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Page 2
In fact I found that I could identify with Charlie a fair bit, except for the dildo incident. As someone with a psychiatric disability, I am often taken advantage of by ordinary people who see life only as a competitive struggle. In a dog-eat-dog world someone who is not competitively competent suffers. People are not just aggressive behind the wheel of a car. I was standing in line waiting for a coffee the other day and the counter girl asked who was next and a woman beside me budded in front of me and gave her order. I looked hard at her, but she had no guilt. It's a competitive world and you have to step on anyone who gets in your way, or slows you down. I find that sometimes mixed with prejudice. It is OK to put down anyone that is not a member of your group. Maybe that woman didn't recognize me as a human because I was male. As someone disabled by schizophrenia I find ordinary people always in a hurry to get somewhere. Time is money, and I don't fit into their schedule.
Charlie was a genuinely good father and cop, and even his alternate personality never actually hurt anybody very much. Much of the criticism leveled at this movie resulted from the promotional material, the phrase "From Gentle to Mental" for example, that is playing on the public perception of mental illness. People with schizophrenia are no more violent then anybody else, except when they are in a psychotic episode. Then they are at a much greater risk of being violent the longer they go untreated. When Charlie forgets his medication at a hotel his condition deteriorates considerably. That's a very positive message in some ways. Charlie harms himself a lot as his condition deteriorates, which could have been avoided by taking his medication. That is also quite realistic although Charlie eventually recovers without medication and is given a clean bill of health by the doctors at the end of the movie. If the illness were schizophrenia that would be very unlikely. All in all the movie is a kind of bridge between the ignorance of the public, and people who have been personally affected by mental illnesses. Real understanding of mental illnesses is not that easy to acquire, although the internet has been invaluable. If I can, in spite of the brain damage I acquired through schizophrenia, then I would expect anybody could. It's a foreign topic, but it's not an esoteric one. Many students have thanked me at my web site for helping them do well in a school essay they wrote on schizophrenia, and I expect that our society will continue to become more familiar with mental illnesses, if only because they affect the people we love.
The copyright of the article Me, Myself and Irene - Take #2 - Page 2 in Schizophrenia is owned by . Permission to republish Me, Myself and Irene - Take #2 - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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