Tragedy struck yet again in Toronto on the afternoon of August 29th when 25-year old Pickering, Ontario resident Reyal Jensen Jardine-Douglas was gunned down by Toronto Police as he attempted to flee from a TTC bus.

First and foremost is the fact that it can serve to re-silence and re-victimize those who have already experienced violence firsthand, and thus by default serves to exclude such innocent victims from any effective movement for social change.

I have to wonder if the reticence about speaking out on abuses/prejudice aimed at people with a psychiatric label, or about the inherently oppressive nature of psychiatry and the 'mental health' system themselves isn't rooted in peoples' fear of their own capacity for madness as well as being rooted in another long-standing historical prejudice.

http://bacque.graeme.tripod.com/articles.htm

Unfortunately health 'professionals' generally respond in two ways to the expression of suicidal ideas: confinement and drugs.

On April 29 I experienced something of a personal crisis and posted a status update on Facebook that caused one of my 'friends' to seriously overreact. The ensuing brouhaha at my home had to be seen to be believed. It was like something out of a bad movie. Certainly an eye-opening moment, albeit terrifying.

I live in Toronto, Canada which pretty much rules out either of the species you mentioned.