. In the case of this article, I think that people might be reminded to be more sympathetic when they encounter someone who is experiencing mental illness. However, the way a person actually relates to their own experiences while classed as mentally ill is a personal thing. Lack of understanding is probably the biggest barrier - and well meaning sympathy isn't always going to have a positive effect on someone's well-being. It might actual just compound the problem. I think there's an element of the freak-show here, because the guy who's the subject of the article is being used as 'exhibit a' in a discussion of what can manifest from mental illness. On the flip side - mental illness does seem to be an area of life that's rarely discussed openly. Rather than stand by and look at the wreckage - it's probably more constructive to think about what can be done to help tackle mental health issues more generally. http://www.mind.org.uk/ http://www.mind.org.uk/ is a UK-based charity who are doing good things in this area.